isen.blog

isen.blog isen.blog david s. isenberg's musings about loci of intelligence and stupidity. monday, october 22, 2007   comcast censors bible comcast blocked the bible when it messed with bittorrent.matt stoller, over at savetheinternet, points out that we've buried the lede by our focus on packets and protocols. indeed! when comcast blocks bittorrent (and other "file sharing" protocols) it screws up legitimate uses of the internet for everybody.technorati tags: comcast, constitution, firstamendment, networkneutrality, savetheinternet permalink // posted by isen @ 9:19 am // (0) comments // email  this   quote of note: russell shaw "according to electronic frontier foundation testing, comcast is not only forging bittorrent packets, but gnutella and even lotus notes packets. and lotus notes is a core application, not something you swap copyrighted music or movie files with . . . now i want you to read this report from the eff and tell me how the hell the free market solves this issue."russell shaw, on his zd net blog [link]technorati tags: comcast, deregulation, eff, networkneutrality, quoteofnote permalink // posted by isen @ 8:44 am // (1) comments // email  this saturday, october 20, 2007   quote of note: comcast terms of service "we reserve the right to refuse to upload, post, publish, transmit or store any information or materials, in whole or in part, that, in our sole discretion, is unacceptable, undesirable or in violation of this agreement."comcast terms of servicetechnorati tags: comcast, networkneutrality, quoteofnote permalink // posted by isen @ 5:10 pm // (0) comments // email  this   eff replicates comcast discrimination via tcp spoofing the electronic frontier foundation has replicated the ap's finding that comcast is sending tcp rst messages in direct violation of the internet's end-to-end principle. seth schoen of eff reports:the tcp rst packet forging seems to be protocol-specific: as ap reported, it at least sometimes happens directly in response to specific bittorrent protocol events. this contradicts comcast's statement to us that their network management does not target or discriminate against particular protocols. the timing of the injected packets suggests that something on comcast's network understands the bittorrent protocol and treats it differently from other protocols.he lays out the methodology quite explicitly, and concludes. . . we repeated the experiment with two different comcast connections (one in san francisco, and one in oregon) and saw the rst packets appear in both cases.this gives further evidence that comcast interactive's president, amy bance, was lying or clueless when she said that only 0.1% of customers were affected by comcast's network management.thanks to bob frankston for this pointer.technorati tags: comcast, eff, networkneutrality permalink // posted by isen @ 5:01 pm // (0) comments // email  this   comcasts president, interactive division, lies about bittorrent discrimination an information week article yesterday describes comcast's president of its interactive division explaining why comcast discriminates against bittorrent and other "p2p" applications. the article says:banse defended comcast's use of management technology, reported friday by the associated press, to reduce the impact users of file-sharing networks, such as bittorrent, edonkey and gnutella, have on overall traffic on the cable company's pipe. while these users make up a small percentage of comcast's subscriber base, they account for a large majority of the traffic, banse said."there is the hyperbole and the reality of what we call excessive use," banse said. while 99.9% of comcast customers get access to the internet without interference, the 0.1% that fit into the category of excessive use have to be managed. "in the (course) of our management of that excessive use, we call the customers and offer them the commercial service," she said.if that's correct, then the ap would have had to do 1000 trials to get one instance of discrimination. in fact, the ap tests found two out of three tests blocked, with the third one severely degraded (started after a 10 minute delay). then further (unspecified number of) tests were also blocked. that's waaaaay more than 1 in 1000.so banse is lying. or totally clueless, which in her position is not excusable.and there's waaaaaaaaaaaaaay better ways to handle "long tail" bandwidth hogs. (uh, transparent, pre-announced, known usage caps, and tiered usage plans for starters.)thanks again to dirk van der woude for alerting me to this article.technorati tags: comcast, corruption, networkneutrality permalink // posted by isen @ 2:18 pm // (15) comments // email  this   how the ap tested comcast's network here's the story! . . . an ap reporter attempted to download, using file-sharing program bittorrent, a copy of the king james bible from