A recount of what it's like to have a run in with your ISP over file-sahring.I’m sure many of you have wondered how and why your Internet Service Provider (ISP) monitors your file-sharing activity. Well, I know a guy who knows a guy, wink, wink, with first-hand experience of what they keep an eye and why. It’s pretty straightforward actually, and harks back to the Wild West days of Napster and Kazaa. So break out your pen and paper and jot down these tips to prevent you and your ISP from getting to know each other on a first name basis. This guy I know has experienced their “wrath” two times thus far in the last 4 months, all this after some 2 plus years with not so much as a peep from the powers that be. Each time he has gleaned more and more info as to what they’re looking for and why. First and foremost, as was made clear in the Kazaa cases and is still pertinent today, is that those who are making cases against individuals for “illegal” file-sharing do so under the context of what you “share,” i.e. upload. It is the “sharing” of files that constitutes copyright infringement. Thus, it is naturally the “uploading” one does that has been made in issue by those organizations pressuring ISPs to comply with copyright law. When my friend was first contacted by his ISP it was done with an internet “lockout,” his browser reduced to little more than a street corner billboard informing anyone who cares that the standards of practice have been violated and internet access suspended. To summarize, the notice stated that the individual’s bandwidth in question has been “overused,” and that this was symptomatic of the use of file-sharing services like “Morpheus, Kazza, Limewire, and Grokster,” (yuck, yuck, yuck, and more yuck). This was probably the oddest part of the whole affair as how can one “overuse” their bandwidth? I mean if you pay for a 512kB/s download speed and a 58kB/s upload speed, shouldn’t you get to do what you please with it? It smacks me of false-advertising, the notion that you get “X” amount of bandwidth but better not use it all. The note went on to say something to the effect of “Thus, in an effort to ensure that precious bandwidth is not being ‘wasted,’ this account has been temporarily suspended until you contact one of our members in the Internet Security Dept. at 1-800-XXX-XXXX. For reference purposes use this security code.” After contacting their Internet “Security” Dept, he was astonished to learn what it was all about and why they had decided to suddenly make an issue of it. What had happened to wreak their ire? Well, upon talking with the gentleman he informed him that they routinely monitor residential accounts that upload data in excess of 1GB p/day. This was a key piece of gleaned info, as per what was mentioned previously, it is the UPLOADING of certain files that is what constitutes copyright infringement. It occurred around the holidays, and so I suspect it was part of a preemptive Oscar’s “screener” sweep that caused his account to raise eyebrows behind the mighty ISP’s internet security desk. In seeking to explain this “mysterious” upload rate, he used the ruse that his router lacked WEP encryption and thus was probably some random user who had logged on and used his connection for such “evil” purposes. It worked, of course, and the connection was reinstated. But, several months later, just recently in fact, he encountered the same thing, his connection was locked and so told to call the Internet “Security” Dept. once again. This time things weren’t quite so smooth sailing. Figuring that the router story wouldn’t fly again, he used the explanation that he was running a WinAmp Shoutcast server several times a week and that was the cause for his bandwidth usage. The guy’s reply was that a “business” account may better serve his needs, an answer that actually made him angry for the first time. USER: "So let me get this straight, I get 58kB/s upload bandwidth but I can’t use it all?”ISP: “Uh, actually no, if you read the service contract you received when you signed up for our high speed internet service you would see that the bandwidth is subject to limitations. It is not meant to be used in a way that maxes it out continuously,” the ISP guy replied.USER: "So then why is the total amount of download bandwidth not an issue and just the upload is?”ISP: “Sir, if you read the service contract it says everything you need to know.”USER: “Um, is it online, because to tell you the truth I tossed it 2 seconds after I subscribed, and that was like 2 years ago.”