Friday, April 5, 2013

An Update on CMA Communications' Ad Injection Practices

Part of the new "Acceptable Use Policy" of CMA Communications - Added April 4, 2013


Thanks to the intelligent and rational nature of Redditors, the post which detailed CMA Communications' injection of advertisements into their paying customer's HTTP requests received quite a bit of attention. I'd like to provide you with an update on what has occurred since then:


1. I've contacted several of the media outlets suggested, only one has responded and they seem to have backed out of running the story. (Update 4/7/2013: ArsTechnica is now running an article about the injections: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/how-a-banner-ad-for-hs-ok).


2. I've contacted a few major companies which have affected websites, but none have responded. 


3. The FCC has responded that this is not something they can help with.


4. A complaint with the FTC has been submitted, but they note that they do not act on individual consumer complaints.


5. On April 4, CMA Communications updated their "Acceptable Use Policy" to include a new section which covers their injection practices. It is here: http://www.cmaaccess.com/Internet/acceptable-use-policy/ (Section 10). In my opinion it is a frightening read and I'd encourage you to take a look.


Overall, no progress has been made towards changing the questionable practices of this ISP. Being just one person with no ties to journalists or the major companies affected, I seem to have exhausted all of my avenues. So I'm asking for your help in this.

If you have ties with anyone who might be able to assist with this situation, the many customers of CMA Communications would be very appreciative of anything they could do. I am happy to provide answers to any questions, as well as evidence of the injection practices. Feel free to contact me using my gmail email address, which is zhenkel.

The one thing I would like to emphasize is that in many of the areas served by CMA Communications, they are likely to be the only broadband provider. This means customers would need to revert to dialup internet to make a point, which is a difficult choice to make for many.

TO Redditors:
In the spirit of good Reddiquette, I'd like to assure you that I have been a regular member of the community for a little over a year now. Unfortunately, I did not want my username linked to my real world identity, so I created a new account to submit this story. I would like to assure you that this is my last submission of this nature, and I am not looking to use the community as my soapbox. Thank you all for bringing your expertise and suggestions to this issue.