For the first time in my life I have incurred financial loss and substantial personal inconvenience at the hands of an Internet worm. The Code Red virus (let alone Code Red II) infiltrates Microsoft web servers and uses them to search for other Microsoft web servers to infiltrate. I wouldn't let IIS in my house, but a secondary effect of the worm as it scans for susceptable web servers is to crash Cisco 675/678 DSL modems. The result for most DSL users with these modems is a dropped connection every few hours, and the only way to restore the connection is to unplug the modem, wait, and plug it back in again and wait for the connection to come back. A major annoyance, for sure, and since I'm paying Qwest $80/mo for the ability to run servers (much more than the cost of just fast web browsing), this past month has been a waste of money.

Two nights ago, my modem crashed yet again, and I begrudgingly unplugged the modem, plugged it back in, then waited for the connection to return. And waited. And waited. It didn't come back. I tried unplugging and re-plugging again, but no luck.

I eventually determined that circumstances of the last reset had corrupted my Cisco 675's internal software. The flash ROM, which I had upgraded to version 2.4.1 under the advice of Qwest, detected the corruption and refused to start up. Stuck in monitor mode, there was nothing I could do but call Qwest tech support again.

A Qwest technician advised that there's almost nothing that can be done in this situation, but suggested that I could download the software again, and a technician would help me install it "by hand." I hung up, used my dial-up modem to connect, and downloaded the 2.4.1 software again. When I called Qwest tech support, a different technician said that the previous technician shouldn't have told me that they would help me, and that my only choice was to purchase a new modem with my own money-- and the new modem would be just as susceptable to failure at the hands of Code Red.

It seems like Qwest and/or Cisco should be held liable for their faulty hardware, and I should be able to get a replacement at no charge. Traditionally, agreements regarding hardware involve warranties, and I believe I'm past my warranty, so I'm not too upset, despite the fact that the hardware has not failed due to wear and tear. However, the lack of accountability in the software industry also applies; software is typically "SOLD AS IS WITH NO WARRANTY OR ANYTHING". It's also worth noting that Qwest is not refunding DSL charges to victims of the worm.

There is also no known solution that applies in all situations; previous theories seem to have helped some people, but not in my case or in the cases of people I know in similar situations. Qwest is finally admitting this, and "Qwest and Cisco are working on a permanent solution." I'm not sure what to do in the meantime. I'd like to temporarily cancel my DSL to save a little money, but I'm afraid the waitlist for DSL means I wouldn't get it back again. So all I can do is complain about it on my web site.

What do you think? Who is responsible for these damages, and what should Qwest be doing to make good with its customers? How should Qwest be handling this situation? Cisco?