ISP Wiretapping: FCC, FTC, and Congress Need to Act Now!

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: May 13, 2008 1:05:39 PM EDT
> To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
> Cc: "lauren () vortex com" <lauren () vortex com>
> Subject: ISP Wiretapping: FCC, FTC, and Congress Need to Act Now!

>          ISP Wiretapping: FCC, FTC, and Congress Need to Act Now!
>
>                http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000383.html
>
>
> Greetings.  Charter Communications has now announced
> ( http://tinyurl.com/4ggphq ) that they intend to "wiretap" (that's
> the only appropriate term I can think of) subscribers' Internet
> Communications, and use the search data obtained in this manner to
> inject Charter's own targeted advertising into user data streams.
>
> I believe that the "wait and see" timeout period on these abuses of
> DPI (Deep Packet Inspection) technology has now expired, and we now
> need to look to the FCC, FTC, and Congress for immediate actions to
> protect ISP subscribers' privacy rights, and both the privacy and
> business rights of the Internet services with whom those users
> communicate.
>
> Charter's plans seem very much in line with both the Rogers Cable
> data insertion system ( "Google Hijacked -- Major ISP to Intercept
> and Modify Web Pages" -- http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/ 
> 000337.html )
> and the UK "Phorm" system ( "UK ISPs to Spy on Google Users (and  
> Others)" --
> http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000375.html ), both of which I've
> discussed previously at some length.
>
> As I've noted, the use of content monitoring systems by ISPs on
> other than a purely opt-in basis is nothing short of wiretapping (in
> a practical sense that we all can understand, legal loopholes
> notwithstanding).  It is monitoring of communications between users
> and Internet services, and all of the touted anonymization claims
> and awkward opt-out cookies don't amount to a hill of beans.
>
> This class of threats to privacy and business interests may have
> been "merely" theoretical before, but now is concrete and real.
>
> Users can in some cases take their own protective steps by
> encrypting their communications whenever possible ( "Toward Pervasive
> Internet Encryption: Unshackling the Self-Signed Certificate" --
> http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000339.html ).
>
> But now is the time for our legislators and regulators to earn their
> salaries, and make it clear that ISPs are supposed to be carriers of
> communications, not spying on, tracking, and modifying subscriber
> communications for their own gains.
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren Weinstein
> lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
> http://www.pfir.org/lauren
> Co-Founder, PFIR
>   - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
> Co-Founder, NNSquad
>   - Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
> Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
> Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com

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