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Via Web-intercept splash page, TV station accused of "hostage taking"
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2009 02:16:43 -0500
Begin forwarded message: From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com> Date: December 31, 2008 4:42:45 PM EST To: dave () farber netSubject: Via Web-intercept splash page, TV station accused of "hostage taking"
Via Web-Intercept Splash Page, TV Station Accused of "Hostage Taking" http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000486.html Greetings. Well, we're at the end of another *really* fun year, and just like the routine Fall fires we had here in L.A. recently, we're now being treated to yet another round of cable carriage disputes. But some new techniques are being used to editorialize about them this time. You've already no doubt heard that Time Warner Cable (my happy local cable TV provider, as it happens) is threatening to pull all Viacom channels off air at midnight tonight over a contract dispute ( http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2337774,00.asp ). Some observers speculate that if TW follows through on this, they may unwittingly help drive more subscribers to online TV offerings. Of course TW is ready for that eventuality with their upcoming bandwidth caps. But there are other similar disputes, including one between BendBroadband of Oregon and KFXO-TV. This morning I received a screenshot of what greeted a BendBroadband Internet subscriber today -- a long message embodied in a "splash" screen that intercepted his initial attempt to reach an unrelated Web site. In general, I view ISP stand-alone "splash" pages, which don't modify other pages, nor prepend (or append) themselves onto other pages, as the lessor evil when it comes to ISP page modifications. In this case though, BendBroadband went way beyond a simple service-related informational message stating that a dispute exists, and instead used their PerfTech intercept system for a long editorial tirade that included accusing KFXO of holding programming "hostage" for commercial gain. As it turns out, the intercept page is currently accessible outside of BendBroadband's service space, so you can see it for yourself (I've replaced the original user's URL with the NNSquad home page for this example): http://tinyurl.com/perftech-kfxo One assumes that KFXO wasn't offered equal time for a response in the same manner. BendBroadband appears to have clearly gone "over the top" in this case, and has provided an object lesson demonstrating how easily such IP interception capabilities can be abused. And so it goes ... Best wishes for 2009! --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 http://www.pfir.org/lauren Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com ------------------------------------------- Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/ Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
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- Via Web-intercept splash page, TV station accused of "hostage taking" David Farber (Dec 31)