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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?"

5 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.

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

    THERE ARE FIVE CHARACTERS!