Judge approves $16M Comcast traffic throttling settlement

From InfoWorld: Comcast customers whose broadband service was slowed when the Internet service provider slowed peer-to-peer traffic will be able to get a payment of $16 under a class-action lawsuit settlement approved by a U.S. judge.

Judge Legrome Davis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania approved the settlement June 29, and the Lexington Law Group, which represented plaintiff Jon Hart, announced the settlement Thursday.

Comcast will pay up to $16 million to customers in the settlement. Comcast's 15Mbps broadband service typically costs $42.95 a month, not including special offers.

Customers have until Aug. 29 to file claims at P2Pcongestionsettlement.com. Those eligible for the $16 payments are former and current Comcast customers used the Ares, BitTorrent, eDonkey, FastTrack or Gnutella P-to-P protocols between April 1, 2006, and Dec. 31, 2008, and were unable to share files, or believe the file-sharing speeds were affected. Customers who were unable to use Lotus Notes to send email between March 26, 2007, and Oct. 3, 2007, are also eligible.

The settlement is a "great result" for Comcast customers, Mark Todzo, an attorney with Lexington Law Group, said in a statement. "But customers will only get their share of the $16 million if they file a claim."

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