Begin forwarded message:
From: "Nick Johnson" <arachnid@notdot.net>
Date: November 3, 2007 10:37:45 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Subject: Re: [IP] Verizon Overrides Internet Searches With Its Own Results
Using mistyped domain names to redirect users to search pages full of ads has been tried before, by Internet providers such as Cox and Earthlink.
Far more significantly, VeriSign did it for the entirety of the .com and .net TLDS in September of '03. The outcry was such (not to mention the recriminations from ICANN) that it was shut down in short order.
In order to redirect the user to the search sites, the user's Domain Name Service (DNS) settings are altered, which can interfere with previously set network security and safe Internet browsing features.
No they aren't - nearly all subscribers have their DNS configured to use their ISP for resolution, all Verizon have to do is alter how their DNS servers behave to effect this result.
It also raises the question of whether or not an Internet provider that automatically redirects a user's searches without telling them will also shape the results they do get, such as filtering their searches to get specific results.
There's a huge disconnect between modifying DNS responses, which is fairly easy, and intercepting, interpreting and modifying responses for search results, which is a lot harder technically, and a lot harder to defend legally. Still, this is a troubling breach of Network Neutrality (and a good example of why Neutrality is a sound principle.