[Quailboy]

AT&T Blocking Access to Portions of 4chan (Updated) | CentralGadget.com

AT&T today appears to have begun blocking access to parts of the internet site 4chan.

CentralGadget.com has confirmed the block, which is affecting all AT&T DSL and AT&T U-Verse customers at this time. The block is affecting the server that /b/ resides on, img.4chan.org. No other 4chan servers are affected.

In addition, no other internet connections appear to be having an issue accessing 4chan. This appears to negate any other possibility, that the access issue is due to some server or backbone failure or DNS update. If such issues were the culprit, it would be almost impossible for only AT&T customers to be having an issue, and AT&T customers would likely be unable to access any of 4chan, not specifically its most popular board.

CentralGadget.com has been unable to to get anyone at AT&T to confirm the blockade. Other unconfirmed reports have been relayed from AT&T’s highest, levels of support. These reports claim that /b/ had been blocked due to costly DDOS attacks, stemming from AT&T customers. We have been unable to confirm this.

Under the FCC’s Comcast/BitTorrent ruling, Internet Service Providers may only slow or cap connection speeds. They are not allowed to block any service or protocol on the internet. Here, 4chan as a web site appears to fall under an internet service, but it is also conforming to standard web page protocols. It appears AT&T does not have the legal right to block 4chan, only to cap customers who are “abusing” their access to the internet.

4chan’s founder, moot, has been voted one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people, initially via an online poll, and then inducted into the list by Time’s editorial staff. The site is considered one of the most bandwidth-consuming non-video web sites online.

CentralGadget.com encourages all AT&T customers who are unable to access 4chan.org /b/ or /r2k/ sections (and there’s an easy test), to call AT&T and escalate as high as possible. Spend as much time on your speakerphone as possible… only complaining will show AT&T that it is more costly to block a site, than to mitigate the infrastructure of the web.

Both DSL and U-Verse customers can reach AT&T Support by calling 1-800-288-2020. We suggest escalating the matter at least to Tier 2 support.

Internet Censorship at its finest?

AT&T Has blocked off, 15% of the US's internet population from The 4chan /b/ forum. What kind of madness will come because of this?