Cross-posting a message I wrote today for Dave Farber’s Interesting-People mailing list. The topic is regarding ISPs and their policies towards high bandwidth applications such as BitTorrent. The thread was started by Brett Glass, owner of a small ISP in Wyoming; the entire thread is archived here, while his specific message which I replied to is here.

From: Jeff Porten
Sent: Monday, February 18, 2008 1:58 PM
Subject: Re: [IP] Re: Comments on LARIAT and Comcast not same problem

On Feb 17, 2008, at 3:11 PM, Brett Glass wrote:

The default is for [BitTorrent to take up all available bandwidth]. And how many gamers, thirsting for the latest World of Warcraft update, would change that default (if they knew how)?

I’ve used over a dozen different BitTorrent clients; most of these do not expose their defaults to the users or allow the user to modify them. The ones that do clearly differ in their default settings. So your argument is provably incorrect. There is no “the default”, and I strongly suspect that if you were to download a dozen or so BitTorrent programs, you’d find that the defaults are set rather reasonably.

Secondly, in the “unprovably incorrect” category, anyone doing a casual search on “how do I use this BitTorrent thing” — which nearly everyone has to do as the software tends towards the complex — will come across many web documents that say, “do not do X, Y, or Z, as this is bad for the network.” [1] These are usually explained in terms of “ultimately bad for your download speed”, so it speaks to user self-interest rather than trying to inspire hearts and bunnies in the user.

[1]: http://www.azureuswiki.com/index.php/Good_Torrents

Alas, there is. Even if you throttle your BitTorrent client, your system (and your ISP) will be beaten on relentlessly with requests for the material. Day and night.

The largest swarms I’ve ever seen have about 40,000 members; the medians can range from 50 to 2,000 members depending upon whether you’re grabbing the latest hot release, or joining an older swarm. According to http://wiki.theory.org/BitTorrentSpecification#Messages , the messages in question are mostly measured in single-digit bitlengths [1], so presumably these require a single IP packet in each direction. The only large bandwidth requirements are in response to the request packets, which is precisely where the throttles come into play.

[1] Typo. I should have said bytelengths.

So I have difficulty with your characterization that your system is “beaten on”; it seems to me that a properly throttled BitTorrent client would be kinder to networks than, say, RSS readers and other glatt kosher network apps. Likewise, I note that iTunes podcast downloads and various network file transfers invariably max out available local bandwidth, and for some reason no one is complaining loudly about these — despite the fact that they are substantively similar to unthrottled torrents.

Long after your own download is done. And unless you “relent” by not doing P2P, you are still taking your ISP’s bandwidth for a third party.

No. If I am choosing to share a portion of my hard drive, that is a first party use of network resources, and I am the person paying the bills. If I choose to share these with anonymous third parties, that’s my choice — I happen to find it gratifying when a stranger reads my website, and resent an implication that if I don’t know my correspondent, he is somehow stealing my ISP’s resources.

The entire point is that your software cares not whether any network is “overloaded,” and seeks to bypass all of the safeguards against congestion which are part of the TCP/IP protocol suite. It is thus abusive to the network.

Actually, Brett, my particular software has rather sophisticated mechanisms to judge whether a network is busy. [1] Admittedly there are also instructions to avoid traffic shaping [2], which to my mind ranks up there with the global port 80 block that ISPs imposed on all users after Code Red was released. That said, and as you well should know, these are applications riding on top of the TCP/IP layer, not hacks to the TCP layer itself. If there is anything an end user can do to hack your TCP/IP layer, the fault is not with the clever or clueless user, the fault is with the programmer who left such glaring security holes in your routers and servers.

[1]: http://www.azureuswiki.com/index.php/ConfigAuto-Speed
[2]: http://www.azureuswiki.com/index.php/Avoid_traffic_shaping

One of the most effective P2P mitigation tactics we’ve tried is to slow down the user’s connection to compensate for the excessive duty cycle of P2P applications, keeping the net load (in gigabits per month) imposed on the network by the user down to a reasonable level. It’s the equivalent of, say, limiting the number of plates that a customer at a buffet can fill.

