If you’d like to help Comcast eavesdrop on its own subscribers, you’re in luck: Comcast has posted a job listing for an “intercept engineer” on a headhunter site, according to Wired. Want ad for position of The Man, inside.
The position requires installation and removal of “strategic and tactical data intercept equipment on a nation-wide basis to meet Comcast and Government lawful intercept needs.” The intercept engineer also “performs diagnosis on data, voice, and video services to detect and respond to fraudulent activity such as theft of service and speed enhancement.” Only Comcast would prosecute enhanced performance.
Comcast Is Hiring an Internet Snoop for the Feds [Wired]
Job Listing [BrassRing]
(Photo: Getty) (Thanks to Jeff!)
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I think you guys may be reaching…
Yeah, I don’t think it’s reaching at all
@WNW: I agree. It’s pretty clear its packet analyzer, which, means SPY
Speed Enhancement is a crime now?
Maybe someone from consumerist will get that job, and then just, not work.
Legally, Comcast must provide a way for the police to perform warranted wire-taps on phone lines. Since Comcast sells IP based phone service, they need some way to do that.
This is no more an invasion of privacy than security cameras are at stores. The way I read it, all the person is doing is analyzing data, not reading peoples’ e-mails.
Except you don’t pay a monthly fee to walk into stores.
I surf lot’s of Modblog. Spy away and eat a light lunch.
/or rather “lots”
@temporaryscars: Terrorists walk into stores. Wait, what?
@ConsequencesIX: the thing is they’re unclear about what type of data, nor do they explain why. For example, I’d be ok with a police warrant leading to the emails of a potential serial killer being read. I would not be ok with data mining for, let’s say, marketing purposes.
On another note, my speeds w/ comcast (through no action of my own) are about double what i’m paying for. Seeing as how I didn’t do anything to my modem or the line in order to achieve this, what happens to me? Does the snoop see my speeds and decide to cancel my service? Sue me?
The tech being put in place isn’t inherently evil, but it could be purposed in an evil way. I want to know more about their intent before I start searching for a new isp.
This isn’t really spying. the “detect and respond…” portion is namely checking what line load rates are currently at, and comparing that to what the load should be (based from what the subscribers on the line are paying for), and determin if somebody is stealing service off of that line, or if somebody is enhancing their service to the next teir level ( so yes, Belabras, it is as much of a crime as enhancing basic cable to premium cable is). Other than that it appears to describe the implementation of hardware and software for exactly what B described. Nothing that really warrents the “ZOMG teh g0/3rm3||t spyzorz!” reaction some people have.
George Orwell was right he was just a few decades off.
kp
Why does comcast hate our freedoms?
@Voyou_Charmant:
They don’t hate us our having freedoms. Comcast likes THEIR freedoms of charging $Arm & Leg$ a month for broadband access, But only allowing us to view pretty pics and checking emails. Comcast wants none of the “actual internet use” like video, phone, etc.. heavy use without THEM getting slice of that greenbuck pie. They are getting bitter because THEY didn’t think of innovation first. the at&t started whining first, the cable companies followed up.
@Voyou_Charmant: Because our freedoms don’t make them money.
@Voyou_Charmant: Because they dont make them money.
@Gann: Yes, they just buy several hundred prepaid phones and leave.
@KernelPanic: 2008 just wasn’t as catchy as 1984…
Comcast is required to respond to court orders, subpoenas and warrants for things like wiretaps, calling history, internet activity, etc.
So long as it’s limited to ONLY information for which the federal government has a warrant, it’s no big deal. AFAIK, Comcast is not involved with the current brouhaha over warrantless wiretapping conducted by AT&T and Verizon.
The thing about enhanced performance is pretty simple too. Back when cable modems were new, some clever people discovered that you could replace the bootfile in your cable modem which (among other things) limits your speed to whatever you’re paying for. They discovered that you could modify the bootfile to uncap the speed on the modem. So you could get up to the theoretical maximum of DOCSIS (downloads of up to 38 Mbps). You also got to really screw over your neighbors and mess up the cable company’s network.
Preventing folks from doing that is not a bad thing.
SOOO…would it be morally unethical to outright lie on a resume for a job for a company that outright lies to its customers as part of their business model?
or is that like moral karma?
how is this possibly”reaching” this sucks, its just funny how they were called-out
So what the hell is wrong with speed enhancement?
Is there any way to send the same packets over and over again of “It’s a Small World” or the “Meow Mix” commercial? Might as well make it Comcastic for the new guy/gal on the block.
@Munsoned: actually, it sounds like you might be.
@B: Except the government is doing warentLESS wiretaps! OooOooo yeah forgot about that huh?
@nyaz: It takes two to trample on the Constitution in this case: the telephone company in question actually has to cooperate with the government in order to make the whole program work. Hence the importance of keeping immunity for AT&T and Verizon out of the bill before Congress (write your representatives!).
Qwest actually refused to cooperate with the government without a warrant. As far as I am aware, no cable companies were approached for the program. Their VoIP offerings are of fairly recent vintage (AT&T and Verizon’s “cooperation” apparently extend back before 9/11) and their circuit switched business was apparently never big enough to pursue.
i’ve been transmitting webcam captures from inside my toliet of me dumping and emailing them around with titles such as “Hamas plans” translated into Arabic. Hope they enjoy.
Yeah, the band U2, et al, doen’t have enough millions of dollars of income per year. They need you to hunt down the people getting a few of their songs for free so Bono can buy another Gulfstream with gold plated lavatory fixtures.
@ConsequencesIX:
Worst Analogy Ever.
@FrugalFreak: read the usage agreement. these services are not your lines they are private lines that you sign up for. Comcast owns the right to police them in any way they see fit. If you don’t like it you are not required to use them. I hate being policed on my service just like anyone else but I chose that when I signed up with them.