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Verizon Blocking 4chan

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the and-nothing-of-value-was-lost dept.

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."

136 of 677 comments (clear)

  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 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
    2. 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.


      ...

      --
      $7.95/mo, 200 GB disk, 2TBxfer, MySQL, PHP, RoR.
    3. 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.
    4. 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/

    5. 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.

    6. 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.

    7. 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?

    8. 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.

    9. 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.
    10. 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...

    11. 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
    12. 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."
    13. 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.
    14. 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

    15. 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
    16. 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

    17. 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.
    18. 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.
    19. 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!

    20. 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

    21. 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. :|
    22. 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?

    23. 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.

    24. 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.

    25. 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
    26. 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
    27. 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.

    28. 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.

    29. 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
    30. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by Boinger69 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Volume and relative anonymity.

    31. 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.

    32. 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
    33. 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
    34. 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.)

    35. 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
    36. 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.
    37. 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?

    38. 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.

    39. 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.

    40. 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."
    41. 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"

    42. 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.

    43. 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.
    44. 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
    45. 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".

      --
      My webcomic
    46. 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.
    47. 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.
    48. 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
    49. 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.

    50. 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.

    51. 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.

    52. 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
    53. Re:DOOMED I say... DOOMED! by denmarkw00t · · Score: 4, Funny

      it would be a moot point.

      I herd u liek mudkipz

    54. 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)

    55. 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.

    56. 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?

    57. 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.

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

      Canada.

    59. 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.
    60. 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.

    61. 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
    62. 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?

    63. 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.
    64. 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.
    65. 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.

  2. 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 the+roAm · · Score: 4, Informative

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

      --
      ~The roAm
    2. 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.

    3. 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.
    4. 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
    5. 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.

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

      I'd settle for 10! dollars.

      --

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

    7. 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?

    8. 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.

  3. 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.
  4. 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 SilverEyes · · Score: 4, Insightful

      On the other hand, this is 4chan.....

      Exactly. 4chan is blocked, and nothing of value was lost.

      --
      Interesting.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.

    5. 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.
    6. 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...

    7. 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.

    8. 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.
    9. Re:I feel split in this matter by netdur · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Says Tom Cruise

      --
      "Steve Jobs invented the world" -- Bill W. GATES
    10. 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.

    11. 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."

    12. 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.

    13. 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.

    14. 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.

    15. 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.

    16. 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.
    17. 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'.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.

  10. 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.

  11. Re:has the blocking stopped by eggoeater · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not mentioned in summary: this is only verizon wireless.
    http://status.4chan.org/


    ...

    --
    $7.95/mo, 200 GB disk, 2TBxfer, MySQL, PHP, RoR.
  12. 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.

  13. 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.

  14. 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:

  15. 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...

  16. 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.
  17. Rules of the Internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Rules 1 and 2, dudes.

  18. Obligatory article tag. by caladine · · Score: 3, Funny

    andnothingofvaluewaslost

  19. Just spoke with a manager by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    They told me it will be unblocked this evening.

  20. 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

  21. 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.
  22. 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
  23. 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?

  24. 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
  25. Re:And nothing of value was lost. by flimflammer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Except free speech.

  26. 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/

  27. 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
  28. 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...

  29. 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
  30. 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.
  31. 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.
  32. 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
  33. 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
  34. 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.
  35. 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
  36. 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.