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All Sourceforge.net Being Blocked by SmartFilter
An unnamed reader writes: "I just noticed that all sites. '*.sourceforge.net' are being blocked by all corporations using SmartFilter including mine. SmartFilter lists all of them as 'MP3' sites. Below is the error I get. How come they do not block Microsoft? I can download an MP3 player from there, too (Media Player does play MP3s)." Here's the error: "Access is restricted to the site (http://www.sourceforge.net/) you requested. Per the firm's Information Security & Privacy Policy, all Internet browsing is monitored and logged. Please contact the Information Security Center at ext 7114 for more information. SmartFilter Control List category MP3 Sites is restricted. " The aptly named SmartFilterWhere tool shows which sites are painted over by SmartFilter's broad brush; in this case, software development site (and Slashdot sister site) SourceForge is blocked by the latest SmartFilter versions -- 3.0, 3.0.1 and 3.1 -- but not version 2. You might also be interested in The Censorware Project's analysis of the efficacy of SmartFilter as applied to Utah schools and libraries, or Peacefire's explanation of how and how well SmartFilter works.
Here is where you can plug a URL in to see if it gets filtered or not. And indeed, sourceforge turns out to be a wicked MP3-peddler. Oddly enough, freshmeat is not in there yet.
They also have another interesting and potentially more controversial filtering category: "Anonymizer". Try plugging http://www.anonymizer.com into that box on the link above. Thin legal ice, if you ask me.
Blearf. Blearf, I say.
Just a confirmation that sourceforge.net is blocked by SmartFilter. I'm seeing the rejection message sitting here at work. How silly of them.