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Big Business wants to be Big Brother.

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As if having to be concerned about criminals & police spying on our online activities isn’t enough, now the entertainment & advertising industries want to do the same.

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[b]A)[/b] Big Advertising now has a box that ISPs can use to both [b]moniter[/b] our surfing [u]and[/u] [b]insert ads into our incoming data stream[/b].

http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2007/070209bradner.html

[b]An invisible abomination
ISPs spying on customers? Internet activities, inserting ads in Web pages[/b]

‘Net Insider
By Scott Bradner, Network World, 07/02/07

Once upon a time ISPs just transported packets of information from place to place without looking at them other than to find out where they should go. Of course that could not last. Now a company is selling ISPs a device designed to spy on customer traffic, track preferences and insert specially selected ads during Web surfing.

Start-up NebuAd seems to be trying to put all ISP-related, bad network-behavior into a single box. It is trying to sell a device that, according to its Web page, will ?analyze and act on consumer behavior? in order to develop a ?keen insight into a consumer?s dynamic, Web-wide behavior.? Basically, the device spies on traffic to try to determine the ?demographics, geography, life style and interests? of individual customers (see the Web site for NebuAd?s Fair Eagle division). The box then inserts ads into the data stream the customer is receiving back from a Web site. This is done without the knowledge or permission of the customer or the Web site owner. Predictably, just like the data brokers who sell your every secret to the lowest bidder, NebuAd tries to claim that this is in the best interest of the consumer. Also note that the company could be subpoenaed for any spying it might have done on traffic to or from your IP address.

My reaction on reading about this device was one of disgust ? it?s as if one were to take the entire swamp of bad things an ISP could do and boil it down to get concentrated slime. NebuAd does claim it doesn?t collect or use any personally identifiable information (see its privacy policy). But, based on such experiences as AOL?s data release (thanks for nothing, AOL), if one collects the kind of information NebuAd seems to be, it is easy to figure out whom you are looking at in far too many cases. In addition, even if the company might not be collecting personally identifiable information today, it is hard to trust that a company offering such an invasive product would not hesitate to change its tune if it thought there was a buck in it somewhere. It may give a hint to the company?s mind-set if you understand that ?nebu? is the Egyptian hieroglyph for gold.

Some of this is far from a new idea. The idea of developing technology to enable ISPs to insert or replace ads surreptitiously when their customers surf the Web came up in the IETF more than six years ago. The Internet Architecture Board carefully considered the policy and architectural aspects of the idea and published RFC 3238, ?Architectural and Policy Considerations for Open Pluggable Edge Services.? This document, among many other things, said that any deployment of such technology must be enabled only if the user or the Web site operator agreed. NebuAd is ignoring that guidance.

At least one Texas-based ISP has tried this device without letting its users know. If you were a customer of that ISP and you surfed my ad-free Web site, you might see ads and assume I had sold out. In that way, NebuAd would be directly harming me.

NebuAd says that individuals can opt out unless they are using a Wi-Fi ISP. If someone does opt out, NebuAd will place a cookie from the Fair Eagle site on the user?s machine that it claims will block the data gathering and ad placement. That will not work for anyone who does not know about the ?service? or who removes cookies from their machine regularly — as I do.

In my opinion, any ISP that secretly deploys such a device should be outed, shunned, then sued for theft by every Web site operator that has an ad overwritten or added. When you do so please add NebuAd to the suit for contributory sliminess. Hopefully there is still enough venture capital money left to attract the right kind of lawyers.

Disclaimer: Harvard trains all kinds of lawyers, but I did not ask any of them for their opinion of the value of these targets. Thus, the above is my own slime exploration.

All contents copyright 1995-2007 Network World, Inc.

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[b]B)[/b] Big Entertainment wants ISPs to be required to moniter our access to & storage of copywritten materials, and take steps to police our use of such. At least one [b]ISP[/b] is already [b]doing daily purges of user data[/b].

[b]1)[/b] http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2007/062807backspin.html

[b]1984 plus 23 equals CACP[/b]

Backspin
By Mark Gibbs, Network World, 06/28/07

Orwell?s novel 1984 has a number of major themes. There is the continuous ?war,? which is used to justify the actions and policies of the government. There is doublethink and newspeak; the former the ability to hold two contradictory ideas in mind simultaneously and believe both to be true while the latter is the linguistic representation of the doublethink. And there is the pervasive, highly structured repression of the populace.

Lest you think that Orwell?s vision was fanciful just consider the following assertion: ?Our law enforcement resources are seriously misaligned . . . If you add up all the various kinds of property crimes in this country, everything from theft, to fraud, to burglary, bank-robbing, all of it, it costs the country $16 billion a year. But intellectual property crime runs to hundreds of billions [of dollars] a year . . . This is not about addressing problems in a particular sector. This is a major issue of public policy that affects our entire economy.” What utter crap.

This gem of doublethink and newspeak came from the lips of Rick Cotton, NBC/Universal general counsel, who also is the chairman of the newly formed Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy, which I note has as its acronym CACP ? you?d think media types would have come up with something more catchy like Coalition Regarding Active Piracy . . . or maybe something else.

