Charter To Iran

As the people of Iran continue their struggle to secure basic freedoms (freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom from religion, etc.), at first glance it would seem that their plight bears little resemblance to anything happening in the High Country.

And yet, there are a few similarities.

It is widely known that the government of Iran has been using advanced technology to spy on their own citizens' internet activity, especially if that activity involved organizing protests--or other officially frowned-upon actions (like organizing a funeral for Neda).

What is this advanced technology? It is called "deep-packet inspection" or DPI for short. DPI allows the Iranian government to keep track of almost all of the internet activity conducted by anyone in Iran--anyone the government chooses to designate as being a dissident.

Most people would say that this kind of invasion of privacy is intolerable--especially when it is used by a tyrannical regime against its own citizens.

So what is the connection to the High Country? Simple: Charter Communications.

Charter Communications opted to back away from deploying DPI to monitor its subscribers internet activity--for marketing purposes:

Charter Communications, one of the nation’s largest ISPs, plans to begin eavesdropping on customers’ web surfing activity, to help web advertisers deliver targeted ads.

In letters being sent to some of its 2.7 million high-speed internet customers, Charter is billing its new web-tracking program as an "enhancement" for customers’ web surfing experience. The letters were first reported by a BroadbandReports.com user on Sunday. The pilot program is set to begin next month.

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Then, Charter decided not to implement DPI--but only after a backlash:

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The plan sparked a backlash and heated congressional hearings. Publicity about the issue died down, however, after Charter retreated from its plan, and Congress moved on to other matters. But deep-packet inspection didn’t go away.

ISPs insist they need it to help combat spam and malware. But the technology is ripe for abuse, not only by ISPs but also by the U.S. government, which could force providers to retain and hand over data they collect about users.

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So, here's the question: If you find a tyrannical regime's use of DPI technology to be deplorable--do you think it is OK for a private-sector company to use the same technology to monitor your every move on the internet? What is the difference, exactly?

Do you subscribe to Charter Internet?