Comcast Reaches Settlement on P2P-Blocking Case

Comcast has agreed to a preliminary $16 million settlement in a class-action suit regarding the company's alleged blocking of peer-to-peer Web sites.

But those customers hoping to take home a nice chunk of change on behalf of Comcast will be disappointed – the maximum amount any one class member can collect is $16.

To be eligible, you must be a current or former Comcast high-speed Internet customer who either used or attempted to use Ares, BitTorrent, eDonkey, FastTrack, or Gnutella between April 1, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2008 or Lotus Notes between March 26, 2007 and Oct. 3, 2007, according to a settlement Web site posted by Ars Technica.

Comcast does not admit any wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement.

Jon Hart, who filed the original claim, will take home $2,500.

In November 2007, Hart sued Comcast in a California Superior Court, accusing Comcast of blocking customer access to P2P sites like BitTorrent and Gnutella via software that surreptitiously cancels file-sharing connections. The case was later transferred to a Pennsylvania court.

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