Paxfire
Encyclopedia
Paxfire, Inc. is a startup based in Reston, Virginia
founded by Mark Lewyn, a former USA Today
tech reporter, and Alan Sullivan.
In 2011, a research team from the Berkeley-based International Computer Science Institute
revealed that technology from Paxfire was also used by several US ISPs to redirect valid search engine queries for certain well-known brand names to an online marketing company.
and cable TV companies, and traditional ISPs
both in the United States
and other countries. Paxfire is under non-disclosure agreement
s (NDAs) that prohibit the company from releasing a list of all participating ISPs. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
, as of August 2011 "major users of the Paxfire system include Cavalier, Cogent
, Frontier, Fuse, DirecPC, RCN
, and Wide Open West."
(essentially all Internet application transactions) rather than just an end-user's web browser. The default behavior will automatically redirect mistyped web URLs to MSN Search. Paxfire's provides 2 methods to opt out of the service. The first method employs an HTTP Cookie
and the second method employs IP address
filtering at the Paxfire appliance. An ISP is free to make use of these methodologies to ensure that users can opt out, though the cookie method is irrelevant for non-web transactions like email. Security researcher Dan Kaminsky
found serious vulnerabilities related to how Paxfire was handling DNS resolution.
In August of 2011, Paxfire and one of its ISP customers was sued for the hijacking and redirection of customers' valid search requests intended for Google
, Bing
, and Yahoo search engines. The lawsuit alleges that results for searches of certain well-known brand names by consumers are not being provided by the intended search engine, and instead are being provided through affiliate marketing networks to earn revenue for Paxfire and the ISP. According to the New Scientist
, this practice may be illegal under U.S. law.
A class action lawsuit was quickly filed. Paxfire wasted little time in responding that the basis of the lawsuit was completely wrong, and saying that it would seek sanctions against the lawyers for filing it in the first place. Now the company has taken things even further and filed a countersuit against the law firm, Milberg LLP, as well as the individual, Betsy Feist, who as a client of Milberg,
was the official person who kicked off the attempted class action lawsuit. Paxfire is charging, both defamation and tortious interference -- and is demanding $50 million.
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census...
founded by Mark Lewyn, a former USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
tech reporter, and Alan Sullivan.
Technology
Paxfire provides an appliance called the Paxfire Lookup Engines (PLE) to internet service providers (ISPs) as a method of generating additional revenue through advertising based on mistyped URLs. By using the Paxfire service, an ISP can redirect mistyped web queries from its clients to navigation pages that may contain paid advertising sources. If a user clicks on a sponsored link, Paxfire and the ISP share the revenue.In 2011, a research team from the Berkeley-based International Computer Science Institute
International Computer Science Institute
The International Computer Science Institute is an independent, non-profit research organization located in Berkeley, California, USA. Since its founding in 1988, ICSI has maintained an affiliation with the University of California, Berkeley, where several of its members hold faculty appointments...
revealed that technology from Paxfire was also used by several US ISPs to redirect valid search engine queries for certain well-known brand names to an online marketing company.
Customers
Paxfire customers are telephoneTelephone company
A telephone company is a service provider of telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies...
and cable TV companies, and traditional ISPs
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
both in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and other countries. Paxfire is under non-disclosure agreement
Non-disclosure agreement
A non-disclosure agreement , also known as a confidentiality agreement , confidential disclosure agreement , proprietary information agreement , or secrecy agreement, is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties...
s (NDAs) that prohibit the company from releasing a list of all participating ISPs. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
, as of August 2011 "major users of the Paxfire system include Cavalier, Cogent
Cogent Communications
Cogent Communications is a multinational internet service provider whose network spans more than 53,300 intercity fiber route miles and 15,800 metro fiber miles. Cogent provides service in over 165 markets across 31 countries in North America and Europe...
, Frontier, Fuse, DirecPC, RCN
RCN Corporation
RCN Corporation, founded in 1993 and based in Herndon, Virginia, is the first American facilities-based competitive provider of bundled telephone, cable television and high-speed internet service delivered over its own fiber-optic local network to consumers in the Boston, New York, Eastern...
, and Wide Open West."
Controversy
Paxfire's approach affects all of the end-user's transactions involving the domain name systemDomain name system
The Domain Name System is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities...
(essentially all Internet application transactions) rather than just an end-user's web browser. The default behavior will automatically redirect mistyped web URLs to MSN Search. Paxfire's provides 2 methods to opt out of the service. The first method employs an HTTP Cookie
HTTP cookie
A cookie, also known as an HTTP cookie, web cookie, or browser cookie, is used for an origin website to send state information to a user's browser and for the browser to return the state information to the origin site...
and the second method employs IP address
IP address
An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to each device participating in a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication. An IP address serves two principal functions: host or network interface identification and location addressing...
filtering at the Paxfire appliance. An ISP is free to make use of these methodologies to ensure that users can opt out, though the cookie method is irrelevant for non-web transactions like email. Security researcher Dan Kaminsky
Dan Kaminsky
Dan Kaminsky is an American security researcher. He formerly worked for Cisco, Avaya, and IOActive, where he was the Director of Penetration Testing...
found serious vulnerabilities related to how Paxfire was handling DNS resolution.
In August of 2011, Paxfire and one of its ISP customers was sued for the hijacking and redirection of customers' valid search requests intended for Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, Bing
Bing
Bing is a web search engine from Microsoft.Bing may also refer to:* An onomatopœia of a bell sound* Bing cherry, a variety of cherry* Bing , Chinese flatbread* Bing , a German company that manufactured toys and kitchen utensils...
, and Yahoo search engines. The lawsuit alleges that results for searches of certain well-known brand names by consumers are not being provided by the intended search engine, and instead are being provided through affiliate marketing networks to earn revenue for Paxfire and the ISP. According to the New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
, this practice may be illegal under U.S. law.
A class action lawsuit was quickly filed. Paxfire wasted little time in responding that the basis of the lawsuit was completely wrong, and saying that it would seek sanctions against the lawyers for filing it in the first place. Now the company has taken things even further and filed a countersuit against the law firm, Milberg LLP, as well as the individual, Betsy Feist, who as a client of Milberg,
was the official person who kicked off the attempted class action lawsuit. Paxfire is charging, both defamation and tortious interference -- and is demanding $50 million.
External links
- Official Homepage
- Broken Links Lined With Gold for Paxfire (Washington Post, 31 January 2005)
- "Widespread Hijacking of Search Traffic in the United States" (Electronic Frontier FoundationElectronic Frontier FoundationThe Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
, 4 August 2011)