What can a ISP do to stop you from playing online poker (long)

[StellarWind]

An obvious approach to circumventing this technology is to create an encrypted pipe between the user's PC and a proxy data center in a neutral country.

Everything that flows between the poker client and server goes inside the pipe. This specifically includes the IP packet headers with the address of the poker site. The IPS cannot determine what is inside the pipe. Nor can it tell where the enclosed packets will go once the proxy puts them on the internet.

Nothing novel about what I've said so far. It's well-known technology and I'm sure your corporate data network clients would know exactly what to do about it. They would have the IPS block the entire pipe. After all, it's their network and they can do that.

Not so easy for the Government. The law doesn't seem to provide for blocking pipes with unknown content and there would be serious First Amendment issues if it did. As long as the proxy service maintains an appropriate distance from the gambling sites and has non-gambling users you won't be able to establish that any particular pipe is carrying gambling traffic as opposed to any of a thousand other things that someone might want to keep private.

[redbeard]

while i hope stellar is right it still doesn't seem to change the fact that the majority of the fish will not be willing to go to these steps to link up to a gambling site and the pool of these fish will dry up. i know, i know the sky is falling some will say, but it seems to be a somewhat realistic problem.

[uphigh_downlow]

[ QUOTE ]
while i hope stellar is right it still doesn't seem to change the fact that the majority of the fish will not be willing to go to these steps to link up to a gambling site and the pool of these fish will dry up. i know, i know the sky is falling some will say, but it seems to be a somewhat realistic problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

what stellar said has a more common name. Its called VPN, something commonly in use on the internet.

so dun wry a whole lot about connecting to poker sites. We shud be more worried about loss of players who wont go thru the trouble

[antneye]

If it is so easy to block sites deemed illegal, how come they government can not stop kiddie porn? Is someone seriosuly going to tell me that the government cares more about poker than kiddie porn?

I am calling my senators and raising a shitstorm......just because it would be reckless not to, but I do not believe this will do anything to online gaming other than officially make it illegal. Theres a lot of illegal stuff out there....the real question is going to surround enforcement. This is (IMHO) nothing more than an election year ploy for the conservative base........you won't here a word about it after election day.

[Percula]

[ QUOTE ]
If it is so easy to block sites deemed illegal, how come they government can not stop kiddie porn? Is someone seriosuly going to tell me that the government cares more about poker than kiddie porn?

[/ QUOTE ]

Apples and oranges dude.

Stopping access to kiddy porn is a very subjective thing, while accessing a poker server is not subjective at all. Is that girl 18 or 15? Who knows. Someone has to review, make a determination, etc, etc. The really nasty kiddy porn is not on a publically advertized site, it is hidden away on private networks that are only accessable to a few people via encrypted access.

Poker sites are well know and the type of traffic being sent to them is more or less specialized, while surfing to a porn site uses random sites with a common type of traffic.

Two very different issues that can not truely be considered similar at all.

[cottonmather0]

[ QUOTE ]
If it is so easy to block sites deemed illegal, how come they government can not stop kiddie porn?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually, those sites get blocked all the time and when they do the perverts just get a new address and a new server and start up somewhere else. That 'community" is rather closed and insulated so whenever the changes word gets out quickly to a small group of people and the actvity just moves along to the new site. The poker business model probably couldn't work that way.

[Leader]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
while i hope stellar is right it still doesn't seem to change the fact that the majority of the fish will not be willing to go to these steps to link up to a gambling site and the pool of these fish will dry up. i know, i know the sky is falling some will say, but it seems to be a somewhat realistic problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

what stellar said has a more common name. Its called VPN, something commonly in use on the internet.

so dun wry a whole lot about connecting to poker sites. We shud be more worried about loss of players who wont go thru the trouble

[/ QUOTE ]

The question is: How much trouble will it be? There will certainly be many people and lots of money behind making it as easy as possible.

[uphigh_downlow]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
while i hope stellar is right it still doesn't seem to change the fact that the majority of the fish will not be willing to go to these steps to link up to a gambling site and the pool of these fish will dry up. i know, i know the sky is falling some will say, but it seems to be a somewhat realistic problem.

[/ QUOTE ]

what stellar said has a more common name. Its called VPN, something commonly in use on the internet.

so dun wry a whole lot about connecting to poker sites. We shud be more worried about loss of players who wont go thru the trouble

[/ QUOTE ]

The question is: How much trouble will it be? There will certainly be many people and lots of money behind making it as easy as possible.

[/ QUOTE ]

not much harder than simply signing up for a simple service like

MEGAPROXY® ADVANCED WEB SSL VPN: PRICE: ONLY $9.95 FOR 3 MONTH ACCESS

[Percula]

[ QUOTE ]

Not so easy for the Government. The law doesn't seem to provide for blocking pipes with unknown content and there would be serious First Amendment issues if it did. As long as the proxy service maintains an appropriate distance from the gambling sites and has non-gambling users you won't be able to establish that any particular pipe is carrying gambling traffic as opposed to any of a thousand other things that someone might want to keep private.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with you. This is the key. But frankly this is more to do with the "law" and how it can be enforced or not. From a strictly technical stand point, it is very easy to block any traffic I am told to block.

[dustyn]

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[ QUOTE ]

Not so easy for the Government. The law doesn't seem to provide for blocking pipes with unknown content and there would be serious First Amendment issues if it did. As long as the proxy service maintains an appropriate distance from the gambling sites and has non-gambling users you won't be able to establish that any particular pipe is carrying gambling traffic as opposed to any of a thousand other things that someone might want to keep private.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with you. This is the key. But frankly this is more to do with the "law" and how it can be enforced or not. From a strictly technical stand point, it is very easy to block any traffic I am told to block.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for posting this. All, remember that the OP isn't trying to argue the government will do this (I think we all agree this is very unlikely even in the unlikely event the law is passed). The OP is simply letting us know what technologies exist should two unlikely events happen (the bill passing AND the govt forcing ISPs to block gambling sites).