As if AT&T wasn’t already bad enough. In an act that is sure to spark internet rebellions everywhere, AT&T has apparently declared war on the extremely popular imageboard 4chan.org, blocking some of the site’s most popular message boards, including /r9k/ and the infamous /b/. moot, who started 4chan and continues to run the site, has posted a note to the 4chan status blog indicating that AT&T is in fact filtering/blocking the site for many of its customers (we’re still trying to confirm from AT&T’s side).
Update: ongoing reports about the block (which has now apparently been lifted) and the apparent DDoS attack on 4chan can be found here.
Reports of the blocking began to surface on reddit this afternoon, and a number of blogs are beginning to pick up on the story, though it doesn’t seem like any have managed to get a comment from AT&T (we’ve reached out to the company and will update once we hear back).
4chan has been called many things, most of which aren’t particularly flattering. Some parts of the site are almost entirely unmoderated, leading to a wild-west, highly NSFW environment where irreverance, mischief, and lewdness thrive (I like to think of it as the Mos Eisley of the web). But that doesn’t mean the site isn’t extremely influential on web culture. Many of its exploits are famous, including taking over the Time 100 list, and it’s also where some of the Internet’s most famous memes got their start, including the Rick Roll and LOLcats. It’s also known as the main hub for Anonymous, a group that has held a very public campaign against Scientology.
In other words, AT&T has just opened perhaps the most vindictive, messy can of worms it could have possibly found. Blocking any site is an extreme breach of user trust, but the decision to block 4chan in particular just seems stupid. Expect the web equivalent of rioting if this doesn’t change soon.
4chan is perhaps the biggest mob-mentality site there is. This is not a site you want to mess with. AT&T will be getting DDoS’d up the wazoo, amongst other things, no doubt.
errr…. DDoS’ing an ISP ?
You want to use your bandwidth to attack the source of your bandwidth ?
You must be one of those kids who attempts to outspend his dad with his allowance money…
AT&T is a lot more than an ISP.
Lot more. But, why mess up with the messiest of lot?
hahahahahah LOL’d SO hard
That is the greatest idea ever. I for one plan on ddos’ing myself to pay them back.
LOL, I can’t stand ATT but I don’t see any issues on any of my ATT clients (iPhone, DSL, Universal, etc).
Its probably just a glitch not even related to ATT, but with 4chan’s mob mentality…
Who’s more stupid, 4chan users or ATT?
AT&T for even thinking about upsetting 4chan. You don’t DO that.
Lots of people mess with 4chan and get away with it.
The only thing 4chan is able to do most times is DDoS and harass via email, phone, and house address.
There have been only 3 or 4 times I can remember when ONE person did actual hacking or social engineering to do something.
Sarah Palin emails and /b/-spays comes to mind.
Though, you would have had to be on 4chan since 2007 to know of /b/-spays.
of course u never do that thats like throwing ur computer off the bridge…
they ddos’d 4chan not at&t learn to read.
Other people besides AT&T users will be attacking AT&T. People are pissed, because if this was to set precedent, other ISPs will follow suit.
4Chan is already getting organized and prepped for retaliation.
Check out this forum:
http://s6.invis...ctATT/index.php
and this page:
http://encyclop...30;..ocks_4chan
This is going to be huge. Just look at the level of planning involved. They’ve already got the CEO’s phone number and address.
this is going to be fun to watch play out! ahaha
i feel sorry for ATT
Yes, this is going to be real fun!!! AT&T is already dwindling in terms of reputation. Now, with 4Chan ready to retaliate, it is going to be a great game between the two. 4Chan will beat life out of AT & T. I pity the latter.
Awesome. Maybe this time, 4Chan will bite off more than they can chew. A man like that has a lot of resources at his disposal, and the clout to make people in Government listen when he complains about harassment.
Not to mention, AT&T undoubtedly serves some of the people who are going to attack him with phone and Internet service. Should be really interesting to watch “Anonymous” members being arrested for conspiracy, harassment, computer crimes, and anything else they can possibly stick them with.
This has gone on long enough. The Internet is not the wild wild west, and sites like 4Chan harboring criminals are a threat to everyone who does legitimate business on the Internet, or even just visits for pleasure.
It’s about time they fought a battle they can’t win.
Methinks someone is butthurt.
You’re one of those fools that thinks the internet is an appliance. The wild west wasn’t the wild west and neither is the internet.
This issue is one of censorship.
You can lead, follow or step aside.
The place to strike at criminals is in a court of law. All AT&T is doing is trying to censor the internet and violating freedom of speech, and allowing them to do so sets a dangerous precedent; if /b/ can be blocked, why not 4chan as a whole? TechCrunch? Competitor Comcast?
