Mozilla: ISPs Are Lying About Encrypted DNS, Should Have Privacy Practices Investigated

from the ill-communication dept

In a bid to avoid losing access to the cash cow that is your daily browsing data, ISPs like Comcast have been lying about Google and Mozilla's quest to encrypt DNS data. The effort would effectively let Chrome and Mozilla users opt in to DNS encryption -- making your browser data more secure from spying and monetization -- assuming your DNS provider supports it. Needless to day, telecom giants that have made billions of dollars monetizing your every online behavior for decades now (and routinely lying about it) don't much like that.

As a result, Comcast, AT&T, and others have been trying to demonize the Google and Mozilla efforts any way they can, from insisting the move constitutes an antitrust violation on Google's part (it doesn't), to saying it's a threat to national security (it's not), to suggesting it even poses a risk to 5G deployments (nah).

Mozilla this week came out with a letter not only taking aim at those claims, but urging Congress to investigate telecom's long history of privacy problems:

"Our recent experience in rolling out DNS over HTTPs (DoH)—an important privacy and security protection for consumers—has raised questions about how ISPs collect and use sensitive user data in their gatekeeper role over internet usage," the letter, signed by Marshall Erwin, senior director of trust and security and Mozilla, reads. "With this in mind, a congressional examination of ISP practices may uncover valuable insights, educate the public, and help guide continuing efforts to draft consumer privacy legislation."

While there's obviously plenty of perfectly legitimate criticism of Silicon Valley giants like Facebook and Google, we've been noting how telecom lobbyists have been quietly co-opting this backlash to help the telecom sector. So far you'd have to view these efforts as successful; while the government hyperventilates about Facebook and whether it should be broken up and heavily regulated, telecom has convinced lawmakers to effectively obliterate all oversight of telecom, despite the sector having historically been every bit as terrible as Facebook on the subjects of privacy, consumer rights, and competition.

As a result there are a few lawmakers (Marsha Blackburn comes quickly to mind) who claim to be utterly incensed at Facebook's behavior, but have chosen to give telecom a free pass. Mozilla's letter urges Congress to, you know, stop doing that if they want to be taken seriously:

"We believe that more information regarding ISP practices could be useful to the Committee as it continues its deliberations on this front, and we encourage the Committee to publicly probe current ISP data collection and use policies."

As we look to craft what the privacy standards and guidelines of tomorrow look like, it's another reminder of how focusing too exclusively on the missteps of Silicon Valley giants obscures the fact that these problems aren't just exclusive to "big tech." Mozilla's spot on when it notes that privacy solutions that don't consider telecom aren't much of a solution in the first place.

Filed Under: congress, dns over https, doh, encrypted dns, privacy, security
Companies: at&t, comcast, google, mozilla, verizon

Surprise! Buzzfeed Links Bogus Net Neutrality Comments Directly To Broadband Industry

from the fake-plastic-trees dept

We've long discussed how the Pai FCC's net neutrality repeal was plagued with millions of fraudulent comments, many of which were submitted by a bot pulling names from a hacked database of some kind. Millions of ordinary folks (like myself) had their identities used to support Pai's unpopular plan, as did several Senators. Numerous journalists like Jason Prechtel have submitted FOIA requests for more data (server logs, IP addresses, API data, anything) that might indicate who was behind the fraudulent comments, who may have bankrolled them, and what the Pai FCC knew about it.

Those efforts have slowly been paying off. Back in January, Gizmodo linked some of the fake comments to Trump associates and some DC lobbying shops like CQ Roll Call. This week, Buzzfeed went even further, drawing a direct line between the fake comments and the broadband industry:

"A BuzzFeed News investigation — based on an analysis of millions of comments, along with court records, business filings, and interviews with dozens of people — offers a window into how a crucial democratic process was skewed by one of the most prolific uses of political impersonation in US history. In a key part of the puzzle, two little-known firms, Media Bridge and LCX Digital, working on behalf of industry group Broadband for America, misappropriated names and personal information as part of a bid to submit more than 1.5 million statements favorable to their cause."

Broadband For America, who we've discussed previously, pretends to be a coalition of "consumer groups" and other interests "dedicated to protecting a free and open internet for all Americans." But it's little more than a cut out for Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, and other industry giants. Via a slow and painstaking FOIA process, Buzzfeed ultimately linked many of the stolen identities to major data breaches like the hack of modern business solutions by matching the fraudulent names via the hack database at HaveIBeenPwned.

Just in case the lede gets buried here: the broadband industry hired shady goons to use stolen data to create fake public support for anti-consumer tech policy. And nobody (especially the FCC) has done a damn thing about it.

Granted the net neutrality repeal is just one of many examples of lobbyists polluting regulatory comment periods (usually the only time consumers are allowed to give feedback on policy decisions) with fake people, and both Media Bridge and LCX Digital appear to have other clients beyond just the broadband sector:

"The anti–net neutrality comments harvested on behalf of Broadband for America, the industry group that represented telecommunications giants including AT&T, Cox, and Comcast, were uploaded to the FCC website by Media Bridge founder Shane Cory, a former executive director of both the Libertarian Party and the conservative sting group Project Veritas. Cory has claimed credit for “20 or 30” major public advocacy campaigns in recent years, including, he says, record-setting submissions to the IRS, Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and “probably a handful of others."