two computers in the philadelphia and san francisco areas, both of which were connected to the internet through comcast cable modems.we picked the bible for the test because it's not protected by copyright and the file is a convenient size.in two out of three tries, the transfer was blocked. in the third, the transfer started only after a 10-minute delay. when we tried to upload files that were in demand by a wider number of bittorrent users, those connections were also blocked.not all comcast-connected computers appear to be affected, however. in a test with a third comcast-connected computer in the boston area, we were unable to test with the bible, apparently due to an unrelated error. when we attempted to upload a more widely disseminated file, there was no evidence of blocking.the bible test was conducted with three other internet connections. one was provided by time warner inc.'s time warner cable, and the other came from cablevision systems corp. the third was the business-class connection to the ap's headquarters, provided by at&t inc. and cogent communications group inc.no signs of interference with file-sharing were detected in those tests.further analysis of the transfer attempt from the comcast-connected computer in the san francisco area revealed that the failure was due to ''reset'' packets that the two computers received, carrying the return address of the other computer.those packets tell the receiving computer to stop communicating with the sender. however, the traffic analyzer software running on each computer showed that neither computer actually sent the packets. that means they originated somewhere in between, with faked return addresses.in tests analyzing the traffic received by a computer on time warner cable that was trying to download a file from a large ''swarm'' of bittorrent users, more than half of the reset packets received carried the return addresses of comcast subscribers, even though comcast's 12.4 million residential customers make up only about 20 percent of u.s. broadband subscribers. it was the only u.s. internet service provider whose subscribers consistently appeared to send reset packets (which are occasionally generated legitimately).*snip*thanks to dirk van der woude for the pointer!technorati tags: comcast, networkneutrality permalink // posted by isen @ 4:09 am // (1) comments // email  this   why a net neutrality law is not enough once we decide that network neutrality is a good thing to (re)enshrine in law, then we need to ask how to do that effectively. one way would be to pass a law saying, "thou shalt not discriminate." that's the current approach. but network operators will say that they must manage their network, and if, in the course of network management, they were to disadvantage some source, destination, application, service or content, they might be accused of violating the law. so any network neutrality law must have a network management exception.(of course, we know from the work of andrew odlyzko [e.g. this paper] that most congestion is caused by a few bottlenecks, which, in general, are cheap and easy to replace. but we can't mandate that the network operator manages congestion by building more capacity. we don't want the government in the network management business!)currently comcast is impeding bittorrent uploads [ap story, my post]. susan crawford has an incisive analysis of the comcast affair. at the end of it, she calls for structural separation. below, i attempt to explain why.comcast could claim that bittorrent were a major bandwidth hog that it must "manage" to protect its network. in fact, it appears to be doing just that -- a comcast spokesman says''we have a responsibility to manage our network to ensure all our customers have the best broadband experience possible . . . this means we use the latest technologies to manage our network to provide a quality experience for all comcast subscribers.'' [link to ap article]contrarily, other reasonable observers could claim that comcast were deliberately discriminating to protect its main-line video entertainment by blocking or degrading a popular method for sending video. in other words, a network management exception cuts both ways.if a law specified explicitly what constituted reasonable network management, the motivation for a network operator-cum-apps-provider to game it to favor the network operator's own applications would be overwhelming. we've seen telecom laws gamed, undermined and picked apart in the past.if, instead, we had a law that said, "network operators must not have a financial interest in any of the content carried by that network," we could be assured that any network operator's network management would be for the sole purpose of running the network. such a law would keep government out of the network management business. enforcement would be via financial