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Verizon Blocking 4chan

An anonymous reader writes "According to 4chan's owner and administrator 'moot,' Verizon has explicitly blocked all traffic on their network from boards.4chan.org, where all of 4chan's boards are located. Moot explains that only traffic to and from port 80 is being dropped and they were able to confirm that it was intentional. 4chan's downtime for Verizon users has been in effect for at least 72 hours since Saturday, February 7."

677 comments

  1. DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Q-Hack! · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Rules #5, #6, and #7

    Verizon, you are doomed. Pissing off 4chan is probably the worst thing you can do on the Internet.

    --
    Some days I get the sinking feeling Orwell was an optimist.
    1. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 0

      How do we know it's not just 4chan trying to make the news with a fake story?

    2. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by the+roAm · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Oh yes, Verizon is sooo screwed, one of the largest ISPs in the world might get DDoSed by a hundred retarded people who will actually have the knowhow to DDoS, while thousands of others will wind up downloading trojans that spam 4chan.

      --
      ~The roAm
    3. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by eggoeater · · Score: 2, Funny

      moot is not known for that kind of crap.
      It has also been confirmed by many vzw customers.


      ...

    4. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Khyber · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, Verizon is screwed. If they wish to maintain certain legal status they'll unblock 4chan and fast. Otherwise they'll become liable for any copyright infringement going on their network because they're showing that they are actively monitoring and controlling data, instead of acting as a neutral data routing service.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    5. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by matzahboy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Pissing off 4chan is probably the worst thing you can do on the Internet.

      I disagree: http://xkcd.com/591/

    6. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by the+roAm · · Score: 1, Insightful

      So what's life like looking through the world in rose-tinted glasses?
      In all seriousness, do you know how easy it is to block a single subdomain network-wide and how extremely fucking difficult it is to sort through legal and illegal BitTorrent traffic?

      --
      ~The roAm
    7. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by AndersOSU · · Score: 5, Informative

      for about the 500th time, ISPs are not, and do not want to be common carriers.

      The DMCA safe harbor provision is completely different from common carrier protection and applies regardless of whether the content host monitors their content or not.

    8. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by bonch · · Score: 1

      Yep, I'm sure DDOS attacks from a bunch of immature b-tards will make Verizon change its mind about blocking their traffic. Without 4chan, where will idiots without original thoughts go to regurgitate tired memes and jerk off to webcam girls in their empty apartments?

    9. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Teikalen · · Score: 1

      is it actually necessary, though, that the be a 'neutral data routing service'? Say I own a restaurant. Let's get fancy, call it a Food Routing Service. If I feel that it's immoral to serve veal, or dogmeat, or endangered animal flesh, or something possibly dangerous like pufferfish, then I can do that. People get to know me as the restaurant with that kind of menu and if someone needs something off my menu, they're welcome to go somewhere else to get it but I just wont serve it.. or is my analogy lacking something? Seems solid to me... There's got to be a hundred-thousand other web pages where a person can get images of -*ahem*, that sort, if it's really that important.

    10. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From the 4chan camp. No plans as of yet to f them in the a. Will come shortly though :P

    11. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by sys.stdout.write · · Score: 5, Funny

      they'll become liable for any copyright infringement going on their network because they're showing that they are actively monitoring and controlling data, instead of acting as a neutral data routing service

      Some people simply say that they are not a lawyer, rather than feeling the need to prove it dramatically.

    12. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, Verizon is screwed

      Are you 12 or just clueless? Your post makes no sense. Prefix it with 'IANAL' and 'I am not a network engineer/architect/anything but a low level tech' 'cause you definitely aren't aware of how carriers work. Blocking 4chan is easy, blocking bittorrent is VERY tough.

    13. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Without 4chan, where will idiots without original thoughts go to regurgitate tired memes and jerk off to webcam girls in their empty apartments?

      Digg?

    14. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by e2d2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      4chan is a bunch of bitches compared to Verizon. One has an army of juveniles the other has an army of congressmen. Which one do you think will win?

      Sure the juveniles have anonymity and a mob willing to play unfair, but what are they gonna do? Attack Verizon? That happens everyday. Boycott them? Get in line. Complain? No solution there.

      Looks like 4chan is shit out of luck. They need to convince people they are obeying the law or else they'll just keep getting nailed and it will get worse. Having pedo-porn posted on your site every single day is not a freedom of speech issue.

    15. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Q-Hack! · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sorry, your analogy doesn't work as it doesn't reference cars in any way.

      --
      Some days I get the sinking feeling Orwell was an optimist.
    16. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mrbofus · · Score: 5, Insightful

      is it actually necessary, though, that the be a 'neutral data routing service'? Say I own a restaurant. Let's get fancy, call it a Food Routing Service. If I feel that it's immoral to serve veal, or dogmeat, or endangered animal flesh, or something possibly dangerous like pufferfish, then I can do that. People get to know me as the restaurant with that kind of menu and if someone needs something off my menu, they're welcome to go somewhere else to get it but I just wont serve it.. or is my analogy lacking something? Seems solid to me... There's got to be a hundred-thousand other web pages where a person can get images of -*ahem*, that sort, if it's really that important.

      Your analogy works as long as people have a choice. In some areas, people only have one ISP available to them as a reasonable source of Internet access. If Verizon was someone's only choice, then they can't really go anywhere else. Or, to go along with your analogy, if you owned the only restaurant in town and there were no supermarkets, convenience stores, etc...

    17. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by raphael75 · · Score: 1

      For the Verizon customers, your analogy would be like this: when they started going to your restaurant you had no problem selling veal, dogmeat, dolphinburgers, baby seal, etc., and they loved your restaurant. But one day you stopped selling those things they loved and now they have no place to go to get it. The other restaurants just don't make it the same as you used to make it.

      Most US cities only have 2 choices: whatever the local cable or DSL provider is. I wouldn't be surprised if they switched.

    18. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by toastar · · Score: 1

      More of a Rule 9 violation

      Verizon crits 4Chan with BANHAMMER, 4chan takes 4d4 of damage.

    19. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Progman3K · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Your analogy IS lacking.

      The ISP is not a restaurant with a menu, because on the Internet, you do not obtain content (food) from your ISP.

      Rather, the Internet is a cafeteria and the ISP is one of many plate-dispensers in the cafeteria. You put whatever you like in your plate and the plate dispenser has no business deciding if it likes what you're eating, it's just serving plates for you to carry around your food in.

      --
      I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
    20. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 3, Funny

      Actually knowing 4chan they're just as likely to do something utterly productive as they are utterly pointless.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    21. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by The+Mighty+Buzzard · · Score: 4, Funny

      Here, same as always.

      --
      Violence is like duct tape. If it doesn't solve the problem, you didn't use enough.
    22. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by KlomDark · · Score: 0, Troll

      *COUGH* Bullshit *COUGH*

    23. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by ircmaxell · · Score: 1

      Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers...

      OTOH, I guess that could be applied to both parties as alluded in your post...

      --
      If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good
    24. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by HungryHobo · · Score: 1

      To be fair they have a fuckton of mods and they do delete that shit within a minute or so, it's just the volume combined with the fact that most of it is on a single board.
      If you're gonna start holding every board liable for every post by every user then we're gonna have an internet where the admin of a site has to read each post before it becomes visible to the masses.

    25. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      For the Verizon customers, your analogy would be like this: when they started going to your restaurant you had no problem selling veal, dogmeat, dolphinburgers, baby seal, etc., and they loved your restaurant. But one day you stopped selling those things they loved and now they have no place to go to get it. The other restaurants just don't make it the same as you used to make it.

      Add to this: His restaurant uses an amusement park funny-money system, and you must buy in one or two-year increments. You're allowed to go to the other restaurant (there's only one other in town, and they'll stop serving soon too), but you'll have worthless funny-money that only you can redeem.

    26. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by toastar · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Sorry, your analogy doesn't work as it doesn't reference cars in any way.

      Indeed, ISP's are more like Cab Drivers.

      Imagine if you flag down a cab at the airport, You tell him to go to the west side of town. Half way to your destination you tell him you're going to a strip club. He says he can't take you there. What do you do?
      I'd say get out, Refuse to pay, and call another cab.

      In this case If i couldn't access the site after complaining I'd cancel the service and refuse to pay the bill as they refused to provide unfiltered internet access as they agreed.
      It's the same shit as when they block port 25. Call them and complain and if they can't fix it, go somewhere else.

      Besides who needs to access 4chan from their phone anyway

    27. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by e2d2 · · Score: 0, Troll

      Oh I agree it sucks big time. When you have user content they expect you to police that content. It's not fair to the site owner but it's part of owning a site like that.

      What I don't understand is why 4chan gets hit like this but I don't see Verizon blocking Usenet or image boards like Rapidshare, whom I would bet have just as many "legal violations" per day as 4chan. What is a reasonable response to such content?

    28. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Trifthen · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You are bound to get replies that basically amount to "What can Anonymous possibly do to freaking Verizon?!"

      They have no idea what they've done. 4chan isn't your average bastion of internet malcontents. DDOS? Please. Kevin Mitnick could be called a precursor, and we know with the Scientology war, they're more than willing to hack meatspace. If 4chan as a group takes issue with this, everyone down to the CEO of Verizon will be essentially fair game for various levels of harassment. They'll have the address and private phone number of anyone who matters within days, and they, probably more than anyone, know how to abuse such information.

      I really, really don't envy Verizon right now. This of course hinges on whether or not 4chan will actually care, and that's anybody's guess. It's not a good precedent, though.

      --
      Read: Rabbit Rue - Free serial nove
    29. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Xaedalus · · Score: 1

      They'll come HERE.

      --
      Here's to hot beer, cold women, and Glaswegian kisses for all.
    30. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't be so bitter about the Verizon blocks. I'm certain something will be worked out and you can access the intellectual R9K boards soon.

    31. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by VoiceInTheDesert · · Score: 1

      This will be dealt with.

    32. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Bengie · · Score: 1

      A better analogy would be your local state suddenly decided that Fords aren't allowed to drive on the roads, "Just Because".

      What if your local phone company switches over to VOIP, which is just another internet data service and not "real phone", then decides to block an entire area code and your mom so happens to be in that code.

    33. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by LoSt180 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Looks like Verizon responded pretty fast via twitter: @Verizon Verizon PolicyBlog Post: 4Chan Not "Blocked" -- Protecting Our Customers & Our Network http://policyblog.verizon.com/BlogPost/697/ProtectingOurCustomersandOurNetwork.aspx

    34. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by WhatAmIDoingHere · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It doesn't matter how difficult it is to do it, by filtering ONE thing, they're saying "Yeah, we can filter stuff." So, now they have demonstrated that they CAN and WILL filter content, meaning anything not filtered is stuff that Verizon is okay with.

      --
      Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
    35. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by theyulman · · Score: 1, Troll

      yea moot is know but for other type of crap...like allowing CP on his board.

      I mean he wouldn't go as far as lying!! he's fine with child molesting but lying is pushing it too far! [sarcasm]

    36. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by WhatAmIDoingHere · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Okay, so for your analogy to work, you would have to have ALL THE FOOD IN THE WORLD by default. You've selected a few things you disagree with to not serve. The problem is that there's a lot of food you don't know about that's still pretty dangerous to eat.

      By saying "We filtered this dangerous food out," you can now get in trouble when dangerous food you missed or slipped past your filter gets served to people. Hell, you can get in trouble for specifically NOT filtering it out, and that's the trouble Verizon is headed towards if they don't say "whoops, this was a mistake."

      --
      Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
    37. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by morgauxo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yeah, I know. Look what happened to Scientology! It was totally destroyed. Take that Verizon!

    38. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That's not the point. The point is to retain common carrier status, you have certain rules to abide by. The only thing saving Verizon (and other companies) from being responsible (by law) for every last bit of copyright infringement occuring on their networks is that they are simply providing the pipes. The moment they start blocking any of it, they have to block all of it.

      I'm not saying it is necessarily what the creators of the law intended, or even what is right (or that it isn't right), just that that's the way it is.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_carrier

    39. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by morgauxo · · Score: 1

      And this happened to Comcast?

    40. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by BronsCon · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      You DO realize that FIOS is NOT phone service, right?

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    41. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Kreigaffe · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Your analogy IS flawed. If you're a restaurant, first of all, you're the *provider* of the food. A better analogy would be if you owned a car and merely delivered food per customer requests, from the sources they request. You have no hand at all in the food except moving it from Point A to Point B (in your car). Now, some of that food is going to be rotten, some of it will be downright objectionable, possibly illegal. You don't want to be required to search every single morsel of food that you deliver, because to do so would be an undue burden on your business -- you'd spend all your time inspecting food.

      Then, one day, you decide you don't like veal in your car, and begin inspecting everything you deliver for veal. You stop transporting food from places that serve veal. You've now turned from a neutral transporter of food, with the contents and quality of that food being an issue only for the preparer and the purchaser, to an inspector. Now you're liable if someone DOES get something illegal, because, why, you're already searching for veal! Surely you saw this and that was illegal. If you can remove all the veal, you can remove all the soylent green as well, and to not do so would be tacit approval of illegal activity.

      That's what's going on here -- 4chan is the resturant, verizon is merely the delivery service. If they are going to police the internet, they're no longer a neutral carrier that cannot be held responsible for that which they transport.

      --
      ... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
    42. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by morgauxo · · Score: 1

      Yes, and then more Anonymous members go to prison and the Verizon execs still sleep well at night.

      Keep dreaming.

    43. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tftp · · Score: 5, Insightful

      One has an army of juveniles the other has an army of congressmen. Which one do you think will win?

      It depends on your definition of victory; however in most cases I would bet on juveniles - many are vicious and unrestrained by social norms, while politicians are just greedy and power-hungry.

      To put it differently: who would you prefer to meet in a dark alley in a bad part of town - a group of juveniles or a group of congressmen?

    44. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Deosyne · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Besides who needs to access 4chan from their phone anyway"

      I don't, but I'd prefer to nip this little urge for some dipshit who takes my money to decide what websites I should be accessing before they go blocking access to something that I do have interest in accessing from my phone.

    45. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by JustOK · · Score: 1

      Problem is going "somewhere else" isn't always an option.

      --
      rewriting history since 2109
    46. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mjhacker · · Score: 5, Informative

      He doesn't allow it, people just post it at such a high frequency that it's not possible to delete & ban fast enough.

    47. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by damien_kane · · Score: 1

      This is Accounting, sir. You inquired about Agent Richard Gill?
      Yes.
      Our records indicate he's deceased.
      I'm what?

    48. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mweather · · Score: 1

      There are webcam girls on Digg?

    49. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by ArhcAngel · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Obligatory didn't read article....

      Is it Verizon Wireless or Verizon that is blocking 4chan? If it's Verizon does the block affect the wireless group as well?

       

      --
      "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    50. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by supernova_hq · · Score: 1

      As sure as I am that this is legit, did you seriously try to debunc a 4chan conspiracy by saying "many people have confirmed it"?

      You obviously know *nothing* about 4chan...

    51. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well I, for one, live in an area where Verizon is the ILEC. Verizon is about to get their shit vandalized...badly.

      This is an isolated, rural area as well, so it's not like anything is very well guarded.

      Fuck Verizon.

    52. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by sanosuke001 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Regardless of his poor understanding of US law; ISP's should be considered common carriers whether they want to or not. ISP's should not be in the business of censoring anything.

      --
      -SaNo
    53. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Demonantis · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If they know how to DDoS I would feel comfortable saying that they understand proxies at least. You can't wall off chunks of the internet from certain groups. They will just reroute and find a way around it.

    54. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by theyulman · · Score: 0, Troll

      Let me have some serious doubts about that. Because that would mean that all the boards over the Net would face the same problem. Which is not the case. So why would a retarded pedo choose 4chan over any other chan board or forum to post that kind of crap?

    55. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by xatm092 · · Score: 1

      as much as I like that XKCD comic, Twilight fans would not stay around 4chan when anon starts flooding all the vampire threads with gore and porn.

    56. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If 4chan as a group takes issue with this, everyone down to the CEO of Verizon will be essentially fair game for various levels of harassment. They'll have the address and private phone number of anyone who matters within days, and they, probably more than anyone, know how to abuse such information.

      So let me get this straight.

      A group of dissidents threatens anyone who disagrees with them with harassment and possible bodily harm (like no one would ever use the home addresses of the CEO, CFO, CIO etc for nefarious means), so that people fear the group enough to cow their every demand? I think we have a name for such people...

      And this from someone who hopes the big V goes down in flames.

    57. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by BitZtream · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ah, so you feel the terrorists will when then?

      Fuck 4chan and the horse they road in on, pissing off Verizon is a little different than going after CoS.

      Verizon has FAR money, FarFar more knowledge about finding people on the Internet, and won't have a problem bringing in government backing to find the attackers globally.

      They would be attacking the very people that make it so they can perform the attacks. When you piss of one major arms dealer cause you are a retard, the others aren't going to sit around at wait to be next.

      Let them attack Verizon, the sooner they do the sooner they'll disapper, and nothing of value will be lost.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
    58. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      They started a crusade against the Church of Scientology over nothing more than CoS forcing youtube to pull a video. I have no doubt they're planning epic raids right this second, and with good reason. The only way to fight back against these corporate interests is direct action.

    59. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      From personal experience I must disagree with you. If you find a way to involve high level people, that usually gets the job done. These people hate dealing with low level operational problems and certainly don't like having customers' frustrations taken out on them.

    60. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Boinger69 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Volume and relative anonymity.

    61. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We're already here. (And judging by your Slashdot UID, we were here before you were.)

    62. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      reputation? Plus free speech and anonymity are highly prized by moot and slashdot alike. It's one of the reasons I like it here.

    63. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      ISPs do not have common carrier status.

      That's a myth you need to drop belief in.

      Why do you think net neutrality is such a big issue? If they had common carrier status, it would be a moot point.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    64. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by rtb61 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In this case they are not filtering content, they are censoring a particular web site by blocking it's IP address range. This represents an infringement of trade designed to favour Verizon's other business interests. First 4chan than others to follow.

      I smell a trap though, instigate internet digital 'terrorism' sic, then claim justification for the commercial disruption because of the resultant attacks, meanwhile your friendly professionally paranoids are monitoring (they are short on their quota of harsh interrogation, isolation and imprisonment of children). In this case better to stick it to them in court, it is a slam dunk freedom of speech thing, one case by 4 chan and a class action by it's users.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    65. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by theyulman · · Score: 1

      Aaah, well I agree with you on the anonymity and free speech, and I also agree that slashdot allows that as well.

      But I'm pretty sure that if you where to post CP right here on slashdot, you would most likely get 1- Banned, 2- Arrested not too long after.

    66. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by KlomDark · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How is that a troll? I was responding to the statement about ISPs not being Common Carriers (Which they are, and they should be glad for that.) An ISP is a common carrier right up until the instant they start censoring their network, in which case they become legally liable for anything transmitted across their network.

      I used to own a 10,000 customer cable modem ISP, I know these things. I've also had a DMCA notice thrown at my company and my lawyer threw it right back at the filer, citing common carrier protections, and I never again heard anything on that issue. (My company did no censorship, so it was automatically considered common carrier.)

    67. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by QuantumRiff · · Score: 1

      Its Verizon Wireless. Not the network company, the Cell phone company. Others have in the past, shown how one phone can DDOS a Cell tower, and affect the ability for anyone on that tower to get a call through. A few dozen 4Channers playing with Cell towers on cloned phones could really, really mess up an entire city for as long as they wanted.

      --

      What are we going to do tonight Brain?
    68. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by houghi · · Score: 0, Troll

      C-C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    69. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by madddddddddd · · Score: 0

      it does not deserve to not be a troll for the same reason verizon thinks boards.4chan.org do not deserve to have their traffic delivered.

      that is the point.

      NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO JUDGE YOU. IF THEY THINK THEY DO, KILL THEM.

    70. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by toastar · · Score: 1

      Hrmm... Apparently Slashcode doesn't like my XML Bracketed Sarcasm Tag, It was spossed to go before that last sentence.

      Damn you slashdot and your lack of an edit buyyon

    71. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Grygus · · Score: 1

      4chan allows free, anonymous posting of images and has high traffic. I doubt they do choose 4chan over any other board - surely there are boards someplace devoted to that content - but those are pretty attractive features to anyone. I've never seen CP last more than a few minutes there, though I will grant you that I am far from a devoted lurker, and I spend almost no time in /b/.

    72. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by TheCouchPotatoFamine · · Score: 1

      which is totally a fine analogy until i extend that to "congressmen with sound-nerve weapons" to establish "people free zones." The point is, it's not correct to say that the reach is the same. The good news is, somebody has to make and maintain -- and use! -- those types of weapons to make kids ineffective, and if they refuse then that's that. The bad news is "we're" the ones with the somebodies to make and maintain the power a country exerts, and, ah, we get crazy ass juveniles into the army that have no problem pressing buttons to kill people (thanks video games) Depending, i would not want to meet the congressmen.

      --
      CS majors know the time/space tradeoff, but they never get taught the 3rd, crucial, tradeoff of the set: comprehension!
    73. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by JoshuaZ · · Score: 1

      Um, what? The whole point of the DMCA is that you get that protection as long as you then comply with the notices. I don't see how your lawyer would then throw the notice back citing common carrier. *confused*

    74. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by nacturation · · Score: 1

      That's a terrible analogy. Verizon has no menu saying "here are the sites you can order from us". Unless Verizon advertises up-front that they selectively filter out specific things (malware, scam/phishing sites, etc.) and/or arbitrary things (whatever they feel like blocking), Verizon is advertising "get the Internet from us" when what is actually delivered is "get a subset of the Internet from us".

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    75. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Trifthen · · Score: 5, Insightful

      See, I'm not so sure about that. This is more akin to kicking a nest of fire ants. Generally—but not always—they'll leave you alone if you leave them alone, but deliberately provoking them is hardly recommended behavior.

      4chan is absolutely not a den of terrorists. They're like a microcosm of society, reflecting all the dirty little things we don't like to acknowledge, but exist anyway. It's something most people would not like to confront in any manner, and certainly wouldn't want all those unrelated agendas focused upon them.

      Let's get this straight: there is no unified 4chan. It's just a group of loosely associated contributors. But I guarantee if enough of them feel offended, retaliation will seem like a unified force; that's an illusion. 4chan isn't a terrorist organization. It's not even an organization. But humans trend toward common ground, and threatening that is an "at your own risk" proposition.

      Like I said in my post, it's yet to be determined whether or not a critical mass of 4chan members will care enough about this to take action, but Verizon is playing Russian Roulette regardless of the outcome, or where any of this stand on the issue.

      --
      Read: Rabbit Rue - Free serial nove
    76. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Last time I boarded a plane I had to prove who I was and take off my shoes.

      The terrorists have already won. We're excellent targets.

    77. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by twidarkling · · Score: 5, Informative

      Are you aware of *just* how many posts are on 4chan? The most active board, "random," has over 100,000 posts a day. I think the entire site averages something like 1,000,000. Per DAY. You just can't effectively police something like that with the kind of set up they have. It was never built for that volume of traffic. They'd need to make everyone register, and that'd take away half the appeal of the place.

      --
      Canada: The US's more awesome sibling.
    78. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by gparent · · Score: 1

      "All other boards over the Net" do not have nearly the same volume of traffic as 4chan does.

    79. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by twilightzero · · Score: 1

      Because 4chan was set up deliberately as a haven for completely free speech. Other boards do have problems with it, but the mods are quick enough with the banhammer to discourage it and drive the offenders to easier prey with less mods and more permissive policies, like the *chans.

      --

      "Christ what a design! I could eat a handful of iron filings and PUKE a better emergency pump than that!"
    80. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tepples · · Score: 4, Informative

      go somewhere else.

