Bell Canada Employs DNS Redirection - Latest to create revenue stream from typing mistakes...
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Bell Canada Employs DNS Redirection
Latest to create revenue stream from typing mistakes...
10:21AM Thursday Jul 23 2009 by Karl Bode
tags: business · alternatives · world · networking · Bell Sympatico
Tipped by fatness
According to user posts in our Bell Canada forum, it appears that Bell Canada is the latest ISP to implement DNS redirection advertising. The technology, controversial to some 'Net purists, replaces the traditional 404 page with an ad-laden search portal (see screenshot) -- effectively giving ISPs a new revenue stream off of mistyped URLs. Comcast was the most recent ISP in the States to implement such functionality, which was originally more controversial because ISPs weren't offering users working opt-out options or "clean" DNS servers.

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Stojko @ 23rd Jul 09:46AM:
More great enhancements from Bell!

Hasn't the news from Old Blue been so great lately?
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S_engineer @ 23rd Jul 09:50AM:
I wonder how

Bell provides the clickstream data for the pricing of the adverts. Do they just count the number of 404s?
This is a nuisance that can be circumvented pretty easily. But the trend is awful. No rock will be left untouched in search of that elusive penny!
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baineschile @ 23rd Jul 09:52AM:
Re: More great enhancements from Bell!

said by Stojko :

Hasn't the news from Old Blue been so great lately?
This is a trite business practice, and shouldnt be smiled or frowned upon. The ISPs have potential to do much worse and better to the consumer than this.
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exseven @ 23rd Jul 10:10AM:
Great post, if it was correct

I would like to point out that to receive a 404 page one would actually have had a successful DNS lookup, and hence not received the page Karl has pointed out...

Great detective work Karl, thank you for making the interwebs smrter
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anon @ 23rd Jul 10:33AM:
msg deleted

deleted by a moderator
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Uninvited @ 23rd Jul 10:47AM:
Browser hijacking?

I first noticed it when I typed "youtube" into firefox's address bar. Previously, it worked like an "I'm feeling lucky button" and if it was a popular term, would take you to the website. No longer.
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El Quintron @ 23rd Jul 11:13AM:
No point even complaining anymore

Seriously everything this company does completely blows. They're completely ruthless and insane to their own customers and the CLECs have to fight them tooth and nail just to stay in business.

Screw complaining we should just lobby the gov't to have it broken up.
--
Working to bring you closer to a Bell and Rogers free household.
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Thane_Bitter @ 23rd Jul 11:21AM:
Re: More great enhancements from Bell!

said by baineschile :

The ISPs have potential to do much worse and better to the consumer than this.
Please, they already are. Bell uses Hotmail for mail services, Bell implemented caps (then lowered them, and lowered them again), Bell increased its prices, Bell rents you their modem, Bell throttles, Bell dropped newsgroups, blocked port 25, and Bell would rather directly extract the money from your account then send out an itemized bill.

I think only content injection/redirection is the only thing they have not done (though Canada’s other dark horse ISP Rogers does).

Fortunately the more technically savvy users have dropped Bell’s fault DNS servers log ago, mostly because of the inability to resolve addresses (much like the shredded phonebook that is ubiquitous with payphones – it is there, but don’t expect it will be useful).

In Canada regardless of the ISP you use, it still makes use of either Bell/Telus or Rogers controlled equipment.

What would you choose?
Spam, bacon and Spam
Or
Bacon, Spam, and Spam
--
Bell Canada, stifling technical innovation since 1880.
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zalternate @ 23rd Jul 11:32AM:
Controversial = Illegal

Controversial = Illegal.

Getting real tired of the word 'controversial' in the news. It's almost as bad as the word Alleged, when there is video evidence of the Perp hacking someone to death.

Simply put. Hackers are considered to be committing a crime when they redirect your web traffic, but for some strange reason no one is pointing that out in the media when an ISP does it.

Isn't it bad enough that with DPI, all your Internet traffic is being monitored by some machine, that any person could easily pull the data from, about your personal and private communications. If the Copyright Mafia gets it's way in Canada, the police are going to use DPI to watch your traffic, just in case you might do something that the Government does not like. And no judge needed or warrant either, for the initial information of your account details Citizen.
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Consumer Rights is more than just a suggestion.
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iansltx @ 23rd Jul 11:53AM:
Re: Browser hijacking?

4.2.2.1
4.2.2.2
4.2.2.3
4.2.2.4
4.2.2.5
4.2.2.6

Done. |

Seriously, if you don't like Bell's DNS servers, change 'em. OpenDNS does the same thing if you want their advanced features, but the trusty old Level3 DNS servers are redirect-free and plenty fast.

This is why my Firefox address bar search function still works on my Comcast connection; no automatic DNS configuration = no automatic DNS redirection (which by the way drives me insane).
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amartinas @ 23rd Jul 12:30PM:
Re: Great post, if it was correct

owned.
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Hindenpeter8 @ 23rd Jul 12:44PM:
Disclosure anyone?

I loved loathed last year when Rogers started doing this and didn't tell anyone. It's one thing to do it then inform customers of the practice, but to do it without telling anyone is downright sleezy. I actually thought their DNS had been hijacked by some hacker with really good graphic design skills.

