Slog - Comments on Comcasting http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting This report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation is a little technical, but the bottom line is this: Adding on to last week's story that Comcast, the nation's no. 2 internet provider, was hampering downloads by unplugging BitTorrent, additional tests show that they're screwing with Gnutella as well.... Copyright 2008 Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:16:06 -0800 Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:10:04 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Mr. Poe Get a router and restrict/monitor your ports. You'll be fine.

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830555 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830555 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:18:02 -0800 Comment by jameyb Poe: What do you mean "restrict/monitor" your ports?!? What does that mean?! I've never trusted Comcast...

]]> jameyb http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830563 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830563 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:23:39 -0800 Comment by Bellevue Ave mr. poe is saying that the tech unsavy should have no right to complain.

]]> Bellevue Ave http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830566 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830566 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:24:54 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe What Bellevue Ave said.

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830569 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830569 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:26:38 -0800 Comment by this isn't rocket science people @1 - That's a funny joke :D

What actually works is to forcing protocol header encryption and/or use SSH or VPN tunnels.

When you are sending your torrent requests over the network in the clear, it is easy for Comcast to see what kind of request you are making. These are the packets they intercept and reply with a bogus reply that tricks your client into thinking the connection was lost.

If you encrypt your requests, then they can't distinguish your network traffic from granda millie (to use an Enronism) down the block who is looking up a pecan pie recipe.

Comcast can't intercept what they can't read.

@2 - Read the link above, and you should most likely be able to configure your client to encrypt your headers. That's the simplest as you don't need to know anything about SSH or VPN.

If that doesn't work, then this is a great opportunity to learn something about SSH and VPN! Not only will it keep you downloading loads or pr0n, music, and movies, but you'll be able to impress you friends with your 1337 skillz.

]]> this isn't rocket science people http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830573 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830573 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:32:20 -0800 Comment by keenan I heard a rumor that Radiohead's "In Rainbows" theme was inspired by Comcast. Around the studio, apparently Jonny kept referring to it as their Comcaschtick.

]]> keenan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830582 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830582 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:48:26 -0800 Comment by Mr. Poe @5

Didn't read in to the actual issue. My bad. Wow, Comcast is ridiculous.

@2

Try option #1 in #4's link. Ignore #1. Port restricting has nothing to do with it.

]]> Mr. Poe http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830604 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830604 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 10:05:59 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle Thank god Comcast is restricting transmission of the non-copyrighted Bible overseas.

Luckily, the Book of Mormon is copyrighted, since it was written on gold tablets by Mitt Romney's forbears in the USA, when they got bored one winter.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830688 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830688 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 11:09:07 -0800 Comment by sociallytangent @5: Actually, the SSH tunneling is the only thing that works. Merely encrypting your traffic is not sufficient: the appliances Comcast uses to shape traffic will send RST packets simply whenever there are a number of inbound TCP connections to the same port. It's a very heavy-handed approach to networking and breaks all sorts of things in addition to file-sharing applications (Lotus Notes' file transfers, for example.)

As usual, the Slashdot comments are instructive:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/19/1417238

More info, including a link for SSH tunneling setup instructions:
http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-throttles-bittorrent-traffic-seeding-impossible/

]]> sociallytangent http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830777 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830777 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:26:21 -0800 Comment by monkey Comcast sucks donkey dick!

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830797 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830797 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:41:32 -0800 Comment by Gomez Aren't they crying about the extra usage of their bandwidth along with the usual DMCA garbage?

]]> Gomez http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830924 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/10/comcasting#c830924 News Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:10:04 -0800