Executive Summary: Nation’s biggest cableco caught blocking the Bible. Methodology: using its control of network servers to tell users at both ends of the transaction lies about state of the connection. Point: to degrade the service of P2P technology users enough to keep them from using scarce bandwidth. Consequence: The case for public ownership—or at least structural separation—grows.
The ensuing stink is sure to rival AT&T’s original Net Neutrality blunder.
————-
Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company, has joined AT&T, the largest phone company, in giving Net Neutrality advocates a hammer with which to drive home the point that the corporate duopolists want to be able to “shape” the internet to their financial benefit–and that “innovation,” competition, and your freedom to communicate are not part of their plan.
While AT&T merely stated its intent to categorize traffic and relegate companies whose product didn’t pay a special fee to the slow lane they, and other ISPs, have long claimed that this wouldn’t really involve degrading anyone’s service. But in this latest blowup Comcast has been caught doing what the national network providers have long denied: blocking or degrading services that pass over its network in order to make sure its own services run at full speed. That’s the conclusion that the Associated Press came to after an investigating the communications stream. The fuller description of their investigation reveals that they offered a file of the King James version of the bible for upload over BitTorrent and found that when they connected in order to download it at the other end that Comcast blocked their link.
What Comcast is doing was sending “reset packets” to both ends of BitTorrent file exchanges that are forged to indicate that the message comes not from Comcast but from the user on the other end of the exchange–and that the connection has failed. This drops the connection or at least forces a restart. If the program receives too many of these packets it will refuse to deal with the errant node–a tactic which makes sense when the other end really is broken in some way but which is blatantly disruptive when someone standing in the middle is simply lying about a the state of a perfectly capable participant. There’s a semi-formal term for this sort of deceptive practice: it is called a “man in the middle attack.” For a man in the middle attacks to be successful there has to be a trusted intermediary passing the message who decides to lie–to pass false messages to each participant. The idea is to create a situation in which the traitor in the middle gets what he or she wants.
That’s pretty much the situation here. By forging false information about both ends of a BitTorrent exchange (or Gnutella or Lotus Notes (!)) Comast denies users who, in the AP case were exchanging the Bible, the ability to exchange data. Comcast got what it wanted, though: the links failed and Comcast had more bandwidth to use for its own purposes.
Notice please: exchanging data is exactly why customers buy an internet connection, the blocked technology is perfectly legal technology; the content presented for exchange is in no way copyrighted; and internet users that never, ever signed a contract with Comcast are having their access blocked.
It’s profoundly wrong on multiple levels and no amount of handwaving about ensuring quality of service can obscure that.
Just for the record: This “man in the middle, using reset packets” is conceptually the same as one of the tactics that China used to build the infamous “Great Firewall of China.” In that instance the Chinese government used their ownership of the network to forge reset packets that effectively blocked any link between a computer in China that received or sent suspect words or phrases indicating political or social dissent and the computer that sent or received those words. (If you’re gonna be evil you might as well learn from the best, I suppose.)
————-
A storm of response is building quickly that is sure to rival the ultimate size of the slow-building response to the AT&T gaff that defined the Net Neutrality battles of ’05-’06 is building.
The reinstitution of regulation and a reinstitution of the principle of common carriage is the most obvious solution. —One that has been argued here recently.
But this is the sort of thing shakes peoples’ trust in their provider and that moves people to recognize that, since even more subtle forms of blocking are possible, a better solution might well be structural: remove the incentive to be evil and only the truly twisted will persist in doing the wrong thing. The first structural suggestion is to enforce “structural separation” meaning that no network provider would be allowed to own any part of the content that flows over the wires. Their only interest then would be in developing a better, faster network. We now have well-respected (i.e. no “mere” blogger) players like Susan Crawford and David Isenberg suggesting that is the only solution. Others, like Bob Frankston, want the current networks given to the municipalities to run open municipal systems that mimic the road system.
These are all necessarily national-level suggestions. They require some measure of divestment being forced on the current providers and only the federal legislature could do that. They are not bad ideas. But they suggest a long battle with a doubtful outcome.
Few, yet, are making the structural case that simple municipal or cooperative ownership would also destroy the motivation for a network provider to shape the usage of local users in ways that are not in their interest. We should all own our own local networks. The principle is simple: owners have no motive to abuse themselves. We can, as we in Lafayette have, make the decision to build a network with a big enough pipe that scarce bandwidth is not an issue inside our system. We can decide to price external bandwidth–and the costs associated with P2P an other bandwidth-heavy applications like streaming video as we see fit. (Local caching of popular content would be an obvious first solution in any bandwidth-rich locale. Big files need only come into our community once.) Owning our own network won’t free us from the Comcasts of this world who might still try and keep us from from freely communicating with their customers. But it would give us the control that ensures a network that serves our interests and not the interests of an corporate network provider who is willing to stand in the middle and lie to us and those we are communicating with in order to avoid dealing with the issue at hand honestly.
Right now only a minority wants to force divestiture or expropriation on the network providers. A few more, possibly a majority, already think that municipalities ought to be allowed to build their own networks. Comcast is changing those numbers — and not in a way that it will like.
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article. https://www.binance.com/pl/register?ref=V2H9AFPY
I appreciate you sharing this blog post. Thanks Again. Cool.
Thank you for content. Area rugs and online home decor store. Hello Administ .
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.
