Charter's Trials of NebuAd Halted

RalphTheWonderLlama writes "The trials of NebuAd by Charter Communications were halted after it gained the attention of Congressmen Ed Markey and Joe Barton. The online behavioral targeting system has been called "a 'man-in-the-middle attack' and various other unflattering names" but would certainly be an easy way for an ISP to cash in on client profiling." PaisteUser points out MSNBC's coverage as well, according to which the ad-insertion scheme was dropped because of "concerns raised by customers."

Comments

Customers?

[oahazmatt]

PaisteUser points out MSNBC's coverage as well, according to which the ad-insertion scheme was dropped because of "concerns raised by customers." I'm inclined to believe it was "concerns raised by investors" that had more impact, however.

Delayed != Halted

[Anonymous Coward]

From the article:

Charter has now agreed to delay any further rollout, though it won't abandon the plan entirely.

Elsewhere, I have read predictions that up to 10% of Internet traffic was going to be commercially monitored by the end of the year. It might be good for everybody to let friends and family know and to start making privacy-enhancement software easy to use and ubiquitous.

If people don't know about it, they're unlikely to raise a fuss and then we're all sunk.

Scurry under a rock

[lazyDog86]

I particularly like the little bit about how they will hold off on implementation while these important privacy concerns can be addressed.

Who wants to bet that addressing this means waiting under a rock until no one's looking and then going forward with substantially the same nonsense?

Hundreds of angry customers vs. 2 Congressmen

[chiph]

"The trials of NebuAd by Charter Communications were halted after it gained the attention of Congressmen Ed Markey and Joe Barton.

So, hundreds (possibly thousands) of angry complaints by your customers get ignored, but as soon as someone from Washington calls, things start happening?

What awesome customer service!
Chip H.

Re:Hundreds of angry customers vs. 2 Congressmen

[QuantumHobbit]

The congressmen can actually do something. The customers are stuck in a high speed internet monopoly. My parents have Charter internet and it basically works when it feels like it. But their other options are dial-up or satellite. Charter doesn't care about the customers because it doesn't have to.

Not just eavesdropping, but spoofing

[algorithmagic]

Looks like NebuAd isn't just eavesdropping on user behavior, but actively creating fake traffic: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/23/topolski_takes_on_nebuad/ As if the Post Office were not only to read your mail, but to rewrite it for you on the sly. That's beyond Orwellian.

The internet is a utility

[mrsteveman1]

If ISPs are going to keep their de facto monopoly status, they should be prevented from doing anything buy carry data, by legal means if necessary.

Re:Possible to Block?

[baldsue]

I'm a charter customer and received a letter in the mail with instructions how to opt out. It was fairly easy but did require a few minutes to do. Woulda been much nicer had it been an opt-in option, instead.

All you need to know abut NebuAd

[whoever57]

From El Reg:

Last week, we pointed out that NebuAd shares five high-ranking employees in common with notorious spyware outfit Claria Corp. (nee Gator Corp). And now we've learned that they share a sixth. NebuAd's Washington DC counsel, Reed Freeman, was Claria's chief privacy officer.