MetaChat - David Milch broke my cable modem.

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23 June 2006

David Milch broke my cable modem. So this afternoon my Cox Cable internet connection goes out. After much time on hold, I discover that my service has been cancelled for "security reasons." Huh?

post by: LarryC at: 20:34 | 16 comments

The very nice but not very bright person on the other end of the phone says it is her first day, and she doesn't quite understand, but "they" say that I am sharing a file called Deadwood on my computer and need to erase it from my hard drive. They nailed me! I don't usually P2P at all, but I installed Azerus just so I could download episodes of Deadwood.

So I promised to delete the file and they reconnected me to the internet. Has this ever happened to any of you? Can I expect a letter from HBO's lawyers demanding thousands in damages?

Fucking cocksuckers.

posted by LarryC 23 June | 20:34

no. yes.

bit torrent sux

posted by Wedge 23 June | 20:45

Holy shit. *scratches Cox off the list of marginally acceptable ISPs*

Seriously, holy fucking shit. I was on Cox for ages, as well as Yahoo!/SBC DSL, and I was a fileswapping whore. Though, I generally didn't swap anything all that mainstream.

posted by loquacious 23 June | 20:47

I knew when you said 'security reasons' exactly what it was. Still unbelievable.

posted by puke & cry 23 June | 20:53

Were you using a public tracker?

posted by keswick 23 June | 20:59

Heh. Cox.

posted by jrossi4r 23 June | 21:03

Keswick, I am not sure what a public tracker is. I installed Azerus, and used Google to search for "Deadwood torrents." I downloaded the first two episodes of the new season. I was also sharing them.

posted by LarryC 23 June | 22:10

The only "security" element here is Cox's protecting its own a) precsious bottom line, and b) precious sue-able ass. Blech.

posted by mudpuppie 23 June | 22:56

HBO likes to trawl the public torrents for their shows. Use a private tracker next time.

posted by Rhomboid 23 June | 23:12

You used a public tracker. Private trackers are sign-up only.

posted by puke & cry 24 June | 01:13

Use Peer Guardian 2.

posted by kmellis 24 June | 01:18

I read a lot about this happening when the last season of Sopranos started too.

I download stuff all the time -- but not HBO since I subscribe to it and have HBO on demand -- and haven't had a problem and my internet provider is Time Warner. The same cocksuckers that own HBO.

posted by birdherder 24 June | 07:23

Use Peer Guardian 2.

Thanks, Keith. Here's hoping this is the end of this and that I don't get a letter from the RIAA!

posted by LarryC 24 June | 09:42

Is there an equivalent to Peer Guardian for the Mac?

posted by ikkyu2 24 June | 20:02

It's rather amazing how many sites get slowed down or become unreachable if you turn on the "Spyware" list in Peer Guardian. Is it a little overreaching?

posted by PinkStainlessTail 24 June | 20:07

"Is it a little overreaching?"

Yeah, if you turn everything on. You really only have to worry about your torrent connections. And, with those, I've found that it's worth the peace of mind. Why take the risk? At the very least, just run it when you are getting something you know they're really being hardass about, like the HBO shows.

posted by kmellis 24 June | 21:33

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