As anyone who’s been around me for a while knows, I’m not the most regular poster. It can be a month or so between posts, if not longer, and the posts vary in subject and (unfortunately) quality. What you don’t see is the half-written pieces, and starts and stops that go on. So I want to fix that.
It’s time to jump on the podcast wagon (about 5 years late) with the Politics & P2P podcast. Continue reading…
Yes, it’s that time of year again, when I share my panels and where I’ll be. Last year, due to back problems, I couldn’t go, as I explained then (giving you audio/videos of past panels instead) followed by taking a look at a common Dragon Con myth during the convention itself. This year though… Continue reading…
Wikileaks is desperate to stay relevant, and to retain their credibility. Following their 2016 publication of DNC emails (which were blown out of both proportion and context for the sake of publicity) they’ve struggled to reconcile their original goal of promoting transparency and highlighting wrongdoing and criminal acts that have been covered up, with turning into a political version of TMZ.
This new approach has won them many new supporters, who instead of being the cynical, analytical followers of the past that pour over every detail and ensure things that need exposing are highlighted, will vociferously devour and regurgitate – without hesitation or question – any salacious headline they care to deliver.
If you need a bit of background on what the Net Neutrality battle is about, you can read the history of this specific battle (which started with a news story based on research I led) that I wrote last week. Or you can watch the video of me explaining and responding to some comments in a far more concise manner. Continue reading…
In the middle of summer 2007, I was contacted by my big boss at TorrentFreak, Ernesto van de Sar, to investigate a report he’d had. According to some reports on forums like DSLreports, Comcast users were having issues keeping or making BitTorrent connections, especially seeding, and could I take a look at it?
So I did.
I reached out to my friends, and friends-of-friends, looking for Comcast customers (and non-Comcast customers), and started some research going. I was nearly a hermit for 2 weeks, as I talked people through setting up the data collection systems, and then processed the data. It did, however, pay off as it led to proof that there was indeed something screwy going on with Comcast connections. Not all connections, mind, but most, and spread all over the US, from Utah to New England.
Basically, Comcast was using a product from Sandvine to disrupt the use of BitTorrent. When it detects BitTorrent seeding, it would perform a man-in-the-middle attack, and send RST packets to both ends of the connection, terminating the connection, made to look like it came from the other end. Imagine a phone call, and the phone company decides to terminate it but makes it seem like the other side deliberately hung up on you. Continue reading…
Anti-Piracy efforts have never gone as planned. Enforcement actions have never produced the results that were promised, so what can be done? The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is now looking to commission outside research to evaluate just how effective its policies are, and how better enforcement can be made more effective to meet industry-led goals. Continue reading…