Last summer, AT&T fired a salvo in the net neutrality war, by using a flimsy excuse to shut out an objectionable website (4chan), so that AT&T subscribers could no longer access the website through their network. The internet erupted, and they stopped immediately.
Last night, Verizon joined the war, by shutting out the same website from access by Verizon's subscribers.
UPDATED with link to Verizon's statement on their Policy Blog
Verizon shut off access for many of their subscribers to the server 4chan.org -- the famous 4chan website.
For operating websites, 4chan is about as repulsive to normal American adults as imaginable. The site is famous for starting internet memes (like lolcats, the "Chocolate Rain" video), largely from mockery and derision, which becomes firestorm intense, and spreads to other discussion groups. However, members also formulate and drive targeted harassment campaigns. Last year, denizens of 4chan targeted a New Jersey ebay seller who had acted with questionable business ethics toward one of his buyers; the 4chan members bombarded the seller's website with a distributed-denial-of-service attack, bringing it down; targeted his website service provider with a DDoS, bringing it down; hung posters of the seller's picture in his neighborhood stating he was a child molester; had delivered to his home 25000 UPS boxes, pizzas, prostitutes; constantly telephoned his home, cell and place of business.
According to the 4chan operators who contacted the Verizon customer service, this is not accidental, but was a conscious decision by Verizon.
By shutting off access to many of its customers to a specific website, Verizon declares they are not a neutral conduit (like the phone company is) delivering without filter whatever information has been requested, and it has seized the opportunity to demonstrate that they have the ability and the legal standing to determine what sites their subscribers can and cannot see.
This is another huge step forward in the end of net neutrality.
Update [2010-2-8 16:2:35 by rerutled]: Verizon's spokesman with a statment on their Policy Blog.
Here's the statement in full:
Protecting Our Customers and Our Network
-- Jim Gerace
The most important thing we offer? Our network. When our network is attacked, or at risk of attack in a way that could harm our customers' ability to make and receive calls, or use wireless multimedia and data services, we jump to action.
Recently, Verizon Wireless security and external experts detected attacks from an IP address associated with the 4Chan family of web sites that was disruptive to our customers and our network. To protect both, we eliminated connectivity to the IP address. At no time was 4Chan itself blocked. Ongoing network security team monitoring has now determined there is no longer an immediate threat. Connectivity to those sites is being restored later today.
Typically, these attacks involve someone sending hundreds of thousands of messages to wireless devices to round up active customer addresses for follow-up activity including hacker attacks. These "sweeps" can jam our network and deliver unwanted electronic messages that also can drain customer devices’ battery life and slow their operation.
We take being the nation's most reliable wireless network seriously. Seriously enough to protect our customers and our network from malicious attacks, even if we get dinged in the blogosphere. It's easy to complain about "blocking" when your wireless data connection is stable, fast and reliable. But try connecting to the web from your Droid or Blackberry when attacks slow - and potentially block - use of our network all together.
We monitor against attacks and potential attacks to ensure the integrity of the Verizon Wireless network. Our customers expect nothing less.
See my questions below.
Update [2010-2-8 15:41:28 by rerutled]: WSJ has an blog entry:
Verizon Wireless said Monday that its recent blocking of parts of 4chan was caused by "potentially disruptive" traffic from the popular site.
"Our network security system found traffic from some of the 4chan web sites that were potentially disruptive of the Verizon Wireless network and could affect our customers’ use of their services," Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman for the wireless carrier, said. "Upon further investigation, and ensuring no current risk of harm, [we] are giving the green-light to all 4chan traffic."
This is the same canard AT&T used last year -- it's simply not credible that whatever small traffic is generated by 4chan might be disruptive to other traffic on the network.
Here are my questions for Verizon Wireless:
If you truly don’t care what websites are browsed, as you claim, then you didn’t unfairly target 4chan. Your response implies, since you took away the block, that you blocked 4chan needlessly - that the traffic you thought was a problem, wasn’t. So, first, don’t you owe your users and 4chan an apology for needlessly blocking? Second, This must happen all the time, if you weren’t targeting 4chan for blockages any more or less than you do all other websites: how many times a week are websites needlessly blocked by Verizon Wireless? If it’s many, why don’t you describe this process in detail to your customers, on your Website FAQ, so that when it occurs, they can infer why their access is being restricted? And if it doesn’t happen many times a week, what can you say about this blockage which would make credible your claim that 4chan is not being targeted any more or less than you do all other websites?
Update [2010-2-8 9:55:58 by rerutled]: And, the first mention of the canard that AT&T put out last year for why they shut off all access to img.4chan.org appears: AT&T claimed that a DDOS was emanating from that site, and so they had to shut it off. AT&T also says, they've never done that anywhere else before. More importantly, such a DDOS is a tiny fraction of their total network bandwidth (aside from the fact that 4chan was not, in fact, launching a DDOS attack against anyone at all); it's like the post office claiming that pornography (like "Leaves of Grass" or "Hustler", say) is clogging the postal system, so they have to burn it all to protect the system.
Update [2010-2-8 9:31:3 by rerutled]: ReadWriteWeb, as of 11 hours ago, found that Verizon Wireless is not saying (either is not able, or doesn't know why, or is told not to comment) why they are dropping traffic. A Verizon Wireless Customer Service Rep, who I am speaking with, has no information, knowledge or subject on this issue; he spoke to technical support which has no information on this issue at this time. The Customer Service Rep wished to put me in touch with the group at Verizon who might have information (the Network Repair Bureau) but did not have their number; he gave me the Technical Support Number (after offering to try to get in touch with the Network Repair Bureau directly), although it turns out Technical Support will not talk to someone who has no Verizon Wireless number. If you're on the Verizon Network, you can call the Technical Support number (800) 483-7356, and ask them to put you in touch with the Network Repair Bureau, in order to get information about why they are dropping traffic to this website.