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Can Satire Take Down AT&T's 3G Network?
Fake Steve Jobs organizes a roundabout, satirical AT&T DDoS
by Karl Bode Monday 14-Dec-2009 tags: business · wireless · bandwidth · networking
Last week AT&T suffered through yet another week of bad press. Comments by AT&T's Ralph de la Vega were interpreted to mean AT&T was not only complaining about people actually using the AT&T 3G network -- but blaming consumers for AT&T's inability to prepare for iPhone bandwidth demand. AT&T's bad week (one of many this year) was punctuated late in the week by Fake Steve Jobs (writer Dan Lyons), who wrote an incredibly amusing fake conversation with AT&T CEO Randal Stephenson. In it, Mr. Jobs educates AT&T on the finer points of appreciating bandwidth-hungry iPhone users. The whole thing is chortle-inducing, but we'll trim out the bits that solely have to do with AT&T and running a network:

if you did understand how to do things, your guys wouldn't be standing up at Wall Street conferences and complaining about how much traffic you're getting. Instead, you would be running around like a f**king maniac trying to build out your f**king network and make it the best network in the world - and the only reason you would ever need to talk to me would be to thank me for creating a phone that's so amazing that it draws people to your shit network in the first place . . .

And when I say that "we" have a hit on our hands, I'm really giving you way too much credit, because let's be honest, the success of iPhone has nothing to do with you. In fact, iPhone is a smash hit in spite of your network, not because of it. That's how good we are here at Apple - we're so good that even you and your team of Bell System frigtards can't stop us. . .

So let's talk traffic. We've got people who love this goddamn phone so much that they're living on it. Yes, that's crushing your network. Yes, 3% of your users are taking up 40% of your bandwidth. You see this as a bad thing. It's not. It's a good thing. It's a blessing. It's an indication that people love what we're doing, which means you now have a reason to go out and double or triple or quadruple your damn network capacity.

To make matters worse (for AT&T), Fake Steve Jobs has subsequently posted a fake internal memo from fake Apple, calling for annoyed iPhone customers to engage in a day of protest against AT&T's "substandard network." Dubbed "operation chokehold," fake Steve Jobs is calling for iPhone users to use as much bandwidth as possible this upcoming Friday in order to "send the message to AT&T that we are sick of their substandard network." Tune in Friday to see if a fake CEO's somewhat fake joke results in a very real DDoS for AT&T.

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Post a:

en102
Canadian, eh?

join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

2 edits

well..

Nobody didn't say that Steve Jobs wasn't an ego maniac (even if it is fake).
Apple has had (and still has) the ability to deploy on T-Mobile without much change to its device other than frequency band.
They 'could' deploy on Sprint or Verizon, but that'll be a bit of work, as Apple has no CDMA chipsets built, and CDMA as a whole isn't growing much (vs. GSM/UMTS).
--
Canada = Hollywood North
Hellrazor

join:2002-02-02
Abyss, PA

1 edit

bah humbug

Operation Snore - for those of us falling asleep from their wit

ZzzzzZZzzzZZZZZzzz

dddane

join:2002-01-10
Chicago, IL

Re: well..

but who says T-mo is any better equipped to handle a huge surge in 3g users than ATT was?

DarkLogix
Texan and Proud
Premium
join:2008-10-23
Baytown, TX
kudos:3

OSI Layer 8

OSI Layer 8 based DDoS here it comes

those of you that know OSI will get the Layer 8 joke
ShadezeRO

join:2006-04-24
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Re: OSI Layer 8

Layer 9

ArrayList
netbus developer
Premium
join:2005-03-19
Evanston, IL
layer. as in cake.


--
sbcglobal.net speedtest result 11/11/09 - 5256kbps
djeremy

join:2004-07-12
San Francisco, CA

heh

I read that this weekend and couldn't stop laughing.
brianiscool

join:2000-08-16
Tampa, FL
kudos:1
This reminds me when AOL did not have enough dial-up modems. Then it went all down hill from there. AT&T could be a repeat of AOL : )

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
kudos:33

Re: heh

No. All AT&T has to do is bump capex and they'd have these problems solved in a heartbeat.

en102
Canadian, eh?

join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

Re: heh

A lot of this could be solved by bumping many off of GSM to 3G.
In some areas, 20MHz out of 50MHz are on 3G. Obviously they needs more.
--
Canada = Hollywood North

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
kudos:33

Re: heh

I know they're trying hard with the 850MHz migration. But a half hour north of NYC -- a major population center -- I still deal with dropped calls and crap EDGE burps nearly constantly.

en102
Canadian, eh?

join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

Re: heh

Well, in the past it would have been +40MHz of EDGE/GSM, and ~5MHz of TDMA AMPS.

Here in LA, (most of SoCal actually) has 45MHz of spectrum, its all

10MHz of 850MHz band on 3G
15MHz of 850MHz band on GSM/EDGE

10MHz of 1900MHz band (PCS B3) on 3G
10MHz of 1900MHz band (PCS D) on GSM

In rural areas, its not too different - sites are spread out more, and capacity isn't always as big of an issue, unless there are events (i.e. local sporting event, major holiday traffic jams)
--
Canada = Hollywood North

Gbcue
P.E.
Premium
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:8

Re: heh

Where do you get these stats?