What’s more is that blocking /b/ will do nothing to stop internet crime. Block it, and the cesspool will just move somewhere else.
So you’d rather it be another government based system where everything gets censored for the good of the people? Fuck you
fuq off sheep
you sir are a faggot
you are a gigantic faggot.
Percentage-wise, the person is probably straight. So rather than suggest than use homo-hate language, claim your own heterosexual idiot. “You sir, are a breeder.” “No, no, you are a gigantic breeder.”
See. Much better, and probably much more accurate. And scarier, since this person might actually go forth and multiply.
Doens’t matter, they wont stop, the more steps they take to stop them is just giving them the attention they want and will just make them try harder.
Grow up. 4chan is about free speech. There are no grey areas. You either have free speech or you don’t. You should think your self damn lucky you live in a country that has it.
4chan doesn’t care about free speech. 4chan is all about the lulz.
If AT&T will suffer any consequence for their brilliantly stupid move, it will be purely for the lulz.
“You either have free speech or you don’t.”
Well… that’s not entirely correct. Go and find yourself a Constitutional Law textbook, read the chapter on the First Amendment, and then maybe you can intelligently comment on this issue.
No freedom is absolute anywhere, even in America.
Troll much?
If not a troll:
I’m guessing you watch a lot of Fox News since 4chan is filled with lonely college students who have no life, not criminals. Also, it isn’t the fact that 4chan is blocked, though I am very upset about that, it is the fact that they blocked a site. Their customers should be able to go where they please on the internet at the customers own expense. AND you can also cancel your AT&T services in what is called a “boycott.” Not that hard and once AT&T realizes that thousands of people are leaving to go to competitors, they’ll change their minds real fast.
fp = freedom police?
Unless AT&T has the right to block sites “ad random” it’s just a matter of time before they will be forced to abide the law. Big corpos often don’t like the law; Like Intel > http://www.yout...p;v=9s1yuLj5isQ Now Intel makes beautiful products, we all use them, but we have to keep an eye on them. Whether it’s 4Chan or Neelie Smit-Kroes, I don’t care. So, in this case, even (or especially) when you don’t like 4chan you should support 4chan for the principle called; freedom of speech.
epic troll
you aren’t a “member of Anonymous”, you are “anonymous”
Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ανωνυμία, meaning “without a name” or “namelessness”. In colloquial use, anonymous typically refers to a person, and often means that the personal identity, or personally identifiable information of that person is not known.
4 years ago one “of them” told me:
“if you leave traces you are doing it wrong.”
fp wrote: ***Should be really interesting to watch “Anonymous” members being arrested for conspiracy, harassment, computer crimes, and anything else they can possibly stick them with.***
You let me know when that happens, ‘k? Meantime, AT&T is blocking paying clients from accessing parts of the web. Pretty sure they can’t do that.
wow its not about just blockinb b. its bout internet censorship. pull the wool out of your eyes and take a good look at the real world plz.
What people fail to understand is that Anonymous is not a group. Individual Anon to Anonymous are like cells in your body, they die and are replaced by new ones daily and you don’t even feel it or notice. There is no leader, no m.o, only a collective of minds. Anonymous can’t be stopped, there’s nothing to stop.
“Anonymous is difficult to define — less an organized group than a loose affiliation of certain websites.
When enough of these users decide to take action against something or someone, they will do so in the name of Anonymous.
The group has no leaders, no set agenda and has a tendency to focus on soft targets for its own amusement.”
Actions attributed to Anonymous are undertaken by unidentified individuals who apply the Anonymous label to themselves.
It isn’t 4chan itself that would be doing this. It’s a small group of users who happen to browse 4chan. There IS a difference.
who really cares in the importance of any of this never heard of 4 chan –goodbye plenty other things to care abbout
lol. if you don’t know about 4chan then you should. i can barely tell my left foot from my right foot and even i know about 4chan.
we are anonymous. we are legion.
we do not forgive. we do not forget.
expect us.
I’d also like to add this may be one of the largest website vs company battles ever in history.
Oh, come on now. Don’t start that bullshit again.
gb2 /x/enu
4chan is up for mostly everybody, however is slow for some.
This board is GUEST FRIENDLY.
AT&T has lifter their ban. All rioting/’war’/protests have been suspended for the time being.
I really wish they would DDoS AT&T.
I’m not sure why but I really wish they do.
the only thing scarier than the 4chan community are the wikipedia fascists. I wouldn’t mess with either group.
wikipedia guys will change your wikipedia entry, the 4chan guys will go after you in real life
As a wikipedia admin, I have to disagree. While some users can be mean, I’d like to think our process usually works in the long run.
