GWI Customer
@gwi.net
| Big Brother (aka GWI) is Watching
I just got a call from a friend of mine, who informed me that GWI had phoned him, to say that he had downloaded a TV show, and that if he did it again, his service would be Terminated.
After hearing that, I'm pretty close to calling GWI and having them cancel both my GWIline and DSL service, and this being a happy customer of about 5 years. I don't like the idea of them watching what users are doing AT ALL.
And even for people who say that illegal is illegal, sure, fine if he pirated a movie, great, TOS him, but for a TV show?
I'd hate to have to switch to Fairpoint, but GWI may have just forced my hand. |
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fkittred
join:2002-01-24
Biddeford, ME
| Re: Big Brother (aka GWI) is Watching (Stop Spreading Lies)
said by GWI Customer :
I just got a call from a friend of mine, who informed me that GWI had phoned him, to say that he had downloaded a TV show, and that if he did it again, his service would be Terminated.
After hearing that, I'm pretty close to calling GWI and having them cancel both my GWIline and DSL service, and this being a happy customer of about 5 years. I don't like the idea of them watching what users are doing AT ALL.
And even for people who say that illegal is illegal, sure, fine if he pirated a movie, great, TOS him, but for a TV show?
I'd hate to have to switch to Fairpoint, but GWI may have just forced my hand.
This is so wrong I can't believe it. I don't know if you are a competitor of GWI making things up, a disgruntled ex-employee or what.
As CEO of GWI, I guarantee this did not really happen. Stop spreading lies.
Fletcher Kittredge |
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GWI Customer
@gwi.net
| reply to GWI Customer
Re: Big Brother (aka GWI) is Watching
Sorry Fletcher, but it did indeed happen. I'm not a competitor of GWI, i'm actually a very happy GWI customer, who reccomends GWI to people on a regular basis, as GWI blows the competition out of the water for both customer service, and quality of connection.
Instead of accusing people of spreading lies, how about clarifing GWI's policy, flat out, do you monitor connections for illegal activity, and if not, why are people being called by GWI employees and being told that their connections will be terminated if they download illegal content. |
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fkittred
join:2002-01-24
Biddeford, ME
| said by GWI Customer :
Sorry Fletcher, but it did indeed happen. I'm not a competitor of GWI, i'm actually a very happy GWI customer, who reccomends GWI to people on a regular basis, as GWI blows the competition out of the water for both customer service, and quality of connection.
Instead of accusing people of spreading lies, how about clarifing GWI's policy, flat out, do you monitor connections for illegal activity, and if not, why are people being called by GWI employees and being told that their connections will be terminated if they download illegal content.
Of course we don't monitor connections for people's activity. I find it impossible to believe this event accurred. If you are not making this up, contact me at "fkittred@gwi.net" and I will verify. GWI employees are not calling anyone and telling anyone their connections will be terminated if they download illegal content.
What you have done here is "swift boated" a local Maine company that has for the last 15 years worked hard to, and paid a stiff price for, being on the side of the angels.
GWI, and I, have been leaders in network neutrality. Do you think Fairpoint and Time Warner are actually advocates for NN? Here is an exercise for you: google "fletcher kittredge network neutrality". |
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fkittred
join:2002-01-24
Biddeford, ME
| said by fkittred  :said by GWI Customer :
Sorry Fletcher, but it did indeed happen. I'm not a competitor of GWI, i'm actually a very happy GWI customer, who reccomends GWI to people on a regular basis, as GWI blows the competition out of the water for both customer service, and quality of connection.
Instead of accusing people of spreading lies, how about clarifing GWI's policy, flat out, do you monitor connections for illegal activity, and if not, why are people being called by GWI employees and being told that their connections will be terminated if they download illegal content.
Of course we don't monitor connections for people's activity. I find it impossible to believe this event accurred. If you are not making this up, contact me at "fkittred@gwi.net" and I will verify. GWI employees are not calling anyone and telling anyone their connections will be terminated if they download illegal content. What you have done here is "swift boated" a local Maine company that has for the last 15 years worked hard to, and paid a stiff price for, being on the side of the angels. GWI, and I, have been leaders in network neutrality. Do you think Fairpoint and Time Warner are actually advocates for NN? Here is an exercise for you: google "fletcher kittredge network neutrality". I realize I have made a mistake in the above, and I apologize.
GWI absolutely does not monitor connections for illegal usage. However, because of that, I jumped to the conclusion that you were making this story up, or that your friend was making the story up. However, I don't think that is the case. What I think instead is that your friend misinterpreted the fact that someone else was monitoring a transaction and because their local provider is GWI, they assumed that it was GWI doing the monitoring.
We don't monitor connections, but other people do. For example, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). You can google "Motion Picture Association of America" for more information about them. If monitoring was done, it was not done by us or on our network. If your friend had a transaction that crossed onto another network which we don't control, then the monitoring could have happened there and we would never know. An example of this sort of transaction might be a download of a TV program from a pirate server on a different network. If the MPAA is monitoring that server on that network, they would see that transaction.
You are right that I should not have assumed someone was lying when the possible answer was just your friend was making a misinterpretation. I still hope you will contact me at "fkittred@gwi.net" so that I can get to the bottom of the issue.
thanks,
fletcher |
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braynes
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Waterville, ME | reply to GWI Customer
Did they say they are doing it on request of one of the **AA?