Classy! Given that both the DOJ and the NY Attorney General are (supposedly still) conducting ongoing inquiries into the fake net neutrality comments, this may not be the last time you'll see these lobbying shops' names in lights. Meanwhile it's rather ironic that the same week a court ruling comes down supporting (mostly) the FCC's repeal, a big chunk of the "public support" for the repeal -- and the FCC's primary justification for it (that the rules stifled broadband investment) -- were clearly proven to be fraudulent. So far, one gets the sneaking suspicion the US legal system may just be broken.

Filed Under: ajit pai, broadband, fake comments, fcc, identity fraud, net neutrality
Companies: at&t, broadband for america, comcast, lcx digital, media bridge, verizon

Hidden Fees Mean US Cable & Broadband Bills Can Be 45% Higher Than Advertised

from the ill-communication dept

For years we've talked about how the broadband and cable industry has perfected the use of utterly bogus fees to jack up subscriber bills, a dash of financial creativity it adopted from the banking and airline industries. Countless cable and broadband companies tack on a myriad of completely bogus fees below the line, letting them advertise one rate -- then sock you with a higher rate once your bill actually arrives. These companies will then brag repeatedly about how they haven't raised rates yet this year, when that's almost never actually the case.

Despite this gamesmanship occurring for the better part of two decades, nobody ever seems particularly interested in doing much about it. The government tends to see this as little more than creative marketing, and when efforts to rein in this bad behavior (which is really false advertising) do pop up, they tend to go nowhere, given this industry's immense lobbying power. And given the US broadband sector remains painfully uncompetitive in most markets, actually voting with your wallet is often impossible.

How bad is the problem, really? A new study by GlobalData found that what you'll actually pay to your cable TV or broadband provider can often be upwards of 45 percent higher than the advertised price:

"In some cases, the final cost is as much as 45% over the advertised rate. For example, Xfinity’s $40 ‘Starter Internet plus Basic’ TV bundle jumps to $58 per month once the additional $18 in equipment costs are added. Prices can also vary based on location.”

According to GlobalData’s research, Verizon had the highest additional costs in August at $24 per month, followed closely by Frontier and Optimum with around $17-$18 in additional equipment fees. AT&T and Google Fiber offered the most cost transparency in bundle price with zero additional equipment or technology fees.

AT&T is let off the hook here and they shouldn't be. This is a company that recently tried to charge its broadband customers upwards of $500 more a year if they simply wanted to opt out of snoopvertising and online data tracking. The broadcast and cable fee problem isn't a subtle one. Companies like CenturyLink have gotten so cocky they've charged their broadband users a "internet cost recovery fee," which it claims helps the ISP "defray costs associated with building and maintaining CenturyLink's High-Speed Internet broadband network." Except that is, in case you didn't know, what the rest of your damn bill is for.

Of course it's a problem that's everywhere, and not just in the telecom sector. Hotels routinely still charge users obnoxious "resort fees" (legislation to hamper those efforts exists but faces an uphill climb against lobbyists), and airlines and banks have of course perfected the nuisance as well. But both parties appear to have embraced the practice as a form of capitalistic creativity, despite the fact that when you strip away the bullshit justifications, it's little more than false advertising. And, apparently, most US regulators and lawmakers are cool with that.

Filed Under: broadband, cable, fees, hidden fees, truth in advertising
Companies: at&t, centurylink, comcast, frontier, verizon

Much Of The Assault On 'Big Tech' Is Being Driven By 'Big Telecom'

from the inauthentic-outrage dept

Over the last few months, Google, Amazon, and Apple have all taken a significant beating on Wall Street amidst rumblings of looming antitrust investigations by the DOJ and FTC. Google, we're told, is subject of a looming antitrust probe by the DOJ. Amazon, we've learned, is facing growing scrutiny from the FTC. Apple stock also briefly did a nose dive on the news that it too may soon be subject to a significant new antitrust probe.

On its surface, many of these actions aren't all that surprising. After all, experts have noted for a decade than US antitrust enforcement has grown toothless and frail, and our definitions of monopoly power need updating in the Amazon era. Facebook's repeated face plants on privacy (and basic transparency and integrity) have only added fuel to the fire amidst calls to regulate "big tech."

But while Silicon Valley faces an endless cavalcade of outrage, the telecom sector is suddenly seeing no scrutiny whatsoever. Whether it's the speed at which the problematic T-Mobile merger is being shoveled through the DOJ and FCC or the blind eye being turned to major telecom privacy scandals (like location data), telecom lobbyists have been on a successful tear convincing well-heeled DC lawmakers to ignore the massive, obvious monopoly, privacy, and competition issues inherent in telecom to focus exclusively on the problems in "big tech."

