Blocking that is insane!
And the blocked website itself is blocked on two ISPs https://www.blocked.org.uk/results?url=http%3A%2F%2Fblocked....
A&A have played a massive blinder on the media front, by saying that they aren't doing something that no one is legally requiring them to do (it would be interesting to see what they do if they were actually forced to, though). It's also worth pointing out that the mobile networks have had filters for years, because of Labour government pressure and not because of the "wall of Cameron" or whatever people are calling it.
I also like how the site says "checked on the main UK ISPs" and then includes A&A, which no one would ever say is a "main UK ISP". They're the nichest of the niche. They're an extremely good ISP (although you can get similar quality from others at a fraction of the price), but they're not a "main ISP".
I would guess that A&A have paid towards the ORG or are contributing something and that's why they're getting prominence.
- Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.org.blocked...
- Python https://github.com/openrightsgroup/OrgProbe
- Raspberry PI images https://github.com/openrightsgroup/lepidopter)
And an open API to power them: https://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/Censorship_Monitoring_...
This is helping to build a picture of what the UK Governments Internet Blocking/Filtering/Censorship actually looks like.
You can submit URLs to be tested by visiting https://www.Blocked.org.uk by installing the Android app or by tweeting a URL with the hashtag #IsBlocked
Once we receive a URL it is dispatched to all probes over a period of time where it is checked against a know list of blocking methods.
The results are returned back to the API for public evaluation.
For example: https://www.blocked.org.uk/results?url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.yc...
Please help us build a picture of UK Internet Censorship by adding URLs to be tested, by helping develop new probes (browser extensions, an iPhone client etc etc) or just by spreading the word that https://Blocked.org.uk is available.
Please also see https://www.blocked.org.uk/faq which will explain the level of filtering enabled on some of the probes which will explain why some sites may appear blocked even if you, being on the same ISP, can reach said URL.
This is madness.
https://www.blocked.org.uk/results?url=http://www.the-bright...
I'd imagine a lot of people that have issues with e.g. running a Tor node would be perfectly happy to offer up proxies offering up various subsets of the blocked sites whitelisted by category.
https://www.blocked.org.uk/results?url=http://lucb1e.com
Edit: TalkTalk live chat support reports that I am not being blocked. Citation:
> I can confirm that is not blocked by our Adult Filters as your website does not have any adult content.
So it seems blocked.org.uk has a false-positive...
I'm in a similar situation, one site I run is blocked both by StalkStalk and BT. No porn, no other 'adult' content; it's deliberately kept PG-13 to use the US ratings.
[1]Check your logs for HuaweiSymantecSpider. It obeys robots.txt though, so a quick "Disallow: /" in robots.txt stops it, although they still grab content from unencrypted pages via DPI.
One talk-talk subscriber has reported that he can see these blogs just fine. Though he does not have the "kid safe" setting turned on, of course. "Blocked" in this context probably means "blocked when using the most restrictive settings".
Ask them if your site is blocked at the "Kid Safe" level (the default) which is what the probes run on.
That way anyone who can access it from work but not home (for example) or recommends the site to a friend who finds it doesn't work, will have a clue as to what the problem is (and it isn't your fault).
If your site is of significant general interest then this may also increase the chance of the ISPs acting quickly.
Or if you're on any of the ISPs who do not have filters, including but not limited to A&A.
Obviously all those children need to be protected from harsh reviews of their artwork.
