Via Web-intercept splash page, TV station accused of "hostage taking"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
Date: December 31, 2008 4:42:45 PM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: 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





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