YHBT, HAND.
When a article about the spin off site of fark.com known as banniNation.com can be written without getting deleted and the writer not get banned for doing so then and only then will your words ring true.
Articles must be about something notable.
The process works, in the long run, toward a goal that is ultimately myopic to 98% of its users.
[citation needed]
Best comment yet on this thread.
seconded
ha ha ha
Tomorrow is going to be a huge day, so be sure to check our tweets often and let your friends know about us. We’ll win, we always do~!
about 3 hours ago from web
pretty much sums it up
let the mens room have their page bitch!
Why you deleting articles about slovio? Wiki-crap is not even close to what you call self.
Nah, we’ll just paper you with [citation needed] tags until you suffocate.
“Fascists”? Seriously, Michael?
“a radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideology” and “and a corporatist economic ideology”
Wikipedia is anything but “corporatist”, dude.
“a radical and authoritarian ideology” bingo.
Dude, everyone knows that Wikipedia is a microcosm for Marxist political struggle of class vs. class.
You do understand that Nazi in the expression Grammar Nazi does not purport a support of Hitler’s views but rather an extreme obsession with correct grammar? Same here. The reference to fascism is in terms of authoritarianism, not in a political theory sense.
let’s all remember to ignore arrington. his opinions, and articles, are for sale. i can only imagine AT&T paid him to trash 4chan.
So because you don’t want to mess with them you call them fascists
mmm, what kind of words do you use when you do want to mess with someone Michael?
I happen to agree with Michael on this one. Wikipedians seem to me to have a very narrow view of what information is “notable”.
I dont see a reason to magnify flaws in wikipedia. Maybe I havent used it to the extent that u guys have, but I’m really glad that its there and helps me out when I need info.
It’s great if you just browse occasionally or only do simple edits, but once you get involved in the community… hoooooooo-boy!
this is true. i love going and trolling all their indepth battles. i always end up questioning why humans exist after i’m done numbing my mind. they make parcing into an artform, but WATCHOUT when you piss them off. lol. but they are not like 4chan. i think it’s right to say you don’t with that site and it’s members or it’s lurkers.
“Expect the web equivalent of rioting” – no other community can do that like 4chan does. This is probably the most exciting story on TC in a week!
This Is Going To Get Ugly [2]
Sweet Jesus.
Dear 4chan folks,
Please make AT&T bow before your LULz. Make them pay for torturing all of us for so long.
kthxbai
NYPA!!!!!1111…oh wait, nevermind
We will make them fail…
Heh, good luck AT&T!
Everytime something like this comes up on Slashdot (admittedly not the most awesome place on the internet) people mention doing something like this could negatively impact the common carrier status. Anyone more qualified than the average slashdotter willing to comment?
What a smart and brilliant move by AT&T. At this point, they need all the help they can get to keep up with the problems they have. Why would they now take on an added chaos factor?
I wonder if it isn’t the other way ’round. Perhaps 4chan has started the whole thing as a giant pranky lulz.
Haha this is going to be pure ownage.
Yes, 4chan may make life messy for AT&T for a while, but the bigger story is censorship. For the love of all that is holy, all AT&T members should switch internet providers as quickly as possible and when they ask why make sure you tell them it’s because you don’t like their censorship.
I would if Verizon FIOS was available in my area but my only other option is TimeWarner. *gag me with a stick*
I *pray* for FIOS every day, but so far my prayers have gone unanswered.
SAME. NC?
They just strung up FIOs a few weeks ago on my road and a week later Comcast doubled our Internet speed for free.
Competition is great!
Right on. Do we live in China?
yes they are blocking it, does anyone know why? this will probably affect ATT more than 4chan, someone at ATT should get fired about this one.
if I was with AT&T and they blocked /hr/, I would personally go to their offices and disagree with their actions. twats. 4chan, if you ignore the god awful shit that goes on in /b/ is AWESOME.
also AT&T will get people in masks at their offices now lmao.
ha. this is going to be epic.
DDoS AT&T… lulz
Good luck with that guise…
I have called AT&T and they have confirmed that img.4chan.org is blacklisted, and that it is due to content.
Censorship at its finest. Prepare for war.
I’m outraged.
also it’s probably because of the people that post CP. They’ll put it either down to that or the invasions.
Arguably if that is the problem, then the site itself should be shut down. however it’s covered legally (I believe) so it’s not a problem.
Also, plenty of unscrupulous content probably ends up on digg, facebook etc. but you can’t possibly moderate all of it.
If that’s the justification, then why not block 12chan, or the various things on the Aussi and Thai blocklists?
12chan is tiny in comparison.