Did Gwi call you or some one else call you?
Bruce |
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braynes
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Waterville, ME
 ·Great Works Internet
 ·RoadRunner Cable
·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to fkittred
Did Gwi call anyone to cancel service? as I give you about 100 bucks a month I would like to KNOW.
“This is so wrong I can't believe it. I don't know if you are a competitor of GWI making things up, a disgruntled ex-employee or what.”
“What you have done here is "swift boated" a local Maine company that has for the last 15 years worked hard to, and paid a stiff price for, being on the side of the angels.
GWI, and I, have been leaders in network neutrality. Do you think Fairpoint and Time Warner are actually advocates for NN? Here is an exercise for you: google "fletcher kittredge network neutrality".
“GWI absolutely does not monitor connections for illegal usage. However, because of that, I jumped to the conclusion that you were making this story up, or that your friend was making the story up. However, I don't think that is the case. What I think instead is that your friend misinterpreted the fact that someone else was monitoring a transaction and because their local provider is GWI, they assumed that it was GWI doing the monitoring.”
So Please answer this in yes or no. did or does Gwi call there customers and threaten to turn them off? |
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tacos4me
join:2008-01-14
Houlton, ME
·Great Works Internet
| reply to GWI Customer
They do indeed make threatening calls. A close friend of mine received such a call in early 2007 from "GWI Abuse Dept" and was told he had been detected downloading copyrighted material. He was given two warnings, one for a download the previous day (now for the unnerving part) and one that was currently taking place. He was told that if detected again, his service was to be terminanted and his name to be handed over to the federal goverment. He didn't remain a customer for long after that.
I'm not fabricating any portion of this story. Have no reason to do so. I would also like to bet the OP doesn't either. |
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braynes
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Waterville, ME | This is good to know, like all isp's they appear to be in denial about it.
Bruce |
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hawk82
join:2001-04-26
Oakland, ME | reply to GWI Customer
What if GWI is receiving a DMCA takedown notice from the copyright holder? Maybe that is why they call the customers? That's a common practice for other ISPs is to notify their customer when the ISP has received a DMCA takedown notice. |
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ElJay
join:2004-03-17
·Great Works Internet
| reply to fkittred
said by fkittred :We don't monitor connections, but other people do. For example, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). You can google "Motion Picture Association of America" for more information about them. If monitoring was done, it was not done by us or on our network. If your friend had a transaction that crossed onto another network which we don't control, then the monitoring could have happened there and we would never know. How would the MPAA get his phone number unless GWI was involved in some way? |
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fkittred
join:2002-01-24
Biddeford, ME
| reply to braynes
You are changing the conversation. Please look at the original posting. The accusation was that we monitor our customers for illegal usage. We do not. We just don't. We are not "Big Brother" and we aren't watching.
GWI does respond to valid subpoenas and DMCA takedown notices. I don't like the »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCA Digital Millenium Act; if I had my way it would be repealed, but It Is the Law. If it is a valid DMCA takedown request, we will call the customer. However, this is a dispute between the customer and the copywrite holder. It has nothing to do with us. Running down GWI for DMCA notifications is like beating up a gas-station attendant because oil prices are high.
GWI is not Big Brother; we do not monitor customer's usage. We are strong supporters of Network Neutrality. Personally I am very concerned about the direction the Internet is going with increasing monitoring and packet inspection every day. Most people don't realize how bad it is.
I can see that there is misunderstanding about this topic. I am going to make sure that our staff are trained to make clear to customers that if there is a DMCA complaint, they can contact the copyright holder and dispute the claim.
regards,
fletcher |
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fkittred
join:2002-01-24
Biddeford, ME
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Something else I forgot to point out, the DMCA applies to all ISPs/Carriers/whatever. Fairpoint, TWC and any other provider is also going to give you the call if there is a DMCA complaint, or the carrier will face legal sanction.
regards,
fletcher |
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braynes
Premium
join:2005-03-14
Waterville, ME | reply to fkittred
Thank you for the reply, it is all I needed to know, I asked the poster if it was from the AA's but he appears to have vented and then gone on his way.
Bruce |
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ElJay
join:2004-03-17 | reply to GWI Customer
Yes, thank you for the info. And thank you for being an advocate for network neutrality. |
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mhochman1
join:2001-01-06
Bar Harbor, ME
| reply to GWI Customer
A good friend of mine also got one of these calls, I assumed that the MPAA/Copywright holder had sent something to GWI, my only concern was the way my friend was informed, Knowing how big advocates of Net Nutrality etc GWI is, i would have expected some sort of a friendly warning, "hey, we got this complaint please don't do it again or we may have to take further action" instead of a "Do it again and we cancel your account" call.
I'm a huge fan of GWI, I was lucky enough to get to tour their offices back in the Biddeford.net days when i worked for AcadiaNet. I've reccomended GWI to at least 1/2 dozen people this last week, and was a little concerned when my friend got the call. Not that i advocate illegal downloading, but to be threatened with account termination over a TV show, kind of shocked me. |
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jebba2005
join:2005-01-13
Portland, ME
·Great Works Internet
·RoadRunner Cable
1 edit | reply to GWI Customer
I was also called by GWI and told the same over a year ago. I was told that the first call was a courtesy, 2nd offense would lead to a one month suspension, and the third strike would close my account.
edit: I still have a GWI account @ my Portland place, I have TW at my summer pad. |
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