Setting the Record Straight on Tor • Hacker News Board

Re: Setting the Record Straight on Tor

#31

Post by AnthonyMouse » Mon, Sep 15, 2014, 7:27 PM UTC

imacomputer2 wrote: post #22

opendais wrote: post #4

> Comcast doesn’t monitor our customer’s browser software, web surfing or online history. I'd take this as evidence they monitor every connection that isn't over http ... which happens to include VPNs and Tor. Otherwise, they would have just said "We do not monitor your internet connection except to gather aggregate statistics for billing purposes".

"Comcast doesn’t monitor our customer’s browser software, web surfing or online history." That would imply that they don't even have a log of what requests are passing through their system. I find that extremely hard to believe.

> That would imply that they don't even have a log of what requests are passing through their system. I find that extremely hard to believe.

They damn well better not be.

Re: Setting the Record Straight on Tor

#32

Post by rnovak » Mon, Sep 15, 2014, 7:33 PM UTC

We do not terminate customers for violating the Copyright Alert System (aka "six strikes"), which is a non-punitive, educational and voluntary copyright program.

Since when is this "voluntary"? I'm guessing in that if you choose not to subscribe to any ISP, I guess you wouldn't be 'enrolled' in the program, but you also wouldn't have internet service, about as 'voluntary' as breathing is to life.

Re: Setting the Record Straight on Tor

#33

Post by AdmiralAsshat » Mon, Sep 15, 2014, 7:34 PM UTC

bowlofpetunias wrote: post #29

Whatever may be wrong with Comcast (connectivity-wise I'm soooo glad I don't live in the US), this is absolutely exemplary damage control PR. Clear, accessible, no weasel words, no lawyer-speak, to the point and with a human touch to round it of.

Well, they addressed the content of the allegations, but not the source, other than saying that the chat transcript was "inaccurate". In what way, we don't know. Was it completely fabricated? Was the Comcast representative misinformed? Have they backtracked on their policy?

The fact that they don't address it at all suggests to me that they haven't drafted a damage-controlled explanation yet.

Re: Setting the Record Straight on Tor

#34

Post by hawleyal » Mon, Sep 15, 2014, 7:40 PM UTC

eli wrote: post #13

It's a little scary how quickly an unsourced and highly questionable story can spread when it feeds a popular narrative (in this case that Comcast is evil).

It's a little scary how a denial by the company can easily dissuade a dissenting opinion.

Re: Setting the Record Straight on Tor

#35

Post by hawleyal » Mon, Sep 15, 2014, 7:42 PM UTC

bowlofpetunias wrote: post #29

Whatever may be wrong with Comcast (connectivity-wise I'm soooo glad I don't live in the US), this is absolutely exemplary damage control PR. Clear, accessible, no weasel words, no lawyer-speak, to the point and with a human touch to round it of.

They said something similar about the non-compliant service rep who would not cancel service.

They are skilled at PR, but are not necessarily telling the truth.

Re: Setting the Record Straight on Tor

#36

Post by Buge » Mon, Sep 15, 2014, 7:49 PM UTC

chippy wrote: post #7

Comcast seems to get negative press on reddit - at least as much as Netflix has positive. The site must be very easy for marketeers to game.

I don't think it's marketers.

One person makes a negative post about it and gets to the front page so other people think "I know, I'll also make a negative post and get to the front page and get a ton of karma." And everyone upvotes people who confirm their own opinions.

Now because of the reputation, anyone who is going to talk to Comcast will record the call, just in case. And the people who do have the call go bad will quick post it to reddit to get popular.

Re: Setting the Record Straight on Tor

#37

Post by opendais » Mon, Sep 15, 2014, 7:49 PM UTC

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #31

imacomputer2 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Comcast doesn’t monitor our customer’s browser software, web surfing or online history." That would imply that they don't even have a log of what requests are passing through their system. I find that extremely hard to believe.

> That would imply that they don't even have a log of what requests are passing through their system. I find that extremely hard to believe. They damn well better not be.

"Comcast did not respond to our inquiries but has mentioned a 180 day retention policy for IP-addresses in BitTorrent-related court documents. On some occasions cases have been dismissed because logs were no longer available, meaning that alleged infringers could not be identified.

The 180 day policy is also mentioned in the Comcast Law Enforcement Handbook that leaked in 2007."

https://torrentfreak.com/how-long-does-your-isp-store-ip-add...

https://blog.ryankearney.com/2013/01/comcast-caught-intercep...

They are clearly logging some things. I'm mostly amused people want to downvote my comment and pretend it isn't happening.

Re: Setting the Record Straight on Tor

#38

Post by opendais » Mon, Sep 15, 2014, 7:55 PM UTC

bowlofpetunias wrote: post #29

Whatever may be wrong with Comcast (connectivity-wise I'm soooo glad I don't live in the US), this is absolutely exemplary damage control PR. Clear, accessible, no weasel words, no lawyer-speak, to the point and with a human touch to round it of.

Eh? They stated they didn't monitor stuff via a browser.

The thing is, a client connection to the TOR network wouldn't look like a HTTP request. So "No we don't monitor your browser traffic" is the equivalent of saying "Yes, we do monitor if you do something other than use a browser to surf the web" in a situation where the object of discussion isn't a browser.

Re: Setting the Record Straight on Tor

#39

Post by ufmace » Mon, Sep 15, 2014, 8:05 PM UTC

sp332 wrote: post #5

[deleted] wrote: post #2

[deleted]

There haven't been any recordings. There was one supposed chat transcript posted to /r/darknetmarkets.

Supposedly posted to /r/darknetmarkets. I haven't seen any links to actual posts yet. I did do a quick search of the sub for comcast, and found nothing. I don't see why the darknetmarkets mods would delete it, and the only other explanation is that it's entirely made up.

Re: Setting the Record Straight on Tor

#40

Post by daveloyall » Mon, Sep 15, 2014, 8:10 PM UTC

imacomputer2 wrote: post #22

opendais wrote: post #4

> Comcast doesn’t monitor our customer’s browser software, web surfing or online history. I'd take this as evidence they monitor every connection that isn't over http ... which happens to include VPNs and Tor. Otherwise, they would have just said "We do not monitor your internet connection except to gather aggregate statistics for billing purposes".

"Comcast doesn’t monitor our customer’s browser software, web surfing or online history." That would imply that they don't even have a log of what requests are passing through their system. I find that extremely hard to believe.

Why would a road keep a copy of cars that traverse it? The 'requests' aren't addressed to Comcast, they are addressed to... well, news.ycombinator.com for example.