Yes, but 4chan has a no-CP policy.
so does 12chan, they just are closer to the boundary of what is considered CP. naked child on 4chan is an instant ban, naked child on 12chan is acceptable if artistic or arguably not porn.
4chan and /b/’s two biggest rules are no CP and no invasions. Both have nearly stopped. I haven’t seen an invasion in a while. CP is rare and doesn’t survive very long before it is pruned.
You missed the Adam L. Goldstein raid newfag.
I don’t have the patience to wade through all the shit on 4ch (love it as I might), but I look forward to reading the summarized pwnage on ED
I can get to 4chan.org on my iPhone using 3G just fine…
U-verse and DSL users are reporting it down all over the place. I’d expect mobile connections to get blocked soon.
You might still be able to reach 4chan.org, too, if they’re only blocking img.4chan.org.
It seems only customers of AT&T home internet which was formerly SBC (not Bellsouth) are being blocked.
Blocked on ex-BellSouth/CenturyTel DSL in Lake Charles, La., so I’m not sure about that.
that sounds like a PR trick from ATT: they want to be beaten by Anonymous so bad, that people will end up liking them.
at ‘em boys
It’s a setup……..and the /b/tards are taking the bait
Yep. And in typicle internet fashion, look at all of these idiotic responses. “Anon” didn’t do shit to Scientology and won’t do shit to ATT on a level the “real world” cares. All the real world will no is a group on online hooligans is accosting ATT and ATT is going to pull some shit. if you honestly think a group of internet denizens can hold a candle to what ATT can pull, you’re delusional, but I wish you the best. Taking a fight like this to the real world by harassing corporate execs isn’t going to do anything but again take that bait ATT has setup. It looks juicy doesn’t it? Go ahead, “Anon”.. Take that nibble. Give the ISP’s a reason to get truly serious about the content they provide through their channels. They can and will pull your shit in a minute and then make you look like the asshole in the public eye very easily. Especially with the hooligan-esque tactics being brought up already. I’d simmer down if I were some folks.. Use that level head if you’ve got one.
I think you are the one being delusional. ATT is a corporation, not a person. “They” aren’t trying to bait a few dozen teenagers to come attack them.
I would simmer down if I were you. This IS a ‘real world’ issue, that is if you think the First Amendment is important. More people, like every U.S. citizen, should be concerned than just ‘Anonymous.’
You do realize this “Anon” Scientology thing was only a tiny portion of the 4chan userbase, right? 95% of them simply called them “moralfags”. This affects 4chan as a whole, not 5% of the little kids running around in EFG masks spouting meme’s. If only half the userbase gets upset they have a million people with little to no moral compass.
Exactly.
Why would you agree with Anonymous andthen openly admit to using facebook? Shame.
And the policing of the net has begun.
It’s been policed for a long time by webmasters and others, this is just a vertical step up.
This is kinda funny but I think my comments are being censored in an article where people are bitching about being censored.. I’m not even saying anything outlandish besides saying I don’t think 4chan is going to “win” anything here.
I’m using AT&T (DSL) and, for what it’s worth, I did not have a problem connecting to either website.
In all actuality, the message needs to be portrayed that Anonymous does NOT see this as LULZY, while AT&T may give us some LULZ eventually, taking on this company (Legally) will be a challenge. I just hope some idiot (I’m sure one will) doesn’t screw this up by doing something REALLY stupid. Faux news is gonna have a hayday with this…………..
dear 4chan — please make your move before tuesday when i am scheduled to get u-verse installed. kthxbai!
bring it on, bring it on.
>.> I’m a nobody and I wouldnt mess with 4chan or Anon. WTF is wrong with AT&T???
Well, the fact of the matter is ATT isn’t a “nobody” like you and the rest of Anon. On the grand scale, in the long run, Anon will lose whatever battle they enter into by using tactics that could be construed against them especially given who they already are. It’s not hard to rally support on ATT’s behalf in the public eye.
“Oh.. Some folks posting pics of exploded assholes are harassing ATT? ”
That’s what it will be painted as. They didn’t do shit to Scientology on any meaningful scale and they won’t do shit to ATT. ATT if anything will simply resume access to it, call it a “blunder” and move on.
The mob mentality is the downfall of the internet, and is having a negative impact on society as a whole.
This “mob mentality” you speak so poorly of is the reason we now live in the United States. Without it, we’d still be a part of England.
Without the ability of the people to rise up against any oppression, we’d be at the mercy of the governments (and organizations) in power.
Get a clue.
Actually we live in America now becuase people realized the vlaue of liberty and individual freedom, not because everyone went along with it.
I doubt you have a clue.
Besides the point. The more these idiots attack the very companies that provide the internet to us the more excuses and reasons these ISPs have to censor even more.
