"We're thinking more about industry," we were told. "P2P companies, ISPs, academics."
Why wouldn't consumer groups with the relevant experience in these matters be consulted, we asked. "I don't know," Douglas said after a long pause, but added that Comcast hasn't ruled anything out at this point.
Comcast has only just agreed to stop throttling bandwidth over P2P networks. Now they want to create a P2P bill of rights!?
This seems… disingenuous; at least.
Possible ideas for the "rights" section of the document include the ability to uninstall P2P applications, along with "clarifying usages" (that is, describing bandwidth limits, which would be welcome). Douglas also noted that P2P apps might be able to "identify lawful content versus not lawful."
Yea, sure, might be able to identify illegal content. Right… I have no doubt that this would be one of the pillars of this 'bill of rights.'
Comcast: I'm all for you trying to get involved in this – it's actually something of an enlightened attitude as compared to the RIAA or MPAA, but you spearheading an this effort is like President Bush offering advice on how to deal with the Middle East. –It's just not a good idea.