I want to look up other networks in other areas.
--
My Blog 2.0

en102
Canadian, eh?

join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

Re: heh

2 places.

1 - FCC website (painful search engine)
This is a primer
»www.wirelesswavelength.com/
followed by
»wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/UlsSear···rket.jsp
using
»wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/data/maps/mta.pdf
and
»wireless.fcc.gov/auctions/data/maps/bta.pdf
for local reference

2 - Field test mode on your cell phone. iPhone has this built in, as does most WinMo, and others.
This will tell you the breakdown of what is in use on 3g vs 2g and by 850 vs 1900.
--
Canada = Hollywood North

dddane

join:2002-01-10
Chicago, IL
it's just as much an interference issue though in urban areas...
Zoder

join:2002-04-16
Miami, FL
Actually it went up from there. The modem issue was in 97. AOL peaked in 2000 after they announced the Time-Warner merger
lvas

join:2001-05-17
Glen Carbon, IL
its a safe bet that those 3% of users taking up 40% of the bandwith are data tethering the iphone. which obviously their network cant handle yet which is why they dont' offer it.

Linklist
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Longport, NJ
kudos:5
»www.cultofmac.com/att-responds-t···ld/23509
Contacted by CultofMac.com, an AT&T spokesman described the planned protest as “totally irresponsible.” The spokesman continued:

We understand that fakesteve.net is primarily a satirical forum, but there is nothing amusing about advocating that customers attempt to deliberately degrade service on a network that provides critical communications services for more than 80 million customers. We know that the vast majority of customers will see this action for what it is: an irresponsible and pointless scheme to draw attention to a blog.

--
My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page


Gbcue
P.E.
Premium
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:8

Re: AT&T responds to Fake Steve's call for DDOS

AT&T is just afraid of people actually using their network.
--
My Blog 2.0

Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
kudos:1
LOLOLOLOLOLOL
ShadezeRO

join:2006-04-24
Fort Lauderdale, FL
ION CANNON CHARGED.

Waiting for your orders, COMMANDER.

Mr Fel
Flynn Lives
Premium
join:2008-03-17
Louisville, KY

Re: [Status]

You can't kill the Mesiah!

morbo
Complete Your Transaction

join:2002-01-22
00000
AVAITING ORDERS!

meh37II

@verizon.net
Wouldn't that make Friday 'Fake Exaflood Day'?

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
kudos:33

Re: Not a DDoS...

Faux Exaflood indeed.
gworkman7

join:2005-10-18
Laveen, AZ
Let's crash the network on Friday, then not buy gas from Chevron on Saturday. Very productive....

ShadowMastr
Master Of All Shadows

join:2001-09-01
Fort Pierce, FL

Re: One step farther....

Well at this moment I am getting internal server error 500 on both the fake apple links, so either we crashed their network by reading it so much, or real apple hacked em good.....
--
Follow Your Bliss -- Joseph Cambell
I reject your Reality and substitute my own! -- Adam Savage, Mythbuster
russotto

join:2000-10-05
West Orange, NJ
Fake Steve Jobs is a front for Real Steve Jobs. Fake Steve just takes Real Steve's rants, changes the profanity a bit, tones it down somewhat, and presto, deniability.

joebarnhart
Paxio evangelist

join:2005-12-15
Santa Clara, CA
Something makes me think the real Steve Jobs has this parody taped up on a wall nearby where he can chuckle and think "I wish I'd said that..."

FastiBook

join:2003-01-08
Newtown, PA
Valid: Maybe. Funny: absolutely. Att got zinged!

But yea, i need my phone (and no i'm not living off of it), so please don't screw around with throughput on friday (or ever)!

- A
--
LETS GO METS!
LineNoise

join:2006-06-25
Downers Grove, IL

Re: Zing!

I'm going to buy an iPhone tomorrow.... There's a 30 day return right?

FastiBook

join:2003-01-08
Newtown, PA

Re: Zing!

Indeed there is. I doubt you'll be returning it though!

- A
--
LETS GO METS!

HappyBunny
Hi. Cram It.
Premium
join:2001-06-23
Long Beach, CA
kudos:1
That is just brilliant. Hilarious, yet sadly true--the number-crunchers run (and ruin) American business.

I waited for a year before buying an iPhone, because I didnt want to go back to the horrible AT&T. The network in LA is just atrocious. I have an unlocked one now, and it works perfectly on T-Mobile. Dear Steve, please take the iPhone to T-Mobile or Verizon.

JohnInSJ
Premium
join:2003-09-22
San Jose, CA
"Bell System frigtards" - classic!

fiber_man
Things Happen For A Reason
Premium
join:2001-01-27
Port Saint Lucie, FL
That is just brilliant. Hilarious, yet sadly true--the number-crunchers run (and ruin) American business.

I personally want to thank Ed and Dwayne for destroying BellSouth. SBC took over at&t then they took over BellSouth. SBC is so far behind where BellSouth was in 2006. All they do now is look at numbers. The hell with customer service. If the numbers don't look good they don't do it. Dwayne had the opportunity to buy AT&T before ED and past on it. I would love a time machine to go back and see where we would be if BellSouth had bought AT&T.
--
GO NOLES!!

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