Slashdot Mirror
Yahoo Blocked Emails About Wall Street Protests
itwbennett writes "People trying to email information about the Wall Street protests on Monday using Yahoo mail, found themselves on the receiving end of messages from Yahoo claiming 'suspicious activity'. ThinkProgress.org has a YouTube video of users trying to send emails that mention the 'OccupyWallSt.org' web site, which seemed to be the magic phrase to get your email blocked. Via Twitter, Yahoo announced the blockage was now fixed, but 'there may be residual delays.'"
Check out the footage of the tens of thousands that showed up for the Day of Rage at Wall Street.
I will certainly take my eyeballs elsewhere. You don't just not deliver email (yay double negative). Child porn, maybe. But once you start delivering this email but not that one.... well, that's not a direction I'd like to head.
There are a brazillion other webmail hosts out there. No need to worry if your emails are being delivered with most of them.
What doesn't kill you only delays the inevitable
Mail containing the same URL hit a bunch of spamtraps and caused a lot of complaints. That's the sort of thing that gets your mail blocked.
Nothing to see here, no grand conspiracy of censorship, just spam filters doing what they do.
Wow, I don't know a better way of driving users away from an email service, then to try to filter their content. I wonder if the stockholders could sue for mismanagement over something like this? It seems to be a gross mismanagement of the company to do something like this, given that there are a lot of clever users out there that will work out what you are doing pretty quickly.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
So, there are people still using yahoo to send email? :O I thought they were all spammers O_O
When another country does it, we chastise them. We do it, and we look the other way. I'm starting to truly hate my government. It's ineffective, it's bankrupting the country, and it's taking away my rights. It's very nearly time to start exercising our right to throw these fuckers out of office.
...will not be Yahoo-mailed.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I remember now why I wrote the leetkey extension long time ago.
Encryption people - encrypt your emails.
You can't handle the truth.
This sounds eerily similar to the British monitoring twitter for riots... block the method of communication for the protestors and the problem will fix itself!
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/08/cameron-considers-blocking-facebook-twitter-after-riots.html
http://technology-corner.com/british-police-will-use-twitter-to-monitor-protests.html
I'm not sure if Yahoo did it intentionally (would be quite the coincidence), but if that is the case, a Yahoo account might not be the best thing to have for anybody with views of the government.
You mean there are still people that use YooHoo? Wow!
This is also why I don't usually send anything from my yahoo mail account. If someone needs to get in contact with me, they have my phone number.
I guess that's what I get for getting all my news from Slashdot.
I work in the Wall Street Area and for the last few days there's been literally dozens of cops, barricades, and they've blocking the subway stop ( at least the "J" which I use ). Coming to think of it, I did see a demonstration go by and a few people holding signs. But there are always demonstrations in the Wall Street area. It's just a common place for the cops to give demonstration permits in Manhattan I think.
If that what that was, I hate to break it to you guys, but the movement was a huge failure. At least so far. Besides the Authorities toughening security, it was business as usual
Accounts which did not have Yahoo's spam protection enabled did not have this blocked.
"To those who are overly cautious, everything is impossible. "
Enjoy your Constitutional Rights.
Running with Linux for over 20 years!
Does anyone use it for anything else?
If Yahoo is censoring emails, then they are intercepting a communication that is intended between two or more other parties, being the Sender or intended Recipients.
This is completely different from maintaining logs, and many states have their own laws regarding it. Ohio for example it falls under ORC 2933
prosicutors and legal authorities are hereby required to take legal action against Yahoo for this action, with the same vigor they would against an individual.
Any private attorneys looking to start a class action, this is your oportunity. I am sure many will stand behind you on it.
I know what site I'm on, but please anything with the word progress in it means overblown lying hippie garbage. Lets progress to not being able to think for ourselves.
No more safe haven for you, Yahoo!
Now lets see about that kiddie porn passing through your system. Unblocked.
Have gnu, will travel.
I wonder if the stockholders could sue for mismanagement over something like this?
Probably not. Now to jump off the deep end they could have been considered to be acting in the best interest of their stock holders as they were blocking e-mails about a protest of wall street.
Time to offend someone
Trend Micro OfficeScan Event
URL Blocked
The URL that you are attempting to access is a potential security risk. Trend Micro OfficeScan has blocked this URL in keeping with network security policy.
URL: http://occupywallst.org/
Risk Level: Dangerous
Details: Verified fraud page or threat source
Yay
This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.
Heads Up, Freedom Fighters:
Network Solutions (one of America's largest Internet Service Providers) is using Cloudmark, the same "spam filter" used for Internet censorship in China...
http://tinyurl.com/3b5ct4r ...to block emails referencing URLs (links) related to the "Occupy Wall Street" and "U.S. Day of Rage" events. Here is an example of one such email, which was sent but never delivered:
http://tinyurl.com/cloudmark-censors-occupywallst
Why is Network Solutions blocking legitimate political emails like this one? I don't know for sure, but tracing their origin, history and ownership is something I recommend for all who oppose the Kleptocracy:
http://tinyurl.com/3ep7k6g
And we all know who Big Brother answers to, so why should we expect less from an ISP founded by spooks?
http://tinyurl.com/edxn5
###
The Big Picture:
http://ldrlongdistancerider.com/images/Cloudmark_nsCensorship.png
As others have said - if this URL was sent out en masse in a manner that many people would consider "spammish", then those emails would have been flagged by many as spam, and then future emails with that URL would be MUCH more likely to hit a spam filter.
