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Verizon blocks 4Chan for mobile users, asks for trouble
Of all the sites a major mobile ISP could block, Verizon has probably picked the worst. Verizon mobile customers have found themselves unable to access 4Chan's infamous prank-filled, NSFW image board, /b/, and the ISP won't say why. 4Chan's founder, Moot, has even been unable to get a straight answer about the block. However, it's been confirmed that this was an intentional move by Verizon. At this point, it's only affecting Verizon's mobile customers, so you should still be able to see 4Chan using your home Internet connection.This seems to be an utterly dumb move on Verizon's part. First, it opens them up to accusations of censorship. Why ban one specific site? There might be a reason, but Verizon's not giving it. Granted, 4Chan is known for occasional child pornography threads, but it tends to do a good job of self-policing those and deleting the offending materials ASAP. If that's the reason, Verizon isn't saying so.
The second reason an ISP might not want to mess with 4Chan is because bad (and sometimes hilarious) things tend to happen to those who do. There's an entire section of the 4Chan Wikipedia entry dedicated to 4Chan's various "Internet attacks." They might not be "hackers on steroids," despite one laughable TV news report to the contrary, but they're very good at posting porn in places you really don't expect to find it. It'll be interesting to see if there's any retaliation against Verizon, or if the block is peaceably lifted.
Update: Verizon will reportedly be unblocking 4Chan soon, if it hasn't happened already.
[via ReadWriteWeb]
Comments
15
Subscribe to commentsder_tuxmanFeb 9th 2010 2:47PM
I never understood what's "funny" on 4chan..
PMFeb 10th 2010 9:59AM
I use Verizon both at home and for my cell phone and it isn't blocked on either.
kojo87Feb 9th 2010 3:13PM
well this should be entertaining. i look forward to how /b/ responds.
PonTelonFeb 9th 2010 3:20PM
The same thing happened a while back with AT&T DSL. It was blocked because of a large attack against 4Chan's servers that were being routed through AT&T's servers and they temp blocked it to control the traffic. People claimed censorship then too(Twitter exploded that night). Honestly, 4Chan has some huge sense of self-importance if they think that a company like Verizon will ban them based on content. There are plenty of sites out there with more questionable content.
Jay HathawayFeb 9th 2010 3:26PM
Verizon has already confirmed that they're explicitly blocking 4Chan. It's not like the AT&T situation.
PonTelonFeb 9th 2010 3:31PM
@Jay Hathaway Source link?
JoeFeb 9th 2010 3:38PM
I'm not Hathaway but this is from the official 4chan Twitter
http://twitter.com/4chan/statuses/8787851794
"Received confirmation from Verizon's Network Repair Bureau (NRB) that we are "explicitly blocked."
PonTelonFeb 9th 2010 3:42PM
AT&T "explicitly blocked" 4Chan also. Doesn't mean they didn't have a reason, like the attacks. If they were trying to do a malicious block on a single site, they probably would have included their regular DSL users too. Just saying.
the pl4gueFeb 9th 2010 3:51PM
Those assholes have no right to block this.
4chan is gonna fuck em up goood.
Bob RobertsonFeb 9th 2010 4:55PM
You guys are a bit behind the times. According to 4chan:
Monday, February 08, 2010
Verizon should be unblocking boards.4chan.org later tonight.
I'll post a more detailed explanation tomorrow, but the issue is similar to the one we had with AT&T last year.
by moot @ 5:28 PM
SirobinFeb 9th 2010 5:28PM
“Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?”
waywardwitFeb 9th 2010 5:36PM
I just pulled up /b/ on my Verizon HTC Touch Pro 2 (granted it's been flashed with MightyRom) and I had no problem. Tons of boobage right on the splash page for /b/. Loaded up fine.
Are they only blocking dumb-phone users? Or are they blocking people with data cards? Or is it because I have a MightyRom Flash that it works fine?
michas_piFeb 10th 2010 1:55AM
And nothing of value was lost.
sitrucFeb 10th 2010 8:28PM
Anyone else revisit this post waiting for another update regarding why the site was blocked?
RyebreadFeb 12th 2010 11:44PM
Pretty sure Verizon found out what it was getting themselves in to and decided to un-block it. GG Verizon.