Controversial Silicon Valley advertising startup NebuAd drops its plan to sell deep packet inspection technology to ISPs after Congress and public interest groups slam the privacy implications of deep packet inspection. NebuAd suffered through a summer of losing customers and congressional hearing before bailing on the plan that promised ISPs additional revenue sources through DPI.
The year began promisingly enough for NebuAd, a Silicon Valley advertising startup promising a new source of revenue for ISPs through the use of deep packet inspection. DPI allows ISPs to track the behavior of Internet users without their consent in order to more accurately target advertising. Charter Communications, the nation"s fourth-largest broadband provider, signed up for the service, as did several other ISPs.