Yet somehow, this asymmetrical policy paradigm is still treated as entirely coincidental in press coverage. Only recently have some news outlets started to notice how well things have been going for telecom lately in DC (Axios calls it telecom's "sweet summer of revenge"). Outlets have even started to finally realize that with former telecom lawyers now running the FCC and DOJ (Ajit Pai and Bill Barr), that is not coincidentally being reflected in federal policies attempting to hamstring telecom's competitors:

"In a June speech, DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Makan Delrahim laid out ways his agency could could go after Big Tech for anti-competitive behavior. In a June Senate hearing, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said, “The greatest threat to a free and open internet has been the unregulated Silicon Valley tech giants that do, in fact, today decide what you see and what you don’t,” he said."

It's routinely understated how telecom lobbying, not a sincere worry about market power or privacy, is what's driving much of this current policy paradigm in DC (including much of the hyperventilation over nonexistent Censorship of Conservatives). The telecom sector is pushing hard into an online advertising sector traditionally dominated by Silicon Valley. As such, telecom lobbyists have spent several years now pushing to hamstring their direct competitors with the help of cash-compromised lawmakers and full blown regulatory capture.

That includes successfully convincing government that a sector filled with natural, historically-predatory monopolies should see no guard rails whatsoever (see the killing of net neutrality and the neutering of the FCC as example A). Yet somehow, there are still a lot of folks in tech policy circles who see the lopsided focus on "big tech" as entirely authentic, and any failure to police telecom as somehow coincidental. But folks in DC (like former FCC lawyer Gigi Sohn), are well aware that much of this current policy paradigm is highly-produced theater and, shockingly, all about money:

Again, none of this is to say that there aren't massive problems with Silicon Valley giants and plenty of authentic calls for reform. But it is a reminder that an oversized portion of the current anti big tech sentiment in DC is telecom driven. Intellectual inconsistency and campaign finance data usually makes it clear which lawmakers are telecom sector marionettes. More often than not consumer rights, market power, or healthy competition are the very last thing on the minds of those pushing lopsided regulatory solutions to a "big tech" problem they don't actually care all that much about.

Filed Under: antitrust, doj, ftc, internet, telecom
Companies: amazon, apple, at&t, comcast, facebook, google, verizon

With Tumblr Sale, Verizon Continues To Stumble In Bungled Pivot Away From Telecom

from the ill-communication dept

So for years we've been pointing out that Verizon's attempt to pivot from grumpy old telco to sexy new Millennial ad brand hasn't been going so well. Oddly, mashing together two failing 90s brands in AOL and Yahoo, and renaming the coagulated entity "Oath," didn't really impress many people. The massive Yahoo hack, a controversy surrounding Verizon snoopvertising, and the face plant by the company's aggressively hyped Go90 streaming service didn't really help.

By late last year Verizon was forced to acknowledge that its Oath entity was effectively worthless. And this week, Verizon issued a statement saying that it would be selling Tumblr to WordPress owner Automattic after a rocky ownership stretch. Rather amusingly, Verizon tries to suggest that this was all part of some ingenious master plan:

"Today’s announcement is the culmination of a thoughtful, thorough and strategic process,” said Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan. “Tumblr is a marquee brand that has started movements, allowed for true identities to blossom and become home to many creative communities and fandoms. We are proud of what the team has accomplished and are happy to have found the perfect partner in Automattic, whose expertise and track record will unlock new and exciting possibilities for Tumblr and its users."

Except there's nothing "thoughtful, thorough, or strategic" about any of this. Tumblr you'll recall was bought by Yahoo for a cool $1.1 billion in 2013. Bored with the slow ROI of broadband and hoping to challenge Google and Facebook in the ad space, Verizon bought most of Yahoo for $4.48 billion in June 2017. And while Verizon didn't announce how much it sold Tumblr for, reports suggest that the company was effectively forced to almost give Tumblr away for less than $3 million after it spent much of the Spring looking for a suitor. Yes, great job, everybody.

None of this is what you'd call "thoughtful." But it does once again emphasize how telecom giants eager to jump into the online ad space often have no idea what they're doing. Companies like Verizon are good at two things: running networks, and lobbying government to hamstring broadband competition. Every time Verizon has tried to stumble outside of its core competencies (whether it's running its own app store, its VCast apps, or the Go90 fracas), Verizon has fallen flat on its face, because as a government-pampered telecom monopoly, innovation, disruption, and pleasing customers are alien phrenology.

Verizon's ownership of Tumblr is most notably marked by the company's decision to ban porn on the platform (and anything even vaguely determined to be naughty), driven both by FOSTA and Verizon's more puritanical management. That decision drove the site's most creative users away in droves, though new owner Automattic says the ban is likely to remain in place.

A big part of Verizon's attempted pivot to Millennial video ads was courtesy of newer executives like Lowell McAdam and Hans Vestberg. Their predecessor, Ivan Seidenberg, believed that Verizon should remain focused on what it does best (sometimes): building better, faster fiber networks. Seidenberg was a big reason for the company's $24 billion push into pure fiber with "FiOS." McAdam and Vestberg came in, froze most of those deployments, then tried to turn a legacy telco into Google by mashing together a few failed 90s internet brands. It's not working, and anybody who is surprised by that hasn't watched Verizon do business.

Filed Under: tumblr
Companies: automattic, tumblr, verizon, yahoo