Same reason, for example, emails from the Republican National Convention might be more likely to have issues going through gmail than the DNC - Not because of any political affiliations, but because the RNC are a bunch of damn spammers. I usually vote Democrat but will consider voting Republican if it's a particular case of a moderate Republican and the Democrat is a scumbag (both parties have plenty of scumbags...) - However, if in the runup to the election I get a bunch of rhetoric-laden spam emails, I'm going to make a point of NOT voting for the party who sent the spam.
So far, for whatever reason, I get rhetoric-laden spam every few days from the RNC, never from anyone with affiliations with the Democratic party, and I always immediately flag it as spam, to the point where that crap now automatically goes to my spam folder about 50% of the time.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Before everyone starts crying "censorship" consider this, far more likely, scenario:
Among protesters there are always a number of morons. One of these morons thought it would be a good idea to use a few of his Yahoo mail accounts to send out thousands of emails promoting the OccopyWallSt website. This triggers Yahoo's outgoing spam filter, and OccupyWallSt.org is placed along with CheapViagraForYourPenis.net on the "100% certain spam" list. Any email trying to promote this website is blocked.
All webmail sites that offer free signup without any ID check must implement something like this, or they will be overrun by spammers.
The one responsible for the "censorship" is the moron who decided to send out the spam in the first place.
(Of course it is theoretically possible that it was somebody opposed to the protests who sent out the spam to trigger the blocking, but I find that scenario far less likely.)
I doubt they would knowingly censor emails (other than if it had the earmarks of spam). Why bother I'm sure the percentage of those protesters that use Yahoo as their email is quite small. So blocking them would have little to no effect.
(If at first you don't succeed, do it different next time!)
Their spam filtering is pretty weak if it can categorize something as spam on the basis of a single URL. From what I understand, this was confirmed by different people with Yahoo! accounts.
Is it censorship or incompetence?
And why couldn't it be fix immediately?
So Yahoo made it harder for some criminals to commit crimes. And Slashdot editors think we should be upset with Yahoo.
really? we're posting this bullshit? I miss good Slashdot.
There is no other conclusion to The Cloud. You send all your information (email in this case) to a 3rd party you have no real influence over, other than being one of many customers. If they shut down your service for unethical reasons, you are left with a TOS that lets them do anything they want. Outsourcing has massive risks that are never talked about because so many "independent" experts depend on outsourcing for their livelihood that "core business" is the buzzword of the failing companies.
Learn to love Alaska
I remember hearing about this from a friend, but couldn't find any news articles, didn't see it covered by the TV media, didn't hear about it on the radio, and now it's turning out that ytou can't email about it either...
And we're complaining about China?
And BTW: The "SEC" is cracking down on Standard and Poors, as well as anyone else that had the audacity to bet against the US during the credit downgrade.
How interesting. If any of you still believe you're in the land of the free, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. You're under the heel of your corporate masters, who are running Washington.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
What was there to fix? They put up a block, got caught, and then stopped the block.
Am I to believe some filter on emails was innocently blocking any mention of the recently created "OccupyWallSt.org"?
So now "Peaceful Protest" are a "crime." I guess your the type that would like to see every hippie shot in the head.
Way to be an "American."
I'm sad for our world. If America is lost the world will be lost.
I have yet to see any real protest come from this. You don't change policy by willingly confining yourself to the "free speech zones" that the police have set up. You don't change policy by going limp and zipping your mouth when confronted. You certainly don't change policy by loitering around a park eating pizza all weekend.
Instead of disrupting Wall Street, this group has done little more than create a weekend spectacle. They've largely played by the rules, and while that's great at making cops look like bullies, it doesn't actually achieve anything beyond a brief morning headline.
We need real protest. We don't need empty gestures and symbolic marches. We need action. We need rioting, and yes, even outright violence. The system is hostile toward us, why not repay the favor?
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
Peaceful protest is a crime now, I guess.
Time to edit the civics books!
Wow, I don't know a better way of driving users away from an email service, then to try to filter their content.
Not filtering outgoing email only enables spambots. I use gmail because it does a great job filtering content.
So Yahoo made it harder for some criminals to commit crimes. And Slashdot editors think we should be upset with Yahoo.
Uh, crime? Protesting is a crime? What autocratic paradise do you hail from Kohath, where protesting is a crime? Surely America could be a perfect place too, if only everyone stopped complaining. It is unfortunate America has too much freedom. We could be so much better if we outlawed protests.
So Yahoo made it harder for some criminals to commit crimes. And Slashdot editors think we should be upset with Yahoo.