Yes, and this is what so profoundly angers your educated customers. We know that ISPs have always worked on the model that a few users will make high use of their connections, but the vast majority of their users will contribute high profits with low usages. This model dates back to modem banks and dial-up.

There are two ways ISPs can respond:

1) the ethical way is to say, “due to changes in our business model, we are raising our prices/changing our policies/imposing caps.” This gives their customers a chance to review their contracted relationship and decide whether to support the ISP or leave for a better competitor.

2) the unethical way is to modify their infrastructure such that they can screw over their customers in ways that they hope won’t be noticed. I happen to run a bandwidth meter in my menu bar, but ISPs very well know that most people don’t, and that ignorance is their opportunity.

As best as I can tell, ISPs to date have overwhelmingly opted for option #2. It is my opinion that the attitude of trying to put one over the ISPs is largely due to the obviously poor relationship between provider and client.

The flaw in this scheme is that it still lets abusers take bandwidth from us for the benefit of third parties, such as Blizzard and Vuze, without compensation.

Just so I’m clear — the “abusers” are people who pay you money, yes? I want to make sure that I’m understanding the terminology you’re using for your customers.

I run two businesses, and I routinely fire my underperforming customers and clients when they are more trouble than they are worth. The difference is, I do this politely, and I don’t call them names or imply that they are thieves for using the services I have promised them.

Best,
Jeff Porten

Scalzi has a great post up on how to be a thrifty writer, which counts as good advice for budding entrepreneurs as well.

One caveat: in his segue on “buy good stuff that lasts”, he mentions the epitomé of new and shiny, the MacBook Air, as its antithesis. Fact is, I own about a dozen Macs, and with the exception of a few PowerBook 140s that I bought used in 1997, they all still work. I can fire up my PowerBook Duo 210 any time I like, although its battery life is now measurable in picoseconds. The PowerBook G3 from 1999 is still in my stable of useful computers (great monitor, decent hard drive) for anything that doesn’t require heavy duty horsepower or Mac OS X 10.4 and up.

So, just saying: if you need a computer that will last for ten years, maybe you should go with the shiny.

Brian just tagged me with another blogmeme, and seeing as how I haven’t posted for a while… what the hell?

The meme in question:

1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

What Brian didn’t realize is that he tagged me twice, so here are the top two books in the stack.

Ken Follett, Jackdaws: “The last thing Monty had said to Paul Chancellor, late on Monday night, had been: ‘If you do only one thing in this war, make sure that telephone exchange is destroyed.’ Paul had woken this morning with those words echoing in his mind. It was a simple instruction.”

Dan Harrington & Bill Robertie, Harrington on Hold ‘Em, Volume III: “The big blind has been active throughout this session, and likes to stick in a lot of small raises during a pot. The small raises don’t indicate anything about the strength of his hand. Your hand: Aâ™  A♣.”

Tried to pick up a terabyte drive from OfficeDepot.com that was listed on DealMac. To date, I’ve had the following wonderful experiences with the company:

1) Phone rep lied about expected delivery date.

2) Charge to my credit card applied three separate times ($963 for a hard drive; not exactly the bargain I was looking for).

3) Wait time of 5-7 business days before such charges can be reversed.

4) Ask for a supervisor, and get dumped into the Spanish language recordings. Unfortunately for them, I speak enough Spanish to navigate that. But a cute way of ditching problem callers.

Still on hold, so addenda to this post may apply.

Addendum 1: time on hold of sufficient length to look up executive customer service email on Consumerist, find all tracking numbers on my credit card account, compose three-paragraph email, and send. Not sure how long I’ve been on hold, but length of call is about 45 minutes. I’m now promised a callback later today….

