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The BBC is to spy on internet users in their homes by deploying a new generation of Wi-Fi detection vans to identify those illicitly watching its programmes online.
The corporation has been given legal dispensation to use the new technology, which is typically only available to crime-fighting agencies, to enforce the new requirement that people watching BBC programmes via the iPlayer must have a TV licence.
Researchers at University College London disclosed that they had used a laptop running freely available software to identify Skype internet phone calls passing over encrypted Wi-Fi, without needing to crack the network password. They actually don't need to decrypt traffic, because they can already see the packets. They have control over the iPlayer, so they could ensure that it sends packets at a specific size, and match them up.
Source: The Telegraph [paywall]
Also covered by The Register.
n1: The existing TV detector van 'technology' has been in use in the UK since the 1950's, there has never been an explanation as to how they work. I am unaware of any occasions where evidence obtained by one was used to prosecute anyone.
A leaked internal document from the BBC gives a detailed breakdown of the state of licence fee payments and the number of people who evade the charge – but fails to make any mention of the detector vans.
While documenting the number of officers to collect the £145.50 fee increased to 334 this summer, an 18 page memo from the TV Licensing's Executive Management Forum obtained by the Radio Times makes no mention of the vans finding those who don't pay.
Source: The Telegraph (2013)
(Score: 2) by Beige on Monday August 08 2016, @05:32AM
Assuming the iPlayer has the ability to collect MAC address information this could perhaps just be an effort to collect (and triangulate the physical location of) wlan device MACs. This would give the TV Licensing company's "officers" some additional leads for knocking on doors. Also sounds like there could be obvious synergies between the TV Licensing vans and Google Street View vans. Just my quick $0.02.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 08 2016, @06:12AM
iPlayer doesn't even have the ability to detect when you're using a UK proxy to pass the geolocation check, and it streams from an international CDN, so once you pass the geolocation check you can turn off the proxy and stream at full speed from an endpoint closest to your real geolocation.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Beige on Monday August 08 2016, @07:48AM
Geolocation checks are an entirely different matter. Usually this is just done based on the IP address unless your browsing device has access to geolocation services (e.g. GPS or A-GPS).
Many years ago I lived in the UK without a TV so I have first-hand experience from TV Licensing. In those few years I probably got around 20 threatening letters and 1 visit by a TV Licensing employee. In my case a very friendly Danny de Vito-looking chap showed up behind the door and politely asked if he could see my living room where the TV would normally go. I showed him the living room (which didn't have a TV) and he left on his merry way. I didn't get bugged by them after that. But that was then, and with more and more people watching TV on computers, tablets etc. it's natural that TV Licensing is going to need new conversation leads when they knock on doors.
Sure, perhaps the whole wlan detector van announcement is bogus and it's in any case obviously intended to scare evaders, but I can see how it'd be feasible technically (wardriving kit is cheap and they have staff driving around the UK anyway). Getting the MAC address of the wlan device is feasible on at least some of the iPlayer platforms. So why not tie these two together? It doesn't require very much work technically so it's probably worth it even if it just gives 3% additional leads to their staff.
I can imagine a future TV Licensing conversation going as follows:
A: Hello, I am looking for the owner of wifi network "Alan's wifi"
B: Not mine, I think it's the house over there.
A: Thank you.
(Next house)
A: Hello, I am looking for the owner of wifi network "Alan's wifi"
B: Uh, that's mine, what's up?
A: We have collected evidence of unauthorised use of the BBC iPlayer application by a user connected to this device. Would you like to pay your TV Licensing fee now, or...
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Monday August 08 2016, @12:53PM
A: Hello, I am looking for the owner of wifi network "Alan's wifi"
B: Not mine, I think it's the house over there.
A: Thank you.
Most domestic WiFi networks are running on their default ESSID as programmed into their router box by their ISP. Of the WAPs I can see here from home, there are three from Sky, two from BT and one from Talk Talk; mine is the only one with a custom name (but doesn't mention "Alan" or any names).
The BBC may be better off asking ISPs who they gave a router with MAC xx:xx:xx:.... and default ESSID XXXXXX to, but that of course assumes that people don't change the ESSID or buy a second-hand router! There used to be a legal requirement to give your name and address when buying a television in the UK, with the details being forwarded to the TV Licencing people. The same might be required of routers to make this work, but I think radio triangulation is the better approach.