You pathetic, lowing, terrified little cow.
We dont all live in america. So typical of americans to assume that everyone on the internet is also american.
Get a clue.
hey uh
I just wanna say that mob mentality actually occurs more in person than online. People are more easily intimidated and have an even greater desire to conform and be liked in person.
This is true!
Everyone! Get active! Self-publish and do shit, get educated call AT&T and complain!
be careful. the last thing you ever want to do is ask a bunch of techies like those that hang on 4chan if they are bored. AT&T blocking them is exactly that – “hey guys, you bored?” Riot? Oh no. Its not going to be a riot. That’s too passive.
Instead of antagonizing them, AT&T, you should hire them instead!
Oh, no, no riot. Riot’s are too peaceful, too quiet, too anticipated.
AT&T is gonna get the IRL equivalent of the b&hammer over this, if Anon has it’s way.
This isn’t a “can of worms” that they have opened, this is a door to The Apocalypse, The Gates of Hell, nay, this is the lid of Pandora’s Box they have opened, and woe be unto them for it.
Good times.
P.S. Yes, I am a tripfag, shut the fuck up.
Best news I’ve heard in weeks!
AT&T is in for a sh!t storm. lol
maybe if they didn’t suck so bad (billing/customer service), ppl wouldn’t be cheering so much for 4chan. heh.
Am I missing something here? Why does AT&T want to block them? Is there some past history? It seems stupid for them to arbitrarily block a website.
Child pornography for one.
No, Christianity is the reason. Yes, some of the Chans have what they called “CP” but it was done for shock value, not some money making venture or anything ideological. No, this is just more Christian fascism coming from AT&T, the fuckers.
I know a girl that has done nakey photos of herself for 4chan. I think she’s a little weird but she enjoyed doing it, she wasn’t exploited.
Liberty is important.
I don’t think they realize the repercussions of this. If they did they wouldn’t have done it in the first place.
I’m an SBC (now owned by AT&T) DSL customer and I can’t access either bored. Can’t wait to see how the folks at 4chan respond.
What gets me is that they didn’t just block them, they gave the blockees twelve hours to build up a really good head of steam.
Oh, and XKCD has come out in support of 4chan: http://is.gd/1O8E3 Once there are good lists of AT&T corporate IP blocks circulating, expect those IPs to be on blocklists forever.
Fake, please stop this hate against AT&T.
(I hope Verizon gets the iPhone, then people will go crazy complaining about how Verizon does not allow Voice and Data to be on at the same time)
I am on AT&T U-verse and can reach 4chan.
4chan isn’t blocked, img.4chan.org is! http://www.tech...comment-2880604
U-verse isn’t affected, nor is mobile – it’s DSL in many regions.
I have AT&T Uverse in Los Angeles, Definitely blocked here.
RIP, AT&T.
Actaully it is, I cannot access it from my computer (uverse) or my Iphone.
AT&T has an ally LOLOLOLOL: http://xkcd.com/591/
Erm, No.
http://www.redd...chanorg/c0bf7y6
Thanks for the war. Goodbye AT&T
Lol.. Yeah! GOODBYE ATT!
The corporation that works hand in hand with the Gov. to spy on Americans by wiretapping everything you could possibly talk or type into is going away thanks to some people on the internet calling and harassing the CEO. Would you guys get real please?
The real question is if you can access it through 9 proxies…
The meme is 7. Nice work
Can you give me a tip pro?
who the hell do these att coksukers(not sure if we can swear here) think they are? this isnt school for christ’s sake its the individually owned internet…
No.. It’s a corporation providing you with a service to connect through the internet. You don’t magically just “connect” to this communal internet you know. You have to use an ISP. A “Service Provider”. Shouldn’t they as a free company be able to choose what they provide? Or should we control businesses and tell them how to run now? I say we stop with the stupid internet tough talk (although it’s very expected) and realize there are other ways to affect ATT without infringing on their rights. You don’t have the right to the internet but ATT has a right to run their biz the way they choose in America. What they have done sucks, but I do *not* agree with the childish repercussions angle. I’m personally a bit wiser and more respectful of ATT’s power than that. You’re not legally bound to ATT and as a matter of fact, you can go to another provider. That’s the magic of this capitalist society. You can’t force a biz to run how you want it to. You can choose another business.
No.. It’s a corporation providing you with a service to connect through the internet.
*I don’t think this entites them to anything special*
You don’t magically just “connect” to this communal internet you know.
*True but that doesn’t mean the one that helps you out should be able to do whatever.*
You have to use an ISP. A “Service Provider”. Shouldn’t they as a free company be able to choose what they provide?
