Responding to a medium-sized uproar, Windstream Communications says it is sorry about those customer searches performed by Firefox users and redirected from Google to its own search engine, and the Little Rock, Arkansas-based ISP has now got the situation under control."Windstream implemented a network change on Friday, April 2 that affected certain customer Web browser search box queries, producing search results inconsistent with Windstream's prior practices," a spokesperson for the voice/DSL service told us. "Windstream successfully implemented configuration changes today to restore original functionality to these search queries after hearing from affected customers."
The question, of course, is whether the company accidentally or deliberately rigged its network software to produce those "inconsistent" results. We asked, but not surprisingly didn't get an answer to that query.
Not the behavior I expect
As Ars readers know, there's money to be made from the typing errors of Web users. Input a slight misspelling of a popular domain name and you'll wind up at an ad-saturated site designed to harvest all such instances. Then there are the Internet service providers that take this business one step further. Screw up a domain by a single character and you wind up at an ISP-sponsored or -partnered search engine, complete with ads on the site waiting for your impression or click.
It appears that Windstream inadvertently or deliberately took this activity to the next level, according to its own statement and the complaints of some of its customers, reproduced on the Windstream forum page of DSL Reports. Here's one protest:
"Dear Windstream,
For future reference: When I use google via the firefox search bar I actually want to go to google not » searchredirect.windstream.net/
This redirect happens in both windows and linux even if dns is hard set in router and tcp/ip settings
It took me 45 minutes to figure out how to disable this 'feature'
» searchredirect.windstream.net/prefs.php you can disable this 'feature' here
Honestly this isn't the kind of behavior I expect out of my isp and I consider it very unprofessional."
To these forum concerns a Windstream support person initially posted this reply: "We apologize as this is an issue that we are aware of and are currently working to resolve. You should not be getting that redirect page when you are doing your searches. We should have this resolved soon." Next Windstream's Twitter page declared the problem is fixed: "Windstream has resolved unintentional issues with Firefox search. Apologies for the troubles you've had."
But this episode raises some serious worries, among them: how much should your ISP be allowed to monkey around with your Web browsing activity under any circumstances? Free Press has already called for the Federal Communications Commission to investigate this affair.
"If initial allegations are true, Windstream has crossed the line and is actively interfering with its subscribers' Internet communications," the reform groups' S. Derek Turner declared. "Hijacking a search query is not much different than deliberately ‘redirecting’ a user from NYTimes.com to WashingtonPost.com and a limited 'opt-out' capability is not enough to justify Internet discrimination. This is further proof of the need for strong open Internet rules, comprehensive transparency and disclosure obligations, and a process for relief at the FCC."
The issue has been resolved
Ars asked Windstream about these concerns. Not surprisingly, the ISP isn't crazy about the probe idea. "We don't think an investigation is necessary since the issue has been resolved," the company told Ars.
In truth, we'd be a bit surprised if the FCC jumped on this conundrum too quickly. Everybody's waiting to hear what the DC Circuit Court of Appeals has to say about the Commission's authority to sanction Comcast for P2P blocking, and most observers don't expect it to go well for the agency [update: the court has ruled]. As the Free Press statement suggests, the FCC's authority around these ISP issues is still a work in progress.
But given that ICANN has already condemned the practice of ISP redirection in the case of misspelled or nonexistent domain names, it doesn't seem like we've heard the last about this issue. Indeed, Windstream's quick response to subscriber complaints suggests the service knows that the watchdogs are watching. Windstream's latest repairs of its search system "do not require customers who chose to opt-out to do so again," the ISP assured us.
Source: Arstechnica.com