audit. such a law is called structural separation.then the network operator could manage its network any way it wanted, and we would be assured that it was not gaming the system to favor its own apps, services or content, because it would own no apps, services or content. and we would be assured that any innocent consequences of network management that inadvertently disadvantaged some other app, service or content were indeed innocent and would be quickly remedied. furthermore, once unencumbered by the need to use their network to advantage their own applications, network operators would be free to discover what odlyzko found and what internet 2 discovered [.pdf] -- that the best way to manage congestion is simply to build more capacity!(there would need to be one minor exception to structural separation to allow network operator web sites for customer interaction, service ordering, network status display, etc. this would be much simpler than a nn law's network management exception, and much easier to enforce.)in my humble opinion, the simplest, most sustainable way to ensure a neutral, non-discriminatory network is with a structural separation law.technorati tags: andrewodlyzko, comcast, content-conduit, end-to-end, freepress, networkneutrality, structuralseparation, susancrawford permalink // posted by isen @ 3:56 am // (0) comments // email  this   comcast violates network neutrality the associated press has confirmed by its own testing that comcast is blocking bittorrent uploads. susan crawford reports thatcomcast [is] slapping an rst flag [this is a tcp protocol element -- david i] on your packets. and any packets crossing the comcast network that were coming from the “outside” but were part of this conversation were also having the rst flag slapped on them as they crossed into comcast territory. neither user had any idea this was happening. they could just tell that things were moving really slowly and then stopping, as both machines politely agreed to reset themselves - thus cutting the conversation off.this is a clear violation of the internet's end-to-end principle [.pdf] in its most basic form. it is direct interference with the tcp protocol, which is designed to be between two endpoints. in other words, comcast is spoofing the uploader's endpoint.here's what's important: bittorrent is widely used to carry video objects. comcast's main business is providing video. by blocking bittorrent, comcast is keeping its customers from accessing disruptive technology dangerous to its main business.note: this is not the first time comcast has been accused of messing with upstream packets in a discriminatory manner! i reported this and this in march of 2006. also see this and this.technorati tags: comcast, disruptivetechnology, end-to-end, networkneutrality, poverty permalink // posted by isen @ 1:53 am // (0) comments // email  this wednesday, october 17, 2007   quote of note: nicholas economides "this paper considers the incentive for non-price discrimination of a monopolist in an input market who also sells in an oligopoly downstream market through a subsidiary. such a monopolist can raise the costs of the rivals to its subsidiary though discriminatory quality degradation. i find that the monopolist always, even when it is cost-disadvantaged, has the incentive to raise the costs of the rivals to its subsidiary in a discriminatory fashion . . . "abstract of "the incentive for non-price discrimination by an input monopolist" by nicholas economides, april 1997, link.technorati tags: economics, networkneutrality, quoteofnote, structuralseparation permalink // posted by isen @ 4:37 pm // (0) comments // email  this   effective unbundling key to broadband leadership a press release from the european commission says that over half of dsl lines (55.4%) are "either fully or partially unbundled." and, contrary to the u.s. telco propaganda at the height of the telco's campaign against u.s. unbundling, the report says, "alternative operators also increasingly invest in their own networks compared to services based on the incumbents' infrastructure." also notable: denmark, which has the highest broadband penetration in europe (37%), also has the fastest growing broadband penetration (7.7 lines per hundred in the calendar year 7/2006 to 7/2007).the report focusses on europe's digital divide. in contrast to denmark, bulgaria has less than 6% broadband penetration. the ec report cites, " lack of competition and regulatory weaknesses," as the main determinants of lagging broadband. hmmm . . . sounds familiar.thanks to esme vos for the pointer!technorati tags: broadband-per-capita, competition, unbundling permalink // posted by isen @ 2:44 pm // (1) comments // email  this saturday, october 13, 2007   wapo: nsa illegal spying == big time corruption the washington post has a very important story today that says (a) the nsa was doing illegal spying before september 11![qwest ceo joe] nacchio's account, which places the nsa proposal at a meeting on feb. 27, 2001, suggests that the bush administration was seeking to enlist telecommunications firms in programs without court oversight before the terrorist attacks on new york and the pentagon. the sept. 11 attacks have been cited by the government as the main impetus for its warrantless surveillance efforts.