Online Militancy and the Denial of Service Attack

Today I received a letter from Wilson Chua, President of Bitstop,
complaining to Jojie Yap of PISO (and President of Pacific Internet)
complaining about NTC’s slow action on our complaint regarding PLDT’s
predatory DSL pricing.

I’ve taken this opportunity to illustrate how a “coalition of the willing”
can initiate a “denial of service attack” on Government to force
Government to mend its ways. In this day and age, there is a crying need
for the citizenry to be able to reform government without having to resort
to bloody, violent revolution, or to wait six years for a change in
administration.

====

Dear Wilson and Jojie,

I think we have to realize by now that NTC is never going to be able to
help us. NTC is controlled by the Telcos. Historically, money has been
funneled from the Telcos to pay off powerful Congressmen. In fact,
perhaps the only reason NTC reacted so swiftly to PAPTELCO’s complaint is
that it is a bunch of Congressmen (or former Congressmen) who own some of
the provincial PAPTELCO Telcos.

Instead, what we need to do is change the rules of engagement. Telcos are
selling DSL at very low prices? Then you need to ride this wave and sell
VoIP services (or some other value added service) to complement DSL. One
could, for example, set up a WiFi public network that rides on top of a
cheap DSL infrastructure. Or you can sell/configure Wifi PDAs w/ skype
(or some other VoIP app that runs on Windows Mobile Edition) to run on top
of this WiFI public network. There are many, many opportunities that will
arise with the advent of cheap DSL. The Telcos, with the help of the NTC,
will seek to reserve these markets for their exclusive use; and it’s our
job to remind them that is wrong.

What we should do as a group is to find some way to defend ourselves when
NTC (or a Telco) declares one of us as operating VoIP or WiFI
“illegally”, and moves to shut us down. Besides the usual legal
defenses, we need to think out of the box and set up a coordinated “denial
of service attack”. No - this isn’t the kind of DOS attack that hackers
do - I’m talking about

- publishing a list of NTC Commissioners, personnel, and the pertinent
Telco personnel who create barriers to competition in the WiFi and VoIP
markets.
- identify the ISPs these people use and deny them dial-up access.
- identify the email addresses they use and block all inbound mail TO &
outbound mail FROM these addresses. (we might send an apology that states
“we are sorry, but the person you wish to correspond with plays a role in
the banning of VoIP and WiFi in the Philippines. Please help us in our
fight to convince these people that what they are doing is wrong. We
apologize for the inconvenience.” )

You can expand this strategy by

- enlisting the prepaid ISPs to join us and do the same.
- extend the denial of service attack to the Telco’s suppliers. Eg -
block Nokia from effectively communicating with anyone in the Philippines.

If this is still ineffective, we can

- expand the list to include family members of the NTC Commissioners,
pertinent NTC personnel, and pertinent Telco personnel.
- enlist the aid of outdoor cafes and restaurants (eg Starbucks?) who
aren’t allowed to operate “outdoor Wifi networks” and ask them to DENY
SERVICE (eg - orange moccha capuccino) to the people on list (we’ll have
to publish photos on a website, so they know whom to deny service)

It’s my belief that this sort of online militancy is on the rise - it’s
the only way for citizens to keep their governments in check. I could
go on - but the question is - are the people in PISO willing to take
these kinds of risks? It’ll only work if there is a coordinated interest
in FIGHTING the NTC on this matter.

- Joel Disini
http://jed.i.ph

“Wilson Chua” writes:

>

>Dear Mam Jojie,

>

>A few days ago, the Philippine Star reported that the NTC has issued a

>CDO (cease and desist order) to Globe and PLDT to stop their current

>marketing program for NDD. Globe has given this free, while PLDT just

>tacks on a flat 200 pesos to selected clients.

>

>What surprised us at bitstop is the apparent swiftness by which the NTC

>came out with this CDO, based upon the complaint of the PAPTELCOs that

>globe and pldt practiced ‘ predatory’ pricing. Isn’t this ‘predatory

>pricing’ the same complaint filed by PISO against the then PLDT pricing

>on DSL?— However in PISO’s case, it is now more than 3 years, and NTC

>has yet to be resolve this? Could the new thinking at NTC be more

>favorable to ISPs, now that they understand the plight of businesses hit

>by ‘predatory’ pricing in the same way they responded to the complaints

>of the PAPTELCOs?

>

>Also on the same ad of PLDT that came out on Manila Bulletin on Jan 5,

>2005, a whopping 50% maximum discount is being offered on their DSL lines

>as well. As a client of PLDT on the the corporate side, we do not enjoy

>this same 50% discount, so we can not offer the same benefits to our

>clients as PLDT retail group can. We can not compete on the same level

>playing field because of this. Can this be seen as ‘predatory’ on its

>part? At the very least, this seems to me, like unfair business practice

>on the part of PLDT.

>

>If given the same 50% discount by the PLDT corporate group, Bitstop and

>other ISPs in the country, would also be able to lower our price

>offerings to the public and help increase the internet penetration of the

>country. It is in this light, that i hope the leadership of PISO can take

>this issue up with NTC, PLDT, globe and the other stakeholders affected

>by this issue.

>

>wilson l. chua

>President

>bitstop inc

>