Thank you for content. Area rugs and online home decor store. Hello Administ .
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
Thank you for great content. Hello Administ.
Nice article inspiring thanks. Hello Administ .
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ .
Good info. Lucky me I reach on your website by accident, I bookmarked it.
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.
Thank you great post. Hello Administ .
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ .
Thank you for great content. Hello Administ.
Thank you for great information. Hello Administ .
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ . Website Giriş için Tiklatın : https://www.melekhali.com.tr/
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader. Website : https://www.saricahali.com.tr/
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ .
Great post thank you. Hello Administ .
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ .
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ . casinolevant casinolevant
Thank you for great information. Hello Administ .
Thank you for great content. Hello Administ.
Good info. Lucky me I reach on your website by accident, I bookmarked it.
Nice article inspiring thanks. Hello Administ .
Great post thank you. Hello Administ .
Great post thank you. Hello Administ . sollet sollet
Thank you for great information. Hello Administ . bahis forum bahis forum
Thank you for great article. Hello Administ .
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ .
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.
Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information.
Great post thank you. Hello Administ . Website : https://www.saricahali.com.tr/
Nice article inspiring thanks. Hello Administ .
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ .
Thank you great post. Hello Administ .
Thank you great post. Hello Administ .Casibom Website Giriş : Casibom
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ .
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.
Nice article inspiring thanks. Hello Administ .
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ . Website : https://www.saricahali.com.tr/
Thank you for content. Area rugs and online home decor store. Hello Administ . Onwin , Onwin Giriş onwin
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me. Website : cami halısı
Nice article inspiring thanks. Hello Administ . Website : cami halısı
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ . Website : cami halısı
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ . Website : cami halısı
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.Onwin Giriş Website: onwin
Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information.
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.
Nice article inspiring thanks. Hello Administ .
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ .
Thank you great post. Hello Administ .
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
Good info. Lucky me I reach on your website by accident, I bookmarked it.
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ . Website : cami halısı
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ . Website : cami halısı
Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information.
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ .
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.
Good info. Lucky me I reach on your website by accident, I bookmarked it.
Great post thank you. Hello Administ .
Thank you for great content. Hello Administ.
Thank you great post. Hello Administ .
Thank you for great article. Hello Administ .
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader. Diyarbet
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ .
Great post thank you. Hello Administ .
Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information.
Thank you for great article. Hello Administ .
Great post thank you. Hello Administ .
Thank you for great article. Hello Administ .Onwin Giriş için Tıklayın onwin
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ . Websiteye Giriş için Tıklayın. a href=”https://cutt.ly/SahabetSosyal/” title=”Sahabet” rel=”dofollow”>Sahabet
Good info. Lucky me I reach on your website by accident, I bookmarked it. Onwin Giriş için Tıklayın onwin
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.Onwin Giriş için Tıklayın onwin
Nice article inspiring thanks. Hello Administ . Websiteye Giriş için Tıklayın. a href=”https://cutt.ly/SahabetSosyal/” title=”Sahabet” rel=”dofollow”>Sahabet
Thank you for content. Area rugs and online home decor store. Hello Administ . Onwin Giriş için Tıklayın onwin
Thank you for great article. Hello Administ .Onwin Giriş için Tıklayın onwin
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.Onwin Giriş için Tıklayın onwin
Thank you for great content. Hello Administ. Websiteye Giriş için Tıklayın. a href=”https://cutt.ly/SahabetSosyal/” title=”Sahabet” rel=”dofollow”>Sahabet
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ . Websiteye Giriş için Tıklayın. a href=”https://cutt.ly/SahabetSosyal/” title=”Sahabet” rel=”dofollow”>Sahabet
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. Website Giriş için Tıklayın. Starzbet
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ . Website Giriş için Tıklayın. Starzbet
Thank you for great information. Hello Administ . Websiteye Giriş için Tıklayın. a href=”https://cutt.ly/SahabetSosyal/” title=”Sahabet” rel=”dofollow”>Sahabet
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. Website Giriş için Tıklayın. Starzbet
Nice article inspiring thanks. Hello Administ . Website Giriş için Tıklayın. Starzbet
Thank you for content. Area rugs and online home decor store. Hello Administ . Websiteye Giriş için Tıklayın. a href=”https://cutt.ly/SahabetSosyal/” title=”Sahabet” rel=”dofollow”>Sahabet
Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information.Website Giriş için Tıklayın: tipobet
Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information. Website Giriş için Tıklayın. Starzbet
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader. Website Giriş için Tıklayın. Starzbet
Good info. Lucky me I reach on your website by accident, I bookmarked it. Website Giriş için Tıklayın: tipobet
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.Website Giriş için Tıklayın: tipobet
Great post thank you. Hello Administ . Website Giriş için Tıklayın: tipobet
After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.Website Giriş için Tıklayın: tipobet
Thank you for great article. Hello Administ .Website Giriş için Tıklayın: tipobet
Thank you for great information. Hello Administ .
Great post thank you. Hello Administ .
Good info. Lucky me I reach on your website by accident, I bookmarked it.
Great post thank you. Hello Administ .
Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across.
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ .
Thank you great posting about essential oil. Hello Administ .
Great post thank you. Hello Administ .
Good info. Lucky me I reach on your website by accident, I bookmarked it.
I really love to read such an excellent article. Helpful article. Hello Administ .
Everything is very open and very clear explanation of issues. was truly information.