      In the United States, home of 4chan, Verizon, and Slashdot, there are five ways to get on the Internet:

      • DSL or fiber from the phone company, which is Verizon
      • 3G service from a mobile phone company, which is expensive, has a single-digit-GB transfer cap, and in many cases is either provided by Verizon Wireless or 0 bars ("there's a map for that")
      • Cable, which isn't available in remote places or in other places where satellite TV has outcompeted cable TV
      • Satellite, which is expensive like 3G, has a single-digit-GB transfer cap, and has urine-poor latency for HTTP requests
      • Dial-up, which is unacceptably slow for 4chan

      What do you recommend?

    81. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by quanticle · · Score: 1

      Not all of the boards on the internet have the same reputation for freedom and anonymity that 4Chan does.

      --
      We all know what to do, but we don't know how to get re-elected once we have done it
    82. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tepples · · Score: 1

      People have a choice to move. I've read that people choose where to live based in part on what Internet access options are available.

    83. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It's not that they've pissed of 4chan. They've pissed off ME. And I don't know what 4chan is beyond a reputation that it's supposedly more childish than fark and slashdot combined. All I know is Verizon's decided I'm not allowed to view a site that doesn't appear to be breaking any laws.

      And if that wasn't bad enough, customer service is pushing it under the rug. I just spent 20 of the stupidest minutes on the phone with Verizon listening to some smarmy shit apologize that I mistakenly perceived that I was being blocked. This is clearly a device issue as he can access boards dot 4chan dot org on two devices with no trouble at all. But he wouldn't even consider opening a ticket until I'd gone through every troubleshooting step in the book. Including a HARD RESET. (For those who aren't familiar with the lingo, that's the one where you reset the device to factory fresh.) Only then would he have opened a ticket. And the whole time, he's insisting that Verizon isn't blocking the site, saying I shouldn't trust blogs. Nevermind the fact that Verizon has admitted that they're blocking traffic and plan to lift the block tonight. After playing along with his bullshit for 20 minutes, I just couldn't stay on the phone any longer without calling him a lying sack of shit so I hung up.

      Which, of course, is exactly what Verizon wants. They didn't have to open a ticket documenting a problem. My call just got logged as an uncooperative customer who refused to complete the troubleshooting process.

      The worst part is they could have had the same effect if they'd just said, "We apologize for the inconvenience. Some of 4chan's affiliates were staging network attacks and we chose to block traffic from that site until the problem was resolved. There have been no attacks coming from that network today so we're going to restore access this evening." That's it. A simple statement that tells the customer what is going on, doesn't require opening a ticket, and ends with a happy customer. Perhaps even grateful. Or at least one who isn't pissed off.

      Oh, and the best part of the call came a couple minutes after I hung up. "FREE VZW MSG-DO NOT REPLY:Start > Settings > All Settings > System tab > Memory > Clear Storage tab Enter 1234, tap OK in upper right of screen Display: Confirm"

      Yep, that text message popped up on my phone shortly after I hung up on the tech. WinMo folks should recognize the Hard Reset instructions. I don't suggest you follow those instructions as it will wipe your WinMo phone clean. No explanation or warning came with that message. I assume he sent it for the lolz, hoping I'd follow the instructions blindly.

      BTW, if you call Verizon's Network Repair Bureau at (866) 298-5373 as advised by 4chan, they won't do anything for you unless you have a ticket which you must get by calling Customer Care at 800-922-0204. Of course, it'll take you a good half hour of bullshit (and hard-resetting your phone!) to get a ticket assigned. But I suggest every Verizon customer who gives a shit about censorship should call anyway and let them know how you feel about censorship.

    84. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They'll come HERE.

      Now that's a horrific possibility...

    85. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by SakuraDreams · · Score: 1

      No-one's mentioned 2ch. That's the largest forum in the world, and surely they could DDOS 4chan pretty easily.

    86. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Luke+has+no+name · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you are correct, then yes, they don't have to worry about DMCA crap.

      That said, the Internet has become as essential and relied upon by U.S. society; it should be considered a common carrier. It is the most logical course of action to ensure the level of network neutrality we here seem to desire, and to protect privacy.

    87. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not sure. Congressmen are, as a group, pretty terrible people.

      Juveniles, on the other hand, are a mixed bag.

    88. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Samah · · Score: 1

      Sorry, your analogy doesn't work as it doesn't reference cars in any way.

      This should be a rule of the Internet:
      If it exists on Slashdot, there is a car analogy for it.

      --
      Homonyms are fun!
      You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.
    89. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I'm guessing that many more people are willing to consider that drastic step now.

      But I think you're missing the point. You shouldn't have to move anywhere in order to look at a web site. As long as it isn't behind the Great Firewall of China, you should be able to see it from anywhere in the country. Because that is a part of what having internet access means.

    90. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by TheTyrannyOfForcedRe · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Look at what America has become since 9/11.

      When I was a kid it was popular to point to various things in the USSR like the inability to travel freely without "showing your papers" as evidence of totalitarian oppression. Here in 2010 "showing your papers" is as American as apple pie! Fuck, kids can't even bring techie looking projects to school without triggering a terror scare and being in danger of prosecution under insane laws that make it a crime to do anything that some uneducated moron might confuse with a terrorist act.

      They terrorists HAVE ALREADY WON, no doubt about it.

      --
      "Liechtenstein is the world's largest producer of sausage casings, potassium storage units, and false teeth."
    91. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by xaxa · · Score: 4, Funny

      Remember we're talking about posters to 4chan here:
      "Mum, can we move house?"
      "Why?"
      "So I can look at stuff a million times worse than what you imagine to be the worst possible thing I could look at on the web"

    92. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a guy with a spoon and a guy with a knife.

      Which one would you like to kill you given the choice?

    93. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Thud457 · · Score: 1

      If 4chan as a group takes issue with this, everyone down to the CEO of Verizon will be essentially fair game for various levels of harassment. They'll have the address and private phone number of anyone who matters within days, and they, probably more than anyone, know how to abuse such information.

      So let me get this straight. A group of dissidents threatens anyone who disagrees with them with harassment and possible bodily harm (like no one would ever use the home addresses of the CEO, CFO, CIO etc for nefarious means), so that people fear the group enough to cow their every demand? I think we have a name for such people... And this from someone who hopes the big V goes down in flames.

      lol, wut?

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    94. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by ScrewMaster · · Score: 1

      *COUGH* Bullshit *COUGH*

      Actually, it's not. Bullshit, that is. Even the existing telcos (AT&T and the Baby Bells) are only common carriers with regards to their telephony services: their data services somehow got an exemption. The GP is also correct in noting that ISPs don't want common carrier status: that has a regulatory burden and associated costs that they'd rather avoid.

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    95. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Magic5Ball · · Score: 1

      The incompetence or laziness of those who complained at you does not demonstrate that your strategy or interpretation are correct in the general case. If they wanted to drop the matter, and they realized this, you could have replied with a cookie recipe and achieved the same outcome.

      --
      There are 1.1... kinds of people.
    96. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by steelfood · · Score: 1

      That's a tough choice. Juveniles will point a weapon at me take all my money right now. Congressmen will slowly siphon it away while smiling in my face.

      I think the only way to win this one is to not play.

      --
      "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
    97. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they'll become liable for any copyright infringement going on their network because they're showing that they are actively monitoring and controlling data, instead of acting as a neutral data routing service

      Some people simply say that they are not a lawyer, rather than feeling the need to prove it dramatically.

      Actually GP is not making a point which is all that silly. For example, the big copyright case here in Australia was just won by the ISP who was able to show that it merely provided access but had no control over the content users were accessing.

      So the RIAA and friends might well be able to use this type of action to help build a case that the ISP is assuming responsibility for the content being copied over their network, and therefore cannot rely on any defence based around ignorance of the nature of that content.

    98. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by xeoron · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I have Verizon DSL, and I can access 4chan, so either they stopped blocking the IP range, or it only impacts people whom use Verizon as their DNS Server.

    99. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by __aasqbs9791 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, they might accidentally read a real vampire story for once.

    100. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Magic5Ball · · Score: 1

      We don't do that here.

      --
      There are 1.1... kinds of people.
    101. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 1

      A better analogy would be if you owned a car...

      I knew there was something missing from the original analogy...

      --
      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
    102. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by snwyvern · · Score: 1

      While this may (or may not be... time will tell... ianal, etc...) be true there are ISPs *AND* common carriers being sued as co-defendants in Federal District court *right now.* And for those same cases the motions to unglue to actions/defendants have been denied.

    103. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by xeoron · · Score: 1

      Personally, I have no idea, but I am starting to think it only impacts those whom use Verizon's DNS Server, since the blocked range I can access on my DSL service. I use OpenDNS and Google's DNS service

    104. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's probably far more likely they'd DDoS their support lines, march on headquarters and leave lolcats in their wake, and things of the like.

      Individuals are more likely to do personal harm, especially when directed at individuals in a place of little or no power (i.e. on the internet). Groups are more likely to do harm to other groups, especially when outnumbered, outgunned and outspent by other groups. Let's face it: 4chan has become a big enough part of the populace that if they chose, they could just as easily form a Political Action Group and snow congress with billions of emails and a million phone calls a day. But, as you said, it's highly unlikely due to their inherent loose organization.

    105. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by dimeglio · · Score: 0, Troll

      The site, so called 4chan where people post without registering doesn't exist. There is no board called /b/. Over 100,000 posts per day, come on. People never post anything offensive on the Internet. Oh and btw: the game.

      --
      Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the author.
    106. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by dosius · · Score: 1

      Verizon DSL user (since 2003). I can reach 4chan no problem, and if anyone else on DSL or Fios can back me up, I'd say the article title is slightly inaccurate.

      Not that I go there. I just went to make sure it worked.

      -uso.

      --
      What you hear in the ear, preach from the rooftop Matthew 10.27b
    107. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by icebraining · · Score: 1

      4chan has more boards besides /b/... I go to /hr/ (high resolution) regularly.

      Not that I would move based on that, but thankfully where I live I can get internet from five different ISPs, either by cable, ADSL or fiber optics.

    108. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Shaman · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Yes, they are. Demonstrably. They would have long ago forced ISPs to filter if they weren't.

      --
      ...Steve
    109. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by digitalunity · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Wish I had mod points. This pretty much makes this entire slashdot story pointless.

      --
      You can't legislate goodness. Let each to his own destiny, by will of his freely made choices.
    110. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 1

      One has an army of juveniles the other has an army of congressmen. Which one do you think will win?

      Well, on the one side is a group of listless, ne'er-do-wells whose actions are dictated by whatever seems 'cool' in the moment without any regard towards long-term consequences, and on the other side is a bunch of teenagers.

      --
      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
    111. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by dairukan · · Score: 1

      ...that...actually would take some thought.

    112. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by dimeglio · · Score: 1

      Yeah exactly. ISPs should be like cab drivers and charge by the packet. Even if when its stopped in traffic. Be careful with your analogies, you might give people ideas.

      --
      Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the author.
    113. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Magic5Ball · · Score: 0, Troll

      They sure use a lot of words to say very little. The only paragraph of substance:

      "Recently, Verizon Wireless security and external experts detected attacks from an IP address associated with the 4Chan family of web sites that was disruptive to our customers and our network. To protect both, we eliminated connectivity to the IP address. At no time was 4Chan itself blocked. Ongoing network security team monitoring has now determined there is no longer an immediate threat. Connectivity to those sites is being restored later today."

      An IP address associated with the websites, but not the website itself, leaves routers, DNS, database, cache, content and mail servers or services. But VZW customers claim that only port 80 was blocked (and not all connectivity to the IP address). Given that the rest of the Verizon statement is generic marketing boilerplate which claims to be relevant to this incident, this CYA is difficult to believe.

      --
      There are 1.1... kinds of people.
    114. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by ciderVisor · · Score: 1, Redundant

      Over 9000 people have confirmed it !

      --
      Squirrel!
    115. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Red+Flayer · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yes, they are. Demonstrably. They would have long ago forced ISPs to filter if they weren't.

      Please show me the documentation demonstrating that any single ISP, or any group of ISPs, or ISPs in general, have common carrier status.

      The modern ISP marketplace is defined by the very fact that they are NOT common carriers, and thus not subject to regulation under Title II of the Communications Act. This is why we do not have choice in broadband suppliers at the local level.

      Instead, some of the benefits of common carrier status have been conferred upon ISPs via the Communications Decency Act, which made them not liable for 3rd-party communications across their networks. Common-carrier status, however, has not been ascribed.

      The key here is that ISPs get most of the benefits of common carrier status, without any of the drawbacks. They escape the kind of regulation that opens them up to competition in providing data service, and the kind of oversight that would require them to provide decent service... yet they can pick and choose what packets get delivered at what speed (if at all) and at what cost.

      If ISPs had common carrier status, they could not throttle certain users based upon inequitable usage. They could not choose to deprecate certain kinds of data. Data transmission would need to be 100% content-agnostic. I think it makes sense -- but they'd need to shift to a different pricing model, a tiered one based on usage volume, to make it work.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    116. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Ah, so you feel the terrorists will when then?

      Fuck 4chan and the horse they road in on, pissing off Verizon is a little different than going after CoS.

      Verizon has FAR money, FarFar more knowledge about finding people on the Internet, and won't have a problem bringing in government backing to find the attackers globally.

      They would be attacking the very people that make it so they can perform the attacks. When you piss of one major arms dealer cause you are a retard, the others aren't going to sit around at wait to be next.

      Let them attack Verizon, the sooner they do the sooner they'll disapper, and nothing of value will be lost.

      And how much does VZW pay you, you frikkin' twit?

    117. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by T+Murphy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't agree with "nothing of value will be lost". We have all heard "first they came for... then they came for... then no one was left to help me." As far as the internet goes, 4chan is the "first they came for".

    118. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Darkness404 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Censoring != Throttling. While they might have the same effect, they are two radically different technologies with different purposes.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    119. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by BronsCon · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And if I were new here (perhaps a displaced /b/tard) and had RTFA, I would have known that the block actually only affects VZW.

      Here's where 4chan organizes, everyone buys a 3G card and plan from VZW, and torrents like mad. When VZW's entire 3G network comes to a grinding halt, the message will have been made. I'd post this idea directly to /b/ (not really!!) but I'm in the last 5 days of a 2 week ban... meh... w/e.

      But, you say, Verizon will be more than happy to take money from a bunch of /b/tards. Right, but will they be happy to lose business when their Droid, BlackBerry, and WinMo users have no access for a week, while AT&T's iPhone, BlackBerry, and WinMo users are unaffected? Will they be delighted at the lost income when tens of thousands of tweens and teens can't send MMS messages (remember, those are a data service, not sent via the control channel like SMS)?

      Also, don't forget the likelihood that many of the type of people who would willingly participate in such a scheme are likely to:
      A) Open the account with fraudulent or stolen identity information
      or B) Not give two craps about their credit and just not pay the bill

      In the end, should something like this occur, it would be BAD for Verizon.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    120. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Cyberllama · · Score: 1

      A DDOS attack on Verizon's servers maybe not so effective, but what about one on their technical support phone numbers? Can they really handle the influx of thousands of callers or maybe just a couple hundred people calling in repeatedly. Real customers need to use those numbers too, and when they can't get through -- they'll be pissed.

      But beyond that, 4chan won't just go after Verizon, they'll go after specific Verizon executives in more direct ways. I suspect the CEO of Verizon is about to get blocked from delivery by every pizza place in town, at the very least. Childish? Yes. Effective? Possibly.

      At the very least, I'd be interested to see what happens if Verizon doesn't backpedal on this relatively soon. It could get uglier than you think. What 4chan members lack in intelligence, they make up for in numbers. It doesn't take as many people as you think, acting in concert, to gum up the works. I strongly suspect very soon they'll use the same "We were blocking a DDOS attack *against* 4chan" excuse that AT&T used.

    121. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The juveniles clearly won the drug war. Making it hard for me to buy cold medicine seems to be the only real impact Congress has had at all.

    122. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by lul_wat · · Score: 0

      Hello?

      --
      Divide a cake by zero. Is it still a cake?
    123. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FUUUUUUUUU

    124. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4chan is a bunch of bitches compared to Verizon. One has an army of juveniles the other has an army of congressmen. Which one do you think will win?

      Sure the juveniles have anonymity and a mob willing to play unfair, but what are they gonna do? Attack Verizon? That happens everyday. Boycott them? Get in line. Complain? No solution there.

      Looks like 4chan is shit out of luck. They need to convince people they are obeying the law or else they'll just keep getting nailed and it will get worse. Having pedo-porn posted on your site every single day is not a freedom of speech issue.

      What do congressmen answer to? Money or the people's command?
      In the case of 4chan, they are persuasive, and they can pool a huge resource of money.

      Therefore Verizon is out flanked.

    125. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by PsychoSlashDot · · Score: 1

      Hypothetical situation: I moved to 1234 XYZ Street on Thursday of last week, specifically because I'd done my homework and knew that I would have access to the Internet via Verizon who didn't block 4chan. The following day they changed their network and blocked the site. Today's Monday. Shall I move now?

      ISPs have no business deciding where my data packets go, or what they contain.

      This is not unlike the electric company deciding I can't use electricity I buy from them to recharge my electric shaver. Or my wife's drilldo(TM). Why? Because blah blah religious blah blah sin. If my grow-op is illegal, that's a matter for the police, not the meter-reader.

      --
      "Oh no... he found the .sig setting."
    126. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 1

      If the first thing that pops into a person's head whenever somebody mentions 4chan is "CP", that's their own perverted problem, not Moot's or the tons of other people who actually lurk 4chan or participate in its discussions.

      That's like "trolls" being the first thing on your mind whenever somebody mentions Slashdot. Yeah, they happen, but you're missing the point entirely.

    127. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's a bold statement to make without citing any evidence or supporting documentation.

    128. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Red+Flayer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      And the alternative is to let an idiot keep his false belief -- and worse, to allow the spread of that misbelief.

      And for what it's worth, I spelled out in a successive post why I believe that the all-the-good-but-none-of-the-drawbacks status of the ISPs is a bad thing... so hopefully the more in-depth consideration merits your approval :)

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    129. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not a terrorist organization but apparently are willing to resort to terrorism as a means of expressing their anger or getting their way. OK, that line you're drawing is a bit blurry from here.

    130. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To put it differently: who would you prefer to meet in a dark alley in a bad part of town - a group of juveniles or a group of congressmen?

      I guess that depends on whether I feel like getting beaten or molested

    131. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure the juveniles have anonymity and a mob willing to play unfair, but what are they gonna do? Attack Verizon? That happens everyday.

      Actually, the kind of large-scale DDOS attacks that blast major website off the internet do not happen every day.

    132. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To put it differently: who would you prefer to meet in a dark alley in a bad part of town - a group of juveniles or a group of congressmen?

      And who would you rather face in a courtroom?

    133. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by hedwards · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Far more knowledge? They still can't find my address on their service search site. I'd be curious how they expect to track down or stop any of the /b/tards.

    134. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tepples · · Score: 1

      If a specific web site is that important, then you should consider a service level agreement.

    135. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by hedwards · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's a trick question, congressmen never go out at night. They're too busy frequenting prostitutes and lobbyists.

    136. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Fark too.

      Last time 4chan was down, Fark noticed* a huge increase in... crap. They were bored so they went to any other web forum they could find.

      Also, 4chan really doesn't seem all that big and powerful. Fark out voted them in some web poll when Fark was up against Digg/4Chan.

      *Stay out of the political threads and we're mostly civil.

    137. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by cheftw · · Score: 3, Funny

      yea moot is know but for other type of crap...like allowing CP on his board.

      [citation need....

      I mean SAUCE!

      --
      Always back up, never back down. ---- Think you're cool 'cos your uid is prime? Take mine, modulo the one digit integers
    138. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by denmarkw00t · · Score: 4, Funny

      it would be a moot point.

      I herd u liek mudkipz

    139. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by stimpleton · · Score: 1

      who would you prefer to meet in a dark alley in a bad part of town - a group of juveniles or a group of congressmen?

      Depends what for I suppose. If you go down that alley looking for someone to fill your holes filled in exchange for some workplace benefits, then congressmen would be faaantastic.

      --

      In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
    140. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by 0100010001010011 · · Score: 1

      How many people are they going to arrest?

      If it's 10 members calling in bomb and death threats. Probably
      What if it's 100?
      1000?
      100000?

      What happens if every single person in America decides that smoking pot should be legalized, and walks to the police station and holds a 10000 person sit in while they toke up? Ticket everyone? Getting that many people through the courts would take forever.

      Prosecuting 'crimes' works because the number of police outnumber the people doing the crime. If you had every single person on 4chan calling in stuff, you would bury the police departments with crap. Nothing would happen.

    141. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by russotto · · Score: 4, Funny

      What if your local phone company switches over to VOIP, which is just another internet data service and not "real phone", then decides to block an entire area code and your mom so happens to be in that code.

      Wow, win/win --- they'll have to deal with my angry mom, and I won't have to. :-) (uhh, if you're reading this, sorry, Mom)

    142. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by GaratNW · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What you call terrorism, most people call civil dissent or civil disobedience. If those in power choose to abuse that power, they will get called on that abuse, including making any and all information about them public record.

      We really need to stop abusing the word terrorism into yet another fear talking point.

    143. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by broken_chaos · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Gore and porn... Isn't that pretty much what the modern vampire has become? Blood and sex?

    144. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Common carrier was lost to ISPs a long time ago, they don't have that status as "neutral data routing service", and never did.

      "Neutral data routing service" is only a concept that has come up recently, in regards to "network neutrality" concerns and considerations.

    145. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mysidia · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They're not filtering content, they've intentionally broken connectivity to some IP address(es)

      Probably due to DoS conditions, spam, or other issues.

      ISPs blackhole spammers' and DoSers prefixes routinely. Interesting (and ridiculous) that you think, just because the IPs in this case are also used by 4chan, that it means something different.

    146. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Verizon Wireless only. FiOS, DSL are not affected.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    147. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mysidia · · Score: 1

      This represents an infringement of trade designed to favour Verizon's other business interests.

      It's not infringement of trade. If that were Verizon's intentions, then they would be conducting tortious interference w/ business relationships.

      But most likely they can produce a legitimate reason for blocking 4chan's IP ranges. It is not like ISPs do this sort of thing lightly.

      The fact you want to assume Verizon is guilty of some crime, does not automatically mean they are guilty.

    148. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Khyber · · Score: 1

      "for about the 500th time, ISPs are not, and do not want to be common carriers."

      For the thousandth time, VERIZON WIRELESS IS NOT AN ISP BUT A PHONE COMPANY.

      COMMON FUCKING CARRIER STATUS APPLIES.

      Been in court over this bullshit once regarding my phone plan.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    149. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Verizon doesn't have the technical means to 'filter', what they are doing is not filtering.

      Blocking another entity's ip prefix VS filtering content are completely different things.

      They can only block 4chan in the short term. If 4chan wishes, they can always (very easily) changes the IP addresses of their web servers.

      With a minimal amount of effort, they can make it impossible for verizon to block them (short of short-circuiting DNS resolvers and poisoned DNS responses [e.g. hijacking 4chan's domain name, within the scope of their own DNS service])

    150. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What the fuck does Verizon Wireless have to do with Verizon as an ISP? Get the cock out of your ass shitbag. They're subsidiaries of a larger company. Dickhead.

    151. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Psaakyrn · · Score: 4, Funny

      Canada.

    152. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by NeutronCowboy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How is that a troll?

      You just learned the difference between throwing out an insult and presenting a well-formulated argument. Being convincing and polite is all about format. tone and attitude.