Anyway, to continue the newspeak CACP is mounting a campaign called ?the Campaign to Protect America.? Remember 1984?s war? Here we have against ?the pirates? the forces of right, to whit, the MPAA, the RIAA and ? this is where these bastards are getting really clever ? they are in partnership with the National Association of Manufacturers and the pharmaceuticals industry. What they have done is to conflate their campaign against piracy with a campaign against counterfeiting (hence the support of Big Pharma). And as if that wasn?t enough the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is supporting the ?war?!

In case you think that this unwholesome brigade is unlikely to affect you just remember that the RIAA has been actively looking for people downloading pirated content so that it can either extract thousands of dollars from them or take them to court. The problem with this campaign has been that the RIAA is, to put it mildly, sloppy and casual in its forensics.

These tactics have resulted in the RIAA going after people such as Tanya Andersen, a disabled single mother in Oregon. On the basis of nothing more than an IP address ? let me stress that there was no other evidence, just the IP address — the RIAA in the guise of Atlantic Records (oh, how far they have fallen) sued Andersen in 2005 for piracy.

This is where things got really ridiculous: She was accused of using Kazaa to download gangsta rap. She vehemently denied the charges and filed a counterclaim that alleged the record labels indulged in fraud, racketeering and deceptive business practices.

The good news is that early in June the case against Andersen was dismissed with prejudice and Andersen?s counterclaim looks good because she also has evidence that RIAA representatives attempted among other things to contact her 8-year-old daughter!

The case against Andersen is one of two cases where the RIAA?s outrageous and shameful bullying tactics were defeated. Hopefully this will open the door for more people accused of piracy to not only prove themselves innocent but lay the groundwork for the RIAA strong-arm mob?s extortion racket to be exposed and stopped.

However the whole CACP ploy could be very bad news for us all because its goal will be to extend the reach of the law into all sorts of areas where we really don?t want it. Next week, we?ll look at what it might be able to do.

Until then let me tell you how bad it could get: There?s a character in 1984, O’Brien, a member of the elite who runs the country and describes what he thinks the future will look like: “All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always ? do not forget this, Winston ? always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.? Somehow I could imagine Cotton saying that, couldn?t you?

All contents copyright 1995-2007 Network World, Inc.

[b]2)[/b]

http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2007/070907backspin.html

[b]Forget Big Brother — Watch out for Big Entertainment[/b]

Backspin
By Mark Gibbs, Network World, 07/09/07

Last week I discussed the doublethink and newspeak of ?the Campaign to Protect America,? an initiative launched by the Coalition Against Counterfeiting and Piracy as well as the shameful strong-arm bullying tactics of the Recording Industry Association of America.

My big concern about this coalition is that it isn?t just about Big Entertainment trying to stop ?piracy?, it also includes the National Association of Manufacturers and Big Pharma on the pretext of addressing the problems of counterfeiting.

As I suggested at the end of last week?s rant, the CACP ploy could be very bad news for us all because its goal will be to extend the law into all sorts of areas where we really don?t want it and I threatened that this week I?d look at what it might be able to do.

Here?s the worst case scenario: Consumer PCs would, by law, be directly monitored by ISPs to ensure compliance, and the legal consequences for any attempt to circumvent mointoring would make the punishment for murder look like a slap on the wrist.

?Oh, come on, Gibbs,? you might be saying, ?That?s ridiculous!?

You think? Well, in Australia there is an example of a real foray by Big Entertainment into the lives of consumers. The customers of an Australian ISP, Exetel, have all audio and video content in their accounts automatically deleted every night. Exetel has been doing this for over a year and their customers are informed when they sign up that this will happen.

But what really matters is why the company is doing this: According to Exetel?s FAQ, the reason for the nightly purge isn?t anything as sensible as space conservation, but what it says is its ?hard approach to copyright issues.? It is true that users can avoid losing their content by writing to Exetel and confirming that they have the right to store the multimedia content, but the real issue is that Exetel would become actively involved in policing content with all of the legal responsibility it would take on by doing so.

Remember Rick Cotton, NBC/Universal general counsel, who I mentioned last week? A couple of weeks ago he actually suggested that ISPs spend more of their time spying on users and then added that the law be changed to remove the Safe Harbor provisions that protect ISPs when their customers have pirated materials! According to several sources, Cotton would like to see ISPs forced to use ?readily available means to prevent the use of their broadband capacity to transfer pirated content.?

My scenario still sound far-fetched? AT&T is on record that it plans to develop and deploy mechanisms for finding and removing copyrighted material from its network.

If AT&T does do such a thing, then it is certain that every other major ISP, like the lemmings they are, will follow suit and the consequences will be tremendous.

For a start the RIAA?s campaign to prosecute people they believe to be infringing on member?s copyrights will escalate because it can demand that the ISPs inform them of infringements they discover. The cash flow from the extortion will ensure enough cash flow to keep the RIAA?s legal machine in top gear.

From there to mandatory monitoring of your Internet connection and then your home PC is just a few short steps away.

So, does my worst case scenario still sound ridiculous?

All contents copyright 1995-2007 Network World, Inc.

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Perhaps it’s time to reconsider the old “sneaker-net.”

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