(b) the [redacted] -- probably the nsa -- is handing out big money for contracts. in a may 25, 2007, order, u.s. district judge edward w. nottingham wrote that nacchio has asserted that "qwest entered into two classified contracts valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, without a competitive bidding process and that in 2000 and 2001, he participated in discussion with high-ranking [redacted] representatives concerning the possibility of awarding additional contracts of a similar nature." he wrote, "those discussions led him to believe that [redacted] would award qwest contracts valued at amounts that would more than offset the negative warnings he was receiving about qwest's financial prospects."(c) the nsa punished qwest when it refused to take part in the nsa's illegal spying program.in the court filings disclosed this week, nacchio suggests that qwest's refusal to take part in that program led the government to cancel a separate, lucrative contract with the nsa in retribution. he is using the allegation to try to show why his stock sale should not have been considered improper.wow, talk about corruption.technorati tags: bushco, corruption, lawrencelessig, nsa, joenacchio, qwest, washingtonpost permalink // posted by isen @ 2:05 pm // (0) comments // email  this   quote of note: steve forbes "weather patterns have been constantly changing for eons, long before humans inhabited the earth. it is scientific hubris to conclude we truly know what fundamentally affects those patterns and how."steve forbes, letter to george woodwell of the woods hole research center, september 11, 2007.technorati tags: climatechange, globalwarming, humor, quoteofnote, science, stupidity permalink // posted by isen @ 9:11 am // (3) comments // email  this   lessig 2.0, the video larry lessig has moved on from copyright to corruption. he explains:i don't mean corruption in the simple sense of bribery. i mean "corruption" in the sense that the system is so queered by the influence of money that it can't even get an issue as simple and clear as term extension right. politicians are starved for the resources concentrated interests can provide. in the us, listening to money is the only way to secure reelection. and so an economy of influence bends public policy away from sense, always to dollars. [link.] lessig's first lecture on corruption is must-see-tv! do watch it. or, at least listen to the audio.technorati tags: corruption, lawrencelessig permalink // posted by isen @ 8:27 am // (1) comments // email  this   o'reilly etel cancelled the etel web site is terminally terse:due to changed circumstances since etel 2008 was announced,we have decided not to move forward with the conference,which was scheduled for march 3-4, 2008.thus ends one of the best meetings in the field! does anybody know what caused o'reilly to pull the plug?update: lee dryburgh's take on the cancellation:it would be a complete understatement to say that i was extremelydisappointed when i heard earlier that etel 2008 had beencancelled. in fact i was utterly pi**ed.more updata: lee dryburgh is trying to put together a conference called emergingcomm to fill etel's void. target date march-ish.technorati tags: conferences, disruptivetechnology, leedryburgh, timoreilly permalink // posted by isen @ 6:47 am // (2) comments // email  this friday, october 12, 2007   screenshot >1k words [link to boingboing (your ad will vary), link to isen.blog story]technorati tags: humor, networkneutrality, verizon permalink // posted by isen @ 1:23 am // (0) comments // email  this

isen.blog  Précédent 820  Précédent 819  Précédent 818  Précédent 817  Précédent 816  Précédent 815  Précédent 814  Précédent 813  Précédent 812  Précédent 811  Précédent 810  Précédent 809  Précédent 808  Précédent 807  Précédent 806  Précédent 805  Précédent 804  Précédent 803  Précédent 802  Précédent 801  Précédent 800  Précédent 799  Précédent 798  Précédent 797  Précédent 796  Précédent 795  Précédent 794  Précédent 793  Précédent 792  Précédent 791  Suivant 822  Suivant 823  Suivant 824  Suivant 825  Suivant 826  Suivant 827  Suivant 828  Suivant 829  Suivant 830  Suivant 831  Suivant 832  Suivant 833  Suivant 834  Suivant 835  Suivant 836  Suivant 837  Suivant 838  Suivant 839  Suivant 840  Suivant 841  Suivant 842  Suivant 843  Suivant 844  Suivant 845  Suivant 846  Suivant 847  Suivant 848  Suivant 849  Suivant 850  Suivant 851