By no data, do you mean, no data being pushed into an end of the TCP data pipe, or do you mean, someone cut a wire somewhere.
I suspect it also depends on the SO_KEEPALIVE socket option.
ie. If the SO_KEEPALIVE option is not set, it should stay up indefinitely even if the wire is cut. If the keep alive option is set, and if the wire is not cut, then it should stay up indefinitely so long as the keep alive packets keep coming. (And that is at a TCP level, not application level.)
http://www.unixguide.net/network/socketfaq/4.7.shtml