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1. 

   Anonymous
   Unregistered

   Suspicion over Dotcom net glitch

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10838484

   Telecom engineers investigating internet irregularities weeks before GCSB has said it started spying on him.

   Kim Dotcom's internet connection was being diverted inside New Zealand weeks before the Government Communications Security Bureau says it started spying on him.

   The Herald has obtained details showing Telecom engineers and staff at its technology services company Gen-I were investigating irregularities with his internet connection in November.

   The revelation has raised suspicion that Mr Dotcom was victim to earlier spying than the GCSB has admitted. It has brought fresh calls for an inquiry amid claims of the spy agency's role in the international "Five Eyes" Echelon Network.

   The focus of the early investigation is the dedicated internet connection from Mr Dotcom's mansion in Coatesville to the Sky Tower in Auckland. It was intended to give him the fastest possible internet connection - a factor which would have been critical in his quest to be the best in the online Modern Warfare 3 game.

   Mr Dotcom became the "number one" ranked player of the game before his arrest.

   During the record-setting effort, Gen-I staff began an investigation into the amount of time it took for an internet signal from Mr Dotcom's home to reach an offshore Xbox computer server.

   Information held by the Herald shows Gen-I studied data showing the amount of time it took information on the internet connection to reach the Xbox server. It went from 30 milliseconds to 180 milliseconds - a huge increase for online gamers.

   The data showed the internet signal had previously taken two steps before going offshore - but was now taking five.

   Labour leader David Shearer said he also wanted an independent inquiry which could be run by a senior and trusted New Zealander. "The critical issue is who knew what and how all the checks and balances work."

   A Telecom spokeswoman said the company would not give information to the police of "any other government agency" unless legally forced to do so.

   http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sideswipe/news/article.cfm?c_id=702&objectid=10838380

   A new Hollywood blockbuster? The Dotcom saga and what Key was and wasn't told by the GCSB.

   Posted 12 years ago #
2. 

   mikiem2
   Moderator

   Could be that the GCSB simply wasn't the 1st to do it, wasn't the original source of any spying... There was a case in the UK that made the news where the anti-piracy organization(s) hired private individuals to do the spying that authorities couldn't do legally -- once they gathered enough evidence, & according to the defense altered it, they were able to make enough of a case that gov authorities got involved. Or it could have been another gov, or one or more of their contractors. One question that brings to the surface is why did the GCSB become involved in the 1st place? And, if decisions that the GCSB was going to get involved were made by people high enough in the gov, their reasons &/or motivations may never come to light.

   I'm no expert but I'd guess that if the GCSB was the original, sole source of any spying, they would have been able to accomplish it without any outward signs, without the delay that got noticed, because they would have monitored whatever traffic, not intercepted & redirected [detoured] it, which is what would cause delays. I'd imagine the GCSB has access to that level of tech, as well as the authority to make whomever owns the actual lines, switching equipment etc. let them access those lines & equipment -- could be that rather than bother with all that they simply piggy-backed or took over a pre-existing intercept -- could be that the GCSB wasn't actually responsible but took whatever data was given them as their own. Either course of events might be considered embarrassing enough to GCSB officials or their gov bosses that they tried to hide it.

   Posted 12 years ago #

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