The last time I checked it does not happen for SSL connections (https), can anyone confirm the same for Bell?
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cornelius785 @ 23rd Jul 01:04PM:
Re: More great enhancements from Bell!

the 'blocking port 25' point is moot. nearly all other carriers do that to residential customers as residential service doesn't permit servers. The renting the modem is partially moot since there are other carriers where you rent the modem, but I've noticed a trend to customer buying the modems. maybe they are behind in the times.
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Thane_Bitter @ 23rd Jul 01:12PM:
Re: More great enhancements from Bell!

With Bell you don't have the luxury of choosing to rent or buy; it's much like in the early days of the telephone system where you rented your phone if you wanted phone service. Yes, several companies block ports, but at the rate Bell (and other companies are making changes) such companies are less like ISP’s and more like AOL (keyword – Control ;) )
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chronoss2009 @ 23rd Jul 01:56PM:
Bell illegal hacking secondary DNS

if i have legal rights to my own services running what does anyone have to remove a comment that bell steals my dns and then redirects it as THEY see fit.

IF its as said that secondary DNS will fall to bell Canada that is theft outright and a form a hacking and should and could be a federal offense.
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justsomeguy @ 23rd Jul 01:57PM:
not experiencing this

I'm a sympatico customer, using sympatico DNS and I am not experiencing this.

I've tried typing in several domains that dont exist into my browser and I do not get redirected anywhere, I get my "Server not found" error page in my browser. (firefox)

Maybe there is some browser component installed in these people's Internet Explorer, when I type a domain that doesnt exist into IE8, I get "redirected" to google with the non-existant domain I typed in already entered into the search box.

So maybe these people have a Bell Search component installed in Internet Explorer like I have for google.
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TKJunkMail @ 23rd Jul 03:27PM:
Re: More great enhancements from Bell!

said by baineschile :

said by Stojko :

Hasn't the news from Old Blue been so great lately?
This is a trite business practice, and shouldnt be smiled or frowned upon. The ISPs have potential to do much worse and better to the consumer than this.
DNS redirection is a non-issue for almost all of an ISPs customers. It is only a very very few that care enough to squawk about it. And for those who really care, they have known for years on how to bypass the issue.
--
My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page
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PapaMidnight @ 23rd Jul 04:05PM:
OpenDNS

Well, the advantage of OpenDNS is that a mis-spelling actually has a chance of redirecting you to the proper URL. For example, I'm typing »www.google.c, and miss the o and instead type m, I'll get redirected to google.com instead of a failed attempt to access google.cm. If there is no redirection, then I get a list of suggestions which may be pretty accurate in determining where I wish to go.
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pog @ 24th Jul 03:51AM:
404 ???

Am I missing something? too nitpicky?

I thought 404... not found, formal http error ...is returned by the server. The server you were trying to reach.

DNS redirection, OTOH... isn't that for cases in which there is no record in DNS?

IOW... how does DNS redirection replace a 404? Wouldn't it merely replace the "page not found" browser error.
--
My Site
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mlerner @ 24th Jul 06:45AM:
Re: not experiencing this

It could be that the DNS servers assigned to your connection are not affected but we do know this is deployed on Bells end, the same software is used by some of the American providers.
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SuperWISP @ 24th Jul 05:54PM:
There's nothing inherently wrong with DNS redirection.

See

»bennett.com/blog/2009/07/dns-red···r-menace
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anon @ 31st Jul 11:52AM:
I've filled a complaint - join me.

After being passed around between Bell reps that didn't know this had been done, and finally being directed to the "opt out" which turned out not to be a real opt out mechanism (setting a cookie - and if you "opt out" they just fake the browser error page?!?) I filled a complaint with the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services, gave Bell the complaint number and told them they had 4 hours to remove it from my connection.

»www.ccts-cprst.ca

Please join me in filling a complaint and requesting that this "service" be either withdrawn or offered on a opt-in only basis.

Please note this service isn't even on Bell's own network - it is hosted be Infospace in the United States - so the Privacy Commissioner might also be interested in hearing from you.
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anon @ 2nd Aug 06:56AM:
Re: I've filled a complaint - join me.

This is certainly a serious privacy intrusion by Bell. There is no easy opt-out. The customers never opted-in for Bell to log there queries and every misspelling. I do suggest others to complain to both Bell and the privacy commission.
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anon @ 2nd Aug 11:16AM:
Re: There's nothing inherently wrong with DNS redirection.

that article is ridiculous.
* It assumes all browsers work like browsers from 20th century, it is 2009 and my browser (along with most others) redirects me to relevant website after a domain not found error?
* it assumes that the world wide web is all that exists on the internet. what about email, telnet, news, ping, etc..
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anon @ 4th Aug 09:08PM:
How to sidestep Bell search redirect

OK, so when I type "apple.com" into Safari it always used to resolve correctly. Now it comes up with Bell's suggested sites instead. Indulge me, how can I sidestep this extremely annoying feature??!!! I hate Bell.
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anon @ 13th Aug 03:38PM:
Re: I've filled a complaint - join me.

Added my complaint. Thanks for providing the link. Now looking into OpenDNS and possibly switch to teksavvy for my isp.
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