Addendum 2: callback from executive customer service just now (5:30 PM Friday); no callback ever received from the standard escalation request. She was extremely friendly and her attitude by itself went a long way towards making me feel better about Office Depot. Summary: she could help me, but only with credit card details that I couldn’t give out to an incoming phone call. We decided to see if the problem resolves itself by Monday, otherwise I call her back.

Short version of this interesting article in The Atlantic: Do one thing at a time. Avoid multitasking. Technology that enables multitasking is bad; technology that encourages multitasking is horrid.

I can’t say that I can argue with the premise, especially with the neuroscience–I’m just not qualified to take that on. But my gut feeling is that what he calls the evils of multitasking is what I experience at the end of a day where I say to myself, “I was so busy today; how is it that I got so little done?”

That said, as a card-carrying technological utopian (and the card isn’t made of antediluvian paper, nosirree), I can think of several times when multitasking is not only beneficial, it is right and proper. Listening to a podcast or good music while walking long distances. Putting on just the right mix when watching the stars, the ocean, or just the world passing by. A little distraction when a poker game isn’t going quite the way you want it to, and to focus your entire attention on it will be to play badly.

I recently picked up a Palm Centro smartphone, about which I’ve been intending to write an extensive review for a month–but I’ll say in passing that the way in which it wormed its way into my life so quickly was precisely the ability it provides to grab snippets of the Internet while doing something else. An opponent asked me last night when the minting dates were of my Morgan dollar card protector; I found them out (1878-1904, and 1921) while grabbing a smoke break. That’s information I want to know, but wouldn’t have made a note to track down hours later.

Maybe it denied me the full enjoyment of that nicotine hit. Somehow, I doubt it.

My fraternity has a traditional game that’s been played for decades, called Flaming Laballa. It’s a little bit like handball, except that it’s played with a tennis ball. Oh, and the tennis ball is soaked in lighter fluid. And then set on fire.

The part about using your hands to bat around the ball, though, that’s the same.

The game is best played while drunk, and near very large snowbanks.

In that spirit, I pass along a video of a pyromaniac who clearly should be one of our members.

After where I’ve been for the past week, I found this hysterical:

If anyone can tell me what the hell Alert DC meant with today’s “emergency alert” message, I’m listening.

From: “Alert DC”
To: “Alert DC Users”
Subject: Message from Alert DC
Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2008 12:28:27 -0500

The exercise drill has ended at George Washington University (1900 block of F St., NW) and streets will be opening soon. A hot wash will also be conducted.

This probably says more about me than anyone really needs to know: I just grabbed the shuttle from my casino-hotel to another nearly identical casino-hotel, because I knew that one was a block away from the 24-hour Starbucks.

Monologue held by my cab driver, as a minivan nearly swerved into us on the Strip:

“Man, the guy’s talking on his cell phone. No wonder. We should do it here like they do it in New York, make it illegal to talk on the phone in cars. Big fines for the driver. That would be much better. [taps on Bluetooth earpiece] Hello? Hey, what’s up?”

Another way to read these signs: “This door handle will never work. In non-emergency situations, it’s an IQ test. In emergency situations, it’s a Darwin filter.”

Who are the people who are authorized to cause an emergency brake application when no emergency exists? Because that must be a damn cool job.

Currently finishing up a one-hour layover at 30th Street Station in Philly, in the midst of an exhausting trip home from Vegas: hotel shuttle to airport cab to redeye flight to Minneapolis to two hour wait on the tarmac to Philly airport to SEPTA train to 30th Street to NJT train to casino shuttle to home. Yes, I left Vegas and the last stop on my trip is a casino before I get home. No, I’m not going to play there.

Anyway, I’m fried and I’ve got time to kill, which is why I’ve blogged more today than I generally do in a month. What got me to pull out the laptop again is one of my favorite things about Philly: there’s a trumpet and clarinet duet playing Christmas carols here at the train station. Skilled amateurs from the sound of it, and there’s no open case soliciting donations. The sound is filling the room and bouncing off the fifty-foot ceiling, and sometimes you can even hear the woodwind.