      --
      Those who can, do. Those who can't, sue.
    153. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Ihmhi · · Score: 1

      I'd be fine with that. I'd certainly cut back on my Internet usage. Maybe my bill would end up being cheaper.

    154. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mysidia · · Score: 5, Informative

      I won't agree "common carrier status" is a valid argument. ISPs don't have common carrier status. But there's another protection that applies to them, that should make the DMCA notice sender think twice, before going any further than sending a notice.

      The DMCA does not apply to ISPs who merely route traffic (and don't host the content on their network, or their equipment)..

      Contrary to popular misconception, the DMCA does not have just ONE safe harbor, it has two separate safe harbor provisions, and each one has different requirements, and applies under different circumstances.

      One of the safe harbor provisions [US Title 17, Chapter 5, Sec 512, (c)] pertains to content providers, web hosters, etc, companies that store content on behalf of their customers, and has the infamous provisions for notice and takedown requirements.
      These people must arrange for an agent to receive DMCA notices, and expeditiously remove content, in order to enjoy that particular safe harbor protection.

      That one is the 512(c) safe harbor.

      This is not the safe harbor that ISPs should rely on.

      ISPs should rely on the 512(a) safe harbor, which does not require having an agent to receive notices of infringing content, and does not require doing anything with such notices, in order to enjoy the protections of this provision.

      Because any copies of the material are "intermediate and transient," there are no notice and takedown procedures

      US Title 17, Chapter 5, Sec 512, (c)
      http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#512 " (c) Information Residing on Systems or Networks
      at Direction of Users." versus
      "(a) Transitory Digital Network Communications. ... A service provider
      shall not be liable for monetary relief, or, except as provided in
      subsection (j), for injunctive or other equitable relief, for
      infringement of copyright by reason of the provider's transmitting,
      routing, or providing connections for, ...."

      The DMCA doesn't say anything about severing connectivity to computers on a network. That's just what the wronged party wants (if they try to send a notice to an ISP that a user happens to subscribe to, or that their traffic happens to pass through), the collateral damage doesn't effect them, if the ISP cuts off innocent users in the process.

      The current DMCA provides some decent protections for ISPs that don't have unjust requirements like takedown procedures.

      Big **AA organizations ignore this fact, and send notices anyway.

      Because (A) they wished the takedown procedure applied in all cases, or they may even be trying to get the law changed to do that...

      (B) They rely on the misconception; they would like ISPs to think they must disconnect the user immediately on notice.

      (C) They want to minimize the number of "outs" or legal protections any future counterparty might have -- by sending the notice, regardless

      (D) Scare tactic.

    155. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Check laws, check again. Realize incorrectness.

    156. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe the "first they came for..." saying refers to people being taken away to be interned or executed based on their ethnicity or political ideology.

      In this case, an ISP temporarily blocked connectivity of computer servers based on those servers generating disruptive network traffic.

      That you could draw such likeness between these two predicaments is a testimonial to how free your life has been from the true scourge of tyranny. You remind me of those snot-nosed kids who describe the U.S. as a "police state" because there's a one-in-a-million chance they'll be sued for stealing their stupid MP3s, because they have to put up with taking their shoes off before you board an airplane, and because they can cite a few civil rights abuses (that they do nothing about). Rough freakin' police state, that is.

      You know little of tyranny (although I could find some forgiveness for you if your dad kicked the crap out of you as a kid). Show some respect for the real victims in this world and stop pretending a bunch of malicious punks makes a legitimate human rights case.

      GMAFB.

    157. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by linuxpyro · · Score: 1

      Or juvenile Congressmen.

      --
      Saying "I'll probably get modded down for this" in a post is the best way to get it modded up.
    158. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by linuxpyro · · Score: 1

      All it takes is someone posting the Verizon CEO's home phone number on /b/. It's bound to happen.

      --
      Saying "I'll probably get modded down for this" in a post is the best way to get it modded up.
    159. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the analogy would be correct if you showed people a menu at the entrance, they paid for all-you-can-eat, and then you removed some items from the tables when they actually started eating.

    160. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Trifthen · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's a matter of numbers.

      4chan is a community. For better or worse, several hundred thousand people go there to hang out and blow off steam, screw around, debate, whatever. When that community is threatened, the members may seek retribution as is their prerogative. A common empathy may also affect them, and you get things like their campaign against Scientology. Not everyone takes part, but it's associated with that group.

      In a group as large as 4chan, the chances of someone feeling annoyed or offended by basically anything is high. The greater the prodding, the greater the chance of eliciting a response from a larger cross-section of the user-base. Unlike say, your local community center, the chances are essentially guaranteed that one or more of these people will have either the technical or psychological competence to undermine some aspect of Verizon's organization either directly or surreptitiously.

      There is no "4chan." There are no members. People go there, yes. But if 4chan were to vanish, those people would simply disperse into the greater internet and form smaller communities, or rebuild something similar to what 4chan was. Call 4chan a cesspool if you want, if that makes you feel better. Its diversity is as much a strength as a meaningless distraction. The fact remains that 4chan serves a purpose, and people who frequent it, for whatever reason, are essentially unpredictable in the veracity of their response, if they have one at all. Most will probably just sit back and laugh at Verizon's futile gesture. Some, of course, will not.

      Thinking all 4chan-ers are the same is the same misconception as when people wonder how Slashdot simultaneously maintains diametrically opposing views. It's a fallacy to assert all "members" of a site believe the same basic tenets, and woe to any who underestimate a gathering as large as 4chan. Is Slashdot any different? Fark? Digg? Reddit? Would not the members not take kindly to Verizon arbitrarily blocking them? Would not a few, wack-jobs or not, do something in retaliation? Maybe a prank. Maybe extra junk mail. Maybe convince a major media conglomerate the CEO has suffered a massive heart attack, like they did to Apple in 2008?

      You never know what will happen, and Verizon is basically inviting everyone at 4chan to do their worst. Hopefully, everyone there has better things to do.

      --
      Read: Rabbit Rue - Free serial nove
    161. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forgot one.

      • Carrier pigeon.
    162. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Uniquitous · · Score: 1

      Verizon FIOS user confirming. Haven't noticed any lack of access to 4chan (except when the DC snowmageddon knocked out my power... that sort of harshed things for a while.)

    163. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by daveime · · Score: 1

      Um what ? The whole point of the DMCA is that it is an American law ! When did parent state his ISP was in US ?

    164. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Kirijini · · Score: 3, Interesting

      ISPs are not common carriers. Not under current US laws.

      Per 47 USC 153 (44), any "telecommunications carrier" is a common carrier to the extent of its telecommunications services. Telecommunications services are defined under (46) as the offering of telecommunications, which is defined under (43) as the transmission of information of the user's choosing, between points specified by the user, without change in form or content of the information as sent and received. In contrast, "information services" is defined under (20) as the offering of the capability to use information "via telecommunications." Note that these definitions have been summarized by me to exclude some bits. Thus, providers of information services, unlike telecommunication carriers, are not subject to mandatory common carriage regulations (who are subject to those regulations only the extent of their telecommunications service).

      The FCC decided in High-Speed Access to the Internet over Cable, Declaratory Ruling & NPRM, 17 FCC Rcd 4798 (2002) that internet access provided by cable companies was an "information service" and not a "telecommunications service." (Some of the logic here is that users' don't know exactly where they're getting or sending information from/to, and do not choose all of the information they are sending or receiving, thus internet use does not fall under the telecommunications definition. Not saying I think that's a good interpretation) Therefore, such ISPs are not subject to mandatory common carriage regulations, but may be regulated by the FCC under its ancillary powers.

      The United States Supreme Court upheld the FCC's interpretation in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet Services, 545 U.S. 967 (2005).

      The FCC has subsequently found that the provision of internet access over telephone wires (DSL) is an information service in Appropriate Framework for Broadband Access to the Internet over Wireline Facilities, R&O and NPRM, 20 FCC Rcd 14853 (2005).

      I hope this puts to rest all of the claims here on Slashdot that ISPs are Common Carriers. (yeah right).

      Here's another way of looking at it. Common carriage means that the carrier must provide open service to any who ask for it at a reasonable rate (See 47 USC 201 & 202). If, for example, Comcast was a common carrier in regard to cable internet service, it would be required to permit independent cable internet service providers to directly compete with its cable internet service, using its own wires. Ditto for Verizon and DSL. I remember, a long time ago (1998, to be exact), getting cable internet from a small company in Carlisle Pennsylvania called PlanetCable. I have no idea if they still exist, but its unlikely - because they don't own the cable lines, and so their existence depends on the local cable company allowing them to use their lines. And why would a cable company permit a service to compete against it, using the cable company's own infrastructure?

    165. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      china

    166. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by socsoc · · Score: 1

      You DO realizes that TFA is about VZW WIRELESS blocking the site, right?

    167. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Verizon hasn't said why 4chan is blocked or represented that the service is improved some way by the block, they never said they blocked dangerous 'food'

      Also, using the food analogy.... they haven't blocked the food, they put a barricade in front of the path they saw to getting the certain type of food.

      Not only are there other foods that could be dangerous, but... there may still be other ways to get that food that is blocked.

      They only blocked a path that was obvious to them. That same food may be available from a secondary IP, as is common in a large load-balanced server farm.

      Someone may use a HTTP or other proxy to also get at the same food.

    168. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by socsoc · · Score: 1

      Oh... you did finally read it.

    169. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Xelios · · Score: 2, Informative

      Sounds like a variation of what happened when AT&T blackholed 4chan's IP. In that case it was done to protect their network against a reflected SYN flood using spoofed packets that appeared to be coming from 4chan. I'd guess this time around it's another IP spoofing attack aimed at mobile devices instead. Although most ISP's filter spoofed packets at the first hop these days it only takes a couple that don't to pull off an attack like this.

      tl;dr: 4chan has some enemies on the web, and I'll bet they're having a good laugh over this.

      --
      Murphey's fighting Occam, and we're in the stands.
    170. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by socsoc · · Score: 1

      Since TFA is about Verizon Wireless, I'd wager that your second bullet point is the answer. CDMA phones don't tend to work well with the other options you offer.

    171. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mysidia · · Score: 1

      Then, one day, you decide you don't like veal in your car, and begin inspecting everything you deliver for veal. You stop transporting food from places that serve veal.

      No. It's like you just stop being willing to travel to a place that happens to serve veal, to hand deliver the order for your customers. Because VZN hasn't been shown to be inspecting and blocking based on HTTP payloads.

      Blocking an IP blocks all transfer, regardless of payload. It's not even site-specific (unless all the IPs blocked happened to be dedicated to the one site blocked, and don't share hosting with anything else).

      You don't reveal why. You don't tell your customers it's because the restaurant also serves food that contains veal, you just refuse to go there when they ask you to go somewhere that serves veal... you take the order slip they hand you, drive off, and never return with the food they asked for (E.g. their 'packet' just disappears into the ether).

      If you're nice you reply with a RST packet: you return and tell them, sorry, I couldn't take your order there, it is refused.

      You don't actually tell them you were responsible for it being refused, or the reason, etc, etc, all you say is refused.

      You haven't investigated the food in any way. Although you somehow came to know the restaurant served veal.

      The important thing is you blindly blocked all orders to the restaurant, and you aren't examining the order's payload, only its destination.

      You happen to still be a neutral transporter of food (you don't inspect the bag, you don't read the contents of the order), but you do discriminate against some destinations.

      Your reasons could vary from "restaurant serves a food that hurt someone sometime" (E.g. food poisnoning, customer died, salmonella.) to more mundane reasons like... (E.g. the restaurant is too far away, too much gas used, out of range, not cost-effective -- TTL exceeded)

      To extremely good reasons (E.g. restaurant is in a dangerous neighborhood, one of your drivers got shot or robbed trying to drive there to bring a food order+pickup, and it happened enough times, you made policy not to allow drivers to go there anymore).

      Again, you're still neutral to the food itself -- but concerned about some destinations.

    172. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Kirijini · · Score: 1

      Here's a bit of follow up with more resources.

      These links contain the following documents in pdf format:
      High-Speed Access to the Internet over Cable, Declaratory Ruling & NPRM, 17 FCC Rcd 4798 (2002).

      Appropriate Framework for Broadband Access to the Internet over Wireline Facilities, R&O and NPRM, 20 FCC Rcd 14853 (2005)

      Finally, on why your cable internet company couldn't be sued for infringement by your customers, this is due to 17 USC 512(a) (or maybe (b) also), which reads: "A service provider shall not be liable for monetary relief, or, except as provided in sub- section (j), for injunctive or other equitable re- lief, for infringement of copyright by reason of the provider’s transmitting, routing, or providing connections for, material through a system or network controlled or operated by or for the service provider, or by reason of the intermediate and transient storage of that material in the course of such transmitting, routing, or providing connections..." It goes on to provide 5 elements that have to be shown. At no point does it mention "common carriers" or anything of the like. Frankly, that section was crafted to provide ISPs safe harbor protection from "secondary liability," AKA "contributory infringement" or "vicarious infringement." It was passed as part of the DMCA. Again, it has nothing to do with common carrier status.

      You can find 17 USC 512 here.

    173. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are so full of shit, it's not even funny.

      One word: BrandX.

      You owned an ISP serving over 10,000 people, and only received one DMCA complaint? I used to work the abuse desk at an ISP, and we received hundreds of times more DMCA complaints for an operation half your size.

      Your argument doesn't even pass the sniff quiz: If the DMCA safe harbor provisions don't apply to ISPs because they're common carriers, then what the hell do the DMCA safe harbor provisions apply to? Physical tubes?

    174. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wouldn't call DDoSing the ISP and harassing their employees dissent (per the GGP post ). I would call that an attack, an act of harassment and if taken to the level of threatening or physical harm, yes I would call that terrorism. The GP mentioned retaliation, russian roulette and focused confrontation. He isn't talking about writing angry letters.

    175. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      by Shaman (1148)

      Wow, not just a troll but a professional elderly troll!
      *bow*

    176. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Orestesx · · Score: 1

      Right....cause lawyers are always 100% correct.

    177. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by LearnToSpell · · Score: 1

      Verizon dropped Usenet access many months ago.

    178. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by VendettaMF · · Score: 1

      Which is all horrible and everything until you realise that when it's "First they came for 4chan" then every decent and/or sentient person is part of "they".

      After all, when was the last time someone quoted that "first they came for the murderers"?

      --
      kartune85 : Incapable of reason, observation or learning. A kind of dim, drab, flightless parrot.
    179. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by T+Murphy · · Score: 1

      I was referring to the implication that 4chan could get shut down without impact, which the parent made. THAT would be a breach of free speech, however unimportant their speech may be. Verizon briefly blocking them is unfortunate but certainly not something to get worked up about.

      You sound like you just want to be annoyed, so you misread everything to suit your purposes... Most of the time when your first impression is someone is an idiot, you're misunderstanding him. I've done that and I have taught myself to give people the benefit of the doubt- unfortunately a lot of people here don't, so half of the arguments I see on slashdot are just miscommunication. I'm forcing myself not to flame, but it is hard not to think of you as an idiot the way you respond. I doubt you care for or need me to lecture you on how to write calm, non-offending posts, but do consider it. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are a reasonable person, although I am not sure how that would hold up if you decide to reply in the same tone as above.

    180. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      No, I read more comments after posting and picked up the info that way.

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    181. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by fractoid · · Score: 1

      Definitely not if there were an additional charge per connection after 8pm. Damn night-time premium rates.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    182. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, Verizon is screwed. If they wish to maintain certain legal status they'll unblock 4chan and fast. Otherwise they'll become liable for any copyright infringement going on their network because they're showing that they are actively monitoring and controlling data, instead of acting as a neutral data routing service.

      This is called a false alternative.

    183. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree. By the time congress critters did anything about this, 4chaners could at level 1 picket Verizon offices, including the main ones. Level 2, prank call executives, get all manners of junk mail (both junk and porn mail) send to them, fake deliveries and work orders. I think past that, they could probably get their cars towed, and mess with their bank accounts. Maybe even get fake arrest warrants out for them. Will they? Who knows, this is not an organization in any conventional sense. Could they? Absolutely. I think enough 4chaners are immature enough to not worry about consequences but technically sophisticated enough to pull that all off, no problem. It's a REAL bad idea to piss them off!

                I want to say right now, I don't condone any of these (except the picketing). I'm no 4chaner, I find it very immature. However, I do think Verizon Wireless must unblock it strictly from a net neutrality standpoint. (Note I have an aircard w/ Verizon Wireless and can confirm the block.)

    184. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is only true until one realizes that 4chan also has a very sizable population of very smart, and reasonably well off people that simply enjoy the chaos. The Scientology experiment should have illustrated that quite well.

    185. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Interoperable · · Score: 1

      I'm not allowed to view a site that doesn't appear to be breaking any laws.

      You haven't read /b/, have you?

      --
      So if this is the future...where's my jet pack?
    186. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Zaiff+Urgulbunger · · Score: 1

      And I don't know what 4chan is beyond a reputation that it's supposedly more childish than fark and slashdot combined.

      So... on the up-side, with 4chan out of the way, does that mean we win by default?

    187. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tftp · · Score: 1

      And who would you rather face in a courtroom?

      It is much safer to face a congressman in court than a juvenile. The latter will be on bail or parole soon, and he (or his friend) is just smart enough to do a drive-by on you. The congressman will not do that.

    188. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by sapphire+wyvern · · Score: 1

      Terrorists haven't already won, because they largely DON'T CARE about "American freedom and apple pie". They want things like an absence of American bases and political influence in their home countries, and possibly the ability to enforce medieval moral and ethical codes on their countrymen and neighbours (ie Taliban-style Sharia) without Western interference.

      Terrorists haven't won. America has lost.

    189. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by dimeglio · · Score: 1

      See on 4chan trolling is actually a good thing.

      --
      Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the author.
    190. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by TangoMargarine · · Score: 1

      Well, if you survive a run-in with the kids, your wounds will probably heal...lawsuits for large amounts of money don't heal so well.

      --
      Unity? Screw that: XFCE. Slashdot Beta? Screw that: SoylentNews. Australis? Screw that: Pale Moon. UX developers DIAF
    191. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Mr_eX9 · · Score: 1

      No, but there are none on 4chan either.

    192. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by dwillden · · Score: 1

      Don't forget Wireless ISP's (not 3G), There are three in my area I could get service from, and the speeds are competitive.

      --
      I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
    193. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by wiredlogic · · Score: 1, Insightful

      They are common carriers. The whole net neutrality debate is about them wanting to have it both ways: restrict or rate limit certain forms of traffic while still retaining common carrier status and the liability protection it provides under the guise that they can't be held responsible for the traffic that flows on their network as it is out of their control.

      --
      I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    194. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by symbolset · · Score: 1

      FiOS, DSL are not affected.

      Not affected yet. They will be before this is done.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    195. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by CrystalX · · Score: 1

      There's also WiMAX providers such as Clear.

    196. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Verizon dropped Usenet access many months ago.

      Not providing it is not the same as blocking port 119.

    197. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by ffflala · · Score: 1

      Was anything preventing you from lying about doing a hard reset?

      "The last rep said I needed to do this before he could open a ticket. Of course it cut off our call. Still doesn't work."

    198. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We are legion

    199. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tftp · · Score: 1

      if you survive a run-in with the kids, your wounds will probably heal...lawsuits for large amounts of money don't heal so well.

      It can be also seen the other way around:

      A lawsuit is just money; in worst case you declare bankruptcy and move on. However it's harder to move on if your skull is in three separate pieces, and the police was able to find only two so far.

    200. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by symbolset · · Score: 3, Funny

      PFNG - We saved the network! While you were out there was a flood of traffic from one website, so we shut it off in DNS.
      SRADMIN - What site?
      PFNG - 4chan something. It was something awful.
      SRADMIN - Hey! Look at the time. Your shift's over. Let's round up some boxes for your stuff. I'll walk you out.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    201. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      An even better analogy would be that the state decided that Fords aren't allowed to drive on the roads, because through some freak occurrence they were laying down land mines as they drove along.

    202. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Dekar · · Score: 1

      Just don't bother with Quebec. Even though we do have delicious poutine, our ISPs are generally terrible, and the future does not look any brighter.

    203. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      msg[0] = """Hi help me anon and anontalk.com. Irish porn bankers wear our skin using VR and wireless. note mangled for presentation here

      OK also.

      http://groups.google.com/group/singularity-aliens

      ^^ God Jesus Christ Jesus God Please Christ Please join this please It's not some gay govt shit. Something Is actually happening here

      http://groups.google.com/group/singularity-aliens

      just use your gmail click around and find join It's only like one message a day and It Is fuckin cutting edge I don't know of anyone else In th
      e world with one of these terror domination torture and control Implants that also pretend to be really smart and cool but they're fucking real

      http://groups.google.com/group/singularity-aliens

      holy shit third time just join ok ty Ilu flmat

      please please. It's not really about aliens

      It's really about vr-telepresence torture-porn perpetuated by the elite on the attractive and underweight of the underclasses. We don't get any
      money but they steal our experiences and thoughts and memories and dreams and lives and feelings, It's terrible. It's actually sexual It's rap
      e but If you Ignore It, It's fine. Don't worry about me

      The govt has all the trolls there they need, MKULTRA COINTELPRO MJ12 all talk to each other so I hope I just get people who really do wonder wh
      at is going on. We're only being trickled technology and It's filled with bugs and shit and probably nanobots are everywhere watching who they
      haven't Implanted yet. But those they have Implanted they wear our bodies and torture us In groups for fun. I shit you not

      I'm happy you got to hear this here. Get on the mailing list, It Is reputable. I'm updating about this 'contact' phenomenon with my Implant sem
      i daily right now and hopefully there will be another soon. I will call him Majestic Two

      Note this Is not some role playing shit
      """

      msg[1] = """
      Posting this everywhere now goodbye

      Software shown Is http://arbornet.org/~flamoot/telepathic-critterdrug.html [note not shown here also Ilu flamoot]

      If you need fire mode and don't mind compiling gc lib yourself try http://ansistego.sf.net/critterdrug-use-32-32.telepaths-profile-for-fire-ani
      m-with-critters.tar.gz

      ^^ note this link was borked before :( when It said arbornet Im sorry you can do It now though Ilu

      also truth about scientolgt http://arbornet.org/~flamoot

      look sometimes this damn thing Is really smart and funny but then I think It's just rich guys In mo-cap body-suits
      In the boardroom on their lunch break messing with Invisible but awesome young people like me, flamoot, and they
      are doing lines of coke so I think It's too fast to be human, then an AI or aliens definitely
      like this dwarf on my mud parried the other day and It like twitched so I looked In my head which I normally don't
      have to do to see all kinds of stuff It does and, It made like It was holding up some big axe (invisible) and kissing
      It sort of proudly but gently damn everything It does Is so damn gentle and smooth Inappropriately like sarcastic,
      but also sometimes violent It's so loud or fast. well read on Ilu Ilu flamoot Ilu
      """

      msg[2] = """all this again. police stuck a torture chip In my foot that bugs me all day because I told some I hoped they got cancer.
      It's a revenge and control and domination thing strictly anal-territorial and It's disgusting. Irc log follows. Ilu. see these

      http://arbornet.org/~flamoot/telepathic-critterdrug.html

    204. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... prostitutes and lobbyists.

