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View Full Version : Virgin Media blocks the Internet Archive

Dynamoo
14-01-2009, 23:44
According to El Reg, Virgin and other ISPs are blocking access to the Internet Archive (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/14/iwf_details_archive_blacklisting/) (Wayback Machine) because it has been blacklisted by those busybodies at the IWF (http://www.iwf.org.uk/).

I don't object to VM blocking illegal material, but first we had the Wikipedia fiasco and then this. 15 billion pages blocked because some of them might be dodgy.

That having been said, it works for me.. but I always use OpenDNS rather than the crappy VM DNS servers which might make a difference.

:wtf:
pigpen
14-01-2009, 23:46
Works for me. Besides, that article says only Demon have blocked it.
Dynamoo
14-01-2009, 23:48
There's a bit that says: "And in response to our original story on this blacklist snafu, customers of additional ISPs - including Be Unlimited and Virgin - say they're experiencing much the same thing."
pigpen
14-01-2009, 23:50
Gotcha. The few sites I tried off the top of my head appear to work fine anyway. Maybe Virgin are being less indiscriminate than others.
RubberyDuck
15-01-2009, 00:07
I'm on BEThere, can get to the site, but can't search for Pron.

Guess they are blocking it.
Graham M
15-01-2009, 00:08
I can access it fine here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20010914061040/http://news.yahoo.com/
Horace
15-01-2009, 06:15
The Register and others need to stop beating up on the IWF. If it wern't for that organisation we'd have legislation and civil servants writing the ban-list. At least the IWF will back down in a timely manner. It takes governments months to make any decision about anything, let alone admit they were wrong.
Peil
15-01-2009, 07:09
So you have no problem with a wholey unaccountable organisation deciding what you can and cannot see?
And there is no independent oversight to check what they are actually blocking, we've all to take it on trust?
ShadowTD
15-01-2009, 09:38
That would explain why I couldn't get Archive.org to work last night.
Stuart
15-01-2009, 11:25
So you have no problem with a wholey unaccountable organisation deciding what you can and cannot see?
And there is no independent oversight to check what they are actually blocking, we've all to take it on trust?

Would you rather the Government appointed someone to do so? That is what was likely to have happened had the IWF not been set up.


BTW, you do have "wholey unaccounatable organasations" deciding what you can see everyday. The BBFC (for instance) decide what we can see in the cinemas. How are they accountable to us? We don't vote for them.
Toto
15-01-2009, 12:01
Ahh, El Reg going off on one again....I can access it fine.
die5el
15-01-2009, 12:19
Ahh, El Reg going off on one again....I can access it fine.NO problems for me either
AbyssUnderground
15-01-2009, 17:20
Fine here too, and I use openDNS and VM's DNS servers.
graf_von_anonym
16-01-2009, 00:45
I have had no problems with the wayback machine or anything else on archive.org.

I suspect at least some of it is the desperate search for an answer, even if it is wrong.

One could call it confirmation bias, but it's a different thing. There's an excellent example of it in this thread (http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2008/04/brand_dilution.html#comments)over on Charlie Stross' blog which got slashdotted and boing^2-ed; in many cases if you tell someone you have a problem that is in any way similar they will determine that Virgin are the cause, and post 91 is a tremendous case in point.