Slashdot Mirror
Mediacom Using DPI To Hijack Searches, 404 Errors
Verteiron writes "Cable company Mediacom recently began using deep packet inspection to redirect 404 errors, Google and Bing searches to their own, ad-laden 'search engine.' Despite repeated complaints from customers, Mediacom continues this connection hijacking even after the user has opted out of the process. Months after the problem was first reported, the company seems unwilling or unable to fix it and has even experimented with injecting their own advertising into sites like Google. How does one get a company infamous for its shoddy customer service and comfortable, state-wide cable monopolies to act on an issue like this?"
Can't touch this!
File an anti-trust complaint and break up the monopoly. That is what those laws are for.
I'd hope Google would sue them for copyright violation, changing their webpage in transit, and collect damages per changed page. Additionally they create confusion by diluting Google's trademarks (and those of anyone else whose page is changed). I mean this violates so many laws it isn't funny.
You could serve them with a DMCA cease and decist notice as a normal website author. Fight fire with fire.
What they are doing is fraud. Sue them and use *AA scales to calculate compensatory damages. Assume each false-404 corresponds to one music download, charge the normal $75000 per song.
Came to this story to post exactly the same thing. If you take someone else's copyrighted work (i.e. any web page that is not explicitly placed into the public domain) and create a derived work (that page with adverts), which you then distribute for profit (ad revenue), then you are committing wilful copyright infringement for commercial gain. You can be liable for a statutory penalty of up to $150,000 per work (at least per site, possibly per page) in the USA.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
In the short-term, an FTC Complaint (https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/) works wonders due to their power to impose fines for every complaint.
File early, file often.
Lies about crimes
Not more, just better.
Regulation Number 1. He who owns the fiber/copper may not provide service over it.
Regulation Number 2. He who owns the fiber/copper must sell access to all comers for the same price.
Regulation Number 3. He who provides the service may not own media companies.
Regulation Number 4. If anyone gains more than 51% of the market, split the company in two.
It would probably be unethical to suggest arson, so I won't.
It's not exactly what the submission says. If you enter search data in the address bar it may redirect you to Mediacom's servers whether you opt in or not. However if you use the search bar it won't redirect you. This is considered unacceptable by the person who wrote the giant post in the "deep packet inspection..." link above. I'm not going to debate whether this is unacceptable or not, but there is a workaround - just use the search bar. As someone who does not do searches in the address bar that seems OK to me.
Wire Fraud:
A customer is asking for one web page, mediacom is substituting another for monetary gain. How is this not wire fraud?
USA ISPs are not "common carriers" under the law, no matter how much people wish they are.
I really shouldn't have used someone else's email address for this account.
I have Mediacom's internet service and the solution is to use a different DNS server other than the ones Mediacom provides. I use Level3's DNS servers (4.2.2.2 and 4.2.2.3) for my DNS lookups and I do not get any redirects. You can either manually set the DNS servers on your computer or set them at the router.
Just "gittin-r-done," day after day.
The only way companies will truly reform is when they risk losing customers. Stop complaining but cancel your contract and tell them (and the rest of the world) why.
Well, if you are without internet connection, it's a bit harder to tell the world why. :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
This is why we should just give up this free-market farce and regulate the ISPs as utilities, with standards on purity (e.g. not modifying traffic) and equity (not censoring traffic from conglomerate competitors). AKA net neutrality.
Why not go the full mile, and decide that the internet is essential infrastructure and should be provided by the state? I know all the usual arguments, "the government is evil per definition", and "all public efforts are big, bumbling wastes of time and money". Both are disingenious, bordering on fraudulent - the state is NOT the government, just for one thing, and most of government is not the politicians; and even politicians are not all thoroughly evil, believe it or not.
And, as a matter of fact, most state driven projects are not all that bad - some are even highly succesful. It's just that bad news sell better and of course, it mets the expectations of the readers that "governments are evil and useless" - why else would they ask us to pay tax?
Slow, 3 days across country for a couple dollars is slow?
They are the cheapest and lose/break less than the other carriers.
They only operate as a loss as they are forbidden to raise prices except for with inflation. Since we fudge they inflation number they are stuck in the middle.
I am not sure when Americans decided unions were evil, but I enjoy 40hour weeks and 5 day work weeks. Without unions we would all be virtual slaves.
I got Bellsouth DSL, because cable was not laid on my side of the street. I got the modem and an installation disk. I called and said I was not running an installation disk, please tell me what I need to do special for your connection, if anything.
They said they understood, and I can do it at this web address. The website was basically blank. Are you using internet explorer? No of course I'm not. Well the site only runs in IE. I should have been suspicious, but figured they are idiots.
ActiveX did exactly what the install disk would have done as soon as I opened the page in IE. I'm still finding bits of things. Motive*, MCCI*, att-nap. Of course, bellsouth was bought by ATT, and I was not pleased about finding that out either.