      Same thing

    205. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not the point. The point is that pissing off random groups on the internet, especially those who know how to fight back, is a bad thing. Given that 4chan actually reports terrorist threats, I would say what you really have to worry about is that maybe this time they won't. You have to give them some credit. Comparing this to gun nuts and arms dealers doesn't change the fact that 4chan is a hive, and due unto that their mentality when threatened is going to be swift and daunting. I'm not saying they're threatened, but what I am saying is that they know how to communicate on and off 4chan, and perhaps calling them terrorists, making fun of how much less money they have and saying their community has no value, is directly the sort of thing that could fuel those flames. Rather than spouting off about this, you perhaps realize that there are some who think of slashdot in the same way. Would your life be the same without this community? Would you defend it? If not, then you need to think about why you visit sites in the first place. These are in essence sovereign places, much like countries. When you comment on slashdot, the rating system is the system of citizens that tells you how your comment was viewed. Just because 4chan doesn't have that, doesn't mean they aren't civilized or intelligent. Instead, you should see it for what it really is. 4chan has freedom of speech. It may be anonymous speech, but it is still protected in these United States. While I may not die to protect 4chan or slashdot, I'd gladly die (by die, I mean get fragged by some jerk who's trying to stomp on the constitution) to protect the freedoms of this great country, and all of it's websites, regardless of how lewd or obnoxious, rich or poor, news or porn. It's not the company of Verizon that I'm worried about. It's the trend that they are representing. I'm done, and I'm gonna go smoke a cigarette: not because they're any healthier than they ever were, but because I can. God bless the USA, (and I know this will come back to bite me) and God bless 4chan. lol

      PS If you all don't fight, they kill us slowly, and at some point, it's only n00bs fighting a game for the elite. Not the hacker elite, rather the intellectual elite. And not in some class sense... bah what's the use?

    206. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by jdcope · · Score: 1

      You DO realize that FIOS is NOT phone service, right?

      Actually, in some areas it is. They offer "digital voice" similar to Comcast.

    207. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, that's not what it means. Stop playing lawyer on the Internet.

    208. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 1

      There was no reason to continue. Faking a reset would require an additional 10 minutes or so of faking waiting for the process to finish. Then he'd want me to take the battery out for 5 minutes. Then reactivate (prompting yet another restart). Probably another 20 minutes in addition to the 20 I'd been on the phone. And there's no guarantee that he'd open a ticket even if I jumped through the hoops. I'd already wasted too much time on the call.

      I knew what the problem was before I called. My goal with the call was to see how Verizon was handling calls and let them know I was pissed. The bullshit the guy was peddling told me how they're handling the calls and his attitude told me any complaints I asked him to forward would never get past him. So I hung up and sent an email to customer service. If I don't get a response from that email, I'll dig up an Executive Carpetbomb list and compose a proper letter of complaint.

    209. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by roguetrick · · Score: 1

      "Internet Service Providers have argued against being classified as a "common carrier" and, so far, have managed to do so. The argument of ISPs against common carrier classification has largely conflated "telecommunications carriers" with "common carriers," assuming that if they were labeled as "common carriers," they would be regulated under Title II of the Communications Act by the FCC. This is incorrect; as noted above, a firm can be a common carrier without being a telecommunications carrier. The FCC proceeding that established that Internet networks are not telecommunications carriers is the Computer Inquiries. A later FCC report, IN RE FEDERAL-STATE JOINT BOARD ON UNIVERSAL SERVICE, Report to Congress, 13 FCC Rcd. 11501 (1998), reviewed this policy (this report was not an order and did not have the effect of regulatory law - it is however, an excellent capture of FCC policy at that time)." - From the article you linked.

      Perhaps you should read it?

      --
      -The world would be a better place if everyone had a hoverboard
    210. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by roguetrick · · Score: 1

      What they should be, and what they are, are two very different things. I personally agree with you, but this bullshit needs to stop.

      --
      -The world would be a better place if everyone had a hoverboard
    211. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Because Verizon and Verizon Wireless ARE TWO SEPARATE ENTITIES.

      Or did you not know that, douchebag?

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    212. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mikael_j · · Score: 1

      Well, personally I have a contract from my ISP that describes their service as being "best effort" and makes no mention of blocking any specific websites, hosts or services, if the grandparent has a similar contract then why would he/she need an SLA? The SLA is generally used to guarantee that should your service go down the ISP will end up paying $$$ if it's not up again within n hours, the contract is where the dangerous "also we block things that are against our xtian morals" bits would go (or they'd state in the contract that they also take it upon themselves to block certain things and a full list can be found on their website, and so on...).

      /Mikael

      --
      Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
    213. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You missed one - 4G Wimax from an ISP like Clear. Sure, it's only in a limited number of cities, but it's fast, low-latency, and not Verizon....

    214. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by T+Murphy · · Score: 1

      I find the message of "first they came for" to mean either everyone gets the same rights, or no one will have rights. There are things 4chan does that wouldn't fall under protected speech- I don't mean to support that. But just like the nazi holdouts in America, they (often) do things that harm no one, yet no one supports. I'm only trying to draw attention to the fact that just because we don't care for 4chan's "speech" doesn't make it less important to protect. We don't need to preserve it, mind you, just protect it for a few moments, then hope it goes away on its own.

      Just to be clear, I realize "first they came for" originally referred to actions against people's lives- I do not intend to draw this 4chan issue to similar proportions. I see the message as a broad one that applies in very non-life threatening situations too.

    215. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by nxtw · · Score: 1

      For the thousandth time, VERIZON WIRELESS IS NOT AN ISP BUT A PHONE COMPANY.

      Why can't Verizon Wireless can be both?

    216. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by T+Murphy · · Score: 1

      I've generally agreed with the "terrorists have won" idea, but I realize it still misses the point. Our government is using terrorists and pedophiles to scare us into giving up our rights and freedoms- "terrorists have won" blames the terrorists instead of politicians. Your claim helps get people to question, and hopefully see through the government's smokescreen/paranoia (malice or ignorance?), but we need to bring the focus squarely back where it belongs. Just like I grudgingly give in to the pedantic "don't call piracy stealing" argument, I think it might be good to always explicitly bring blame back to the government.

    217. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4Chan - official seal of approval

    218. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

      Depends on the congressmen. Er, and depends whether they're there to meet the juveniles.

    219. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by VendettaMF · · Score: 1

      However, when an entity or person is being punished by society for infringement of others rights, or other breaches of the social contract we call a code of laws, they loose quite a few rights.

      Did 4chan do something to deserve blocking by any ISP that cares to do so?
      Hell yeah.

      Should ISPs protecting themselves from 4chan's user-base's criminal actions be limited by preserving the loser's "right" to spew idiocy and filth across the net?
      Hell no.

      --
      kartune85 : Incapable of reason, observation or learning. A kind of dim, drab, flightless parrot.
    220. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Acai Berry comes from Brazil and it combats free radicals.Acai Berry

    221. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shouldn't you have posted anonymously for that?

    222. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by symbolset · · Score: 1

      You typed and reasearched all of that and it doesn't matter. They netblocked 4chan, and some responsible person said, "Hey, that's not good" and reversed it.

      It's kind of a shame. What the chans could do to VZW would be good for some epic threads.

      --
      Help stamp out iliturcy.
    223. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know what the fuck "4chan" is, but I don't see how verizon blocking one fucking site is some major news item worthy of slashdot. Who cares?! Lots of sites get blocked on purpose or accidentally or because they're caught up in the ip blocks of other people who *are* doing stuff to warrant being blocked. Sometimes it's reasonable and sometimes it isn't. But really, some dinky little website is not massive news here...

    224. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by dunkelfalke · · Score: 1

      Funny thing, though. You could fly anywhere inside the USSR without showing any papers.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    225. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Canada.

      lame

    226. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by ta+bu+shi+da+yu · · Score: 1

      Why? Wikipedia does

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    227. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by gaelfx · · Score: 1

      Yeah, logic is not a tool that is any way applicable to laws. The first thing they teach you (or should teach you) in law school is that if you want to be taken seriously in this field, you should never say anything that anyone can actually understand or come close to making sense of, otherwise, you will find yourself out of a job as there's nothing to argue about.

    228. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're too busy frequenting prostitutes and lobbyists.

      There is a difference?

    229. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by gaelfx · · Score: 1

      That would depend on whether or not I'm currently employed as a stripper. Speculate at your own will.

    230. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah I know, it's tough. I recently had to move away from my $30/month 100/100MBit connection to a (free) 10/10. I'm having a hard time coping.

      Sweden, of course.

    231. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I saw the pictures, all the demonstrators were aged 15-21.

    232. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In this case they are not filtering content, they are censoring a particular web site by blocking it's IP address range.

      They are not doing that. They are filtering all traffic on port 80 for 4chan. At least that's what the summary and article say.

    233. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tepples · · Score: 1

      CDMA phones don't tend to work well with the other options you offer.

      The point is that if your laptop's CDMA card or CDMA MiFi router doesn't work anymore, and your ISP refuses to make it work, you would have to replace it with one of the other four options. In less-population-dense areas, that leaves satellite and dial-up.

    234. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...it would be a moot point.

      I see what you did there. -_-

    235. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tepples · · Score: 1

      I used Google to search for wireless ISPs, and all I got was "We do not currently offer CLEAR service at this location. Check another address:". CLEAR (www.clearwire.com) uses WiMAX, the same 4G technology that Sprint is rolling out for its mobile customers. The "US WISP map" at the bottom of this page looks at least as sparse as the AT&T coverage map that Verizon loves to trot out. So for now, I'm putting 4G in the same basket as 3G.

    236. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tepples · · Score: 1

      Sweden, of course.

      Is Sweden currently taking refugees from the U.S. regime?

    237. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tepples · · Score: 1

      the contract is where the dangerous "also we block things that are against our xtian morals" bits would go

      Part of getting an SLA that's worth anything involves negotiating an exception to that.

    238. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by BForrester · · Score: 1

      Yes. Excellent. The country with a government-enforced duopoly over internet/telecommunications.

    239. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 1

      DSL or fiber from the phone company, which is Verizon

      Which also may not be available. I lived near Binghamton, NY, and my CO didn't support DSL even as recently as 2006.

      --
      Out of modpoints but really liked a post? 1BDkF6TtmmeZ3yqXbz9yhdYVqRYnwFoXDj
    240. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mysidia · · Score: 1

      No, it was a temporary block that was probably set for purely technical reasons (such as DDoS attack)

      And as soon as they could do so safely, they would want to remove the block, since it was impacting connectivity from real human users trying to access that IP range, (as well as blocking the attack)

    241. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mikael_j · · Score: 1

      Pretty much any business-class connection won't have that crap anyway, it's mainly used for residential connections (sometimes it's even instated thanks to the "think of the children" crowd demanding various silly restrictions on their own connections).

      /Mikael

      --
      Greylisting is to SMTP as NAT is to IPv4
    242. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not that I go there. I just went to make sure it worked.

      O RLY?

    243. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      Because Verizon and Verizon Wireless ARE TWO SEPARATE ENTITIES.

      You do realize that Verizon owns 55% of Verizon Wireless and effectively has total control over it's management and operations, right?

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    244. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The whole point of the DMCA is

      to let Hollywood and Big Business wield Copyright like a Banhammer.

    245. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by FredFredrickson · · Score: 1

      While 4chan users may initiate DDOS attacks, 4chan itself does not operate any type of proxy, and therefore would not be an IP address to block. The fun thing about DDOS attacks that make it hard to fight is that they're "Distributed" and therefore cannot be shut off by turning off an IP or two. And trust me, They wouldn't shut off a full IP Prefix, as thousands of regular customers would get slammed as well.

      4chan does not attack anybody. Anonymous does.

      --
      Belief? Hope? Preference?The Existential Vortex
    246. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by FredFredrickson · · Score: 1

      Nobody on 4chan has money.. that plan is dead from the start. I say they just complain loudly until people ignore them, as per usual.

      --
      Belief? Hope? Preference?The Existential Vortex
    247. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Aklyon · · Score: 1

      you forgot the ",eh?"

      --
      I reserve the right to have a physical object so I can sell it later, and recover my money.
    248. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Aklyon · · Score: 1

      If it exists on Slashdot, there is a car analogy for it.

      If it has a car analogy, it exists on Slashdot.

      --
      I reserve the right to have a physical object so I can sell it later, and recover my money.
    249. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by bwcbwc · · Score: 1

      It seems like the Slashdot moderation/meta-moderation scheme would still work fairly well with that kind of volume. Though getting 4chan users to moderate would probably be futile. But that's a 4chan culture clash more than a technical limitation.

      --
      We are the 198 proof..
    250. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by bwcbwc · · Score: 1

      If you're referring to common carrier status, I'm not convinced that applies to internet data traffic. Although mobile browsing complicates things as a hybrid service between voice and data.

      --
      We are the 198 proof..
    251. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      Read entire post before commenting?

      Oh, that's right, I forgot to tack a TL;DR to the end of it for you.

      They don't need money if they commit fraud or just ignore the bill. Didn't I say that already?

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
    252. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by chadplusplus · · Score: 1

      Apparently, those people are not married.

    253. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Civil_Disobedient · · Score: 1

      I dunno, from the horror stories I hear about Rogers et. al., I think you're probably better going to Finland/Sweden/Norway if you want good, cheap internet and don't mind the cold. Plus, I hear they have cuter girls.

    254. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by krakrjak · · Score: 1

      That's a trick question, congressmen never go out at night. They're too busy frequenting prostitutes and lobbyists.

      Same thing.

    255. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would take away all of the appeal of the place.

    256. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It does not appear that you gave Verizon people the benefit of the doubt when you issued your remarks. I think they would be a bunch of "idiots" to censor 4chan's speech (for what reason?). I think you think so too. And yet, your posting presumed such stupidity.

      I would suggest that my obnoxious voice carried, if nothing else, more reason than your pleasantly phrased but unjustified accusations of Verizon.

      You are not the victim here. 4chan was a victim in a smaller way, and Verizon was a victim in a larger way (especially on Slashdot). You added to Verizon's victimization. Please go back and consider more of the virtues in your points about thinking before speaking, and don't waste your time on an as_hole like me.

    257. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by qubezz · · Score: 1

      When a mall kiosk giving out 'personality tests' is unable to recruit, tax, and imprison new sheeple because it is are flanked by saviours in Guy Fawkes masks holding up 'Scientology=Cult' signs and handing out xenu pamphlets, it offers an obstacle to their operating unopposed. Scientology should be oppressed at every opportunity, as they obfuscate their organized oral onslaught of obscenity, offending equally their outcasts and outsiders by their labeling of those who would tell people the evils experienced in the vipers' den as 'subversive persons', and stalking and persecuting them and their families.

    258. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by KlomDark · · Score: 2, Informative

      OK, my bad, I havent kept up on the legal changes since I sold it, and it was pre-2002, so the decision about "information service" hadn't been done at the time of my DMCA encounter.

      That said, I think it was far better before the 2002 decision - enact no censorship and you are not responsible for what travels over your network. The old way was so much more in line with the "American Way". Laws from 2002 are scary anyway, with all the craziness that followed 9/11.

      Dammit.

    259. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by gfreeman · · Score: 1

      You do realize that Verizon owns 55% of Verizon Wireless and effectively has total control over it's management and operations, right?

      While true, this has nothing to do with the legal status of one or other being a common carrier.

      Inevitable car analogy: You have total control over your car's management and operations, but only one of you has a legal requirement to file taxes(*)

      (*)Yeah, not 100% correct but close enough for the point I am trying to make.

      --
      Ceci n'est pas un sig.
    260. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by gfreeman · · Score: 1

      Why can't Verizon Wireless can be both?

      Unless there are laws against that sort of thing, they can. But in this universe, they aren't.

      --
      Ceci n'est pas un sig.
    261. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by tepples · · Score: 1

      Apparently, those people [who'd move for a better ISP] are not married.

      Married? 4chan users?

    262. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by gfreeman · · Score: 1

      After a bit of actual thinking, I retract what I just said :)

      --
      Ceci n'est pas un sig.
    263. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by nxtw · · Score: 1

      Unless there are laws against that sort of thing, they can. But in this universe, they aren't.

      Evidence?

      Cellco Partnership offers phone services and provides Internet services. They seem to meet the definitions of "phone company" and "internet service provider".

      They could have some clever corporate structure; for example, the local phone company's DSL service was provided by a subsidiary of the phone company's parent company, and the DSL carrier equipment was maintained by another subsidiary of the phone company's parent company. In this structure, the phone company is not an ISP, but a company with a very similar name, branding, and integrated billing system is.

    264. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by gfreeman · · Score: 1

      As I said, I retract that statement I made earlier :)

      There could be a legal way for them to say "nope, not us, we're just a gateway for that ISP over there, you know - the one called Verizon Wireless Gateway Services" or something similar.

      Or they could actually BE an ISP in the fullest and true meaning.

      --
      Ceci n'est pas un sig.
    265. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4chan makes fark look like calm and rational discussion between middle-aged adults.

    266. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mysidia · · Score: 1

      DDoS attacks can be reduced in magnitude, by blacklisting a few thousand IPs or so, depending on the size of the botnet participating in the flood, and the nature of the flood.

      It could actually be a DDoS targetting 4chan, impacting their transit network.

      Or a spoofed flood with 4chan IPs as source address.

      4chan might not intend to operate a proxy, that doesn't mean they are invincible to embarrassing events, such as one of their servers getting hacked and becoming a DoS source.

      VZW might have also discovered (or believe they discovered) evidence of 4chan IPs being used for command and control.

      An example, would be a botnet programmed to DDoS a certain target when a certain post or keyword got posted on 4C.

      Then 4chan's servers are involved in Command and Control, and since they allow anonymous users to upload arbitrary content, they could be complicit in assisting botnet command and control (in some cases).

    267. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by kalirion · · Score: 1

      In this case better to stick it to them in court, it is a slam dunk freedom of speech thing

      Freedom of speech? Since when have private companies been obligated by this?

    268. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by TommydCat · · Score: 1

      In all likelihood, Verizon merely just accidentally the entire site.

      --
      This comment does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the author.
    269. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4chan has less direction than fark. I don't doubt that many smaller sites with a more focused audience could outvote 4chan in some random internet poll.

    270. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Alcoholist · · Score: 1

      Yes. Excellent. The country with a government-enforced duopoly over internet/telecommunications.

      How is that worse than a market-enforced Verizon monopoly?

      Besides, there is plus side to it. Bell, the incumbent telco, is forced to rent it's infrastructure to local ISPs and CLECs. Bell copper goes to my house, but I don't pay them for anything. My money goes to a little co-op telco. $59 month for telephone and unlimited Internet (6Mb/s). And by unlimited I mean no caps, no throttling, no censoring.

      --
      Bibo Ergo Sum.
    271. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by DanTheStone · · Score: 1

      The only problem with your argument is that ISPs aren't common carriers. Read the article you linked to.

    272. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by nxtw · · Score: 1

      There could be a legal way for them to say "nope, not us, we're just a gateway for that ISP over there, you know - the one called Verizon Wireless Gateway Services" or something similar.

      Interestingly, there is an organization called Wireless Data Service Provider Corporation which is the listed owner for the IP addresses of AT&T Mobility and (AFAIK) Cellco Partnership/Verizon Wireless, and I think other providers might use this too. On my AT&T device, traffic seems to travel over att.net, though...

    273. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The most active board, "random," has over 100,000 posts a day.

      has over 9,000 posts a day*
      Fixed that for you

    274. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Kreigaffe · · Score: 1

      your analogy is better, I didn't really RTFA (I did RTFS and STFA so i figure i'm still at the good small end of the bell curve) before posting, but sadly I mentioned cars more often and stole any moderation that might've fallen your way. Ahh slashdot..

      --
      ... still waiting for this free-as-in-beer free beer I keep hearing about. :|
    275. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      Regardless of who is right or wrong here, I think we are missing the point of consumer protection that is more appropriate to the situation. Any ISP sells the internet to the consumer, generally they do not sell just part of the internet service or their own special internet service (AOL excepted).

      What this boils down to is that if the ISP filters something, sure, it's a free speech issue and possibly a content liability issue, but most of all, it's the consumer not getting what they paid for issue. If I purchase internet service, I expect to have all ports available and all IPs or domains available. The idea that the ISP can represent one thing and deliver another is something that has been core to several consumer protection laws (state, local and federal) since the Sherman anti trust ordeal. So aside from speech rights, aside from common carrier status, it really becomes an issue of the customer getting what they paid for in the first place.

    276. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by mrxak · · Score: 1

      Really the point is, Verizon has a crap ton of lawyers, a crap ton of money, a crap ton of political influence, and can no doubt squash any DDOS attacks against them like an elephant stepping on a mosquito. I don't think they'll be terribly worried about what 4chan can do to them. I'm guessing the people who work for a *phone* company know how to keep their personal phone numbers private too. But hey, if people want to stand outside their headquarters in the middle of a winter with signs screaming about censorship, that's their right.

    277. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by FredFredrickson · · Score: 1

      No I can't read entire post. You should tack a TL;DR at the end. Also, they should just commit fraud and ignore the bill. You should've said that. ;)

      --
      Belief? Hope? Preference?The Existential Vortex
    278. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by BronsCon · · Score: 1

      You don't, by chance, frequent /b/ from your VZW phone, do you?

      --
      APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
  2. Huh by Servaas · · Score: 1

    Seems a tad bit juvenile... although this should speak to their target audience.

  3. Fraud? by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So Verizon sold me internet service. Implicit in that is service to all internet hosts.

    Has Verizon criminally defrauded me?

    1. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about doing valid research? I'm on FiOS and VW, both have access to the site.

    2. Re:Fraud? by the+roAm · · Score: 4, Informative

      They're talking about VZW -- The slashdot title is wrong. Durr, it's slashdot, after all.

      --
      ~The roAm
    3. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe they've specified that it's only Verizon Wireless traffic, not all of Verizon's traffic.

    4. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Implicit in that is service to all internet hosts.

      except that they most likely explicitly state otherwise in your contract with them, of course.

    5. Re:Fraud? by Khyber · · Score: 2, Informative

      I can't access 4chan using my VW modem for my laptop.

      My Time Warner Cable gets 4chan just fine.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    6. Re:Fraud? by alen · · Score: 1

      yes, you can now sue them for eleventy billion dollars

      of course the lawyers will get the eleventy billion $$$ and you will get a coupon for a one month credit to your Verizon Wireless service to be redeemed when you renew for a new 2 year contract

    7. Re:Fraud? by jpmorgan · · Score: 1

      Who knows, but if Verizon Wireless is doing it, that might be enough to get out of your contract without paying the ETF.

    8. Re:Fraud? by 0racle · · Score: 1, Funny

      Get it right, you can sue for OVER 9000! dollars.

      --
      "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
    9. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or if they don't now, they change the terms whenever they want so that they do say that.

    10. Re:Fraud? by qoncept · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're apparently not taking this questions seriously enough to be asking a lawyer. So why bother here?

      --
      Whale
    11. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, they have protected you from a moronic website. if they could also block slashdot, they could DOUBLE their fee.

    12. Re:Fraud? by HeronBlademaster · · Score: 4, Informative

      Implicit in that is service to all internet hosts.

      I bet if you read the terms of service - which you agreed to - you'll find that it doesn't support that assumption.

      For example, from Comcast's terms of service:

      Comcast reserves the right to refuse to transmit or post, and to remove or block, any information or materials, in whole or in part, that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be in violation of Sections I or II of this Policy, or otherwise harmful to Comcast's network or customers using the Service, regardless of whether this material or its dissemination is unlawful so long as it violates this Policy.

    13. Re:Fraud? by dgatwood · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'd settle for 10! dollars.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    14. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd be happy with only 100! .

    15. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've never seen an exclamation point used mathematically like this, and actually had to go look that up.

      Thank you; I have learned something new today that I found interesting.

    16. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It works for me.

      I just tried http://4chan.com with the default Android browser from both a Motorola Droid on Verizon, and a HTC G1 on T-Mobile, and it worked fine on both.

    17. Re:Fraud? by the+roAm · · Score: 1, Troll

      DERP DERP, I kant reed!
      "Note: Users with mobile browsers that proxy (BlackBerry, Opera) won't necessarily have issues accessing the boards."
      http://status.4chan.org/

      --
      ~The roAm
    18. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I didn't realize that VolksWagen made a modem.

