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South Korean telecom company attacks torrent users with malware

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Re: South Korean telecom company attacks torrent users with malware

#152
KT built fiber connection here in Poland ~15y ago. Project was made in a large part of the country, strongly subsidised and thought as a backbone for other ISPs. 4k km of fiber underground and multiple nodes.

Project is now being nationalised as kt: - didn't pay subcontractors. Many of them went bankrupt - offered prices so large, that other isps would rather create their own infra than use theirs - abandon the project totally Of course i shouldn't put this under KT's name, as they used a subcompany - SungGwang - for all the dirty stuff.

So, fast forward: we laid a new infra parallel to this one in many cases and that one lays in the ground and rots.

Re: South Korean telecom company attacks torrent users with malware

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even NK advocacy sites do not threat national security either, but I meant that such restriction is allowed by the law which was ultimately passed the Congress and so you are wrong to claim that it's "illegal". See also my other comment for the background. Also the watchmen argument against such restrictions is so old at this point that there are lots of counterpoints available for you, if you wish.

which exception by the way? please explain which exception makes them `legal` to scan every communication for censorship. not everyone and not every network requests are related to national security and illegal action(i.e. gamble, drugs, etc.)

> which exception by the way? please explain which exception makes them `legal` to scan every communication for censorship.

Oh yeah, see the Act on Promotion of Information and blablabla, Articles 42-2, 44-2, 44-3 and 44-7. In particular Article 44-7 (2) through (4) explicitly allow for such technical measure to be enforced. ("Information and communications services" include ISPs for sure, see the definitions in Article 2.) Like it or not, it is legal in principle and your claim doesn't make it illegal.

> not everyone and not every network requests are related to national security and illegal action(i.e. gamble, drugs, etc.)

By the way, you seem to acknowledge that the government can scan them for illegal actions then?

Re: South Korean telecom company attacks torrent users with malware

#154
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Kinda" may mean so many things that "kinda illegal" is as useful as no information, hence all these elaborations. They also matter for the eventual resolution.

I beg to differ. Using "Incorrect" to counter the statement that distribution is illegal implies it's largely untrue. While a distinction between "illegal" and "de facto illegal" exists, your own explanation doesn't support such a strong rebuttal. You acknowledge that legal pornography, while technically possible, faces significant hurdles due to rampant piracy and legal loopholes. This creates a situation where acce…

Maybe I should have also explained that, in spite of these difficulties, there do exist lots of pornographic materials legally available in South Korea. There are many adult-oriented channels in many cable television providers for example. If my wording made you think that legal pornography is technically possible but practically dead in SK, it is my fault. Legal pornography is okay, but just less popular than illegal pornography, I meant to say. (Probably because it is still a taboo to openly say about illegal pornography.)

Re: South Korean telecom company attacks torrent users with malware

#155

How exactly was the malware deployed?

In Korea, ISPs often encourage their customers to install programs to access additional services. For example, antivirus and parental control programs are quite common. Parents also use these programs to monitor and restrict their children's gaming and internet usage. Distributing malware as part of the installation process for these services is not difficult for ISPs.

Re: South Korean telecom company attacks torrent users with malware

#156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

which exception by the way? please explain which exception makes them `legal` to scan every communication for censorship. not everyone and not every network requests are related to national security and illegal action(i.e. gamble, drugs, etc.)

> which exception by the way? please explain which exception makes them `legal` to scan every communication for censorship. Oh yeah, see the Act on Promotion of Information and blablabla, Articles 42-2, 44-2, 44-3 and 44-7. In particular Article 44-7 (2) through (4) explicitly allow for such technical measure to be enforced. ("Information and communications services" include ISPs for sure, see the definitions in Arti…

> By the way, you seem to acknowledge that the government can scan them for illegal actions then?

nice try.

Re: South Korean telecom company attacks torrent users with malware

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they are facing the demographic cliff of demographic cliffs... Although what I suspect will happen is that North Korea will fall apart eventually and South Korea will get a demographic surge from immigrating North Koreans.

Will China allow NK to fall apart?

China just wants a geographic buffer zone. If everyone in NK moves to SK, they don't care.

Re: South Korean telecom company attacks torrent users with malware

#158
post #155

How exactly was the malware deployed?

In Korea, ISPs often encourage their customers to install programs to access additional services. For example, antivirus and parental control programs are quite common. Parents also use these programs to monitor and restrict their children's gaming and internet usage. Distributing malware as part of the installation process for these services is not difficult for ISPs.

Thanks for your insightful response, the different behaviours across countries is extremely interesting - I don’t think my ISP has ever recommended software like that (though, my isp is targeted at tech savvy people, where I assume this ISP is targeting the masses )
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