Internet, ISP and privacy

[smartel]

i want to know if my ISP (Internet Service Provider) can tell the difference
if i'm watching or recording (streamtransport , downloadhelper or sites like keepvid)
from the web (youtube , dailymotion or google video) or if theses site can tell too !??

and what about those privacy tools ?? Tor , Jondo and all
do any of those really work (had difficulty with flash ..)
and what abour free proxies ?? lots of US sites blocked outside borders (VH1 for one)

any good solutions around ??

i tried a few and some are a pain to configure ..
and i test myself with https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

i just want to have your input on this

posted in the newbe forum .. and if my subject is too off , just delete my thread

Thx

[poisondeathray]

i want to know if my ISP (Internet Service Provider) can tell the difference
if i'm watching or recording (streamtransport , downloadhelper or sites like keepvid)
from the web (youtube , dailymotion or google video) or if theses site can tell too !??

Impossible for them to determine if you are "recording" , they can only tell if you are accessing the data

But some sites like youtube, google video, vimeo etc... they are http download (or some are "psuedostreaming"), not true streaming: rtmp/rtsp streaming - so they are automatically downloaded (recorded) anyways so it doesn't matter. You can search your temporary internet directory and the videos are recorded there automatically.

and what about those privacy tools ?? Tor , Jondo and all
do any of those really work (had difficulty with flash ..)
and what abour free proxies ?? lots of US sites blocked outside borders (VH1 for one)

If you route through a proxy, then only the proxy host has a record of your connections, but they still can't tell if you're "recording" a live stream - they can only tell if you are accessing the data . Free proxy service is very slow, but some sites offer paid services with faster speeds

[smartel]

so flash isn't telling if it's working through a browser or an application ...

i taught their was something to worry about those flash cookies

[poisondeathray]

so flash isn't telling if it's working through a browser or an application ...

i taught their was something to worry about those flash cookies

The server hosting the file has logs that determine if you are accessing through a browser and other information (e.g. IE vs Firefox etc...) . If you run some download apps, they sometimes "spoof" the browser data, but sometimes not (so the server log "thinks" you're running IE for example)

Cookies are mostly harmless (except tracking data), it's the scripts that are potentially dangerous and can run malicious code . (that's one reason why flash updates are so frequent, to patch security vulnerabilities)

[Moontrash]

there's no way for them to tell if your watching or grabbing a stream cause both ways it's doing the same thing. Your not sending anything to them to let them know your grabbing a stream. The software you use to grab a stream is on your pc and it's not telling them if your watching or grabbing.

If you want total protection you should look into a VPN service.

[smartel]

i've got an old friend of mine who is a programmer working for an ISP

i'll try to get some info and report back

Thx

[jman98]

As far as I know recording anything streamed to your PC is not illegal. I've never heard of any cases involving that. This may just be a lot of worry about nothing. However, I cannot speak for Canadian law. It the USA it's difficult for me to conceive of a music or movie company taking a consumer to court over streaming recording as the courts might rule in favor of the consumer and make it legal for sure. I've heard of some ISPs using deep packet inspection but they are really interested in people downloading stuff from Bit Torrent that is considered to be "illegal".

[poisondeathray]

As far as I know recording anything streamed to your PC is not illegal.

It depends - for paid user sites (member login) that use real streaming , their EULA usually specifically prohibits unauthorized recording

For non paid sites like youtube and http download, it's already recorded so the point is moot.

It the USA it's difficult for me to conceive of a music or movie company taking a consumer to court over streaming recording as the courts might rule in favor of the consumer and make it legal for sure.

Even though their EULA agreement specifies no recording for the consumer, often paid videos are recorded and distributed by "somebody". Even if they could prove it, they don't have the resources to go after a single person.

[smartel]

i'd like some info how to properly set my flash settings manager

http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html

i've fooled around with those settings and now streamtransport doesn't catch anything

[Bonie81]

smartel

Internet, ISP and privacy

Internet and Privacy are two different far distanced poles, they do not get along.
When you connect to Internet, you normally open-up 65535 doors (ports), not even very expensive firewalls are capable of securing all ports and all web-traffic.

If you need 100% Privacy and Security, just do not connect.

i want to know if my ISP (Internet Service Provider) can tell the difference
if i'm watching or recording (streamtransport , downloadhelper or sites like keepvid)
from the web (youtube , dailymotion or google video) or if theses site can tell too !??

it is hard to tell or differentiate at server end whether you are watching, recording or downloading. Certain web-sites use AJAX and JavaScript which may provide feed-back to them. JavaScript and AJAX running on background while you are watching video, can reveal your browsing habits and browsing history to them as well.

and what about those privacy tools ?? Tor , Jondo and all
do any of those really work (had difficulty with flash ..)
and what about free proxies ?? lots of US sites blocked outside borders (VH1 for one)

They help up to certain extent as hacks are already available.

any good solutions around ??

Lock the doors and windows.... just do not connect!
HaHa!

i tried a few and some are a pain to configure ..
and i test myself with https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

There tons fo Good Website offers online security test
Shields Up - https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
PC Flank - http://www.pcflank.com
are well-known and proven.

posted in the newbe forum .. and if my subject is too off , just delete my thread

as newbie...
Je vous en prie!!!


-Wishes from Montreal

[intracube]

You can search your temporary internet directory and the videos are recorded there automatically.

Recent versions of Flash (at least under Linux) hide these temp files from a normal directory listing in quite an ingenious way... I only found out how Flash was doing this last week

What about Windows - are these files still visible if you look in the right folder?

As you say, it's possible that plugins like DownloadHelper don't communicate with the server in quite the same way as viewing the video normally, but taking a copy from the browser cache should be undetectable.

[Bonie81]

Recent versions of Flash (at least under Linux) hide these temp files from a normal directory listing in quite an ingenious way... I only found out how Flash was doing this last week

What about Windows - are these files still visible if you look in the right folder?

L@@K here Adobe Flash Player Remote Memory Corruption Vulnerability

-or Here-
Adobe Flash vulnerability affects Flash Player and other Adobe products

-or Here -
Hackers exploiting Flash Player XSS vulnerability


Borderline :
"You only have to worry if you have Flash player installed on your computer and watch too many online videos."

[intracube]

L@@K here Adobe Flash Player Remote Memory Corruption Vulnerability
..
-or Here -
Hackers exploiting Flash Player XSS vulnerability

This is one of the reasons I use NoScript.

I never enable Javascript or Flash for ~95% of sites I visit.

Also, a typical web page will load JS from a lot of other domains. As an example, that zdnet page you posted loads JS from 8 other sites and all but 2 are blocked from running JS on my browser. So, even for the sites where I allow JS/Flash, only allow a small % of JS/Flash on any given page is allowed to run.

[smartel]

and with nocript , can you still view and download youtube videos ?

[intracube]

and with nocript , can you still view and download youtube videos ?

Yes, as long as you enable youtube.com and ytimg.com