Comcast has strongly denied reports it threatened customers with service termination for using the Tor anonymous web browser, designed to obscure a web user’s identity or location.

Over the weekend, Deep.Dot.Web reported that Comcast agents were contacting customers using the Tor web browser and warned them their Internet access was in peril if they continued using the anonymous browsing software, claiming it was against Comcast’s acceptable use policy.

Allegedly, Comcast representatives “Jeremy” and “Kelly” claimed Tor was “an illegal service” and demanded the customers reveal the web sites they were attempting to reach using the browser.

The representative identified as “Kelly” claimed:

“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 Tor browser was designed to protect the identity of its privacy-minded users from nosy government agencies and law enforcement elements, but has also been used to hide illegal activities ranging from child pornography and drug dealing to murder-for-hire and espionage-related activities. But the majority of the estimated four million Tor users rely on the browser primarily to help them overcome Internet censorship blocks or geographic restrictions on online video content.

Tor directs each user’s Internet traffic through a free, worldwide, volunteer network of more than five thousand relays to hide a user’s location and usage from anyone conducting network surveillance or traffic analysis. Technically, users who volunteer to run a relay may be in violation of Comcast’s acceptable use policy, which states (in part):

[Customers may not] use or run dedicated, stand-alone equipment or servers from the Premises that provide network content or any other services to anyone outside of your Premises local area network (“PremisesLAN”), also commonly referred to as public services or servers. Examples of prohibited equipment and servers include, but are not limited to, email, web hosting, file sharing, and proxy services and servers.

But whether the messages reported by Deep.Dot.Web were simply the result of an overeager support employee or actual company policy is now in dispute.

Comcast emphatically denied the customer contacts reported by Deep.Dot.Web ever took place and claimed Comcast has no restrictions on customers using the Tor browser.

“The anecdotal chat room evidence provided is not consistent with our agents’ messages and is not accurate,” said Comcast’s Charlie Douglas. “Per our own internal review, we have found no evidence that these conversations took place, nor do we employ a Security Assurance team member named Kelly. Comcast doesn’t monitor users’ browser software or web surfing, and has no program addressing the Tor browser. Customers are free to use their XFINITY Internet service to visit any website or use it however they wish.”

A company blog post this morning broadened the company’s denials:

Comcast is not asking customers to stop using Tor, or any other browser for that matter. We have no policy against Tor, or any other browser or software. Customers are free to use their Xfinity Internet service to visit any website, use any app, and so forth.

Here are the facts:

• Comcast doesn’t monitor our customer’s browser software, web surfing or online history.
• The anecdotal chat room evidence described in these reports is not accurate.
• We respect customer privacy and security and only investigate and disclose certain information about a customer’s account with a valid court order or other appropriate legal process, just like other ISPs. More information about these policies can be found in our Transparency Report here.
• We do not terminate customers for violating the Copyright Alert System (aka “six strikes”), which is a non-punitive, educational and voluntary copyright program. Read more here.

Some customers flipping through Verizon FiOS TV’s on-screen guide were shocked to discover movies like “I Banged My Stepdad,” “Pigtail Teens Pounded,” and “Mom, Daughter and Me,” available for on-demand viewing and now the company is defending itself against charges it is a porn peddler.

Morality in Media’s 2014 Dirty Dozen List gives prominent placement to Verizon’s adult pay-per-view service, which includes hardcore pornography that implies underage sex and incest.

“Verizon needs to show some corporate responsibility,” Patrick Trueman, president and CEO of Morality in Media told FOX News. “America is suffering a pandemic of harm from pornography and that harm falls particularly hard on children. We are coordinating with the members of our coalition, numbering 146 groups across the U. S., to alert the public to Verizon’s pornography distribution.”

The conservative media watchdog group has drawn some support from those uncomfortable with the nature of some of the titles Verizon is making available for purchase.

Ari Zoldan, CEO of digital communications company Quantum Networks, told FOX “as Americans we believe in freedom of speech, but we also believe in protection of our children’s welfare and well-being first and foremost.”

Verizon defended its programming decisions as a matter of customer choice.

