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An HTTP Status Code For Censorship?

Posted by Soulskill on from the you-can't-get-there-from-here dept.

New submitter Tryfen writes "UK ISPs are being forced to block The Pirate Bay. One is using 'HTTP 403 Forbidden' to tell users that they cannot access the site. From the article: 'However, chief among my concerns is the technical way this censorship is implemented. At the moment, my ISP serves up an HTTP 403 error.' ... As far as I am concerned, this response is factually incorrect. According to the W3C Specifications: "The 4xx class of status code is intended for cases in which the client seems to have erred."' So, should there be a specific HTTP status code to tell a user they are being censored?"

12 of 369 comments (clear)

  1. No problem by Wonko+the+Sane · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just convince the censors to set the Evil bit on all packets returning the HTTP error code for a blocked site.

    1. Re:No problem by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Highly unlikely. George Washington has been dead for a long time.

  2. 666 by leromarinvit · · Score: 5, Funny

    The proper status code would be "666 - Go To Hell". Served to the court, not the customer.

    --
    Proud member of the Ferengi Socialist Party.
    1. Re:666 by leromarinvit · · Score: 3, Funny

      Thanks, I didn't know that, besides the obvious thing that 666, coming from Christian mythology, wouldn't be recognized (at least with the same meaning) by people with different cultural backgrounds.

      Maybe the ideal status code for China would be 6489. Then they'd have to censor the censorship, preferably by serving the original content instead...

      --
      Proud member of the Ferengi Socialist Party.
    2. Re:666 by hobarrera · · Score: 1, Funny

      Americans don't know what Tianamen Square is. And that's because it's outside of USA.

  3. Easy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Error 1984 - This site has been blocked due to government censorship

    1. Re:Easy by Narnie · · Score: 5, Funny

      Agree, but the status should be " 1984 - SITE DBL PLUS BAD -GOVMNT OVRSITE"

      --
      greed@All_Evils:~#
  4. How about using HTTP 101? by Cornwallis · · Score: 4, Funny

    In honor of Room 101.

  5. It's the way you did it. by michaelmalak · · Score: 3, Funny

    This reminds me of the common quarrel, "It's not that you cheated on me, it's the way you did it, that you lied about it."

  6. Re:So what if there SHOULD be, nobody will use it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Quite right. When goatse and two-girls-one-cup remain uncensored - one can only imagine the horrors that are censored to save our innocent eyes from harm. God bless the censor and all who sail in her!

    Edit: captcha == decked!

  7. Re:Does HTTP allow 3 character numbers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    THERE ARE FIVE CHARACTERS!

  8. Status code 451 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I know the parent post is already modded +5 Insightful but can we force the display of the post and display it in neon green too?

    That's not only appropriate, the timing is perfect too.

    RIP, Ray Bradbury.