Questions regarding Hayai Broadband

[mgcarley]

Did your New Zealand venture begin operations?

30 homes are connected to the actual network so far and we are building a second pilot area around my neighbourhood which will cover about... 10 blocks of residential houses (about 250 homes, from memory).

Our connection to the rest of the internet is fairly basic right now, so the connections aren't yet at full speed. This past week I have arranged for more bandwidth to be allocated to us, and we should have better domestic connectivity & peering this coming week.

 

[sufi]

Good to hear. Seems like it takes much less time to start a business in NZ as compared to India. But we already knew that.

 

[mgcarley]

Good to hear. Seems like it takes much less time to start a business in NZ as compared to India. But we already knew that.

Yup. Les than 48 hours and all done online (even in 2004 when I started my first NZ company).

Handy

 

[you12]

Will Hayai be complying with the Indian Gov requirements of wiretapping and data inspection? And what kind of info do Internet companies keep on their consumers anyway?

 

[mgcarley]

Will Hayai be complying with the Indian Gov requirements of wiretapping and data inspection? And what kind of info do Internet companies keep on their consumers anyway?

Unfortunately it's a requirement of the license over which we have no control. We can't legally operate a service otherwise.

As a privacy advocate, however, we will comply only to the minimum extent that is required, and plan to use India's own legal system against it, by requiring the full and correct documentation before handing over any relevent information, and we will notify any customers that are specifically targeted unless a "gag-order" is included.

Sometimes this will mean that any data requested by authorities will be long deleted from our logs simply because of the length of time India's legal system can take to get it's sh*t together - but of course, at the same time, there is nothing stopping them from monitoring your traffic in real-time, as we are required to have a room for them to do that (which neither my staff or I are allowed to enter).

As for the type of data kept, to me it feels like we're required to know everything except what you had for breakfast - the customer information is all the usual stuff, name, address, picture ID etc but the logging is all about where you go and what you do online, so that if they find anything particular surrounding anti-government sentiments or bad things written about certain people then they can supposedly do something about it.

Personally I feel their efforts are wasted and unnecessary, but it's not my place to decide.

 

[mgcarley]

What if some1 tries t uncap their connection, or find an HACK, will HAYAI come to know, what ACTIONS will HAYAI take??

(This QUESTION is just to make sure that no 1 HACKS).

Considering that rate limiting and accounting is done on our servers and not on the consumer's hardware (unlike some cable modems), this would constitute a pretty serious breach of our core systems, which, obviously, is a crime, and the person would be prosecuted accordingly.

 

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[mgcarley]

U can put this question in FRONT PAGE of HAYAI thread and that also in BOLD.


I don't think it's necessary.

Anyone who doesn't understand the different between right and wrong (ethically or legally) has bigger issues to worry about, and so do we.

 

[GeorgePB]

...but of course, at the same time, there is nothing stopping them from monitoring your traffic in real-time, as we are required to have a room for them to do that (which neither my staff or I are allowed to enter).


Are they allowed to use this room to spy on citizens in real time, without a warrant or court order?

 

[Jok3r]

What if some1 tries t uncap their connection, or find an HACK, will HAYAI come to know, what ACTIONS will HAYAI take??

(This QUESTION is just to make sure that no 1 HACKS).

lol wont be surprised if it turns out to be you

 

[mgcarley]

Are they allowed to use this room to spy on citizens in real time, without a warrant or court order?

We have to supply everything. The room, private phone lines, computers, full-speed unmitigated internet connection, furniture - even the air conditioning (which is listed as a requirement in the license agreement itself), and I think we even have to pay their salaries at a rate determined by the government.

The room must be secured (by electornic lock) and no-one from my organization is allowed in. They install some of their own equipment to perform said monitoring in real-time... but yeah, I think they don't need to ask our permission or obtain warrants or anything at all. It's damn near draconian, I am telling you.

The only thing I think is the saving factor is that the monitoring is anonymous - as far as I know they can't identify a certain user - those records I think they have to ask us for.