Comcast injecting JS • Hacker News Board

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#51

Post by forgotAgain » Tue, Apr 02, 2013, 10:53 PM UTC

TheOsiris wrote: post #36

networked wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about creating /e8f6b078-0f35-11de-85c5-efc5ef23aa1f/aupm/notify.do on your server to notify Comcast users about what their internet service provider is doing? If people started doing that en masse it could bring attention to the problem and with enough publicity get Comcast to reconsider JS injection. I don't really understand the point of this, either. Couldn't they starting redirecting users to a static page s…

Best idea ever! But, they'll probably prosecute who ever does it for some BS reason and sentence them to a term of 500 years

Welcome to the Patriot era.

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#52

Post by readme » Tue, Apr 02, 2013, 10:57 PM UTC

Um, is this something that is always injected? I have comcast and I don't see it in any pages.

I'm guessing this is their clever way of reminding you to pay the bill when you're late?

Pay your bill or they'll stuff ugly JavaScript in your browser, you've been warned!

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#53

Post by ihsw » Tue, Apr 02, 2013, 10:58 PM UTC

metageek wrote: post #28

Isn't JS injection a copyright violation, since it creates a derived work? Or has that idea been shot down before?

Good luck fighting against a team of lawyers with virtually unlimited budget. If you're lucky you might get a cash settlement but they'll still be screwing everybody else with impunity.

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#54

Post by dribnet » Tue, Apr 02, 2013, 10:59 PM UTC

STRML wrote: post #35

This code is beyond awful - it fails to display, makes endless AJAX requests, and more; here are a few fun tidbits: 1. The code is not encapsulated in an IIFE, so it clobbers any global variables (like 'image_url') in the page, breaking any scripts relying on those variables. 2. The code spends an inordinate time checking if you're running Netscape Navigator 6. 3. Strangely, they include a whole bunch of code allowin…

> Whoever wrote this script should be fired.

Not to mention the potential GPL violation for cut-n-pasting brainjar code.

http://www.brainjar.com/terms.asp

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#55

Post by fletchowns » Tue, Apr 02, 2013, 11:03 PM UTC

readme wrote: post #52

Um, is this something that is always injected? I have comcast and I don't see it in any pages. I'm guessing this is their clever way of reminding you to pay the bill when you're late? Pay your bill or they'll stuff ugly JavaScript in your browser, you've been warned!

It's right there near the top....

You have reached 90% of your monthly data usage allowance.

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#56

Post by thomasvendetta » Tue, Apr 02, 2013, 11:04 PM UTC

TheOsiris wrote: post #36

networked wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about creating /e8f6b078-0f35-11de-85c5-efc5ef23aa1f/aupm/notify.do on your server to notify Comcast users about what their internet service provider is doing? If people started doing that en masse it could bring attention to the problem and with enough publicity get Comcast to reconsider JS injection. I don't really understand the point of this, either. Couldn't they starting redirecting users to a static page s…

Best idea ever! But, they'll probably prosecute who ever does it for some BS reason and sentence them to a term of 500 years

Dont forget a $70,000 fine.

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#57

Post by tonyb » Tue, Apr 02, 2013, 11:05 PM UTC

This is probably part of their "Web Notifcation System". They have a published RFC talking about how it works (RFC6108).

Using that system they can selectively notify customers. Like if they detect your system is infected with a virus. Or warn you your service will be discontinued if you don't pay your bill.

http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6108

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#58

Post by wizzard » Tue, Apr 02, 2013, 11:08 PM UTC

networked wrote: post #3

brokentone wrote: post #2

I'm getting a lot of requests on our servers for "/e8f6b078-0f35-11de-85c5-efc5ef23aa1f/aupm/notify.do" so I can confirm this is in production. I can also confirm they suck at JS.

How about creating /e8f6b078-0f35-11de-85c5-efc5ef23aa1f/aupm/notify.do on your server to notify Comcast users about what their internet service provider is doing? If people started doing that en masse it could bring attention to the problem and with enough publicity get Comcast to reconsider JS injection. I don't really understand the point of this, either. Couldn't they starting redirecting users to a static page s…

How about putting a giant video file there? Or just embed this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ilMx7k7mso (language)

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#59

Post by warfangle » Tue, Apr 02, 2013, 11:11 PM UTC

Total_Meltdown wrote: post #50

chadscira wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure they are checking content-type headers... Just because you can do this doesn't mean you should (i will stay away from comcast xfinity).

I wouldn't be so sure. They're barely even checking what browser you're running.

Unless it's NSN 6...

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#60

Post by jerf » Tue, Apr 02, 2013, 11:12 PM UTC

metageek wrote: post #28

Isn't JS injection a copyright violation, since it creates a derived work? Or has that idea been shot down before?

This remains an untested field of copyright law, as far as I know. I've been waiting for literally over a decade for some test case on this matter to come up, and it never does. Perhaps by 2023.