*Yes, but not if it contradicsts law, THIS DOES.*
Or should we control businesses and tell them how to run now?
*That’s how the free market more or less works so yeah.*
I say we stop with the stupid internet tough talk (although it’s very expected) and realize there are other ways to affect ATT without infringing on their rights.
*This is true*
You don’t have the right to the internet but ATT has a right to run their biz the way they choose in America.
*But not something against the law*
What they have done sucks, but I do *not* agree with the childish repercussions angle.
*Nor do I*
I’m personally a bit wiser and more respectful of ATT’s power than that.
*You mean the power you seem to be giving it?*
You are’t legally bound to ATT and as a matter of fact, you can go to another provider. That’s the magic of this capitalist society. You can’t force a biz to run how you want it to. You can choose another business.
*This’d be more true in a free market system thena statist-capitalist one*
4Chan is already getting organized and prepped for retaliation.
Check out this forum:
http://s6.invis...ctATT/index.php
and this page:
http://encyclop...6T_Blocks_4chan
This is going to be huge.
Can’t help but wonder if this is because there might be some Scientologist higher-ups at AT&T…
Jason: Might want to update the article! (http://img.4cha.../148772190.html)
If it 404s:
“Updated info:
-Sporadic reports of former BellSouth Customers being blocked are coming in. The majority of forner BellSouth customers are currently NOT BLOCKED. The majority of former SBC Global Customers are.
-Tier 2 support (the non Indian guys) have confirmed that there is a block, have refused to comment further, other than the fact that they decided to contact NetAsset (4chan’s hosting company) regarding it. Current rumormill is that it ISN’T CP- AT&T DSL customers have viruses that DDoS 4chan, using a TON of bandwidth. Bandwidth costs money for AT&T too.
Old info below.
———————-
-Most AT&T DSL (largest ISP in the US, 15.5% of US Internet users) customers ARE currently not able to access img.4chan.org (/b/ & /r9k/)
-There are a few AT&T DSL users that are NOT affected. Kansas, Florida, and Ohio are where we’ve gotten those reports. AT&T is a megacorp made from the smaller pieces it was broken down into in the 80s- different equipment and such.
-AT&T Mobility (Cell Phones) and AT&T Uverse customers ARE NOT AFFECTED.
-It IS NOT a DNS issue. Affected people have tried OpenDNS with no success.
-It IS very visible on a traceroute. It drops within the AT&T network.
-It DOES NOT affect AT&Ts Tier 1 backbone (major bandwidth backbone in US).
-It DOES NOT affect other servers on 4chan.
-People HAVE called customer service (allegedly) and confirmed a block, but agents have denied further info.
Stay tuned for future details. AT&T picked the wrong community to block.”
I got banned for “calling for an invasion/raid” for that post. Looks like the 4chan administration is twitchy…
AT&T DSL customers have viruses that DDoS 4chan
Does this mean that if one ISP is blocked, most of the annoying spam will go away? Then let the block remain.
TITS OR GTFO
Has anyone thought this may have just been a simple routing/dns error? Jason/Michael, why are you drumming up mobs where there don’t need to be any?
Do you have any proof that ATT is really blocking 4chan on purpose?
I didn’t think techcrunch was reporting rumors…..
Routing/DNS error for one subdomain out of the entire Internet?
I supposed it’s possible, but I’d imagine that’d be fixed by now?
Much of what tech news sites report are rumors, Ross. If they waited until companies put out their news as a press release, it wouldn’t be a very hot story anymore.
I personally called ATT and was told by tech support that this is not an error and it is indeed blocked. But keep up the good work defending ATT.
People have called and had it confirmed, as reported above.
Ya because tech support always knows what is going on….lets at least give it until Monday when the normal folks are in before people sharpen their pitch forks.
This is silly mob mentality and I can’t believe TechCrunch would even entertain this.
Huh? Drumming up mobs is _nevah_ not needed. What the fucking Internetz needs is moar fucking mobs! And caek. Oh and we don’t have nearly enough lolcats.
3/10
because some fools probably fell for it
follow @4chan4ever for up to date conflict news
Help confirm their denial of censorship.
http://www.redd..._blaming_it_on/
Fresh off /b/
Randall Stephenson, AT&T CEO
randall.stephenson@att.com
175 E. Houston
San Antonio, TX 78205
+1-210-821-4105
AT&T Executive Customer Service
MaryMichelle Timbang
AT&T Wireless, HQ – Office of the President
Executive Customer Service
MT6973@att.com
AT&T Residential Service
Customer Service Available weekdays from over 9000 am to 9 pm and Saturday from 8 am to 5 pm.
