BT / NTL /b/ Block - Stuff we know.

What follows has been posted in various other threads and has been repeated in IRC - but I thought it was probably an OK idea to post it all together in one place if only so I could point them to it - anyway:

As far as we have been able to work out someone has informed and organisation in the UK called the Internet Watch Foundation http://www.iwf.org.uk/ of our little place on the net and they have deemed it to be unacceptable due to either race hate OR childporn... probably both. They have place ONE SPECIFIC URL on a block list.

Seemingly NTL and BT subscribe to this block list to different degrees (although oddly some people are still getting through from at least NTL not sure about BT). The URL they are blocking is the main /b/ http://img.4chan.org/b/imgboard.html one which is why you are seeing a 404/403 on that one, but are still capable of seeing links within /b/.

There are quite a few ways to get around this, the two that I employ when Im on my work BT line is by using the IP address of the of the /b/ server, so then the URL would be: http://66.207.165.178/b/imgboard.html - this also works for NTL users. NTL users can also just add a '?' mark to the end of the normal URL to get around it thus: http://img.4chan.org/b/imgboard.html?
You can also use proxies and tunnelling an other crap, such as http//securebar.secure/...
or installing your own copy of squid maybe.

BT users only are currently finding them selves banned completely from the img.4chan servers, I have no idea what that is about as I dont think anyones said.

Are BT/NTL logging failed connects to the boards? No idea. How long is this gonna last? No idea. Is there anyway to ge the block lifted? Having read the IWFs complaints procedure... only if you want the police at your door if its still found to be CPy.

I think thats it, be brave /b/tards. You can get through this.

D.

Just sent the following email, lol.

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Dear Mr. Truman,

Myself and several of my fellow BT customers have become rather confused about a situation that seems to have affected us all simultaneously. It has come to our attention that no BT user can access the URL http://img.4chan.org/b/imgboard.html or any variation thereof while using BT to connect to the internet.

As with all collectives of people on the internet, rumours are rife; the most prevalent of which concerns BT, the IWF, the Cleanfeed system, or a combination of all three blocking the site due to alleged illegal content. However, we are yet to receive a difinitive answer regarding the exact nature of the block.

I am writing to ask you whether or not the aforementioned URL is in someway 'blacklisted' by either BT or the IWF, or whether or not it is included as part of the cleanfeed system. Earlier today, I made a call to BT customer and technical services, who informed me that they could find no information regarding a BT-initiated 'block' on the domain. However, I appreciate that the people I was speaking to, in their own words, were "not the right people" to ask about the problem, and therefore I would appreciate any light you can shed on this matter.

As you may or may not be aware, the URL in question is one for an anonymous imageboard. This means that any user can post any picture or any text on the site without having to register or enter their name. The site does, however, log their IP address. There is only one rule: No illegal content. Users who breach this rule are banned without hesitation, and their posts are deleted. In the case of a user posting obscene content related to sexual abuse of children or animals, the user is also reported to the relevant authorities, as this is deemed immoral and unacceptable.

I and the other users of the site are completely in support of this rule, and wish to use it simply as a place of discussion and a source of humour.

Therefore, I can see no conflict of interest between http://img.4chan.org/b/imgboard.html and either BT or the IWF. However, I would appreciate any help you could offer in pinpointing the origin of these difficulties.

Regards,

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I'm pretty sure that's all true. Let's see how it goes.