“The explosion in choice is a tremendous benefit to consumers, but not all consumers want to have access to all content for themselves and their families all of the time,” Verizon’s associate director for advertising and content standards John P. Artney wrote to Morality in Media. “Not all content is desirable to or appropriate for all consumers, however, and Verizon is proud to provide our customers with myriad tools to control the types of content that they and their families have access to through our service.”

A senior IT manager at Bright House Networks used his broadband account to download kiddie porn, authorities allege.

James E. Cooper, 49, of Pinellas County, Fla., faces three counts of child pornography, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Authorities confiscated numerous computers and hard drive storage units from Cooper’s home under a search warrant. Authorities from the St. Petersburg Police, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, and the Department of Homeland Security coordinated in the investigation and subsequent arrest of Cooper.

Cooper was being held at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $15,000 bail. The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office is expected to prosecute the case in criminal court.

(Courtesy: The Consumerist)

Comcast Cable subscribers in Colorado Springs got more than a bowl of Froot Loops Thursday morning when local ABC affiliate KRDO was suddenly replaced with hardcore adult pornography during an airing of Good Morning America.

Viewers were outraged by the risque replacement, which most assumed was the fault of the TV station.

“I’ve been on the phone already this morning after the porn that was broadcast while my daughter was eating breakfast,” wrote one angry viewer or KRDO’s Facebook page. “I’m outraged! Sick!”

The problems started just after 4 in the morning when Comcast technicians set off a series of cascading failures that ended up disrupting several broadcast TV signals on the cable dial throughout southern Colorado.  But amidst snowy pictures, technical difficulty slides, and test patterns, the appearance of XXX-rated programming for several minutes during ABC-TV’s popular morning news show caused some chaos at KRDO studios when the phones started ringing.

Station officials could do nothing but watch the parade of adult entertainment on their studio monitors.  Since the problem was at the cable company, only Comcast subscribers coped with the mishap.

“We are aware that Comcast is not airing our programming right now,” KRDO posted on its Facebook page early Thursday morning. “It’s an issue with Comcast. We are working on getting it fixed.”

Later Thursday, visibly upset station management appeared on the evening local news to apologize for the error.  Comcast later admitted responsibility for the technical snafu:

We sincerely apologize for the programming interruption on KRDO News Channel 13 (ABC) in Colorado Springs and Pueblo. In the process of correcting a technical system issue, a series of channels were inadvertently shown live on KRDO during the morning programming. The issue was a result of human error which has been resolved and preventative measures have been taken to avoid this from happening in the future.

[flv width=”480″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KRDO Colorado Springs Comcast Channel Switcheroo 4-12-12.mp4[/flv]

KRDO in Colorado Springs found its regular airing of Good Morning America replaced with hardcore pornography on Comcast Cable.  (2 minutes)

Inmates at the Liberty County Jail in Texas managed to outwit Comcast’s set top boxes to watch “hours on end” of soft-core pornography for free, courtesy of the cable company.

Jail Warden Tim New claimed he spent weeks trying to get Comcast technicians out to the county facility to fix the problem — one that Comcast denied could be happening.

“4 Dorm watching porno channel again,” read one February security log obtained by ABC News. Just three days later, a guard wrote, “One of the TV’s had porn on it. Told them to change the channel.”

“I believe that Comcast just couldn’t believe that their system had been manipulated,” Capt. Rex Evans with the Liberty Count sheriff’s office told ABC.

It turns out bypassing the cable boxes effectively opened every channel up for viewing.

It finally took a threat from County Judge Craig McNair to cancel Comcast service in the jail to get the cable company to dispatch a technician.

“Once Liberty County made us aware the inmates had access to Cinemax, we took the necessary steps to block access to the channel,” a representative for the cable company said.

Inmates told KPRC that there would be “a lot of fights” because of the porn sessions and that showers had become “hell” because of Cinemax.

[flv width=”624″ height=”372″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KPRC Houston Nightly porno TV shows for inmates prompt action by county leaders 2-29-12.flv[/flv]

KPRC-TV in Houston covers a porn scandal inside Liberty County jails.  Public safety officials blame Comcast for not pulling the plug on the adult programming.  (3 minutes)