Comcast, with it’s recent acquisitions, is now the biggest and most powerful cable company in the country. Now they’re implementing threats against a certain browser.
Users of an anonymous web browser called Tor say Comcast threatened to cut off their services it they continue to use Tor. Comcast’s reps are warning customers that Tor goes against Comcast’s policies. That’s pretty strong. I did some looking in on Tor. It turns out Tor is a browsing service that helps makes your Internet private. It makes it difficult for governments, private corporations and advertisers to track what you’re doing online. Now I will admit, at first, Tor was popular with some of the less pleasing members of society, like drug traffickers, ID hackers, human traffickers, sextortionists,? and cyber bullies. But since the Edward Snowden revelations came out in summer 2013, more and more law abiding citizens with privacy concerns have been using Tor. In fact, over 1.2 million use it. Comcast customers have been asked which sites are they using Tor for. Comcast defends it’s decisions by saying they need to monitor customer traffic in cast of court orders and other legal actions.
That response from Comcast alone makes me suspicious. Now I understand some people abuse a web browser like Tor just to fulfill a criminal lifestyle or other criminal or mean-spirited desires. And that part does deserves some regulation. But the cynic in me tells me something deeper is going on. Something tells me Comcast is threatening Tor because of the privacy issue. Not only that, I’m wondering if the NSA or other government agencies isn’t behind this as well. It almost strikes me as the reason Comcast hates this browser so much is because they can’t keep track of the consumers’ habits. But I could be wrong. What’s the real reason Comcast is coming down or Tor? Is it because of protection or surveillance?