Service Center:
1-800-288-2020
Disconnect or transfer service:
1-800-288-2020
Which oddly enough, I don’t know about their landline services, but I’m surfing /b/ and the rest of 4chan at the moment off their cellular service. (which blows btw, not recommended) Saying it’s on is not the same as saying it’s not slow as hell right now though…
I’m on at&t’s uverse and i can confirm that http://img.4chan.org/ is entirely blocked for me, I can’t access it at all.
let slip the dogs of war.
What region? Others are reporting they can get img.4chan.org on uverse.
Madison, WI
Milwaukee too- I think it’s reasonable to attribute this to a DDOS attack and the block may have been initiated by 4chan’s ISP- if we find out otherwise ATT is way fucked.
Reno blocked too. (and we have bandwidth caps!).
I’m on AT&T DSL, in San Francisco – 4chan.org is up, but the /b/ and /r9k/ boards are down on img.4chan.org.
Looking forward to seeing what comes of it. I’m not a 4chan user by any means, but I’m certainly not a fan of blocking content.
U-verse block here. Austin, TX.
Fine on UVerse in NC.
Uverse here Los Angeles, not able to access.
Asheville, NC… can’t access 4chan at all
A few days ago I visited 4chan for the first time, after being told it was a place for all kinds of humorous memes and whatnot; I started at the left and went through all the letters, and within probably 5 minutes of scrolling through the (seemingly) random material, BLAM, a cartoon that was clearly of illegal sexual activity. IM’d my friend about reporting it, to which he replied, “Don’t bother, it’s 4chan.”
a cartoon? how can a cartoon be illegal?
I tried to report my calculator to the authorities when someone had typed in 58008 and turned it upside down.
So, I feel your pain about that clearly illegal cartoon.
Laws were passed in the United States about “simulated sex” in cartoons, a lot of it stemming from Japanese animation where fat Jap middle aged men get off on it. But laws were passed here because it was a growing problem since disgusting Christian Republicans sought to utilize cartoons instead of real humans to sidestep the extant laws at the time. Thankfully cartoons were deemed illegal as well, religating the phenomena mostly to Christian clergy. }:-}
unless it was CP, which is absolutely not allowed on 4chan, there is no such thing as illegal sexual activity.
if it was loli, or cartoon CP, then it would’ve been deleted soon.
why would you start at the left? /b/ is still just after /a/, right?
on /b/ anything goes as long as it isn’t against the law. ( CP; calls for raiding sites; announcing acts of violence)
First, censorship is a governmental act, not one by a private company. AT&T is executing it’s legal rights under it’s terms of service, probably in response to complaints or concerns about legal liability related to some of the content. I also expect that At&t determined that blocking 4chan is less risky than carrying the content.
Second, threatening a DDoS attack or other action against AT&T is a crime. Dicussing it with others us Conspiracy, a felony.
Third, grow up. AT&T is more afraid of federalvregulators and protecting local service franchise rights than they are of a bunch if whiny, self important, Internet brats.
Are you taking the bar exam next week or something?
I stopped reading when you misspelled “of”.
He spelled its incorrectly also.
As well as “its”. More interestingly: I am not sure DDoS attacks are a crime where I live – and I am not in America, so good luck suing me or charging me…
>Dicussing it with others us Conspiracy, a felony.
yeah, and what is this? I don’t even
I’m sure your English teacher would be proud.
Pretty sure they’re afraid of losing a shitton of customers too. Most of AT&Ts services are in major cities with competition. I’ll definitely be making the jump to another ISP unless this gets rectified.
I agree and in the “Real World” nobody is going to give 2 shits about poooorrr old fecal matter scat funtime 4chan.
Just imagine how this is going to be told on CNN to the commoner. They will have ATT’s back no problem, especially when they see how ignorant and juvenile most folks are acting.
It’s like a beautifully laid trap by ATT to spearhead such abilities to censor. The time is here and this is the beginning and they have chosen a site that they knew would react beautifully into their hands with stupidity, heavy hands, and quite possibly illegal activities. Which will in turn gain ATT weight from the public and further push their censoring of websites.
In short, 4chan is not doing us any favors and could quite possibly be doing this censorship “war” a great disservice. A way for ATT to say, “Look at them.. Look how they are acting.”
You’re making it too easy, guys, but yes, enjoy your fun while it lasts. The parents are on the way home, better clean up the house. Parties over.
You need to support this site even if it doesn’t fit into your “taste” or else….or else you’ll just end up supporting your own personal, subjective feelings about it. This is about principle Someone.
You’re a mighty fine troll. But the bottom line is, you can spout all you want about legalities, and what AT&T has a right to do.
