http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/200606/msg00244.html
Begin forwarded message: From: "David P. Reed" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: June 29, 2006 12:20:09 PM EDT Subject: Verizon "Broadband Router" the perfect Trojan Horse http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=59427414 Dewayne's list passed on this press announcement of a new "high speed home router" that comes with its new FIOS service, allowing multiple users to access the Internet over the FIOS fiber. This router is described in the press release in terms of its speed and customer support capabilities. Verizon carefully notes that it was designed specifically for the FIOS users. But this routhershould also be defined in terms of the "Trojan Horses" that are embedded, designed by the DSL industry (i.e. the LECs captive suppliers). The major one being the "Industry Standard TR-069" touted at the top of the press release as a tool for customer support. But it is far more than that. I would note that "Industry Standard TR-069" is not hard to find on the DSL Forum site. http://www.dslforum.org/techwork/tr/TR-069.pdf However, a little (though not much) careful reading is required to find the reasons why Verizon might like this standard. For the worst example: I direct the reader to Appendix D. Appendix D describes an architecture for intercepting web page requests from the customer and redirecting them based on arbitrary policy choices. In other words, the standard contains the perfect tool for controlling every Internet access a customer (or the Internet-based equipment the customer might choose to buy at a later time) might make, since Verizon owns and controls the router. Note that this router feature does not merely "prioritize" traffic. This feature is promoted because it meddles with every web request you make, redirecting some requests to special sites that are in a business relationship with the owner (Verizon, I presume, here). Rather than just forwarding packets, it can only work by singling out and deeply inspecting every web page address you seek. The history of the web requests will be selectively or entirely sent to servers on Verizon's network, whether the customer agrees or not. >From an Internet point of view, this router is severely non- standard. There is no Internet RFC that has been filed for the protocol involved. Not even a draft RFC. The DSL Forum is an organization that has no standing in the Internet community. Verizon's description of the protocol as "industry standard" is deceptive. It is a standard, from a very biased part of an Industry. But it has not followed the normal route by which Internet protocols are developed and deployed on a worldwide consensus basis. It violates the basic principles of the Internet architecture as well, which have created the most rapidly growing world-wide communications capability in the history of civilization. Verizon is perfectly within its rights to develop and deploy any technology it wants to sell to customers, if that is what they choose when fully informed of what they are buying. But it must acknowledge that this equipment and its network are not giving customers access to The Internet. Instead, Verizon is giving its customers access to a private walled garden, with limited access to the Internet when and if it suits Verizon's purposes. In my personal opinion, putting this kind of technology in the path of a service that claims to offer Internet access comes close to *misappropriating* and distorting an important public good, called The Internet, which was built by voluntary market cooperation and social contribution, for private gain, and deceiving its customers in its representations in the process. You may not agree, but if you do find this a bit fishy, please share this observation with your friends, and perhaps your US Senators as an example of how companies like Verizon try to deceive their customers and to exploit their government-granted monopoly power over their customers by baiting them with speed, and reserving the right to switch their communications to preferred substitutes. You might also share with your friends the following link to a proposed bill to protect the Internet from such redefinition by vendors that pretend to sell Internet Access, but sell something else instead: http://www.dpsproject.com/ . Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
