Court approves settlement in Comcast P2P lawsuit

The class-action lawsuit that dates back to 2007 against Comcast for throttling the Internet speeds of alleged peer-to-peer file sharers has reached its practical end through a settlement later on Thursday. Judge Legrome Davis of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has given final approval to payments, giving any other parties interested in joining the class-action lawsuit until August 29 in order to claim a portion of the settlement.

Under the terms of the settlement, Comcast is ordered to pay as much as $16 million to affected customers. Those not yet part of the lawsuit who think they were affected can file a claim on this website.

Comcast admitted to slowing and in some cases blocking the internet service it provided to users of certain P2P file-sharing services. This potentially affected one million customers, the legal team said. The settlement ruling sets a precedent, as it is the first P2P action to recover any sort of amount from an Internet provider.

Comcast customers who used Ares, BitTorrent, eDonkey, FastTrack or Gnutella P2P programs between from April 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008 and believe their speed or ability to share files was affected can file a claim. Those who couldn't use Lotus Notes to send emails between March 26, 2007 and October 3, 2007 are also eligible. The law firm is quick to reassure subscribers that claiming a settlment isn't an admission of piracy.

By Electronista Staff