Number of your arguments which are relevant: Zero. This is not just about 4chan. This is about AT&T electing, on their own, to block access to something. This is not a united states thing. 4chan users are world wide. AT&T may be big, but no company can withstand an anonymous, organized mob bent on marching through the village with torches and pitchforks, looking for the heretics they want to burn.
And, make no mistake: AT&T is acting heretical to the Internet. You don’t blackhole routing like this. You just don’t. Even in the days of USENET, it took a lot to get a USENET death penalty. And there was a lot of warning beforehand.
So, feel free to verball lather yourself up with legal speak. It makes no difference. This won’t be fought entirely on a legal level. This is going to be a bloodbath. These people play dirty. They proxy, TOR and use every single trick in the book. It won’t just be American net users, this will be somewhat worldwide.
MediaSentry thought they had the law on their side too. Until someone posted a torrent of their internal communications. How far did they get with finding the person responsible for that?
My advice: lurk more. Learn about this topic, and until you do, put a sock in it.
You’re wrong. WRONG! AT&T isn’t a private company ever since the Christofascist Bush regime started using AT&T to commit treason against America by seizing and handing over every customer’s calling records, email messages, and web site visits to the Christian terrorists in the Bush regime without warrants, subpoenas, or court orders.
AT&T deserves to die and maybe the Channer children can do us a favor and remove AT&T once and for all.
THANK YOU FOR STATING THE OBVIOUS.
Man, I hate these people yelling CENSORSHIP, CENSORSHIP! They don’t even know the meaning of it.
The internet can do without 4chan. The site is a beacon for the scum of the earth.
First 4chan, then what?
Think of a site you like to go to. Now imagine someone at another company thinking you no longer need to visit that site. Would you continue to pay for service which doesn’t allow you to view sites you want?
Your mentality: “As long as it doesn’t affect me, I shouldn’t care.” By the time it DOES happen to you, and you DO care, it will be too late.
Then what? If you don’t like, move your business somewhere else. AT&T have every right to cater their business the way they like it.
I think your missing the bigger picture here. What if TC ran a story trashing AT&T and they didn’t like so AT&TR blocked TC. Would that be ok?
Then CNet runs a similar story, Engagdget, and now even Techmeme is running it. Now all these popular sites are blocked because AT&T doesn’t like them. Still ok?
LOL, It wouldn’t be okay with me but AT&T is not breaking any law. They would suffer the consequences of losing business perhaps.
Now if the government of the United States bans TechCrunch, that’s unconstitutional and against the law.
See the difference?
The difference is no one said what they did was illegal?
If it’s not illegal, then it’s not censorship. I think you got it!
You might want to google the FCC’s ruling on Comcast versus Bittorrent. It will open your eyes to what the rules are when it comes to ISPs. There are Net Neutrality rules for a reason.
which site is next on that list of yours?
What list? If I don’t like AT&T’s policy, I go somewhere else.
yeah, your right kingsy. Only when YOU don’t like it it’s different. You’re the one who doesn’t get the meaning of censorship kingsy. AT&T just blocked a site. Why? Because AT&T doesn’t agree with the content. Really? Well, that’s exactly what happens in Russia, China or any country run by an enlighted dictator. In other words; AT&T just broke the law, it’s that simple.
marc,
Get a clue. AT&T is not a government. Why are you bringing other countries into this? Has Congress just passed a law to ban your precious 4chan?
But even scum can belch up a little virtue by accident!
You can argue whether it’s justified or not, but it’s clearly censorship. Censorship is not limited to governments.
4chan will only be the beginning of internet censorship if we let this pass.
AT&T is a business. They can do whatever they want in terms of limiting content. If you don’t like it, then don’t do business with AT&T. It’s that simple.
In context to the law, censorship goes hand and hand with the government.
at&t has to abide by its terms of service, which i understand do not include authority to broadly prohibit certain sorts of communication. this was made law by an FCC ruling when they tried to block bittorrent traffic, if i remember correctly
“First, censorship is a governmental act, not one by a private company.”
Umm, no.
Only the government can violate your first amendment rights.
ANYONE can commit censorship.
I can’t believe so many people don’t know the difference.
So if AT&T decides to censor TheNewYorkTimes it can block the site because they feel like committing censorship? It would be like your name: CruelCircus
Yes you fucking idiot.
AT&T isn’t part of the government.
They are a private run business.
It’s not your right to use their connection to the internet, they give you the privilege.
amen to some fucking common sense. looks lie y’all got your panties in a bunch over nothing. and is there anything lamer than saying “ohhhh nooooos don’t mess with 4chan!”
who in the real world gives a fuck about 4chan. If you REALLY care about censorship and civil rights you get off the computer, off your ass, and out on the streets. That would be way too much effort for most people these days, especially in North America.