Comcast to manage overflow 'subtly'

PHILADELPHIA, March 28 (UPI) -- Comcast, the largest Internet provider in the United States, announced it would switch tactics for dealing with systems-clogging software.

Industry analysts said Comcast was bowing to pressure from the Federal Communications Commission and high-tech companies angered that Comcast has interfered with delivery of peer-to-peer BitTorrent protocol, The New York Times reported Friday.

The applications are used to download data-heavy files, including movies.

Comcast said, "in the event of congestion," it would slow Internet speeds of media-rich applications "subtly until capacity is restored."

"For the other 99.5 percent, their performance will be maintained as they expect it," the company said.

The new system for managing the overflow of data delivery will be in place by the end of the year, the Times reported.