    19. Re:Fraud? by Petrushka · · Score: 1

      I'd settle for 10! dollars.

      As a result of your post, I noticed that although Google gives an answer for 10! it does not for 9000! (for moderately obvious reasons). I became curious, and established that the highest number they give factorials for is 170!. I wonder what's so special about 170!?

    20. Re:Fraud? by powerspike · · Score: 2, Insightful

      well... having access to the internet, and been able to access to all items on it are two totally different things.

      If somebody's server goes down, are you going to ask verizon for a rebate/refund for not been able to access it as well?

    21. Re:Fraud? by HideyoshiJP · · Score: 0

      I learned about it in high school, but I completely forgot about it. I had to look it up as well, sadly.

    22. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well for one, it's the biggest number Google will accept.

    23. Re:Fraud? by rb12345 · · Score: 4, Informative

      As a result of your post, I noticed that although Google gives an answer for 10! it does not for 9000! (for moderately obvious reasons). I became curious, and established that the highest number they give factorials for is 170!. I wonder what's so special about 170!?

      171! would overflow a double.

    24. Re:Fraud? by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      Only the internet that they want to give you access too, and that your government approves of.

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    25. Re:Fraud? by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      google calculator seems to be limited to results below 2^1024 ~ 10^308

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    26. Re:Fraud? by saider · · Score: 1

      Double precision floating point number overflow at 172!, if I recall.

      --


      Remember, You are unique...just like everyone else.
    27. Re:Fraud? by Pence128 · · Score: 1

      It's the largest number that will fit in a double.

      --
      404: sig not found.
    28. Re:Fraud? by Darkness404 · · Score: 1

      with the default Android browser

      Um, I wasn't aware that the default Android browser used a proxy by default like Blackberry or Opera....

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    29. Re:Fraud? by icebraining · · Score: 1

      You're an idiot, the Android browser doesn't proxy. In fact, you can even set it up to run through a locally installed Tor, which would be impossible to do in a proxying mobile browser.

    30. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What part of 4chan doesn't violate the TOS of any ISP?

    31. Re:Fraud? by Eil · · Score: 1

      No. It's their service, they can do what they want with it without telling you anything. They can shut off your phone completely for no reason if they want to and still charge you for service. They can block you from calling certain numbers and they can send you text messages that you then pay to receive. They can add, remove, or change the functionality of the software on your phone overnight, like they did when Microsoft paid them to only use Bing. Seriously, it's all in your contract. Read it if you don't believe me.

      And since all cell phone companies in the U.S. do these things, you can't just vote with your money and go elsewhere. There are no honest wireless carriers. I wish people would stop being surprised about it.

    32. Re:Fraud? by kramerd · · Score: 1

      IANAL, but no, Verizon has not criminally defrauded you. Especially if the contract you signed says that the definition of internet service is ever changing, and subject to that definition that is available at all times of services, provide that you receive notice of all material changes to that service (which it does).

      Selling internet service and not delivering the full advertise service is merely breach of contract. This is a civil infraction, which you could sue for only if loss of 4chan access actually damaged you (in which case you could get a refund for all periods in which 4chan was not available and you were materially harmed).

    33. Re:Fraud? by mysidia · · Score: 1

      No, because selling you internet service never meant a 100% guarantee of service to all "Internet" hosts with 100% uptime. It's a civil matter, and your chances are basically 0 of pursuing action against VZN for that.

      Connectivity issues can occur, caused by Verizon, the host, or any network in between. If they pull your plug because you were spamming, or they block access to an IP because they were originating a DoS through their network, they haven't violated any agreement with you.

      You might get certain network SLA, but not as a consumer/non-business user.

      It only means service to the networks they're connected to, or that they buy transit to.

      Which should be the majority of all internet (IPv4) hosts, but not necessarily every single host.

    34. Re:Fraud? by GNUALMAFUERTE · · Score: 1

      Actually, it's anything below 4815162342. I hear you can't divide by either 0 or 108

      --
      WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
    35. Re:Fraud? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No; I'd be surprised if the contract you signed actually requires them to provide you with anything at all.

    36. Re:Fraud? by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

      I can't believe that grammar made it past their legal team.

    37. Re:Fraud? by HeronBlademaster · · Score: 1

      It has a bunch of parenthetic phrases and a bucket's worth of commas, but as far as I can tell it's valid grammar...

      - Comcast reserves the right to refuse to transmit or post
      -- and to remove or block
      - any information or materials
      -- in whole or in part
      - that it
      -- in its sole discretion
      - deems to be in violation of Sections I or II of this Policy
      -- or otherwise harmful to Comcast's network or customers using the Service
      - regardless of whether this material or its dissemination is unlawful so long as it violates this Policy.

      If you read it with just the parts I've marked with a single dash, it makes perfect sense and you still get the main point:

      Comcast reserves the right to refuse to transmit or post any information or materials that it deems to be in violation of Sections I or II of this Policy, regardless of whether this material or its dissemination is unlawful so long as it violates this Policy.

      Comcast has simply added clarifying comments all over the place set off by commas in order to add more conditions under which it may refuse transmission of data over its network. It's not pretty, but as far as I can tell it's proper grammar. I welcome corrections.

      It occurs to me that the final phrase could use an additional comma just before "so long as it violates this Policy", but I'm not sure it's strictly necessary, and even if it is necessary it's not surprising that it slipped past a legal team... adding it in doesn't change the meaning of the sentence.

      Please note that my defense of the grammar of this clause of Comcast's ToS should not be construed as defense in any way of the actual terms of service.

    38. Re:Fraud? by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

      It has a bunch of parenthetic phrases and a bucket's worth of commas, but as far as I can tell it's valid grammar...

      On second glance, it's definitely *valid*, but I'm still surprised it passed muster from a legal perspective. It has me wondering whether or not material is required to violate the Policy, and if so, which Sections, in order to be removed—"so long as it violates this Policy" suggests that it must violate the Policy, but isn't any more specific than that; "deems to be in violation" suggests that a violation must pertain to Sections I or II; "or otherwise harmful" suggests that no violation is necessary.

      And as far as grammar itself is concerned, I tend to prefer consistency over style, and the lack of a comma before "so long" bugged me. It may not be strictly necessary, but its absence certainly disrupts the flow.

      Please note that my defense of the grammar of this clause of Comcast's ToS should not be construed as defense in any way of the actual terms of service.

      I definitely didn't think it was meant that way.

      Please note that any and all ironic grammar errors above are a product of sheer exhaustion. ;)

    39. Re:Fraud? by HeronBlademaster · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately that's not the only clause in the ToS with that sort of vague language. I don't think it's a matter of "how did that get past legal", I think it's a matter of "legal made it that way". See, if it's vague, they can later argue in court that whatever they do abides by the ToS their customers agreed to (never mind that they can change the ToS at any time, and they would argue that customers are automatically bound by the new ToS).

      Basically, their ideal situation would be "we can shut off service (or part of the service) for any customer at any time for any reason (or no reason at all)" and not have to worry about consequences.

      I have serious issues with the practice (which is yet another reason I hate Comcast), but thus far I doubt anyone has really tried to challenge it in a legal setting.

    40. Re:Fraud? by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

      I think it's a matter of "legal made it that way"

      What surprised me about it was that the vagueness seems to *weaken* the position they'd need to defend in court. Had they left off "so long" and everything after, it would be much stronger for them. By suggesting that material must violate the Policy to be removed or blocked, they are restricting themselves more than I would expect from being able to say "we can shut off service (or part of the service) for any customer at any time for any reason (or no reason at all)" and not have to worry about consequences.

    41. Re:Fraud? by ElmoGonzo · · Score: 1

      Only your lawyer knows for sure -- and that's only one opinion.

    42. Re:Fraud? by qubezz · · Score: 1

      Another rhetorical: How enforceable is a contract that says one party can change anything they want in the contract at any time.

    43. Re:Fraud? by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

      Justifiably enforceable? Not at all. Enforceable as a consequence of Comcast's weight and the system's corruption? Quite a lot.

    44. Re:Fraud? by http · · Score: 1

      And what part, exactly, does accessing 4chan violate?

      --
      If opportunity came disguised as temptation, one knock would be enough.
      3^2 * 67^1 * 977^1
    45. Re:Fraud? by HeronBlademaster · · Score: 1

      My point was, if you read the ToS, you'll probably find language permitting the ISP to block any content for essentially any reason - or even for no reason at all.

  4. Do they also block goatse? by jonadab · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obviously, Verizon is trying to provide better service for their customers.

    --
    Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    1. Re:Do they also block goatse? by The+Mighty+Buzzard · · Score: 3, Funny

      No, they're obviously trying to crowdsource their network infrastructure load testing.

      --
      Violence is like duct tape. If it doesn't solve the problem, you didn't use enough.
    2. Re:Do they also block goatse? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't blame Verizon or anyone blocking 4chan. It's a dirty secret that very illegal images are posted to /b. Sure it gets moderated quickly, but all it takes is one thumbnail in your browser cache to ruin your life. It's just not worth the risk.

  5. I feel split in this matter by Daimanta · · Score: 4, Insightful

    On hand hand this is malignant censorship, the forebode to a society with no free information. On the other hand, this is 4chan.....

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
    1. Re:I feel split in this matter by H0p313ss · · Score: 4, Funny

      On hand hand this is malignant censorship, the forebode to a society with no free information. On the other hand, this is 4chan.....

      I was going to say the same thing. I am torn between condemning them or nominating them for a Nobel Prize for acting for the good of all humanity.

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    2. Re:I feel split in this matter by bsDaemon · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      you know, I think pedobear is a pretty cool guy. he molests children and doesn't afraid of anyone.

      (my hobby: mixing memes i'm vaguely aware of when i've never had any contact with the source content anyway)

    3. Re:I feel split in this matter by SilverEyes · · Score: 4, Insightful

      On the other hand, this is 4chan.....

      Exactly. 4chan is blocked, and nothing of value was lost.

      --
      Interesting.
    4. Re:I feel split in this matter by harl · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Free speech is only free if the speech you hate is free.

      --
      I find being offended by me offensive.
    5. Re:I feel split in this matter by keithjr · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm going to go with a third option: ignoring Internet sensationalism. I recall a recent incident where it appeared AT&T was "censoring" 4chan. Turns out AT&T was just trying to stem a massive DDOS attack originating from that and other domains.

      I expect a statement from Verizon shortly.

    6. Re:I feel split in this matter by Teikalen · · Score: 1

      nobel prize.

    7. Re:I feel split in this matter by Jeng · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I would imagine all this does is give 4chan something to bitch about.

      The main downside is that there are people trying to reach 4chan who cannot, and therefor will visit other parts of the internet. Before now they were contained, now Verizon broke containment.

      --
      Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
    8. Re:I feel split in this matter by Vintermann · · Score: 1

      Free hate all around!!! Aaaaarrrrrggh!!!

      --
      xkcd is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
    9. Re:I feel split in this matter by BoppreH · · Score: 1

      Either way, it's bad. 4chan is like a giant prison.

      Guess what happens when you knock the walls down...

    10. Re:I feel split in this matter by noidentity · · Score: 5, Insightful

      On hand hand this is malignant censorship, the forebode to a society with no free information. On the other hand, this is 4chan.....

      First they came for 4chan, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a 4chan member...

    11. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you're not doing it right.

    12. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Imagine if you will, Verizon blocked Slashdot, and the internet was glad that all those FSF loving Unix-beard hippies would finally shut up about "This is the year of Linux on the desktop" rather than hoping for its return and condemning such censorship. Does that represent a portion of the populace? Sure. But if you loved going there you'd still be upset about not getting it back.

      I love 4chan, I hate /b/, but 4chan as a whole is a unique collection of message boards with a much faster rate of posting than anything else on the internet, its almost part chatroom. The individual boards all have their own culture and sense of humor, and many of them are great sources of discussion and debate (sup /v/).

      Please don't blindly judge 4chan based on /b/ and its stupid memes alone. People got tired of that whole "anonymous is legion" and "lolcat" shit a long time ago.

    13. Re:I feel split in this matter by SilverEyes · · Score: 5, Funny

      On hand hand this is malignant censorship, the forebode to a society with no free information. On the other hand, this is 4chan.....

      First they came for 4chan, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a 4chan member...

      Then they came for... well, they didn't come for anyone else. There wasn't really a good, next logical step in the continuum. The rest of the Internet was safe. Story over.

      --
      Interesting.
    14. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong, on the other hand you have 5 fingers. I'm not sure about hand hand.

    15. Re:I feel split in this matter by stonewallred · · Score: 1

      /wg/ FTW!

    16. Re:I feel split in this matter by netdur · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Says Tom Cruise

      --
      "Steve Jobs invented the world" -- Bill W. GATES
    17. Re:I feel split in this matter by Shoe+Puppet · · Score: 1

      both.

      --
      (+1, Disagree)
    18. Re:I feel split in this matter by jgtg32a · · Score: 4, Interesting

      4chan is the radio active waste dump of the internet and for the most part all of their shenanigans tend to stay at 4chan, when you close 4chan it spreads.

    19. Re:I feel split in this matter by LoSt180 · · Score: 5, Informative
      Yup, they got one up for you already. According to the Verizon Policy Blog post:

      "Recently, Verizon Wireless security and external experts detected attacks from an IP address associated with the 4Chan family of web sites that was disruptive to our customers and our network. To protect both, we eliminated connectivity to the IP address. At no time was 4Chan itself blocked. Ongoing network security team monitoring has now determined there is no longer an immediate threat. Connectivity to those sites is being restored later today."

    20. Re:I feel split in this matter by StillNeedMoreCoffee · · Score: 1

      Well lets not forget the speach you love and the speach you are so, so about and the speach you fall asleep to. Lets not limit it to the speach you hate.

    21. Re:I feel split in this matter by Haymaker · · Score: 4, Insightful
      This.

      Funny thing about other *chans (kusaba or equivalent image board sites other than 4chan), they hate 4chan for the immeasurable amount of shit posting, where in comparison the smaller *chans have slower post volume but better content (usually)

      When 4chan goes down, gets blocked, whatever, all these 4channers start migrating to the other imageboards and spread their 4channiness around either HAI GUISE IM GONNA POST HERE WHILE 4CHAN IS DOWN, K or just bitching about how they can't get on /b/.

      So the members of these smaller boards realize 4chan needs to be alive to function as sort of a floodgate of retardation. I'm sure this principal applies to more than just *chan style boards though.

    22. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      On hand hand this is malignant censorship, the forebode to a society with no free information. On the other hand, this is 4chan.....

      This is kind of the point, when looking to infringe on your rights they start with an unpopular target.

      Invasive searches at the border? But you don't want the terrorists to win do you?

      Thought crimes? Won't somebody please think of the children?

      Free speech restrictions on the net? We do it to catch the pedo's and terrorists

      Start with a group nobody will stand up for, get your precedent of bypassing their rights from them, expand to the rest of society later.

    23. Re:I feel split in this matter by kill-1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A DDOS attack originating from port 80 of boards.4chan.org? Think again.

    24. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem is 4chan is loaded with child porn. I used to hang out on their technology and music boards but the random occurrence of CP and other explicit imagery (but mostly the celebration of CP and racism) caused me to stop going there. I don't feel like risking the chance that some stupid cached image might screw my life over at some point in the future.

    25. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First they came for 4chan, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a 4chan member...

      neither am i

    26. Re:I feel split in this matter by Microlith · · Score: 1

      That might be a plausible explanation were it Verizon's DSL/FIOS service, but Verizon Wireless?

    27. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What if instead of 4chan, they decided to block a different massive message board system... Slashdot.

      Same attitude? Thought not. The central problem is that Verison is BLOCKING YOU FROM SOME OF THE INTERNET. So much for net neutrality... not that it ever had a hope in hell anyway.

    28. Re:I feel split in this matter by noidentity · · Score: 3, Informative

      I meant for my original post to be modded funny, not insightful. So yeah, agreed all the way.

    29. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Despite the fact that 4chan has this "nasty" image assigned to it, thanks to the shithole that is /b/, most of the other boards are actually decent.

      Blocking the whole "boards." subdomain is pretty malicious, to put it nicely.

      I just wonder what prompted them to block it all of a sudden, not that long after the subdomain switchover happened too.

    30. Re:I feel split in this matter by MrWeelson · · Score: 1

      I call an alternative Godwin's Law - as soon as you quote Martin Niemöller, you've lost the argument. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...

    31. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Erm... /v/ is a "great source of discussion and debate"?
      That hasn't been true for a long time, Mister.

    32. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the one hand, it's censorship. In the other hand, there's your penis.

    33. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Has anybody bothered to find out WHY Verizon took this action? Does anybody want to wait to find out why before rushing to judgement? Given that AT&T cut them off for 1 day because a DDoS was going on, then restored access when it was over, maybe this is some similar kind of situation.

      I could well imagine some DDoS by scientology against 4chan, or by 4chan against scientology, could be causing network traffic problems they needed to do some temporary fix to. In which case all these "they hate 4chan's content and are censoring the boardz omg" posts are kind of mistaken, don't you think?

    34. Re:I feel split in this matter by metziel · · Score: 5, Informative

      Obligatory Jon Stewart paraphrase: you do realize that, in the original quote, "they came" is actually an euphanism for "round up and kill," right?

      You have my word that when the government starts rounding up and mass-murdering 4chan users, I'll speak up.

    35. Re:I feel split in this matter by AlamedaStone · · Score: 1

      Free speech is only free if the speech you hate is free.

      I can't comprehend why so many people in this thread (not to mention mods) don't understand this statement of fact. It's math, people.

      If all speech is free,
      and speech you hate is speech,
      then speech you hate is free.

      Does it need a color-coded spreadsheet or something?

      --
      "All these years believing you're the signified monkey, only to find out you're just a big hunk of nobody cares."
    36. Re:I feel split in this matter by zill · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I'm a little confused since English is not my native language.

      By "both", are you suggesting that Verizon and 4chan should share a Nobel Prize or that they each get a Nobel Prize?

    37. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not all of 4chan is /b/. /b/ only exists to keep the retards out of the other boards, which aren't really any worse than nerdy forums elsewhere on the net.

    38. Re:I feel split in this matter by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 5, Funny

      Has anybody bothered to find out WHY Verizon took this action?

      For the lulz.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
    39. Re:I feel split in this matter by shentino · · Score: 1

      Never attribute to malice that which...you know the rest.

    40. Re:I feel split in this matter by MostAwesomeDude · · Score: 1

      The people modding you seem to be unaware that 4chan doesn't have memberships.

      --
      ~ C.
    41. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe you can't get to 4chan because you don't have a 4chan Platinum Account?

    42. Re:I feel split in this matter by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      Yes! Freedom for the internet hate machine!

    43. Re:I feel split in this matter by jtownatpunk.net · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "To protect both, we eliminated connectivity to the IP address. At no time was 4Chan itself blocked."

      Oh, I get it. They didn't 'block' 4chan. They simply 'eliminated connectivity'.

    44. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A DDOS attack originating from AT&T's zombie host targeting boards.4chan.org 80.
      Really, think again smart ass.

    45. Re:I feel split in this matter by icebraining · · Score: 1

      What is this "speach" you talk about?

    46. Re:I feel split in this matter by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

      I would have expected a 4chan fan to have a better sense of humor...

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    47. Re:I feel split in this matter by Bloodoflethe · · Score: 1

      Someone needs more coffee so they can post coherently. Username status: Still Valid.

      --
      "Little is much when little you need."
    48. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      4chan is the radio active waste dump of the internet and for the most part all of their shenanigans tend to stay at 4chan, when you close 4chan it spreads.

      I don't really see how you can call all these animals of nature a 'waste dump'
      http://boards.4chan.org/an/

      Or even their technology board, which posts more new technology in a day than slashdot has in the past 12 months over on http://boards.4chan.org/g/

      This would be similar to me stating as fact that you are a pedophile because that's all that hangs out on idle.slashdot.org and clearly you are here (right here, on tech.slashdot.org, but you know, the exact same thing)

    49. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you know how routing works or are you ignorant? Any high DDOSs are completely null routed meaning no ports no data nothing reaches anything past the null route.

    50. Re:I feel split in this matter by wiredlogic · · Score: 1

      I think it more likely that hordes of 4channers were clicking on targeted links and the referrer field in the HTTP headers was pointing to boards.4chan.org. Apparently you can be accused of guilt by association if you jump to another site after visiting 4chan.

      --
      I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
    51. Re:I feel split in this matter by Iman+Azol · · Score: 1

      Then they came for SilverEyes, and the scattered members of 4chan laughed hysterically, and youtubed video of someone pissing on his grave.

    52. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I posted on that blog post, but will make a similar post here.
                First, 4chan is certainly blocked and I do not know why Verizon is claiming it's not; the front page loads, but the links do not load.

                That said, if they are doing some DOS or the like, that is faulty behavior. I know if I were a network admin I would filter a DOS attack once I knew about it. This is not censorship as I for one initially feared, I view this as akin to a circuit breaker cutting off the power to a dead short -- besides the whole avoiding the short catching fire, the short would also cause a sag in the power supplied to neighboring users for a good while if the breaker didn't cut service off. Cutting the dial tone off to a faulty phone line prevents damage to both the phone company equipment and the phone.

    53. Re:I feel split in this matter by The_mad_linguist · · Score: 1

      On hand hand this is malignant censorship, the forebode to a society with no free information. On the other hand, this is 4chan.....

      First they came for 4chan, and I did not speak out -- because I was not a 4chan member...

      Then they came for... well, they didn't come for anyone else. There wasn't really a good, next logical step in the continuum. The rest of the Internet was safe. Story over.

      Then they came for profit.

    54. Re:I feel split in this matter by omfgnosis · · Score: 1

      No way AT&T would fib.

    55. Re:I feel split in this matter by Menkhaf · · Score: 1

      You needed Jon Stewart to tell you that?

      And your point is moot. If you don't fight for other peoples rights now, why would you do it later? If they censor 4chan now, who knows what they'll block next time?
      I'm pretty sure the German people during WW2 would speak up as well, given that they knew about it, weren't placed under a strict censorship or weren't brainwashed.
      The whole point, of course, is that this might just be the beginning.

      --
      A proud member of the Onion-in-Hand alliance
    56. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      /b/ = /b/

      4chan = slightly diluted /b/ trolls

      the new boards were fun for a week, and then came /b/...again. the median age has dropped far too low.

    57. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, as usual, people have to die before other people start to realize something is amiss.

    58. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Speak up? Or thumbs up?

    59. Re:I feel split in this matter by Nathrael · · Score: 1

      Fa/tg/guy and proud of it!

      --
      A good education is a bit like a STD - it makes you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and gives you a desire to spread it.
    60. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It'll be too late then. How will you speak when they've already censored all your means of communication? You seem to have missed the entire point of the quote.

    61. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sometimes it is. Many times its 'flavor of the month'.

      Regardless, its the funniest board on the site.

    62. Re:I feel split in this matter by godrik · · Score: 1

      Wow, this line is good. Is it yours or someone famous ?

    63. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People may have trouble with this idea because no country or nation, not even the Land Of The Free, has ever made ALL speech free. Therefore your argument falls down on the first premise.

      While shouting fire in a crowded theatre may seem like an acceptable exception to you and I - some people think the childish abuse the originates from 4chan is also an acceptable exception. For others its so-called 'hate speech' in general.

    64. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By which point your free speech and movement have been so thoroughly trashed that you won't even have a place to speak up - let alone be allowed to it.

      Seriously if you understand the transitive property enough to see one slippery slope, you would think you might be able to see the slope its all sitting on.

