Comment by vlovich123

Comment by vlovich123 a day ago

13 replies

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> Some users may knowingly install this software on their devices, lured by the promise of “monetizing” their spare bandwidth.

Sounds like they’re targeting networks even if the users are ok participating in, precisely what you’re saying is ok.

As for malware enrolling people into the network, it depends if the operator is doing it or if the malware is 3rd parties trying to get a portion of the cash flow. In the latter case the network would be the victim that’s double victimized by Google also attacking them.

wmf a day ago

Users are OK with acting as proxies because they don't understand all the shady stuff their proxy is being used for. Also consumer ISPs generally ban this.

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  • chii a day ago

    But then would you make the same arguments for running a tor node (presumably, you don't know what shady stuff is there, but you know there's shady stuff)?

    Reply View 4 replies
    • Spooky23 a day ago

      Running a tor node is pretty stupid from a liability perspective, but at least you have more deniability and you are making an informed choice.

      These residential proxies are pretty much universally shady. I doubt most of the users understand what they are consenting to.

      Reply View 2 replies
      • sitzkrieg 21 hours ago

        tor nodes are zero risk as long as they're not an exit

        been running nodes since 2017 on two providers and zero issues

        Reply View 1 reply
        • chii 5 hours ago

          yes, but i was likening being part of the proxy network to being a tor exit node. I should've made my comment clearer.

          Reply View 0 replies
    • jraph a day ago

      That's totally something you should consider, even if you decide for running the tor node anyway in the end.

      Reply View 0 replies
  • JasonADrury a day ago

    Why would the users care either way?

    Reply View 2 replies
    • jraph a day ago

      Some people care about ethics, and try to avoid doing bad stuff, or helping the bad stuff.

      Reply View 1 reply
      • JasonADrury 21 hours ago

        Sure, but that only answers why some users might care.

        Reply View 0 replies
xhcuvuvyc a day ago

> These SDKs, which are offered to developers across multiple mobile and desktop platforms, surreptitiously enroll user devices into the IPIDEA network.

?

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  • vlovich123 20 hours ago

    Here’s an alternate spin

    > These SDKs, which are offered to developers across multiple mobile and desktop platforms.

    > other actors then surreptitiously enroll user devices into the IPIDEA network using these frameworks.

    I’m not saying Google did the wrong thing, but it is one private entity essentially handing out a death sentence on its own. The only mitigating thing is that a) technical disruptions were either on their own infra b) legal judgements they then enforced with cooperation from others like Cloudflare. But it’s not clear what the legal proceedings were actually like

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