Full FeedAT&T blocking parts of 4chan?
AT&T just can’t seem to get enough bad press as of late. First it comes out that AT&T Wireless won’t be bringing MMS to the iPhone until August. Then there’s the lack of tethering for the iPhone, followed closely by a push-back of iPhone MMS to September. Now it looks like AT&T’s DSL service wants to get in on all of the bad press by seemingly blocking sections of 4chan to a large percentage of its users.
4chan, in its simplest form is an image board. However, it is also the source of most of the Internet’s pranks (like messing with the Time 100 poll a few months back), memes (RickRolling, LOLcats) and Anonymous (a group leading a campaign against Scientology). Many AT&T DSL subscribers are finding it impossible to connect to img.4chan.org, specifically the /b/ and /r9k/ sections of the site.
The problems do not appear to be simple DNS issues. There are rumors from 4chan and related site that AT&T is filtering the site because it is a heavy target of DDoS attacks from AT&T IPs. The rumors cannot be proven as of yet. What can be proven is that m00t, the site’s founder has confirmed the filtering/blocking on the 4chan status blog, and that it has brought AT&T to the trending topics list on Twitter.
There’s no proof that this is exactly intentional on AT&T’s part, though the fact that it’s the only major ISP that cannot access the site is very suspicious. There’s going to be a lot of backlash on AT&T for the issues either way. There are plenty of complaints calling this a Net Neutrality issue, which in a way it could be. If it were any other site, there would be a backlash, but it would soon be forgotten. AT&T made a big mistake by messing with people’s access to 4chan. There are already numerous actions being taken by the community (including some the webcomic Xkcd blocking access to the site from AT&T corporate offices, and email campaigns to get majot news outlets to cover the story).
If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how this helps. Even those who dislike 4chan and its tendency towards very NSFW content should be able to agree that this is wrong, especially if it’s intentional on AT&T’s part.
Keep up with the latest gadget goodness! - 
Subscribe to our feed
Who's on Crack in Tech?
Gadgetell's own version of William Shatner, JG Mason tackles the seemingly bizarre moves in the tech world. Catch his Friday column to see who gets called out this week..
Palm Pre and Palm Pixi Information
Interested in Palm? Want to know more about webOS, the Pre or the Pixi? Not to worry because Gadgetell's got the latest news and information right here.
And once again, it NEVER fails with the incessant lying, as lying is a way of life for these hacker creeps. I salute AT&T for blocking viruses, trojans and nasty spider scripts, as that is what the REAL truth is as to WHY AT&T has flashed the middle finger [blocked] to 4 Chan. Why should AT&T waste time and energy in dealing with viruses, trojans and uncontrollable script programs emanating from the 4 Chan site?
I don’t condone censorship and I certainly don’t condone lies “in the name of lulz”. The only thing 4 Chan has proven again and again, is that they are infantile and violent. A bunch of two year olds who go on tirades. And just like an out of control two year old, they need some REAL hard slaps from the school of hard knocks.
Any consequences or denial of internet access to AT&T customers due to NAZI actions emanating from 4 Chan [or any other hacker creeps for that matter], I pray that they are caught, rounded up, prosecuted beyond the extent of the law, thrown in a windowless cell and locked up forever until the day they die.
I commend AT&T for taking the step forward and I sincerely hope that other ISP’S follow suit ASAP. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Hackers cause destruction, chaos, waste everyones time and energy. Normal people on the net are SICK AND TIRED of these two year old tantrum antics that 4 Chan displays on a daily basis. These hacker creeps really and truly need to GROW THE F*** UP.
on July 28, 2009 at 12:49 AM - LINK