      When they came for 4chan, I didn't speak up cause I think it's trash.
      When they came for internet porn, I didn't speak up cause it wasn't important enough.
      When they came for slashdot, I didn't speak up cause it still wasn't important enough.
      When they came for me, there wasn't any fucking place left for anyone to speak up about it :(

    65. Re:I feel split in this matter by alexhs · · Score: 1

      Roughly expressing what Voltaire said :

      I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.

      --
      I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of killer sig, which this margin is too narrow to contain.
    66. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not everything is a slippery slope in the world

    67. Re:I feel split in this matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      did they say DDOS or just DOS attack? There is a difference.

    68. Re:I feel split in this matter by harl · · Score: 1

      I'm slightly insulted that it can't be both.

      It's a variation of what I've felt and heard for ages. *shrug* I'm not quoting a specific person it's just yet another iteration of the idea.

      --
      I find being offended by me offensive.
  6. rebellion? by Lord+Ender · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Didn't some kid just get three years in jail for participating in an anti-Scientology DoS attack which was organized on 4chan?

    Will that be enough to keep the users in line?

    --
    A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
    1. Re:rebellion? by santax · · Score: 5, Informative

      No. It will not. Most users are not in the US. Most users will happily participate in an ddos though.

    2. Re:rebellion? by SharpFang · · Score: 1

      are you kidding?

      Anonymous has not once outed one of their own to FBI for CP or such, finding that very entertaining.
      They are very pro-darwinian: if one who gets caught, it means he hadn't deserved to be one of them. Unless he fell on the line of duty; then he will be honored.

      Did you think the arrest after publishing Palin's emails stopped anyone there? ...actually, a new attack is in the works. Keep an ear open for news from Australia on 10th.

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
    3. Re:rebellion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anonymous has not once outed one of their own to FBI for CP or such, finding that very entertaining.

      Eh?

      To rat out a fellow Anon, Anonymous must first find out who he is. He is, at this point, no longer Anonymous, and your argument just fell apart, because you are talking about how Anonymous treats its fellow Anon.

    4. Re:rebellion? by santax · · Score: 1

      And that is why you do not want 'them' to find out who you are. I'm pretty sure 'them' know who verizon is. And they may not be able to pull the plug from verizon, but sure as hell are able to find a list of names/addresses/social security numbers from the management of Verizon. And then 'them' will be knocking on those doors. They always do. People have committed suicide over 4chan 'fun'. Those guys are serious business.

    5. Re:rebellion? by trapnest · · Score: 1

      >Keep an ear open for news from Australia on 10th.
      lol

    6. Re:rebellion? by Kyokugenryu · · Score: 1

      Once upon a time, 4chan was inhabited by a bunch of nerds who sat around watching anime and posting funny images and some shock images from LUE. Then, one day, in 2006 or so, someone told someone else that 4chan existed, and it snowballed into this terrible site that exists today. It's full of nothing but malware, child pornography, and hate speech by 12-14 year olds calling people "newfags" when they've been on the site since 2008. Most of its original userbase has migrated to /a/ or offsite entirely because of how terrible that site has become nowadays, and SharpFang is the perfect example of that. "Attacks" on people/sites/whatever is just stupid, and all these 14 year old internet cool kids have no idea how easy it is to prosecute them for it. I know the guy who is in jail for the Scientology ddos right now, he used to hang out in the same IRCs I do, and he was around about a week before the conviction. Needless to say, he wishes he had never even found 4chan.

    7. Re:rebellion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      They are very pro-darwinian

      I don't think Darwin ever imagined the "fittest" natural creatures to mean "teenagers who perpetually sit in front of their computers, typing the exact same phrases and posting the same pictures every single day"

    8. Re:rebellion? by jcoy42 · · Score: 1

      No more than someone getting busted for drinking and driving will stop everyone else from doing the same.

      --
      Never trust an atom. They make up everything.
    9. Re:rebellion? by nine-times · · Score: 1

      There are also a lot of ways to make life miserable for Verizon employees and executives besides a DDoS, some of them even legal. If I pissed off everyone at 4chan and only got a DDoS attack, I'd consider myself lucky.

    10. Re:rebellion? by houghi · · Score: 1

      And it is not so much a something that is organized as it is a mob. So you can not just start pointing fingers at a few.

      But what will happen is instead of keeping the few in a nice place that you can somewhat control, they will try to close 4chan and that will mean hundred of these kind of sites will pop up.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    11. Re:rebellion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      there already are many other sites, the management of 4chan do not, in general tolerate raids and other harassement and promoting it on /b/ will get your ass banned. so what happens is smaller, usually overseas boards will put up an /i/ board and spam 4chan with the address for a while to muster an army.

      anontalk also spams 4chan but they are mustering an army of pedophiles.

    12. Re:rebellion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      fittest to survive in their respective ecological niches.

      You can't deny cockroaches the credit of being pretty fit for the niche they fill either.

    13. Re:rebellion? by zill · · Score: 1

      Needless to say, he wishes he had never even found 4chan.

      There are two types of criminals in prison:
      those who regret committing the crime,
      and those who regret getting caught.

    14. Re:rebellion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anonymous has not once outed one of their own to FBI for CP or such, finding that very entertaining.

      Well, you're wrong. I can think of two or three instances of /b/ successfully pedo-baiting and getting results (brb, church). Of course you also do not threaten football, and let's not forget the pipe-bomb kid.

      Sometimes turning the fuckwits in is more entertaining.

    15. Re:rebellion? by theArtificial · · Score: 1

      Lurker here. I feel that his situation is unfortunate however placing the blame on 4chan for his actions is not right. He did something that is illegal and is facing the consequences.

      --
      Man blir trött av att gå och göra ingenting.
    16. Re:rebellion? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, actually most won't. A few users may though and will do much as they have in the past and it will look as though an exponentially larger number of users were perpetrating it.

    17. Re:rebellion? by baka_toroi · · Score: 1

      Who's loling now, trapnest?

    18. Re:rebellion? by trapnest · · Score: 1

      Did something happen?

  7. I'm 12 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm 12 years old and what is this?

    1. Re:I'm 12 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Pedo has some candy for you.

    2. Re:I'm 12 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wanna come take a ride in my windowless van? It's the one with "Free Candy" written on the side!

    3. Re:I'm 12 by SilverEyes · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's a trick! The candy is free at first, then they jack up the price when you renew your subscription!

      --
      Interesting.
    4. Re:I'm 12 by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Hi. I'm Chris Hanson, would you like to sit down over here? We have the party van on the way.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    5. Re:I'm 12 by DiEx-15 · · Score: 1

      Steer clear of 4chan my young Padawan. Turn you to the Dark Side of the Force it will.

  8. No problems connecting from here by killmenow · · Score: 1
  9. So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who the hell is 4chan, and why should I care?

    1. Re:So what? by exley · · Score: 1, Informative

      You should care becuase 4chan has been the source of all internet humor for several years now.

    2. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No it's just where the humor goes to die and be beaten to death. The problem is that most people don't see it until they're beating it to death.

    3. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should care becuase 4chan has been the source of all internet humor for several years now.

      And by "source" you mean that they just regurgitate crap from Something Awful?

    4. Re:So what? by The+Mighty+Buzzard · · Score: 1

      Exactly, AC should be rejoicing that we'll have to go back to actual humor instead of 4chan humor.

      --
      Violence is like duct tape. If it doesn't solve the problem, you didn't use enough.
    5. Re:So what? by Haymaker · · Score: 1

      I should hope not, if ALL of the internet humor comes from there I'm going home.

    6. Re:So what? by Megane · · Score: 1

      You misspelled "eBaum's World". Hope this helps!

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
  10. has the blocking stopped by Pretzalzz · · Score: 1

    Has the blocking stopped? Because I can't confirm this on Verizon DSL.

    1. Re:has the blocking stopped by Microlith · · Score: 5, Informative

      What the summary fails to note is that this -only- affects users of Verizon Wireless, namely DROID owners.

    2. Re:has the blocking stopped by eggoeater · · Score: 5, Informative

      Not mentioned in summary: this is only verizon wireless.
      http://status.4chan.org/


      ...

    3. Re:has the blocking stopped by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It seems to be just Version Wireless

    4. Re:has the blocking stopped by Friday · · Score: 1

      Hmmm, I can hit it from my DROID...

    5. Re:has the blocking stopped by Microlith · · Score: 2, Informative

      Make sure WiFi isn't connected, many people were reporting successes until they realized their DROID shifted over to a known WiFi connection...

    6. Re:has the blocking stopped by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 1


      Hmmm, I can hit it from my DROID...

      This not the DROID you are looking for.

      --
      Jumpstart the tartan drive.
    7. Re:has the blocking stopped by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I get 4chan.org just fine on my Motorola Droid on verizon wireless.

    8. Re:has the blocking stopped by AdmiralXyz · · Score: 2, Informative

      In upstate New York, I can access 4chan from my Droid just fine (over 3G).

      Why anyone would want to access 4chan is another matter.

      --
      Dislike the Electoral College? Lobby your state to join the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact.
    9. Re:has the blocking stopped by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just opened 4chan's boards on my Motorola Droid over VZW 3G with no problem whatsoever. :|

      Am I missing something?

    10. Re:has the blocking stopped by Friday · · Score: 2, Informative

      Good call. Forgot that WiFi was connected since it's automatic. No Go on 3G

    11. Re:has the blocking stopped by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You say that as if it matters to 4chan. This is not provocation to action. This is 4chan waiting for an excuse to act.

    12. Re:has the blocking stopped by ircmaxell · · Score: 4, Informative

      You can access a specific board? I cannot. The main page will come up, but when I try to go to a specific board, it fails...

      --
      If a man isn't willing to take some risk for his opinions, either his opinions are no good or he's no good
    13. Re:has the blocking stopped by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1


      Hmmm, I can hit it from my DROID...

      This not the DROID you are looking for.

      Don't cross the memes. This is /b/ we are talking about.

    14. Re:has the blocking stopped by trapnest · · Score: 1

      FYI This would effect any Verizon wireless device, unless it routes traffic through a proxy, like a blackberry.

    15. Re:has the blocking stopped by trapnest · · Score: 2, Informative

      The front page (www.4chan.org) isn't blocked, its the server that serves the boards (boards.4chan.org). Try http://boards.4chan.org/x/

    16. Re:has the blocking stopped by trapnest · · Score: 1

      Also not mentioned in the summery: only the boards server is blocked. (boards.4chan.org)

    17. Re:has the blocking stopped by StillNeedMoreCoffee · · Score: 1

      I have a BB Strorm, uses VWZ I just connected to www.4chan.org successfully, Maybe the block is off. (no wifi here)

    18. Re:has the blocking stopped by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My blackberry on the verizon network seems to be able to browse 4chan.org just fine. /shrug

    19. Re:has the blocking stopped by sanosuke001 · · Score: 1

      I can attest that boards.4chan.org does not resolve on my droid. no problem on my time warner cable connection

      --
      -SaNo
    20. Re:has the blocking stopped by SlayerofGods · · Score: 1

      FYI from the 4chan boards

      Note: Users with mobile browsers that proxy (BlackBerry, Opera) won't necessarily have issues accessing the boards.

      My blackberry connects fine as well.

      --

      Technology, the cause of and solution to all of life's problems.
    21. Re:has the blocking stopped by Tetsujin · · Score: 3, Funny

      FYI This would effect any Verizon wireless device, unless it routes traffic through a proxy, like a blackberry.

      Who would use a blackberry as a proxy? That just seems stupid.

      --
      Bow-ties are cool.
    22. Re:has the blocking stopped by Jackie_Chan_Fan · · Score: 1

      That explains why I can still access it on Fios.

    23. Re:has the blocking stopped by julesh · · Score: 1

      The main page will come up, but when I try to go to a specific board, it fails...

      Well, of course, we are talking about 4chan, right?

    24. Re:has the blocking stopped by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We are talking about boards.4chan.org not 4chan.org (so the mainpage is access able)

      http://boards.4chan.org/c/

    25. Re:has the blocking stopped by bensch128 · · Score: 1

      I have 4chan.org on my droid with no wi-fi. They must have unblocked it by now...

    26. Re:has the blocking stopped by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Using the older "Mobile Web" stuff here, and I could access specific boards this morning, but the built-in Verizon-run proxy said that there's no content on the front page.

    27. Re:has the blocking stopped by wmbetts · · Score: 1

      4chan users

      --
      "Ubuntu" -- an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me". - stolen from Dan C alt.os.linux.slackware
    28. Re:has the blocking stopped by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why the hell is it still typed DROID. Sure, that is what it says but do you say TETRIS, Tetris, or tetris? Capslock is stupid in general textual communication.

  11. Works From Here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was able to connect to boards.4chan.org from a Verizon FiOS connection.

    Sadly, it seems that I have contracted Syphilis.

    1. Re:Works From Here by BoppreH · · Score: 1

      Lucky.

    2. Re:Works From Here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's probably not from 4chan.
      From 4chan it'd be AIDS.

  12. I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by tiedyejeremy · · Score: 2, Informative

    While I don't agree with Verizon on principal, I can see why they might be tempted to block 4chan. No one wants underage porn on their networks.

    --
    Anything you say will be held against you. ... "tits"
    1. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by mdm-adph · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Are they also going to block email, then? How about filefront and megaupload?

      Because otherwise it's a hollow reason.

      Not that any reason for censorship isn't hollow.

      --
      It is by my will alone my thoughts acquire motion; it is by the juice of the coffee bean that the thoughts acquire speed
    2. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by e2d2 · · Score: 1

      Yeah no shit. It's like walking through a mine field navigating that site. No thanks. I'll stay here and let pedo-bear handle the censorship issues himself.

    3. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by exley · · Score: 1

      If you don't want that on your network then you don't become an ISP.

    4. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guess they must then ban YouTube too. More than once I have seen very suspicious looking porn there and they were even slower at removing it than 4chan usually is.

    5. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      in b4 pedobear

    6. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by tiedyejeremy · · Score: 1

      but megaupload is famous for circumventing the fascist regime known as the RIAA, not distributing kiddie porn. ;) I don't support ISP web filtering for any reason, I just said I could understand why they might be tempted.

      --
      Anything you say will be held against you. ... "tits"
    7. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by SilverEyes · · Score: 1

      More than once I have seen very suspicious looking porn there [YouTube]

      Just e-mail YouTube. They'll be lucky to have you search it out for them.

      --
      Interesting.
    8. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by scorp1us · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I don't know much about the #chans, but I don't think 4chan is the kiddie one. Infact the little #chan research I've done (after someone said to me:"You DONT piss off 4chan!", me:"WTF is 4chan?") was that 4chan expelled the kiddie porn people a while back, proving, that 4chan does have limits, which was news to me.

      --
      Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
    9. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by g0at · · Score: 1

      While I don't agree with Verizon on principal

      What about interest?

      b

    10. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by MichaelSmith · · Score: 1

      Yeah I find /s/ to be a pretty good source of porn. The s/n ratio is low but not the worst. I have never seen unambiguous CP there.

    11. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by DMUTPeregrine · · Score: 1

      That and the admins do delete reported kiddy porn, and try to ban the posters. Sadly, most of the posters are bots & just link to viruses that infect your PC with the same bot, so the bans tend to be ineffective.

      --
      Not a sentence!
    12. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then would it not make more sense to block 7chan?

    13. Re:I CAN HAZ KITTY PORN? by houghi · · Score: 1

      So Verizon is able to decide what is legal and what is not? Great. Instead of sueing some grandma for copyright theft for a few thousands, I can sue them for a few gazillions. If anything illegal gets true, I can sue them all over again. They better start working with a white list of sites that are OK.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  13. Build your bunkers people.. by Moheeheeko · · Score: 1

    ..te shitstorm is coming. And as this is 4chan so yes the shit in shitstorm is litteral.

    1. Re:Build your bunkers people.. by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 1

      ..te shitstorm is coming. And as this is 4chan so yes the shit in shitstorm is litteral.

      Litteral? Literal? So when te shitstorm comes, te kidz from 4chan (whatever that is) will literally be using feces for some purpose? Or does the misspelling of the word literal some how change its meaning in some way that I am not yet aware of? Te internet is litterally confusing te shit out of me. I'm so scared I can't build a bunker!

      --
      This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
    2. Re:Build your bunkers people.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have obviously never seen tubgirl.

    3. Re:Build your bunkers people.. by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 1

      I was going to make a joke that maybe the GP poster meant "littoral", but that ship has sailed.

    4. Re:Build your bunkers people.. by Tetsujin · · Score: 1

      I was going to make a joke that maybe the GP poster meant "littoral", but that ship has sailed.

      Come on, can't you look beyond the nitpicky little issues with the presentation of the message and consider the message itself? Honestly, you grammar nazis and your ad homonym* attacks...

      (* Sadly, "littoral" is a homophone of "literal", so the joke fails, I'm afraid. My research staff has been working around the clock to try and refine the "ad homonym" joke into something truly viable.)

      --
      Bow-ties are cool.
    5. Re:Build your bunkers people.. by An+ominous+Cow+art · · Score: 1

      You have countered my attempted joke with an ad humornym attack of your own. Well played.

  14. And nothing of value was lost. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Seriously, nothing of value was lost.

    1. Re:And nothing of value was lost. by flimflammer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Except free speech.

    2. Re:And nothing of value was lost. by trapnest · · Score: 1

      ...And I didn't speak up, because I was not a 4chan user.

  15. Only Wireless Customers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The ban seems to be on the Verizon Wireless network as people who have a wired connection seem to not be having any problems. At least that's what the comments in the Gizmodo article states.

  16. Misleading Summary by twidarkling · · Score: 5, Informative

    Moot himself said on the 4chan status blog that it's only Verizon Wireless from what they can tell.

    It should be interesting to see the fallout from this. 4channers aren't exactly the paragon of maturity.

    --
    Canada: The US's more awesome sibling.
    1. Re:Misleading Summary by ub3r+n3u7r4l1st · · Score: 1

      "4channers aren't exactly the paragon of maturity."

      compare that to myg0t, 4channers are probably lightyears behind.

    2. Re:Misleading Summary by kriston · · Score: 1

      Even the Slashdot moderators don't bother to RTFA.
      Dopes.

      --

      Kriston

    3. Re:Misleading Summary by RavenChild · · Score: 1

      http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/02/08/verizon-wireless-temporarily-blocks-some-4chan-traffic/

      Looks like it was only part of 4chan and the blocked parts are unblocked again. No news here.

    4. Re:Misleading Summary by houghi · · Score: 1

      4channers aren't exactly the paragon of maturity.

      I have an image of a 4channer who tried to get to his site: http://stuff.gmodsauce.com/FUUUUUUUUUUU.gif

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    5. Re:Misleading Summary by Angst+Badger · · Score: 1

      It should be interesting to see the fallout from this. 4channers aren't exactly the paragon of maturity.

      I confess that I don't get why Verizon would do this, except possibly cluelessness. While the 4chan crowd certainly overestimates its power, they have many times demonstrated that they can be a serious, long-term pain in the ass. Sure, no one will die, and no great fortunes will be lost, but still... why invite that level of aggravation?

      --
      Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
    6. Re:Misleading Summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It should be interesting to see the fallout from this. 4channers aren't exactly the paragon of maturity.

      Immature but efficient, it seems to work well for this day and age. I mean, imagine if you could ddos politicians, lobbyists and fast-tracked bills that go through congress, wouldn't you do it?

    7. Re:Misleading Summary by wye43 · · Score: 1

      Indeed, bad summary. Its also only one IP address, one that was actually scanning a large amount of devices - a preparation for an attack. This is not about censorship, its about an attack that was stopped. But yea, try telling that to people, they prefer the flamebait version of the story.

    8. Re:Misleading Summary by makomk · · Score: 1

      If by "part" you mean "all of it, except for the front page", then yes - they only blocked part of it.

  17. Got FIOS here ..and works fine. by zeil · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Not sure what all the whining is about as I dont look for underage porn.

    1. Re:Got FIOS here ..and works fine. by MikeDataLink · · Score: 0, Redundant

      I have FIOS business service and it works fine here too.

      --
      Mike @ The Geek Pub. Let's Make Stuff!
  18. Bad summary by Alcimedes · · Score: 3, Informative

    Granted it's /. so I don't expect anything else.

    The block is only in place for Verizon Wireless traffic, not all of Verizon's traffic.

    1. Re:Bad summary by RJHelms · · Score: 1

      ... and Feb 7 was a Sunday, not a Saturday.

    2. Re:Bad summary by benjymous · · Score: 1

      phew... I was wondering if I was in a timewarp there for a second...

      --
      Help me! I'm turning into a grapefruit!
  19. Shame about Verizon by Arancaytar · · Score: 1

    Nobody deserves what is going to happen to them.

    Although Verizon kind of does, after its service cancellation shenanigans.

    *grabs popcorn*

    In unrelated news, anybody know what happened to the Church of Scientology?

    1. Re:Shame about Verizon by trapnest · · Score: 1

      >In unrelated news, anybody know what happened to the Church of Scientology?
      Nothing at all.

    2. Re:Shame about Verizon by Arancaytar · · Score: 1

      Oh my god. These guys can't be for real...

      It's like with the Westboro Baptists. I keep waiting for someone to shout "You Have Been Trolled".

  20. 4chan working fine on FIOS in SE PA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As of now it is working fine just outside Philly.

  21. It's for the greater good, people by digitalsushi · · Score: 1

    There's no such thing as a "slippery slope" for you to fall down; this is to protect ourselves from egregious content. Surely as descent humans we can agree that, at times, you have to make a judgment call that affects other people. Finally, everything in this comment is 9000 times sarcastic.

    --
    slashdot: where everyone yells sarcastic metaphors to themselves to understand the issue
    1. Re:It's for the greater good, people by Tetsujin · · Score: 1

      Not over 9000?

      (or 8000 in the original Japanese...)

      --
      Bow-ties are cool.
    2. Re:It's for the greater good, people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just nine thousand? *phew* that was close!

  22. Subject to change without notice. by itomato · · Score: 2, Informative

    You acknowledge and agree that Verizon (a) is not responsible for invalid destinations, transmission errors, or the corruption of your data; and (b) does not guarantee your ability to access all websites, servers or other facilities or that the Service is secure or will meet your needs.

    So, the service doesn't meet your needs? FUUU

    1. Re:Subject to change without notice. by mariox19 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      (b) does not guarantee your ability to access all websites [...]

      That sounds more like a hold harmless clause to keep you from suing them if you aren't able to access your local radio station's Web contest because of Internet traffic or server failure on their part than it does a notification that they may at anytime decide to block a Web site.

      I think Verizon has done something wrong here. If they want to offer something more along the lines AOL's old walled garden, they can't advertise it as the Internet, or at the very least, they need to spell out their restrictions.

      When an ISP blocks your SMTP port to combat spam, somewhere in the agreement they spell this out. If they're going to reserve the right to block Web sites, they need to spell this out, too.

      --

      quiquid id est, timeo puellas et oscula dantes.

    2. Re:Subject to change without notice. by HungryHobo · · Score: 4, Informative

      you can be sure that somewhere in the agreement there's a section which boils down to "we reserve the right to do whatever we damned well please and are in no way obliged to do anything"

    3. Re:Subject to change without notice. by FlyingBishop · · Score: 5, Informative

      Which in no way protects them from a lawsuit.

    4. Re:Subject to change without notice. by crazycheetah · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't be surprised if it's somewhere in their contract that they can do this. When I read chunks of it a couple of years ago, there were a few unpleasant things in there. It used to have a clause saying you can't stream video or audio at all (specifically speaking of the contract with my phone at the time). Now, they don't stop me from using Pandora on my Droid, but I assume they changed that by now. Anyway, given that, I wouldn't be too surprised if it is spelled out in the fine print that a lot of people don't bother reading somewhere, at least that they reserve the right to block sites on their discretion. I don't actually know and don't care to sift through the damn contract right now, but there's just been a lot in their contracts over the years that a lot of people don't know anything about...

