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Hirst writes: "Comcast, the company whose name incites anger in many people in the US has seemingly begun banning customers using Tor, the encrypted browser."

File photo, Comcast truck. (photo: unknown)
File photo, Comcast truck. (photo: unknown)


Comcast Allegedly Asking Customers to Stop Using Tor

By Summer Hirst, VPN Creative

15 September 14

 

omcast, the company whose name incites anger in many people in the US has seemingly begun banning customers using Tor, the encrypted browser. There have been reports that agents from Comcast have warned Tor users and asked them to stop using the browser or their services will be terminated.

One customer posted on Reddit to say a representative (named as Jeremy) from Comcast allegedly said that Tor is an illegal service and thus against their usage policies. He then asked a customer to disclose the websites they accessed using Tor. The customer, however, refused to answer.

The next day when the customer called up the Comcast office to inquire about the warning, an agent named Kelly said that their rules are indeed against using Tor.

The customer stated that the Comcast agent said:

“Users who try to use anonymity, or cover themselves up on the internet, are usually doing things that aren’t so-to-speak legal. We have the right to terminate, fine, or suspend your account at anytime due to you violating the rules. Do you have any other questions? Thank you for contacting Comcast, have a great day.”

The interesting point to note here is that how Comcast knows that a particular user has been working on Tor.

Since Tor provides anonymity to users, the only way to know that a person is using Tor is if Comcast has been monitoring the online activity of users. When they are unable to monitor the activity of a particular user, they would suspect the usage of Tor. The company might say that this is done to make sure that their customers are following the Acceptable Use Policy, but they truth is that they’ve been spying.

Tor has previously listed Comcast as a Bad ISP, saying that it’s not friendly towards Tor. Tor users cited the Acceptable User Policy of Comcast, which says that they don’t allow proxies or servers under “technical restrictions.” This includes servers or standalone equipment that provides network content to anyone outside the PremisesLAN. Examples of such prohibited equipment are web hosting, email, file sharing, and proxy servers.

DeepDotWeb spoke to Comcast and received the statement on the matter.

“We respect customer privacy and security and would only investigate the specifics of a customer’s account with a valid court order. And if we’re asked by a court to provide customer information, then we ask for a reasonable amount of time to notify the customer so they can decide if they would like to hire a lawyer and if they do, then we turn the case over to them and they proceed with the judge directly and we step away.”

This statement from Comcast does not fall in line with the way Comcast treated Ross William Ulbricht, the guy who was supposedly the Dread Pirate Roberts of Silk Road, and was caught without a prior warning.

Comcast had previously supported the FBI by providing data regarding the Internet usage of Ulbricht, the alleged mastermind behind the Silk Road. Comcast did not give him a warning or time to contact a lawyer when he was arrested last October in San Francisco.

Comcast is notorious for monitoring the Internet usage of its customers to stop them from downloading any pirated media, as that is against its copyright laws. Under the Six Strikes plan of US-based Internet providers, Comcast customers who are caught downloading pirated material are emailed and told to stop the illegal activity. After that, the ISP monitors them and terminates their Internet connection if they are found guilty five more times.


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