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Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

techcrunch.com

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Re: Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

#31

Post by shubhamjain »

Privacy is never a serious issue in India and even in this case, it only caught an eye when C&D letter was sent. In fact, code and advertisement injection is something broadband providers like MTNL have been doing since ages. Sadly, business malpractices rarely get punished in India and have become more of norm that comes with running it.

The only way I see out is to hurt these companies as much as possible. Boycotting their services on a large scale, so they get to know that they are not the king here.

Re: Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

#32

Post by jimrandomh »

wvenable wrote: post #29
jimrandomh wrote: post #16

Brief summary: Thejesh has accused Indian Airtel and Flash Networks Layer8 of something that may be a crime (depending on the particulars of Indian law) and is definitely a scandal. Specifically, the accusation is that Flash Networks Layer8 wrote a piece of malicious software and that Airtel injected it into customers' network connections. Thejesh republished the injected script on GitHub. Flash Networks sent a nasty…

Just because code/webpages are delivered to you over the web doesn't mean you can take them and republish them somewhere else.

Just because fingerprints were found at the scene of the burglary doesn't mean you take them and republish them somewhere else.

Re: Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

#33

Post by poizan42 »

jimrandomh wrote: post #22
currentoor wrote: post #14

It's not really a big deal but why do they need to say Indian programmer as apposed to just a programmer?

Because the story takes place in India, and since TechCrunch is an American publication, people would otherwise assume the story was taking place in the US.

That and the DMCA does not apply in India, they are just abusing the system.

Re: Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

#34

Post by smhenderson »

jimrandomh wrote: post #16

Brief summary: Thejesh has accused Indian Airtel and Flash Networks Layer8 of something that may be a crime (depending on the particulars of Indian law) and is definitely a scandal. Specifically, the accusation is that Flash Networks Layer8 wrote a piece of malicious software and that Airtel injected it into customers' network connections. Thejesh republished the injected script on GitHub. Flash Networks sent a nasty…

Additionally Airtel denies foreknowledge and says it has nothing to with the C&D. I would not be surprised if this is PR (given their weasel-worded reasoning behind being affiliated with Flash NW in the first place [1]) but on the face of it they also think the C&D was unwarranted and not a good idea...

[1] “This is a standard solution deployed by telcos globally to help their customers keep track of their data usage in terms of mega bytes used. It is therefore meant to improve customer experience and empower them to manage their usage. One of our network vendor partners has piloted this solution through a third party to help customers understand their data consumption in terms of volume of data used. As a responsible corporate, we have the highest regard for customer privacy and we follow a policy of zero tolerance with regard to the confidentiality of customer data. We are also surprised at the Cease & Desist notice served by Flash Networks to Thejesh GN, and categorically state that we have no relation, whatsoever, with the notice.”

Re: Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

#35

Post by shkkmo »

jamra wrote: post #3

He got a cease and desist letter from the copyright holders, not the injectors. I believe his ISP was injecting.

Why is this downvoted? The statement appears to be correct based on the article linked.

>an Indian Airtel customer, Thejesh GN, discovered that the carrier had begun using Flash Networks Layer8 “monetization” (read “ad injection”) solutions.

>However, like so many ridiculous cease and desist letters, that hasn’t stopped Flash Networks lawyer Ameet Metha at Solicis Lex from trying to scare Thejesh

>Airtel, for their part, told Storypick that they have nothing to do with the C&D:

Re: Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

#36

Post by sarciszewski »

jimrandomh wrote: post #16

Brief summary: Thejesh has accused Indian Airtel and Flash Networks Layer8 of something that may be a crime (depending on the particulars of Indian law) and is definitely a scandal. Specifically, the accusation is that Flash Networks Layer8 wrote a piece of malicious software and that Airtel injected it into customers' network connections. Thejesh republished the injected script on GitHub. Flash Networks sent a nasty…

If anyone finds themselves in a similar situation, please email me the snippets and explain the story. I'll mirror them for you.

scott@arciszewski.me

Fuck censorship.

Re: Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

#37

Post by Zikes »

duskwuff wrote: post #26
ikeboy wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google rejects many DMCA requests, does that mean they aren't covered under safe harbor?

Google is in the unusual situation of receiving a lot of blatantly invalid DMCA takedowns. Like, a movie studio (or a company under contract to them) will do a Google search for something broad, like "download game of thrones", and issue a mass takedown for every single link that shows up, often without even looking at the links . So a lot of perfectly legal content (e.g, a news article that says "Game Of Thrones is…

The ridiculous thing is that there are no consequences for the groups sending out those invalid DMCA requests. Every other week I read about how someone uses DMCA to censor a YouTube video or article that's critical of them, but apart from the loss of face with the public they don't see any of the legal or financial penalties that are supposed to result from invalid DMCAs.

Re: Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

#38

Post by MichaelGG »

[deleted] wrote: post #10
eridius wrote: post #4

> and Github, for their part, cravenly pulled the code as part of DMCA request. That's a very weirdly-opinionated statement. Isn't GitHub legally required to obey the DMCA request?

[deleted]

How was it in the public domain?

Re: Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

#39

Post by poizan42 »

sp332 wrote: post #6
eridius wrote: post #4

> and Github, for their part, cravenly pulled the code as part of DMCA request. That's a very weirdly-opinionated statement. Isn't GitHub legally required to obey the DMCA request?

Not required exactly, but if they refuse to take down the content, then they can be sued for copyright infringement themselves. The DMCA removes their liability and makes the fight between the uploader and the copyright holder. But if they step outside of the "safe harbor" they become potential targets.

IANAL, but can't github still be sued in India where the DMCA doesn't apply? GitHub is doing business in India as well, so wouldn't they be subject to the jurisdiction of an indian court?

Re: Indian Programmer Exposes Code Injection, Gets a Cease and Desist from Injectors

#40

Post by jimrandomh »

poizan42 wrote: post #33
jimrandomh wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because the story takes place in India, and since TechCrunch is an American publication, people would otherwise assume the story was taking place in the US.

That and the DMCA does not apply in India, they are just abusing the system.

No, the DMCA does apply because GitHub is an American company.

(I mean, they are abusing the system, but not in that particular way.)

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