    5. Re:Subject to change without notice. by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 1

      Which in no way protects them from a lawsuit.

      Except from all the people who believe that it does...

      --
      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
    6. Re:Subject to change without notice. by mysidia · · Score: 1

      True, but that's where binding arbitration comes in.

  23. Mod parent up by langelgjm · · Score: 1

    I just visited 4chan from a FiOS connection without issues. The bold, red text across the top clearly says "Verizon Wireless."

    That said, I wonder what the reasoning was for blocking it on VZW, and what the outcome will be.

    --
    "Anyone who [rips a CD] is probably engaging in copyright infringement." - David O. Carson
  24. Works for me on the Droid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have no problems viewing 4chan on the Verizon network.

  25. Well... by Tei · · Score: 1

    I suppose next thing you do is run anoter apache in port 81...

    --

    -Woof woof woof!

    1. Re:Well... by Zapotek · · Score: 1

      If I'm not mistaken some browsers only POST on 80, 443 and 8080 ports...
      I *think* I've stumbled across that problem with Firefox a couple of years ago...
      Or my memory is playing tricks on me...can't be sure...

    2. Re:Well... by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Since the HTTP standard allows adding a port specifier to a URL (e.g. ":81", wouldn't any browser that doesn't allow a POST to an arbitrary port be considered non-conforming?

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    3. Re:Well... by santax · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Probably port 9001.

    4. Re:Well... by Zapotek · · Score: 1

      If what I said is true then I guess so...But as I said, I'm not sure...Maybe someone who has tried something similar recently can enlighten us...

    5. Re:Well... by trapnest · · Score: 1

      I ran an imageboard on a nonstandard port (10101 as I recall, I don't remember for sure but I know it absolutely was not port 80.) POST (and posting) worked just fine.

    6. Re:Well... by trapnest · · Score: 1

      Your point is still valid but FYI 4chan uses nginx.

    7. Re:Well... by Tetsujin · · Score: 1

      Probably port 9001.

      It's over 9000!

      ...Or 8000 in the original Japanese...

      --
      Bow-ties are cool.
  26. Works fine for me by dreamchaser · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm a FIOS customer and I can get to 4chan just fine at the moment.

    1. Re:Works fine for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm a DSL customer and can as well. You might notice that it's Verizon Wireless blocking access, not Verizon.

    2. Re:Works fine for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Same. Not that I really care for 4chan, but I can get to it. What a non-story this is.

    3. Re:Works fine for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's only the Verizon wireless service.

    4. Re:Works fine for me by Aaron5367 · · Score: 1

      I can confirm that boards.4chan.org is blocked from my Droid. I can access the rest of the site just fine though, not that I'd want to...

    5. Re:Works fine for me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, I am on FiOS in NY and have no problem accessing any part of 4chan, and didn't last night, either.

  27. Wouldn't want to work at Verizon support right now by ZankerH · · Score: 5, Funny

    "VERIZON YUO HAVE MADE POWERFULL ENIMEY
    ANONIMOUSE IS LEEGON"

    Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like yelling. Filter error:

  28. Re:Wouldn't want to work at Verizon support right by Zapotek · · Score: 1

    ROFL! Best way to bypass the filter...ever...

  29. Working 4hrs ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    I have verizon fios and was on the photography & wallpaper boards just this morning. I'm wondering if the ban is only for the 18+ boards?

  30. FiOS is not affected by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well since I posted this on Gizmodo I'll post it here too I guess...I live near Philadelphia and have Verizon FiOS and I have no problem whatsoever getting to 4chan or the /b/ boards. Other people were saying it only has to do with Verizon Wireless such as 3G modem cards. I'm not sure if that's the case but FiOS in the Philly area is definitely not affected (yet anyway).

    1. Re:FiOS is not affected by Risha · · Score: 1

      Yep, I just tried it myself (FiOS in the Philadelphia area). No problems. I luv you, FiOS.

  31. Off Topic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess 4chan just got modded -1, off topic on Verizon wireless.

    1. Re:Off Topic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah shit! I thought that whole topic would hide away as long as I set slashdot to ignore anything below 0... I mean, the whole damn thing is -1 Off topic...

  32. Rules of the Internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Rules 1 and 2, dudes.

    1. Re:Rules of the Internet by trapnest · · Score: 1, Troll

      Rules 1 and 2 only apply to raids, dude. (Also the rules are pointless since chanology.)

    2. Re:Rules of the Internet by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 1

      Never run out of Colt 45 and never forget rule #1?

      --
      Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
    3. Re:Rules of the Internet by soupforare · · Score: 1

      I'm not saying you can have a better time with Colt 45 than without it... but why take chances?

      --
      --- Do you believe in the day?
    4. Re:Rules of the Internet by trapnest · · Score: 1

      How is this a troll? ;_;

  33. Re:Wouldn't want to work at Verizon support right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, but the support calls will drop off around 5pm when all the kids parents come home, they won't have free range of the phones. Plus don't college kids have exams now?

  34. Definitely down on VZW by squish18 · · Score: 1

    On my laptop using a verizon PCMCIA cell card.... I can ping/load 4chan.org, pinging boards.4chan.org resolved DNS (to 204.152.204.174) but will not reply/load.

    --
    "Perennially barely legal"
    1. Re:Definitely down on VZW by orsty3001 · · Score: 1

      Can you get to their website using this? http://www.webproxyonline.info/ Just out of curiosity. It just like all online proxies will give you a banned message for CP but I'm just curious if it will get you to 4chan or not.

    2. Re:Definitely down on VZW by squish18 · · Score: 1

      Yes, I can access it using the proxy (or my work's proxy, for that matter...)

      --
      "Perennially barely legal"
  35. Obligatory article tag. by caladine · · Score: 3, Funny

    andnothingofvaluewaslost

    1. Re:Obligatory article tag. by 2obvious4u · · Score: 1

      except another piece of the internet to censorship, the question becomes what will they censor next?

  36. Just spoke with a manager by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    They told me it will be unblocked this evening.

  37. Wrong by Lifyre · · Score: 1

    I'm on Verizon Wireless and am surfing 4Chan.org right now... Perhaps it is a highly localized occurance or does /. have that much pull?

    --
    I'll meet you at the intersection of "Should be" and "Reality"
    1. Re:Wrong by Lifyre · · Score: 1

      Oh and no Wi-fi at work.

      --
      I'll meet you at the intersection of "Should be" and "Reality"
    2. Re:Wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I'm able to browse 4chan's forums just fine on my Droid while on Verizon's 3G network. No problems here, so I'm not sure what everyone else is experiencing.

    3. Re:Wrong by Microlith · · Score: 1

      As I inquired with another user, check the following:

      - You are on 3G via Verizon and not on a local Wifi AP.
      - You are going to an actual board and not just poking around the front page.

      Most reports of successful access turn to failure when those two conditions are met.

    4. Re:Wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >implying those are called forums and not imageboards

    5. Re:Wrong by Boinger69 · · Score: 1

      What phone/browser? Some browsers (blackberry , opera) use a proxy for image size reduction. Android (and afaik WinMo) connect directly and therefor cannot access it.

    6. Re:Wrong by Lifyre · · Score: 1

      Droid Eris on the default browser. I'm in the middle of nowhere so it could be something to do with that.

      --
      I'll meet you at the intersection of "Should be" and "Reality"
    7. Re:Wrong by SkankinMonkey · · Score: 1

      I spoke with a Verizon rep and they verified the block on 3 different devices before giving up and admitting they were blocking it. They tried with the Eris, Droid, and some blackberry device.

    8. Re:Wrong by Lifyre · · Score: 1

      Now I'm wondering if my phone can Roam off of someone elses network... That could potentially get expensive.

      --
      I'll meet you at the intersection of "Should be" and "Reality"
    9. Re:Wrong by zill · · Score: 1

      Since blackberry devices were never blocked, I suspect they successfully loaded /b/, saw some guro, and panicked. Then they fed you the shortest excuse possible to make you hang up.

    10. Re:Wrong by oldhack · · Score: 1

      YOU DO NOT question the might of slashdot.

      Or you may, possibly, be sorry. A bit.

      --
      Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
  38. Seems like they stopped the Block by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I heard about this yesterday, checked and it was indeed blocked on my DROID(worked on wi-fi, didn't work on 3G). I called up to complain, all I got was a complain filled in, but I just tried to access /g/ on 3G and it worked fine. I tried other boards to be sure and they all seemed to work fine. Might be related to me complaining, but at least it seems unblocked in the Seattle area.

  39. I call for the Streisand effect. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let the party begin!

  40. Yeah but which year? by IceFoot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...in effect for at least 72 hours since Saturday, February 7.
    (Looks at calendar, sees today is Monday February 8.)
    For 25 points, this happened to 4chan in WHICH YEAR?

    1. Re:Yeah but which year? by orsty3001 · · Score: 1

      Last year February 7th was on Saturday and 2004.

    2. Re:Yeah but which year? by soulsteal · · Score: 1

      Duh, it was 1981. Learn your history.

  41. Re:Wouldn't want to work at Verizon support right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    College kids? You, sir, do a grave disservice to today's collegiate youth! They are far too busy with real-world concerns, like drinking and reckless promiscuity to worry about some manner of tired jokes and regurgitated anime!

  42. Is all the hate really necessary? by Alamoth · · Score: 1

    4Chan is just a community. Sure it is full of immature people who participate in illicit and often illegal activity, but the last time I checked, Verizon is not the enforcers of Federal, State or Local law in any jurisdiction. If Verizon thinks that members of 4Chan are participating in illegal activities on American soil, then they are well within their rights (as far as I know) to present their information to the proper authorities who can then take action. Of course this will raise the usual "Your Rights Online" discussions about whether it is legal or a breech of privacy for Verizon to release that information. Nonetheless, you can't have Net Neutrality and then kick 4Chan off the internet. It just doesn't work that way (except in China).

    1. Re:Is all the hate really necessary? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Net Neutrality does not mean what you think it does. Nor was 4Chan being kicked off the Internet. Verizon Wireless was merely blocking connections with them for their own customers. Nobody else gave a crap.

    2. Re:Is all the hate really necessary? by DiamondGeezer · · Score: 1

      The way /b/ behaves on 4chan, eventually it will affect the rest of us.

      The difference between 4chan and Slashdot is that Slashdot knows the meaning of responsibility to the Internet community, to the people who depend on the Internet for unfiltered news and communication, who depend on software that isn't hacked or compromised. Not all slashdotters know or appreciate that fact. Its only a matter of time before someone (Stephen Conroy?) uses /b/ as an excuse to promote massive and intrusive filtering of the Internet **to protect the children**

      Spamming the shit out of Verizon might feel good to the pimple-squeezers of 4chan, but picking a fight with a large ISP like Verizon by DDOSing would be a disaster for the Internet.

      --
      Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
    3. Re:Is all the hate really necessary? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's say, for a minute, that carrying traffic to-from Verizon is definitely harmful to Verizon's network. Why shouldn't they be able to block it on those grounds?

      Nothing good, ever, has come out of that web site. I'm personally in favor of the guy who runs it -- whose name is known -- being arrested and sent to prison for a very long time for knowingly running a web site where illegal activity is allowed to flourish. Safe-Harbor provisions don't apply when you're acting in bad faith, after all -- the amount of "wink, wink, nudge, nudge, nothing to see here" going on over there regarding child pornography (actual children, not sexting teens), DDOS attacks, hacking attempts, physical and cyber stalking, etc. can't be ignored any more.

      I'm very, very glad that at least several "Anonymous" types who have been involved with DDOS attacks have been convicted. The Internet is no longer the Wild Wild West, and should never be again. Allowing it to be, and for groups like those from 4chan, to exist is bad for everyone. Even if they did nothing more than set up a logging trap, record IPs of everyone who visited /b/ at any given point in time, and go knocking on doors just to scare people a bit would go a long way.

    4. Re:Is all the hate really necessary? by russotto · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The difference between 4chan and Slashdot is that Slashdot knows the meaning of responsibility to the Internet community

      Don't fall into the trap of letting your opponents define what is "responsible". Once you do, it's not long before you're screaming that anyone who posts a certain hex number starting with 09 F9 is "irresponsible" and will be the cause of the authorities shutting down the Internet.

  43. there's an awesome dynamic there by circletimessquare · · Score: 2, Funny

    between your comment and your sig

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  44. VZW customers with Android phones have hope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There's an app ($1.99 in the market) called Chandroid /b/rowser which will allow you to get to 4chan on VZW, even though it's blocked otherwise. You're essentially paying for a browser formatted more for image boards and access to a proxy service.

  45. it's like freudian psychology by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Insightful

    4chan is the mindless id, verizon is the superego of executive function control. the superego attempts to suppress the id. but it will just comes out anyways, in some subconscious way, it always does. you can't kill something 4chan, it's immortal and undead. the mindless id always finds a way

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:it's like freudian psychology by Bragador · · Score: 1

      Please, Freud has as much to do with psychology as alchemists have with chemists.

    2. Re:it's like freudian psychology by jack2000 · · Score: 1

      You have me stunned sir. A very good analogy.

  46. Saturday, February 7 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    4chan's downtime for Verizon users has been in effect for at least 72 hours since Saturday, February 7.

    Has this been going on since Saturday, February 6, 2010; Sunday, February 7, 2010; or Saturday, February 7, 2009?

  47. NSFW!!!!!!! by wiggles · · Score: 2, Informative

    How about a NSFW tag for that site?? Some damn fine ads on that page.

    1. Re:NSFW!!!!!!! by u38cg · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People with five-figure uids are expected to be able to look after themselves ;)

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
    2. Re:NSFW!!!!!!! by julesh · · Score: 2, Informative

      How about a NSFW tag for that site??

      You hold your mouse over the link, it says 'encyclopediadramatica.com' in the status bar. Isn't that enough?

    3. Re:NSFW!!!!!!! by wiggles · · Score: 2, Informative

      Believe it or not, I've never heard of that site before today.

      All a 5-figure UID means is that I'm old enough to work for a living - I no longer have time to get to know every scummy site in the festering bowels of the internet...
       
      ...but I wish I did...

    4. Re:NSFW!!!!!!! by whydna · · Score: 1

      no they're not ;-P

  48. Blocked on the droid? by buckadude · · Score: 1

    I'm not blocked from going to 4chan on my droid... so whats this all about?

    1. Re:Blocked on the droid? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      its about 4chan being blocked by verizon

  49. Re:Nope analogy doesnt work. by StillNeedMoreCoffee · · Score: 1

    Its more like you have a 2 year locked in contract with an early withdrawal fee and that is your internet access, and it is being censored. Not unlike what China is doing. Its not like you can pick another phone or have the choice to. People are locked into their contracts. They don't tell you when you buy the unlimited Internet contract that well its unlimited time but only on the sites we think you should go to. Bait and switch I say.

  50. Slightly offtopic... by trapnest · · Score: 1

    I'll meet you at the intersection of "Should be" and "Reality"

    I tried to find you but those roads aren't even within a mile of each other...

    1. Re:Slightly offtopic... by Lifyre · · Score: 1

      I know right?

      --
      I'll meet you at the intersection of "Should be" and "Reality"
  51. For the uninitiated... by mathfeel · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Can someone illuminate me on why is 4chan so popular. I tried it a few time and it one of the most messy/unorganized message board.

    --
    The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the 'social sciences' is: some do, some don't
    1. Re:For the uninitiated... by horza · · Score: 0

      It's not popular, it's a pointless place where bored people hang out. But out of chaos sometimes art occurs. As mentioned, it spawned lolcats, rick-rolling, anti-scientology, and many Internet memes. Much like the Danish cartoon artist who has European governments groveling and apologising on his behalf for fear of upsetting Islamic fundamentalists, Verizon would rather sanitize the Internet into something they can control. I'm not an artist, and I think a lot of contemporary art is crap, but I won't deny they have an important place in society... the most important being to challenge it.

      Phillip.

    2. Re:For the uninitiated... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go to images.google.com and search for goatse, the answer is in there.

  52. That was quick! by Saint+Ego · · Score: 1

    My Verizon Droid sees boards.4chan.com w/o any issue...

    --
    Reality is prettier inside my head...
  53. What are they thingking? by LaminatorX · · Score: 1

    Whatever annoyances carrying traffic to/from 4chan may have been causing them, how can that possibly outweigh the stings they're going to get from poking the bees nest with a stick?

    1. Re:What are they thingking? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps this old quote will help:

      You COMPLETELY miss the point of /b/. /b/ is not Fark "oh hay guys i found a cute link ha ha." /b/ is not Slashdot's pseudo-intellectual discussion. /b/ is not LiveJournal, SuicideGirls, or HotOrNot. /b/ is a place for people to be monsters- the horrible, senseless, uncaring monsters that they really are.

      Tsunami owns the Asian continent and we laugh. Psychotic emo takes his sickness out on a cat and we laugh. People mutilate themselves for no appearant reason and we laugh. Suicide, homicide, genocide- we laugh. Racism, sexism, discrimination, xenophobia and baseless hate- we laugh. We are mindless "me-too"ism, we are irrational preference, we are pointless flamewars, we are the true face of the internet.

      4CHAN /b/
      Internet superheroes

  54. Re:LOL, John Murtha dead by mweather · · Score: 1

    I take it you're not an ex-marine, then.

  55. DDos via 3G on a mobile? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    hold on .. Verizon wireless is blocking access to 4chan.org via port 80 .. because um ..
    Droid users working on a 3G network were able to launch DDoS attacks on the TCP/IP address of a Verizon wireless server .. via, 3G rather than TCP/IP, and on a phone rather than a terminal?

    either the world has found its next Kevin Mitnick, or Verizon is full of crap.

  56. Anonymous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I guess I'm stuck posting here then.

  57. Welcome to /b/tardation: A Celebration. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hopefully with this I'm going to dispel a few myths, a few rumors.

    First off the /b/tarded don't rule the night, they don't rule it nobody does.

    They don't run in packs. While they may not be as strong as apes, Don't lock eyes with them don't do it, it puts them on edge. It might put them into berserker mode and they'll come at you like a whirling dervish, all fists and elbows

    You may be screaming no no no, but all they hear is 'who wants cake?'

    That's it for the celebration, I guess the most important thing to remember is they're just like you and me.

  58. Very little by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 1

    Their site got DDoS'd, for which there were arrests made. There was a video made about them, which can be added to the vast pile, and a few protests by people in Guy Fawkes masks. However the "church" (and I use that term lightly) is still going strong and has even sent people to Hatai to preach under the guise of helping.

    All in all, jack and shit happened. Operation Clambake has been far more effective at causing them trouble.

    If that's what 4chan can do, I doubt Verizon is scared. Please remember that DDoS's are more or less ineffective against Tier-1 provider. Their bandwidth is just massive, they ARE the Internet in a very real way. You just can't send enough data to effectively overwhelm their network, you'd overwhelm your own before then. Also they can strike back by simply shutting down ISPs that don't disconnect DDoSer's, effectively banning the ISP from a large portion of the net.

    So I really doubt much happens to Verizon. A DDoS or the like will be ineffective and should the idiots start taking it in to the real world and trying to throw bricks through windows or the like, well they'll quickly discover that is extremely easy to track and the police WILL bust you, especially when there's a big company pressuring them to do so.

    1. Re:Very little by Lehk228 · · Score: 1

      I saw some leaked CoS docs that indicated significant reductions in recruitment and revenue from the 4chan/Scientology war. Then again those could very well have been forgeries made by either side; the channers to rally the troops or the scientologists to get the channers to settle down thinking they "won"

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    2. Re:Very little by jack2000 · · Score: 1

      I guess Verizon would enjoy a huge amount of pizzas and free bibles.
      That and threatening phone calls to the CEOs houses.
      OH well...

  59. Hassen ijou da! by Tetsujin · · Score: 4, Informative

    Get it right, you can sue for OVER 9000! dollars.

    Or 8000, in the original Japanese...

    --
    Bow-ties are cool.
    1. Re:Hassen ijou da! by Arthur+Grumbine · · Score: 1

      With current exchange rates, I'll stick with the more popular meme.

      --
      Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
  60. There was one by billstewart · · Score: 1

    It was just spelled "4chan"....

    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
  61. ToS != Law by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The terms of service may not even be legal. It's just a bunch of stuff someone wrote.

  62. Well... by SkankinMonkey · · Score: 1

    I don't access 4chan but I am on the phone with their tech support voicing my displeasure with their filtering of my internet. Verizon offers parental access controls that should be more than enough. Unfortunately, their rank and file support guys knows nothing about this and you end up running in circles getting a straight answer.

  63. Serendipity by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    By coincidence, thousands of parents who use Verizon for their internet access have noticed, for the past several days, that their email downloads and web page visits have inexplicably sped up ten-fold.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  64. Perhaps it's a reciprocal ban by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've never been to 4chan so I went to check it out, and here is the response I got -

    "
    You are banned! ;_;
    Banned You have been permanently banned from all boards for the following reason:

    Personal information (phone number)/call to invasion, proxy

    Your ban was filed on May 30th, 2008. This ban will not expire.

    According to our server, your IP is: 72.25.xx.xx. The name you were posting with was Anonymous.

    Your appeal was reviewed and denied. You may not appeal this ban again.
    "

    Permanent bans of dynamic IP's doesn't exactly display a level of l337 that I would fear!

  65. that's not now the quote goes by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Funny

    the correct quote is

    "First they came for 4chan, and I did not speak out--because I was looking at boobies;
    Then they came for fark, and I did not speak out--because I was looking at boobies;
    Then they came for slashdot, and I did not speak out--because I was looking at boobies;
    Then they came for the boobies-and I started building truckbombs, mailing anthrax, and hijacking airplanes."

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  66. /s. by egork · · Score: 1

    ./s

    or something.

  67. andnothingofvaluewaslost by spyder-implee · · Score: 1

    Except your basic human rights.

    --
    Take what ye can. Give nothing back!
    1. Re:andnothingofvaluewaslost by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh, it's a company blocking a site which is a huge legal liability, what with all the child porn, hacking attempts, and copyright infringement. I'm pretty sure your "basic human rights" are still intact.

      P.S. way to devalue our human rights by equating them with access to that putrid wasteland

    2. Re:andnothingofvaluewaslost by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      You couldn't be more blind with a blindfold on.

      If this attempt is successful, then what's to stop them from going after something else? And then something else? And then something else... and if there's something out there on the net that they don't like then why not hire someone to place something offensive on it under the table and then... get rid of it! That's how you effectively silence competition, and it all starts with getting rid of the "bad stuff."

      Move on from there to silencing attempts to defend yourself against a mega-corporation/government when they have legitimately wronged you (or even if you are in the wrong, since the constitution still gives us the right to fair representation in this country, even criminals) and you have mass censorship. We share our rights with a lot of assholes, but that doesn't devalue the rights themselves. Their rights are your rights, and taking them away from them is effectively stripping yourself of them.

  68. I can see the AT&T rebuttal commercials now.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Tired of crappy 4C(han) coverage?, get real 4C(han) coverage with AT&T."

  69. 4chan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My firewall classifies 4chan as Porn. If Verizon is using a category blocker, it maybe that it is simply classified in a similar way.

  70. why the hell is this modded up? by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Insightful

    some anonymous coward says he spoke with someone and the problem will be fixed?

    well i just rang up obama and he said we'll have belgian style socialist waffles for every man, woman and child in this country in time for midterm elections

    oh, that's absurd?

    but you just modded an anonymous yahoo "informative" on the same fucking criteria

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:why the hell is this modded up? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      mmm.... waffles. :-)

    2. Re:why the hell is this modded up? by Paradigm_Complex · · Score: 1

      Well, consider, if it wasn't Anonymous, I'd be less likely to believe s/he genuinely had enough interest in 4chan to place such a call, no?

