Comcast reportedly redirecting DNS traffic
updated 05:05 pm EDT, Tue June 9, 2009
Comcast DNS hijacking
An angry Comcast Internet subscriber has written a complaint (caution: may not be safe for work) that alleges the provider is intercepting his DNS requests to other, non-Comcast DNS servers and redirecting them to its own. The author says Comcast takes UDP traffic bound for port 53 on any server and redirects it to their own, making it nearly impossible for users to use different DNS servers, including their own.
Comcast has reportedly "hijacked" DNS requests in the past for nonexistent servers when users misspelled website addresses, for example, but if this latest accusation proves true, it would be a significant blow to net neutrality by favoring the provider's services over another's. Comcast is not alone in this practice, however.
The user does suggest a method of checking for whether or not the problem is present in users' own connections and even offers a solution, but it's intended for experienced individuals rather than average customers. Comcast has not responded to the accusations. [via Slashdot]
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Joined: Jan 2001
epic fail, MacNN.
If you read the Slashdot article, you'll see about 99 percent of respondents who tested their own connections saw no such blocking. Further discussion suggests the story was a plant to drive traffic (and therefore advertising impressions) to the original blog.