Sky Broadband has admitted and apologized for an error with their system that has been blocking UK users from accessing the PlayStation Network for the seven hour period of 5pm to midnight.
The Sky system classified “PSN as a traffic-heavy application, and therefore sought to prevent or block connections to it during peak hours.”
“Our network management system mistakenly classified PlayStation 3 traffic in a way which meant some customers using their consoles to access the internet may have had their speeds reduced, in line with our network management policy for Sky Broadband Connect,” Sky added.
“This was a mistake and resulted from a systems error, for which we apologise. Our team is working on fixing this as a matter of urgency. All other Sky Broadband users are unaffected, as there are no traffic management policies in place for our on-network broadband services.”
Facing tougher questions, Sky noted that traffic management is only used on P2P applications.
“There are no restrictions in place for applications such as web browsing, email, video and audio streaming, instant messaging and VOIP during peak times. And we do not put restrictions on our network outside of peak times (5pm to midnight),” concluded the company.
Result for: p2p applications
Comcast, the United States’ largest cable operator, and Pando Networks, have jointly announced they will be issuing a call for a “P2P bill of rights and responsibilities”. Comcast also said they would begin using Pando’s file sharing technology software.
The two companies hope to “convene a group of industry experts” to talk about what options and controls are necessary for consumers using P2P applications. More importantly, the companies want to “address what processes and practices ISPs should use to manage file-sharing running on their networks.” One of the questions they hope to solve is “whether P2P users should have the right to control their computers’ resources when using P2P applications.”
For the tests, both companies will “examine how file-sharing programs run on other ISP networks, including cable, DSL, fiber and wireless and measure things like performance, speed, distance and geography and bandwidth consumption.”
It can be said that Comcast was forced into all its recent interest with P2P companies after the company saw intense backlash for its attempts to throttle and slow down file sharing activities of its users. For its part Comcast said the moves were done to reduce stress on its bandwidth costs.
More information as it becomes available.