      --
      "A witty saying proves nothing." - Voltaire
  71. I think email Port 80 blocked for STMP by I_Voter · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I have Verizon DSL, and I seem to remember that they block port 80 for pop email. They claim it is an anti-spam action, and that many email providers do it. That may have something to do with this claimed problem

  72. doubtful by Weezul · · Score: 1

    It may fall afoul of network neutrality rules, but probably doesn't violate their terms of service, and they might have picked 4chan just to make the network neutrality rules seem "anti-children".

    If your a Verizon customer however, you should cancel their service insisting upon not paying early termination fees, and notifying your bank that Verizon is no longer allowed to deduct money from your account. You may need to threaten to bad mouth them all over the internet and/or sue them in small claims court before they lay off the fees of course.

    --
    The Christian religion has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. -- Bertrand Russell
  73. Arise... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh collective consciousness of the Internet, arise

    Towards the Verizon at the horizon

    Strike swift and hard to their surprise

    With DDOS on their ASS

    Show them the reason for the season

    So they may commit no treason.

  74. thank you for posting this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    in a couple of months or so i'm finally getting my first phone, thanks to this article there's one less provider i need to look at...

  75. Forever blocking email/SMS by bwave · · Score: 1

    Why does this surprise anyone? They randomly blocked our mail server from sending SMS messages, even though we are on no blacklists, have SPF & SNDS setup, etc. It's impossible to get through to them (anyone have a good email/phone contact) and we finally got someone at Verizon Wireless to fight through the red-tape and get us restored, even though they swear they didn't change anything it started working after days of complaining, and dozens of angry firefighters calling them (we do text messaging for multiple fire departments) They've done this many times to our email server as well. I still love how Verizon/Comcast block Port 25 thinking that moving to a new port will do anything to truely stop spam.

  76. Time to dig down /b/ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Ignore all the cries of andnothingofvaluewaslost, 4chan is a valuable part of the Internet culture, like slashdot and hotmail... even geocities.

    Also, all the people quoting "At first they came for" are also right, you can't expect freedom to be there free of charge forever.

    So this specific event isn't real censorship, it only covers droid users, and will probably only be temporary.

    The problem is that this demonstrates how fragile the system has grown. It was supposed to withstand a nuclear holocaust, but corporate AND government interest in controlling it will ultimately harm freedom of speech for everyone.

    And you can't expect your ISP and your government to protect your freedom.

    The solution? Tor, FreeNET, etc,

    E-mail encription has been a reality for years yet few people use it etc,

    We are not soldiers, we are developers, sysadmins, Internet users, geeks, husbands, fathers, brothers, sons (wives, mothers, sisters, daughters).

    Regardless if you like 4chan or not or whether this turns out to be real censorship or a mistake, take this opportunity to consider if you are educating others about secure options for information transmission/storage, etc.

    Cryptography protects you better the more people uses it.

  77. If 4chan dies, people will simply chat elsewhere by Bragador · · Score: 1
    If 4chan dies, there will be plenty of alternatives out there that will take its place. So don't be fearful of the corporations. They are always too slow to adapt.

    http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/List_of_*chan_boards

  78. Verizon Wireless, not Verizon by WidescreenFreak · · Score: 3, Informative

    Verizon Wireless. I attempted to access it over my VZW phone. No go. On my FiOS connection, there is no problem. People tend to forget that Verizon and Verizon Wireless are separate entities as Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Verizon Communications and Vodafone.

    --
    The Overrated mod is for reversing inappropriate, positive mods, not for voicing disagreement with a post.
  79. yes: alchemy is the basis for modern chemistry by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Insightful

    there would be no modern chemistry if it were not for the foundational inquiries of alchemists

    likewise, there would be no modern psychology without the insights and work of sigmund freud

    show some respect for your history. what you believe in today is superior to what they believed in the past. but you wouldn't believe in what you do today if they didn't believe in what they believed in the past. likewise, in a thousand years, some arrogant kid will snort at your brutal crude understanding and beliefs as well. apparently, with all the progress we've made in rationality and science, we still haven't cured arrogance and disrespect

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:yes: alchemy is the basis for modern chemistry by Bragador · · Score: 1

      The problem is that some people still believe in psychoanalysis and it is still being taught in certain classes as science while psychoanalysis can't be tested.

      For example, how can you test if the Oedipus complex is real or not in kids? Well, if you see a 5yo boy competing with his father for the attention of his mother, a psychoanalyst would say it's a good proof. On the other hand, if the boy would go towards his father, instead of disproving the whole thing, the psychoanalyst would say: "Oh, well, he clearly is repressing the whole thing".

      You can't disprove psychoanalysis and yet it is still popular with the public and it is also why many think psychology is not serious.

    2. Re:yes: alchemy is the basis for modern chemistry by Kattspya · · Score: 1

      What valid insights did Freud have?

      How can you even know his net contribution is positive? If people didn't even think about psychology until the 50's and then started with the scientific method I'd bet we would have come a lot further than we have. There are still people practicing psychodynamics FFS.

  80. Re:LOL, John Murtha dead by I(rispee_I(reme · · Score: 0, Troll

    It is my understanding that there is no such thing as an ex-Marine: Once the Corps strips one's indentity and fills one with subservience, one is an unthinking drone forevermore. This is partially due to the intensity of the Marine Corps' boot camp; its victims feel obliged to assign a nobility to their suffering, rather than believe that they have suffered needlessly.

    For more information, click here to read about cognitive dissonance.

    We now return you to your regularly scheduled /. thread, already in progress...

    I am anxious to see whether Verizon backpedals sooner or later. Also, ISP's should have no say in whether or not they are common carriers, since they obviously meet the definition of same.

  81. freud's ideas were important by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    to the formation of modern psychology

    of course they are bullshit and of course some people still erroneously believe them

    as if that nullifies my point: freud's ideas were important to the formation of modern psychology

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:freud's ideas were important by Bragador · · Score: 1

      Oh, yes yes... It was important to the formation of modern psychology. I simply didn't like "Freudian psychology". It makes people think it is psychology while it is in fact psychoanalysis. Since alchemy is not a part of chemistry, I used that in my earlier reply to make that point.

  82. 4chan is NOT blocked to verizon fios users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I had no problem getting there. I have never heard of this site before.

  83. Re:LOL, John Murtha dead by SpaceCadets · · Score: 1

    I thought there was no such thing as an ex-Marine... 'once a Marine, always a Marine'.

  84. Yes, FiOS is a phone service by SpammersAreScum · · Score: 1

    Actually, FiOS offers all of phone, internet and TV, though there may areas where TV is not an option.

  85. Re:Nope analogy doesnt work. by mysidia · · Score: 1

    If you can prove Verizon blocked the site that worked during your 30 day trial period, you can probably use the opportunity to cancel the contract, due to significant modifications to the terms of the service

    Maybe it was supposed to be 2 years, but them changing the service makes it end early.

  86. Verizon is unblocking them. by santax · · Score: 1

    At least that what's up on 4chan now: Verizon Wireless should be unblocking us later today/tomorrow... (message from Moot) Maybe they realized whom they had blocked by reading the comments here?

  87. Not Blocked Now by hduff · · Score: 1

    Verizon FIOS has not blocked 4chan here.

    --
    "I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
  88. Just checked by OrwellianLurker · · Score: 1

    I have Verizon and it isn't blocked for me.

    --
    'Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.' - Mao Tse-tung
  89. Re:LOL, John Murtha dead by GNUALMAFUERTE · · Score: 1

    Dude, sorry! Replying here to undo moderation. I'm a fucking asshole. Meant to mod you insightful, clicked on troll.

    BTW: I support your post 100%.

    --
    WTF am I doing replying to an AC at 5 A.M on a Friday night?
  90. www.hidemyass.com by bizitch · · Score: 1

    proxy around the stupid ISP - sheesh

    --
    ---- "Logoff! That cookie shit makes me nervous!" - A. Soprano
  91. 4chan is... slashdot is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Slashdont is a communal blog ran by a dozen or so seemingly incompetent authors. Intriguingly enough, there was a day when slashdot was regarded as a relevant, respected nerd site with plenty of interesting and useful items. Now it seems the editor's major role is to find news articles from other sites that will generate huge amounts of comments resulting in, of course, more page views to sell advertising. Present-day slashdot is simply another shitty site, not unlike livejournal, with the caliber of a group of fatties with Assburger Syndrome. Slashdot is the largest home on the internets for trolls and whores (see trolltalk).
    Note: do not try to find slashfic on slashdot
    Contents [hide]
    1 Users on slashdot
    2 Articles on slashdot
    2.1 Examples of Idiocy
    3 Moderation System
    3.1 Problems with moderation system
    3.2 Admins
    4 Whacking it to /.
    5 Noteworthy slashdot personalities
    6 Slashdot trolling
    7 Tips
    8 Compare against
    9 See also
    10 External links
    Users on slashdot

    Typical slashdot user.
    99% of slashdot users have been self-diagnosed as suffering from Asperger's Syndrome, many with comorbid USI or other disorders. Most slashdot users consider themselves "smart," when in fact they are simply of average intelligence but have more free time and fat egos. This can be seen in the forums, where spelling and usage errors are prevalent in condescending, arrogant rants, identified by containing the phrase "people are stupid" at some point in the post.
    The majority of slashdot's userbase is composed of fat, white, goateed cubicle-shit. Statistically, a "slash-bot" is much more likely to spend his whole life being as unpopular as he was in high-school. The facts directly contradict the typical nerd comeuppance fantasy, where the awkward and unattractive grow up to rule the world, and their popular, seemingly "less intelligent" tormentors wind up pregnant, in prison or selling shoes at the mall. In reality, the bullies wind up in college on sports scholarships, and go on to study economics, law or at least sociology. Nerds tend to have poor job prospects: their skill sets frequently clash with market realities (for every Bill Gates there exist thousands of Best-Buy lifers), and their social lives dismally revolve around their junior-college anime club, wearing stupid costumes, and a monogamous relationship with a fat bitch. Nine out of ten slashdot users will contend with structural unemployment and degrading service-sector jobs for the rest of their lives. The other one will see the light and join the GNAA out of sheer frustration from the idiocy the Slashdot culture exhibits.
    Articles on slashdot

    Each new article provides a follow-up forum where Slashdot users can provide their own commentary. When slashdot was smaller and populated by the elite, the forums were self-moderated. As time went on, slashdot attracted a much younger and lower educated set of readers in addition to its original core. Because of the sheer volume of posts and the complete ease with which a troll could dominate a forum, slashdot started a moderation system to rate comments and associate those with slashdot users.
    Examples of Idiocy
    Articles like this and this are the reason slashdot is no longer taken seriously.
    Moderation System

    The Slashot moderation system was designed to raise good posts and denigrate poor ones. Its simplicity has been its downfall. It has been mostly successful at removing first post and crap floods, but rather than discourage trolling, it has elevated it to an art form. By relying on a point system (named, without irony, "karma") it provides a built-in scoring mechanism. A comments karma score can range from -1 to +5. Competing trolls can grade themselves as easily as a baseball game.
    Problems with moderation system
    Whores are more common on slashdot than trolls. The communal nature of granting and removing karma by the users is anti-authoritative and actively discourages people with real knowledge about a subject from discuss

  92. Congressmen! They would be lucky to survive. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd beat every one of them to within an inch of his/her life.

  93. Verizon has FAR money? by ElboRuum · · Score: 1

    Is this a meme?

  94. Mods on crack by Magic5Ball · · Score: 1

    It seems that at least two mods think VZW did the right thing here by covering up. Interesting.

    I'm also surprised that VZW's end user wireless hardware would remain vulnerable to UDP attacks.

    --
    There are 1.1... kinds of people.
  95. Recommend? Nice of you to ask. by symbolset · · Score: 1

    What do you recommend?

    Cantenna, of course. Because free speech can't be anonymous if they have your billing address.

    Helpful folks can also assist by hooking up an open WAP to a nice long range antenna.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  96. Verizon has already relented. by symbolset · · Score: 1

    4chan is a bunch of bitches compared to Verizon.

    Verizon: Nothing to see here. Please move along.

    At no time was 4Chan itself blocked. Ongoing network security team monitoring has now determined there is no longer an immediate threat. Connectivity to those sites is being restored later today.

    Link stolen from up the thread, so no informative mods for me.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  97. The motivation for doing this was obvious. . . by R3coiler · · Score: 1

    Some Verizon exec finally got sick of being Rickrolled, and he decide to take out his wrath on the closest manifestation of the internet he could find. FWIW, this is also why Youtube is blocked in China.

  98. shenanigans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I wanted to make a ton of people go to my website, I would just post a blog somewhere claiming AT&T or Verizon blocked access to it and watch 500k users "test" it from their connection. Not only that: there is a LOT of misinformation and FUD here. What Verizon's statement is saying (http://policyblog.verizon.com/BlogPost/697/ProtectingOurCustomersandOurNetwork.aspx) is that specific IPs were SMS flooding Verizon wireless users. Verizon's *wireless* business unit blocked the attacking IP addresses to protect their customers until the attacks stopped, just like every single slashdotter and 4chaner wishes their ISP would do for them if they were being attacked. The only difference is the magnitude of Verizon's network makes this decision felt on a wider scale. At the end of the day; though, Verizon is a business, and is legally entitled to protect itself and its customers who help it to generate revenue. They are, by no means, obligated to be a victim of inbound attacks simply because it means you have to miss "Caturday" one time. They didn't say anything about a DDoS attack, or any specific port or protocol being blocked (except for maybe IPv4), nor did they make any attempt at content filtering against anyone who pays for a route through their network.

  99. I call shenanigans on 4chan by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I wanted to make a ton of people go to my website, I would just post a blog somewhere claiming AT&T or Verizon blocked access to it and watch 500k users "test" it from their connection. Not only that: there is a LOT of misinformation and FUD here. What Verizon's statement is saying (http://policyblog.verizon.com/BlogPost/697/ProtectingOurCustomersandOurNetwork.aspx) is that specific IPs were SMS flooding Verizon wireless users. Verizon's wireless business unit blocked the attacking IP addresses to protect their customers until the attacks stopped, just like every single slashdotter and 4chaner wishes their ISP would do for them if they were being attacked. The only difference is the magnitude of Verizon's network makes this decision felt on a wider scale. At the end of the day; though, Verizon is a business, and is legally entitled to protect itself and its customers who help it to generate revenue. They are, by no means, obligated to be a victim of inbound attacks simply because it means you have to miss "Caturday" one time. They didn't say anything about a DDoS attack, or any specific port or protocol being blocked (except for maybe IPv4), nor did they make any attempt at content filtering against anyone who pays for a route through their network.

  100. The sad thing about tyranny by symbolset · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The sad thing about tyranny is that it's never necessary to submit to the tyrant. It's a voluntary thing often done in little steps for pragmatic reasons.

    But this is the Internet and Anonymous does not have to submit to the tyranny of censorship. They don't have to be pragmatic. They don't have to (and can't!) negotiate. They are everywhere and nowhere. Some among them control vast swaths of the network in official and unofficial capacities. They have sympathizers and informants everywhere. They can accidentaly retire your domain, your IP space, your SSL certificate, without fear of consequence.

    The corporation and its property employed in censorship is an instrument of tyranny and "in play". Its personnel are uniformed combatants engaged in pressing the fight and the higher in the tree they are the greater their responsibility. Censorship is tyranny and Anonymous is willing to take arms against it - it's that simple. They're not going to hurt anybody but they can wreck some business and they have wrecked some equipment. They've been known to uncover skeletons in the closets of their opposition and they can be quite resourceful in that regard. They are not the mainstream press, which casts its gaze the other way to get continued access to the play.

    Anonymous doesn't have to filter their content to play. They're the pimp that supplied the hookers, the pusher that sold the coke to your aide (hell, Anonymous probably is your aide), the concierge that arranged for the gerbil, the maid that cleaned the room. They were the camera men and edit team for your reminiscence porn. They're the crew of the boat, the doctor that prescribed the cocktail, the bartender, the barmaid, all three hookers including the trangender dwarf. They're your accountant, your divorce lawyer, your shrink, your family counselor and your confessor. They sold you the condoms and ordinarily that's no business of theirs - but dick with them and your wife will find out with the rest of the world but the trail will never lead back to anyone in a traceable way unless it's good for a six-figure book deal.

    Yes, it's an asymmetric engagement - that's how low intensity conflicts are fought these days. The corporations have their battalions of lawyers, their purchased senators and congressmen. They have their sheriffs and judges, their warrants and seizure laws. The array of legal means is the baton of oppression. Each individual anonymous, however, can rise perhaps only to the level of midemeanor in his civil disobedience and given their bulk bring down the mightiest corporation or its political tool.

    Anonymous has their technology, their anonymity, their will, their access and their mass. This is a Cyber war. They've embraced Patton's admonition "The point is not to die for your country, the point is to make the other poor bastard die for his." The only way to be captured in a cyber war is to express incompetence, so they have no pity for the fallen. Their enemy is a lifeless, soulless corporation, so they have no pity for it either.

    Yes, it's an asymmetric battle, and the outcome is certain. Your moral plea is nothing more than the tears of the wife of a vanquished Caesar: "It's not fair! The slaves don't know their place!" What you don't realize is that the proper place for a corporation that won't serve its customer is the dustbin of history.

    "Looking back upon his handling of the incident, Roosevelt thought he 'never saw a bluff carried more resolutely through to the final limit.' And writing to a friend a few days later, he observed: 'I have always been fond of the West African proverb: "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far." ' "

    - Theodore Roosevelt

    So it is that from time to time Anonymous must shake their stick at the world to prove they are still vital. It's not wise to volunteer to be the one they shake their stick at.

    I don't even like the cha

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
    1. Re:The sad thing about tyranny by Da_Biz · · Score: 1

      What you don't realize is that the proper place for a corporation that won't serve its customer is the dustbin of history.
      ^^^THIS

  101. Re:Wouldn't want to work at Verizon support right by meringuoid · · Score: 1

    "Hi, is that Verizon tech support? Yeah. I have a problem. You see, I was just playing Battletoads online and..."

    --
    Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
  102. Re:Recommend? Nice of you to ask. by tepples · · Score: 1

    Helpful folks can also assist by hooking up an open WAP

    Lately, it's been hard to find an open WAP in my area. So how do I negotiate with these "helpful folks" to obtain the WPA2 keys for use of their networks? (I have a diagnosed socialization disability.) And what happens once the ISPs of these "helpful folks" start blocking important sites as well?

  103. There's a map for that by tepples · · Score: 1

    I'm not yet ready to move to a city in CLEAR's coverage area. Please see my more detailed eply to dwillden.

  104. Look... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The people you are after are the people you depend on.

    We cook your meals.
    We haul your trash.
    We connect your calls.
    We drive your ambulances.
    We guard you while you sleep.

    Do not fuck with us.

  105. Who really cares? by ImYourVirus · · Score: 1

    by it's users

    And will all those children be allowed to come to the court by themselves, because I seriously doubt their parents are going to take off of work so they can " get the favorite website unblocked ".

    At any rate though, I don't know what they are talking about, I checked and it's up for me, maybe the summary should have specified which leg of their network they are blocking it on.

    --
    Why is common sense called that if it's not common?
  106. Problem's solved, Verizon will unblock 4chan. by DaVince21 · · Score: 1

    From the 4chan status blog:

    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.

    --
    I am not devoid of humor.
  107. everything's fine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm getting through fine on my Verizon Storm.

  108. so what you're saying is by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    if history didn't happen the way it did then history wouldn't happen the way it did?

    radical insight dude!

    as if you can remove the quirky personalities from history and history would be devoid of quirky personalities. some other quirky personality would have influenced history

    history is not some static process that happens like clockwork. there is no such thing as "started with the scientific method I'd bet we would have come a lot further than we have". hilarious and laughable

    this is arguing after the fact that psychology proved to be an important field of study. no one knew that at the time. like if there was no freud some yahoo would have came along and said "lets invest thousands of minds in strict scientific rigor in this odd subject of inquiry now because this field is going to be important, i know it, and you can all trust me about that." yeah right

    no one knows what will be important or not before it is important or not. no one goes "don't let the german economy crash because it will lead to german outrage and sow the seeds for the rise of hitler" or "don't let this weird guy marx write a book, it will introduce this bad idea called communism." people write "important" treatises all the time. a tiny few wind up being the basis for major advances in philosophy, 99% wind up being obscure forgotten and useless. no one knows beforehand. no one sees big important aspects of history coming beforehand

    the initial groundwork for psychology became important when another strange austrian made a speculative thought process, that was intriguing to other minds, like jung, and they had friendly chats, and some others followed up on the thinking, however unscientific and bizarre at times, and they grew something more rigorous and even more important, and so was swaned a major field of thought. that's the way it worked, and that's the way it also worked when isaac newton saw an apple fall or darwin stared deeply at galapagos finch beaks: quirky dudes having quirky thoughts opening up massively important fields of inquiry. and no one sees it coming

    history very much was, is, and always will be, influenced in jumps and starts by certain unique individuals who impart some of themselves in the initial work, because at the time, it is usually the realm of only a few strange obsessives to pour so much of themselves into a dark corner. then others follow

    freud is important to the development of modern psychology. fact. deal with it. why is it so hard for you to accept this?

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:so what you're saying is by Kattspya · · Score: 1

      You draw lots of inferences from my post that was in no way my intention. I'm not sure you're a lousy reader or I'm a lousy writer but I don't feel like explaining myself further as that question is less important than the question you failed to answer.

      Lots of text but no answers. Am I to conclude that you don't think that freud contributed a single sliver of correct knowledge to the field of psychiatry?

      If you believe that, why do you consider him to be anything but a hindrance that bogged down psychiatry with incorrect knowledge?

  109. Re:Recommend? Nice of you to ask. by symbolset · · Score: 1

    Cantennas can have a range of over 1 kilometer even if you build one yourself. The engineered commercial model should do better than that. How remote is your area? There should be a friendly person somewhere in that range unless you're way out in the sticks. You do have to spend some time aiming it though. You run the antenna cable through a wall to an exterior mount (grounded!) that holds the cantenna. Scan for networks, turn it a couple degrees and try again and mark the finds on the base. Engineering geeks would of course put the thing on a remote antenna rotator. You can also use an antenna amplifier, a high-gain parabolic directional antenna or high-gain omnidirectional antenna to extend the range to several kilometers. The record is 304 kilometers, but that requires special equipment and cooperation at both ends.

    Me, I can get three open WAPs from inside my house with the standard laptop wifi but that's not anonymous enough.

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  110. there's a lot of arrogance in your comments by circletimessquare · · Score: 1

    and ignorance of plain old history

    and you have a massive chip on your shoulder about freud for some reason

    whatever, the intellectual charity ends here for you

    have a good one

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:there's a lot of arrogance in your comments by Kattspya · · Score: 1

      I have asked these things:

      1. Did Freud contribute any valid insights?

      A question you have completely ignored. I'm asking because I don't know of a single thing he came up with that is supported by science.

      2. How can you even know if his net contribution is posititve?

      I.e. how can you know about the variables of history without access to parallel universes. If Freud's "insights" are not important today. It follows that they were incorrect or unprovable at the time he made them up (unless the species is a lot different). If that is the case, how can one be certain or even think it likely he had a net contribution to the field?

      The speculation about what could have happened without Freud was about the worst case (maybe not now that I think about it) scenario I could imagine with his absence. I.e. that Psychology as a field wouldn't even be thought of until some ridiculous time later. The more probable outcome is that some quack would have made shit up and we'd have to spend most of the 20th century removing shit from the field rather than adding to it. Kind of what happened in our history.