Random musical performances are all over Philly, and I’m glad I’m here for this one. It’s thoroughly charming, and I say that with no snark whatsoever. It’s good to be home.

Editor’s note: apparently, there’s a drafts feature in WordPress, which is why this post has been lying around since I wrote it in June. Oops.

So I received an electronic chain letter last week, in the form of a blog meme that’s been passed along to me. Apparently, if I break the chain, I’ll have seven years of breaking mirrors and walking under black cats, so I’m sorta stuck.

Five people I’m tagging to continue with this nonsense:

1. Ralf Bendrath, who could stand to publish something lighthearted on his blog once in a while
2. Rik Panganiban, because I’d like to hear more about his First Life
3. Terry Ryan, in the hopes he’ll stop writing about ColdFusion long enough to amuse me
4. Jess Silver, because this request will make her grumpy, and she’s always amusing when she’s grumpy
5. The Right Reverend Matthew Thornton, because it’s about damn time he started blogging

The set of random questions:

What were you doing ten years ago?

I was in Norway and Sweden for the Quinquennial Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs, and to do some consulting work for Idetorget in Stockholm. That trip amusingly ended with me giving a presentation, on three hours’ notice, at the Stockholm World Trade Center where I was the only presenter not speaking Swedish. To this day, I have no idea what my introduction was.

What were you doing one year ago?

In Atlantic City, playing poker.

Five snacks you enjoy

I tend to avoid snacks, mainly because I have a bad habit of treating any size bag as a single serving. That being said: Triscuits, chocolate-covered pretzels, Combos, popcorn, Nutrageous candy bars

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics

The Red and the Blue (three verses)
Hail Pennsylvania (three verses)
Power in the Bonds (five verses)
Home, from The Adventures of Betty Boop
Afterglow

Five things you would do if you were a billionaire

1. Approximately $100M into the Porten Family Travel and Entertainment fund, with a whole-hearted attempt to ensure the fund expires on the same day I do.
2. Purchase a very large house in Washington DC, with about 20-30 bedrooms. Set aside an annuity fund to keep it staffed and the larder full. Short-term housing to be provided to anyone willing to present on issues of science and technology to the other guests and the public, with the intention of creating a year-round floating Pugwash conference.
3. Bequests to the Pugwash Conferences, Student Pugwash USA, International Student/Young Pugwash, ISODARCO, the Kappa Alpha Society, the Penn Band, Citizens for Global Solutions, and the World Federalist Movement.
4. A check for $1 to the University of Pennsylvania, with a cover letter thanking the administration for the concern they’ve historically shown to my academic department and the A3 staff.
5. Remainder to a foundation dedicated to the proposition that, yes, dammit, some problems do get better if you throw money at them. Charter would insist that funds be spent and the foundation disbanded no later than December 10, 2069.

Five bad habits

I smoke, I gamble, I eat poorly, I don’t mind conversational confrontation, and I’m rather too proud of all of the above.

Five things you like doing

I smoke, I gamble, I eat poorly, I don’t mind conversational confrontation, and I’m rather too proud of all of the above.

Five things you would never wear again

1. The all-white outfit that I wore when I played Teen Angel in 1984
2. A black velvet bow tie the size of my head (it was 1976)
3. The 1987 Penn Band jacket, cunningly constructed out of trash bags and laundry lint
4. A baseball cap
5. A toga and an electric blue Speedo bathing suit

Last five blogs in the chain, and feel free to send all of us a dollar (a Nigerian will send you $100 if you do):

1. Electronic Cerebrectomy
2. Byzantium’s Shores: The Occasional Meditations of an Overalls-clad Hippie
3. Simple Tricks and Nonsense
4. I Should Be Sleeping
5. The Vast Jeff Wing Conspiracy

(Dammit, Brian, have you ever tried copying source from your blog? Do you get charged extra for whitespace? Sheesh.)

Every once in a while, I get inspired to take a look at my upcoming travel schedule and think, “Man, I am such an idiot.” Yes, those degrees are Fahrenheit.