I'm assuming you are referring to the bankers?
Nothing to see here. The spam filtering even on my spamdump Yahoo account has been excellent for the eleven years I've used it.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
depending on how your workplace regards close-up photos of rather good-looking bikini crotches.
DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
So I didn't think about a spam button that would logically be on such a service. Thanks.
I guess it would be based on individual motive. I can understanding rallying against their bailout at the expense of the general public. I can understand rallying against their constant buying of politicians to enact policy contrary to the good of the general public. I can see a few specific grievances.
Otherwise, hate of the corporations and the rich is quite often simply overly-broad, blind, ignorant venting of frustration. Admittedly, that probably described the majority of protesters.
Yeah Anonymous Cowards. Camping out on Wall Street and trying to disrupt the daily lives of people there is a crime.
A peaceful protest is holding up a sign with a slogan. Blocking doors and streets and harassing people is a crime.
While I agree with you in spirit, I gotta ask: WHY ARE YOU HERE? Get out there and start kicking ass Internet Tough Guy. I'll be right behind you!
Yahoo Mail's spam filtering is the least effective spam filtering known to man. Every day I get dozens of offers for credit cards, weight loss pills, penile enlargement pills, etc. How can they say with a straight face this is simply an overzealous spam filter?
And whoever heard of "residual delays?" That just means they blocked it on purpose, lied about it, and are now lying about fixing it.
the same was true under bush
it doesn't speak very highly of your intelligence that you blame a charismatic person instead of the system itself
go back to reading celebrity gossip. it is a subject matter more in tune with your mentality
or, to put it more succinctly:
Small minds discuss people.
Average minds discuss events.
Great minds discuss ideas.
you are a small mind
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Why on earth would NetSol need a spam filter???
All the world's a CPU, and all the men and women merely AI agents
That's why I USE their email service (viewed via Thunderbird to dodge their annoying site design).
I have a spamdump account with Yahoo I've used since 1999 and hardly get ten spams a day. My "regular" Yahoo accounts get even less.
If you want to spam people, don't use a Yahoo account.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
You know, Yahoo email is about the only decent product Yahoo has left, and I know a lot of people that still use it. I have a Yahoo and a Gmail email account, and neither is really better than the other. Yahoo is easier if I need to set up a secondary email account for some reason.
Wall Street ? Watch Inside Job (2010). All banks/bankers should be wiped off because they're acting against people.
Recipes for USA bankrupt - http://tinypaste.com/0d66f dd = dollar deluge (printed in the infinity)
I am not trying to be a jackass or be sarcastic. But let me ask you why you aren't considering starting a protest? I wouldn't advise violence of any kind though for the simple reason that the ultimate result of violence is more and more hatred.. and the cycle of violence will be hard to stop.
But there are so many homeless people in the US - and so many unemployed people; many of whom who lost their jobs because of the greed of the banks and the super rich. These people may be very willing to join in a protest - but they need someone to start it for them; and also handle all the planning and the logistics involved.
If you are a person who can handle this, why don't you consider starting the protest. I am serious.
If one were to sit down and write out a plan for a long, prolonged protest which is both popularly supported as well as sustainable - at least sustainable enough to bring about change, then what would that plan include:
1. It would include a set of points which the government / wall street must agree to. This must be clear and specific so that progress can be measured. These should be communicated very clearly to the government and to all volunteers who join the protest.
2. It would include setting up volunteers to:
a) Recruit more volunteers
b) Provide the logistics needed to handle the crowds
c) Manage the marketing
c.1) To transfer the enthusiasm of the core group managing the protest so that the crowd can buy into the overall vision behind the protest.
c.2) T-Shirts, banners and all sorts of media work
d) Manage the dissemination of news and public relationships
e) Handle the legal aspects such as permits, getting legal services to those who are arrested etc.
f) Manage the generation of funds
g) Manage the accounting of the funds so that there is no misappropriation etc.
I am sure there are many on Slashdot who may be willing to step in to help with this.
I am not American and neither do I reside in the US, but if I were there, I would definitely either start this protest or join in long term in the protest.
Blocking doors and streets and harassing people is a crime.
That was true even back when Rosa Parks, MLK,and Mahatma Gandhi were all protesting for their rights. I'm Surprised they aren't all still in prison for their unlawful protests.
Don't even get me started on those dirty, ungrateful hippies protesting the vietnam war.
file:
People who just dismiss this as unimportant "spam trapping" miss the larger picture. WHAT A PERFECT COVER FOR CENSORSHIP!!!
What this really highlights is that email provides have refused to fix email and rid us of real spam once and for all. It's not that hard. There are two ways the problem can be solved.
1) When you receive an email from an address that you have never received email from before they are automatically sent a response that requires them to verify they are human Using a captcha or some such verification. By doing so their original email will be passed on, otherwise it goes in the spam basket.
2) Penny exchange. It costs a penny to send an email, and the penny is given to the person receiving the email. So we all have plenty of pennies to use for our everyday emails, but it would cost mass spammers a lot of money.
:T:R:A:N:S: