Comcast's "Evil Bot" Scanning Project (Lauren Weinstein)

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Doug Humphrey <doug () joss com>
> Date: October 10, 2009 14:50:23 EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Cc: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
> Subject: Re: [IP] Comcast's "Evil Bot" Scanning Project (Lauren  
> Weinstein)

> It might be optimal if they would lay out "policy" in two
> statements, one technical and one for the "masses"
>
> Of course, there would be the danger that the two would
> not match - the lawyers would point that out - one of the
> reasons that lawyers point out for "plain language contracts"
> not being a good idea (in their view)
>
> The "non-tech" statement is for them people who want to
> know how this might effect them, but are not technical and
> do not really have concerns on how it is implemented - they
> would not understand those details anyway,  remember, the
> average Comcast customer is not on this list - and then the
> "tech" statement would be as much about how they would
> go about it as what they were trying to accomplish, so that
> tech savvy people could look to see if there are any side
> effects that they are not going to like, etc.
>
> As a former founder/owner/runner of an ISP (Digex) I can
> assure you that I understand both sides of this argument!
>
> doug
>
>
>
> On Oct 10, 2009, at 2:03 PM, Dave Farber wrote:
>
> > Begin forwarded message:
> >
> > > From: John Levine <johnl () iecc com>
> > > Date: October 10, 2009 13:33:21 EDT
> > > To: dave () farber net
> > > Cc: "David P. Reed" <dpreed () reed com>, lauren () vortex com
> > > Subject: Re: [IP] Re: Comcast's "Evil Bot" Scanning Project  
> > > (Lauren Weinstein)
> >
> > > > I don't see where Comcast is being transparent about *how* they do
> > > > this, or giving customers a chance to opt-in or -out.
> > >
> > > Right.  Do you suppose there's a reason they'd rather not publish
> > > instructions to tell bot writers how to circumvent their defenses?
> > >
> > > If you're wondering how their sandbox works, look at the I-D they
> > > sent in last week.
> > >
> > > > If I send a lot of email, why does that make me a "bot"?  Maybe I  
> > > > just
> > > > send a lot of email.
> > >
> > > It doesn't.  As others have noted, it's not hard to tell bot  
> > > behavior
> > > from heavy user behavior.
> > >
> > > > But to be honest, in most markets, Comcast is the only real choice,
> > > > and imposing their "features" on me might not be what I want, ...
> > >
> > > Ah yes, "ISPs musn't deal with dangerous software installed on their
> > > networks by criminals because it might, hypothetically,  
> > > inconvenience
> > > me."  Get real.  This is not a few script kiddies.  This is
> > > sophisticated criminal malware that does things like rewriting  
> > > online
> > > bank transcations in real time to steal money from users' accounts,
> > > and DDoS ecommerce sites in extortion schemes.  It would be
> > > irresponsible for large ISPs like Comcast NOT to use whatever tools
> > > they have to deal with it.
> > >
> > > R's,
> > > John
> > Archives        



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