test your isp
The EFF has issued a press release announcing a new project called "Test your ISP". A few months ago, it started becoming clear that some ISPs, including Comcast, are doing naughty things to your Internet traffic. Comcast has publicly said they do not block traffic and do not target specific protocols, but AP and EFF conducted tests showing that in fact Comcast is using forged TCP RST packet-insertion techniques to block at least BitTorrent and Gnutella connections, and also other things like Lotus Notes. In the face of this evidence, Comcast clarified that they do "delay some traffic" so that everyone can enjoy the network. A forged TCP RST packet is not delaying traffic; a forged TCP RST packet is like a telephone operator interrupting your call, imitating your friend's voice, and saying "this conversation is over", then disconnecting your call; and furthermore, the packet insertion happens regardless of how much bandwidth you are using (leaving your internet connection idle for a whole day and then uploading a half-megabyte file causes the blocking to occur). In fact, forged TCP RST packets are one method used by China in their huge Internet censorship program. This may be a blunder rather than malice on Comcast's part, but it needs to come clean and be more transparent about what it does to its traffic.
http://www.eff.org/testyourisp
In addition to links to past blog entries, there is a non-technical whitepaper explaining what we know and why you should care and a technical whitepaper that describes how you can test your own ISP using a friend, a packet sniffer, and a handy-dandy piece of software called pcapdiff which I co-wrote. Tech support can be arranged in return for beer:-p
This is only the beginning. A TCP RST packet is easy for technically-inclined investigators to identify, but if there aren't more subtle things going on already, there are sure to be soon. A company that provides streaming video content is already persuing formal action with the FCC against Comcast for purposefully degrading the protocol they use (gee, why would Comcast want to degrade streaming video content?), and you can easily imagine AT&T degrading VOIP connections, etc. The only way to catch it is to have technically-inclined folks all over the place running tests whenever they encounter suspicious activity. Hopefully we'll be able to produce more sophisticated software for running more subtle tests. If you find anything interesting, or need any help, let me know.
And, even if it doesn't end up saving the world, I learned a lot about how the Internet really works. Large Segment Offloading, who knew?
http://www.eff.org/testyourisp
In addition to links to past blog entries, there is a non-technical whitepaper explaining what we know and why you should care and a technical whitepaper that describes how you can test your own ISP using a friend, a packet sniffer, and a handy-dandy piece of software called pcapdiff which I co-wrote. Tech support can be arranged in return for beer:-p
This is only the beginning. A TCP RST packet is easy for technically-inclined investigators to identify, but if there aren't more subtle things going on already, there are sure to be soon. A company that provides streaming video content is already persuing formal action with the FCC against Comcast for purposefully degrading the protocol they use (gee, why would Comcast want to degrade streaming video content?), and you can easily imagine AT&T degrading VOIP connections, etc. The only way to catch it is to have technically-inclined folks all over the place running tests whenever they encounter suspicious activity. Hopefully we'll be able to produce more sophisticated software for running more subtle tests. If you find anything interesting, or need any help, let me know.
And, even if it doesn't end up saving the world, I learned a lot about how the Internet really works. Large Segment Offloading, who knew?