“ISP: Go to our website, you can find it there.”Well, he never found it there or anywhere else, so it remains a mystery as to what exactly their company’s policy is in detail. But, he does have his internet access still, at least for the time-being. Moreover, his solution to the problem was to try and minimize what he downloads from “registered user” BitTorrent sites, i.e. Demonoid, TorrentTit, etc., in order to preserve his share ratios, and try to use public sites like Torrent Spy and Pirate Bay more often. Now this isn’t a perfect solution, as one has the tracker loaded just long enough to download the file and not to share it to that magic “1.0.” It disturbs the whole zen-like balance in the BitTorrent universe, but hey, what are you gonna do if the “Man’s” after you? At the risk of sounding redundant, it's all about the ULPOAD, UPLOAD, UPLOAD. This is what the RIAA, MIAA, and whoever else with a copyright infringement axe to grind uses to unleash the hounds on you. I can't stress this enough. RELATED NEWS AND "HOW TO" GUIDES:PUBLIC vs PRIVATE - BitTorrent download sites explored3 Quick Ways to Watch Movies for FREE!3 quick ways to watch TV shows for FREEBitTorrent torrent sites & search enginesAzureus - A Beginner's Guide to BitTorrent DownloadingWatch The Simpsons, The Office, Jackass, South Park, Lost, X-Men, and More On-Demand For FreeSOULXTC: "walkin' the streets of P2P"
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We can choose to keep playing these cat and mouse games but in the end we won't win. It's their network and they control it.
I been using sbcglobal. Never any warnings or letters about bandwidth issues. More likely its just the cable internet providers that have a problem.
So logically, this guy COULD do 50kbps if he was behind a good quality router/hub, a switch, or nothing at all but his modem. If he queued up long lists of files and then left his computer running 24/7... well, you see where this is going.
Yes, it's incredibly stupid *ESPECIALLY on what sounds suspiciously like a "lite dsl" package*, but realistic. I believe it's been mentioned before that lite dsl users are more likely to get hit with this kind of crap just because their plans are meant for more for light usage *browsing, email, etc.*.
I use a cable connection. I've never signed any contracts, never gotten any "agreement" papers, and their service agreement on their website says nothing about heavy bandwidth usage or fair use, etc. *something I ALWAYS look for before I pay for internet service* So you better believe if they ever tried to cut my service off for heavy bandwidth usage I'd be ready to sue. I do know that they throttle heavy users, but I have yet to have my connection throttled. That being said, I DO show them some amount of respect in that I DON'T max out my upload bandwidth 24/7, and there isn't even enough stuff I want online to max out my download bandwidth 24/7, either.
The lesson I at least got out of this story is don't be a cheapskate - if you're going to be a heavy user, don't try to cheat your ISP by getting "lite dsl", and show them some amount of courtesy by not maxing out your bandwidth 24/7.
BTW, if you can't share the magic 1.0 because "the man" is after you, DON'T DOWNLOAD SO MUCH. Or switch ISPs/packages and get real service. Just because you're having issues with your ISP over you abusing your $15-$20 a month service doesn't mean the rest of the community should have to pay for your habit.
I didn't mean to never dl large files... I've done the same. My point was that it should be done in moderation... if you dl a huge multi gig file off BT, you should attempt to get a decent upload ratio *if you have your upload bandwidth maxed out*, then chill for a few days before you download another one. Yah, it sucks, but as I said - it's by no means fair to make others pay for your misfortunes... and it's not like there aren't other ways of obtaining files in the meantime. Another good idea would be to set your upload bandwidth about 1/2 -3/4 of that. That way you can keep your ISP off your back, download every day to your hearts content, and still be contributing to the community, though you would have to seed your dls for longer. And remember that there are plenty of other filesharing methods that are more upload bandwidth/heavy downloader friendly. :)
And as far as ISP snoops on the public sites I mean c'mon, can you say "proxy" or "HideIP?" Where there's a will there's a way, but to close that subject, remember, it's the UPLOADING they bust you with, not the DOWNLOADING, so even if you DL'd from Pirate Bay, let's say, your still fine even if you take no precautions. The ISp doesn't give a rip about your DL habits or amounts.
