ISP's and site monitoring

YJ02

Well Known GateFan
got this message from comcast the other day

first off, have they always done this? if they have, they suck at it cause my son has been doing this for awhile

main question --- if my son uses a VPN will it prevent comcast (or whomever) from detected 'illegal' downloads?

msg i received:

Dear Internet Customer:

Comcast has received a notification by a copyright owner, or its authorized agent, reporting an alleged infringement of one or more copyrighted works made on or over Comcast’s Xfinity Internet or Business-Class Internet service (the “Service”). The copyright owner has identified the Internet Protocol (“IP”) address associated with your Service account at the time as the source of the infringing works. The works identified by the copyright owner in its notification are listed below. Comcast reminds you that use of the Service (or any part of the Service) in any manner that constitutes an infringement of any copyrighted work is a violation of Comcast’s Acceptable Use Policy and may result in the suspension or termination of your Service account.

If you have any questions regarding this notice, you may direct them to Comcast in one of the following formats:

Comcast Customer Security Assurance
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC
141 Woodcrest Road
Cherry Hill, NJ 08003 U.S.A.
Phone: (877) 842-2112
Fax: (856) 324-2940



For more information regarding Comcast’s copyright infringement policy, procedures, and contact information, please read our Acceptable Use Policy for XFINITY Internet for residential customers, or our Acceptable Use Policy for High-Speed Internet Services for business customers.



Sincerely,
Comcast Customer Security Assurance
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
lol Ignore these 'warnings'. They are just there to scare you so that you don't do it again. It would cost an insane amount of money to go court.

Exactly. Plus, the message is automated. :)
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
You realize that VPNs are just another attempt for people to make money right? There is no such thing as privacy. If you use a phone, google syncs your searches/history to your profile for some other pervert to pry into your private life even if it's boring and nothing interesting. These people that are giving free services also have an agenda and will sell your data for profits and will always do. Because data is far more lucrative than getting the money from you. VPN providers do the same thing. These people are sick people who probably abuse drugs.

They sell your traffic even if they say they don't disclose it. The thing is, when you are on the internet, there is no way to hide. You are naked while on the internet. Just be a loser and don't try to be noble or get rich or do anything meaningful in life.

The fact is there is no privacy when you are on the internet.

On the internet Morality does not exist.The internet is the real side of humanity and the cesspit race that we unfortunately became part of and we have no choice but to ride it out till the end.

Yes, there is privacy available on the internet. There are SO MANY ways to obfuscate your identity online. Too many to list. :) It is all about what you know about the technology. Both from the standpoint of end users and also understanding how authorities trace identities online. If you have such a map to work with, you can do almost anything. We all know about people hiding money from taxes in offshore accounts, using shell companies, intermediaries, etc. The internet has an analog to all of those things and it IS easy to maintain privacy online.
 

YJ02

Well Known GateFan
so, you dont think comcast could afford a lawyer?! :)

they could just turn off my cable..dont want that happening
 

Overmind One

GateFans Gatemaster
Staff member
so, you dont think comcast could afford a lawyer?! :)

they could just turn off my cable..dont want that happening

It goes by a set of triggers. If you trigger that warning a certain number of times, the system will flag your account and alert the security team. If it continues past that point, then there could be other actions. Usually, the source site is what reports these (many are plants by DCMA and other agencies). Pick your pirates carefully! Use small torrent clients (my fave is Utorrent). Avoid all of the ones which also include music libraries, browsers, etc. Bittorrent is good too.
 

Twalet Brash

GateFans Member

There is no mystery here. The VPN tunnel itself is near-infallible. That is to say your ISP cannot see anything you are doing over a VPN and the site you are browsing and connecting to has NO IDEA that you are using a VPN. All they see is the IP address of the other end of a VPN just as if it were your own PC or device. The only way to know the connection is coming from a VPN is if the IP address itself has been identified as being a VPN and added to a known VPN database used by service providers like Hulu, Netflix, and such.

The VPN service provider itself, however, is the flaw. They, obviously, can see the data going in and out of the VPN as well as the user's account using that connection. A reputable VPN service provider operating outside the US's jurisdiction will not keep logs. There are sites reviewed by hardcore privacy advocates that provide insight into the practices of many well known providers.

If you want an extra layer of protection, the most secure way to remain as private as possible would be to combine both a VPN and TOR.

To answer the original poster's question, no, your ISP cannot see anything you're doing over a VPN. So, if you want to download movies, you can do so to your heart's content over a good VPN.
 

Twalet Brash

GateFans Member
lol Ignore these 'warnings'. They are just there to scare you so that you don't do it again. It would cost an insane amount of money to go court.

You're confusing Australia with the US.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/18/minnesota.music.download.fine/index.html

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/sep/11/minnesota-woman-songs-illegally-downloaded

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=8226751&page=1

The American entertainment industry and your ISP have been, for all intents and purposes, deputized by laws that allow copyright holders to request the identity of a user behind an IP address without a court order.
 
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