Other ISP modifying .torrent file contents

TorrentFreak reports that an Israeli ISP, Bezeq, is actually modifying the .torrent files, as they are downloaded by their customers.

Looking back almost a year, I’d just like to say — I told you so.

It works as follows. When a Bezeq International customer downloads a .torrent file the ISP will intercept it and add (!) a new tracker to it. The additional tracker is only accessible for Bezeq International customers and it connects to a high speed web-seed hosted on Bezeq International’s network.

Instead of blocking / throttling / capping / sending-threatening-letters or finding other ways of annoying their own customers for actually using the services they pay for, Bezeq caches popular downloads. The ISP saves on costs for having less traffic go outside of their own network, and customers actually end up with faster downloads. Still, this involves intercepting and modifying downloads, which makes me feel uneasy, as this could easily be turned the other way.

This concept will actually lessen the server load of hosting companies that host the file itself, well good for them.

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