A good point is made by VIXENK as well, if you want to be an "upstanding" BT citizen, then yes just merely throttle your upload rate to say like 20KB/s or something (the bare minimum as I undertsand it is like 5kB/s to still download).
Moreover, this information is itended to merely inform people about what to be aware of, and the ISP Provider, whose name I will not divulge for obvious reasons, has a NATION-WIDE presence and is among the top two cable conglomerates. So anyways, take what you will from the story, it's main intent is to inform you of what they look for and to help you avoid conflicts with the "MAN." To do otherwise may mean reinstalling an old school dial-up modem...........ha ha, AOL? Never again.......uh, makes my body shiver just thinking about those days thankfully long past.
NOTICE: If you or anyone you know has received messages pertaing to a similar situation with an ISP, I ask of you to either please PM or e-mail me so that I can add additional testimonials to this story. It wall allow me, or us, to put out more info to the reader at large and make file-sharing an even safer endeavor for us all........Sukran.....salam malakim.......zubo mack.............(thx KOKANEZUB :P)
Dear Subscriber:
This email is being sent to you by Road Runner Customer Care because we have received a complaint that your computer has been used to distribute copyrighted material without authorization through a peer-to-peer program. We received this complaint from the movie studio, record company, television studio or other company that owns the copyrighted material. The purpose of this email is to remind you that the distribution of copyrighted material in this fashion may violate both the copyright laws and Road Runner?s terms of service, and to tell you a bit about peer-to-peer programs, the dangers they can pose to your computer and our network, and the steps you can take to protect yourself.
A computer can become accessible to a peer-to-peer network for an unlimited period of time after a peer-to-peer program is downloaded.
You may not even be aware that such a program is on your computer; a child or a visitor to the home could have downloaded it. That is why we want to alert you to this issue.
Peer-to-peer programs may contain many problems. For example:
· Downloading and offering for upload copyrighted material without
authorization is unlawful. If you or others using your computer have been doing this, you could be subject to civil penalties and criminal fines. Such activity also violates the Road Runner terms of service.
· The programs allow any anonymous person on the Internet to look at
your computer files and copy them for themselves. Such a hacker could view all of your files, which can lead to identity theft.
· The programs, which use large amounts of memory, can interfere with
the functioning of your computer by destabilizing your operating system, leading to a general sluggishness at bootup and during operation.
· The programs can contain spyware, adware, malware, viruses and
pornography.
If you are interested in a discussion of problems associated with peer-to-peer file sharing, please follow this link:
http://research.pestpatrol.com/whitepapers/p2p_impact.asp.
If you use the Windows OS, the best way to remove peer-to-peer programs is through the Add/Remove Programs tool. Other removal options are discussed at http://security.uchicago.edu/peer-to-peer/no_fileshare.shtml.
Thank you for subscribing to Road Runner.
Very truly yours,
Road Runner Customer Care
Interesting...I guess +1GB/day upload may trip their system...thanks "soulxtc".
rjb
With really popular torrents and many seeds, like TV, I stop them after my download is finished if I'm at the computer, but then I hop back on from time to time a few days or even weeks later for a seeding session. I have 50 files in my list, and seed one or two at a time, with the rest stopped. As I get new files, I remove the oldest ones..
There have been times when I turned on an old torrent, and I was the only seed, and helped the swarm to finish. I could tell, because the peers that connected were all at the same percent.
As for net connection speeds, we really are in the dark ages. We have all of this wonderful technology, but we're back to the horse and buggy and crank telephones when it comes to ADSL and cable speeds.
Think about it, how many people complain about their electrical service, 'oh, I don't have enough electricity coming in', or with water, 'It took me a half hour to download enough water from the tap so I could boil my corn'. If the net is a utility, it's pretty poor right now, and it will start getting good at 10 to 100 times faster than what broadband is now -- Lan speeds at everyone's house.
With cable, the way it is now (being on a Lan), you get some heavy file sharers on your segment, that could slow everyone's speed down enough that someone will call the cable company and complain. FiOS me!
There are 10 types of people who understand binary: those who do and theose who don,t !