
Some Users Unable to Reach The Pirate Bay - sp332
http://torrentfreak.com/comcast-blocked-the-pirate-bay-110512/
======
sp332
I'm on Comcast, so I can confirm that not even a ping is getting through. And
I'm using OpenDNS, so it's not DNS-level blocking. But after the mess Comcast
has been in for this stuff before, I kind of can't believe they'd try it
again.

I'm in a chat with a Comcast rep now, who claims that if they were blocking
the page there would be a branded error message. There's just nothing. Maybe
(hopefully!) this isn't what it looks like.

~~~
EwanToo
thepiratebay.org doesn't respond to pings from any network as far as I can
tell, which is a typical firewall configuration.

Judging by the comments on the article it's not Comcast blocking, but some
kind of network configuration issue, as multiple ISPs are impacted (though
they could in theory be using Comcast as a carrier).

~~~
indie69
It is comcast/xfinity blocking. Speakeasy is unaffected. I can access the site
from speakeasy, no problem. One of the perks of having 2 ISPs. Try checking it
through any open wi-fi connections available to you. Many are probably able to
access the site.

~~~
EwanToo
How would you explain the multiple people in Australia and other countries not
able to access it?

Like I said, it's possible these other ISPS are routing via Comcast, but
that's pretty unlikely. More likely is someone has made a config change that's
broken the connection for some ISPs.

~~~
indie69
I could be wrong, but I expect these broken connections will lead right back
to Comcast's blocking.

~~~
EwanToo
Comcast are denying deliberately blocking it, from their Twitter customer
support team:

"We don't block websites. But did escalate and looking into it"

<http://twitter.com/#!/ComcastBill/status/68657127429910528>

~~~
indie69
Fascinating. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now, but didn't they
deny blocking bittorrent in general before they finally admitted it later and
stopped? Do you trust them? Do you think customer relations would be let in on
what would obviously be a PR nightmare?

I worked for AT&T and was regularly left in the dark, finding out later on
that what I was told to say was in fact not the truth. I'm not putting on a
tin foil hat just yet, but I'm suspicious.

~~~
montagg
I'm on Time Warner in California, and I'm not able to access the site either.
Likely some other issue.

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jpadvo
Flagged as inaccurate -- can someone change the title? It started as a Comcast
specific issue, but there is (1) no evidence it was anything aside of a
glitch, and (2) it is affecting lots of non-Comcast users now as well.

Edit: this post has been flagged to death. I guess that works...

Edit: And it's back, with a great title. Unflagged. :)

------
smackfu
Awfully inflammatory headline. When you don't have the proof, it should say:
"Comcast users can't reach thepiratebay.org" Journalism, yay!

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rawsyntax
here's a link that works for comcast users [http://anonymouse.org/cgi-
bin/anon-www.cgi/http://thepirateb...](http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-
www.cgi/http://thepiratebay.org)

I don't use the site, but I also don't think comcast should determine which
sites you have access to.

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elektryk
I'm on Comcast and also can't access TPB. Doing a tracert, the packets are
lost in inside of TPB network. Thepiratebay.piratpartiet.se is as far as I can
reach.

~~~
smutticus
How do you know that Comcast isn't just allowing ICMP and blocking TCP?

If they're intentionally blocking TPB traceroute data cannot be trusted.

~~~
drdaeman
You could do a TCP SYN traceroute to verify this (for example, with
<http://linux.die.net/man/1/tcptraceroute>)

------
DevX101
<http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/thepiratebay.org>

~~~
madmaze
Exactly. its down from my comcast connection, tmobile 3g and also from 3
different VPS i have

------
Coko
Just because you're on Comcast doesn't mean you can 'confirm' that they are
blocking TPB. People from other ISPs around the world are having issues too.

------
tzs
The article has been updated to say this is a general problem, not a Comcast
problem.

------
suninwinter
I'm on AT&T and it's not loading for me, right now.

~~~
indie69
Maybe we were too quick to place blame on Comcast/Xfinity? Then again they
could have a peering agreement with at&t? Chicago nap is run by ameritech, MAE
east no idea, NY nap is sprint, SF nap pac bell, but who runs MAE west?
Curiouser and curiouser.

Still working on Speakeasy and a local open wi-fi that seems to be on Verizon
on my end.

------
scrrr
Assuming this is really an attempt to block user's access to .torrent-files
then it is a futile one. There are many other Torrent trackers serving the
same files (or at least files that point to the same files), technical means
to circumvent such blocks and, last but not least, many other ways to get the
same material without using BitTorrent.

I feel like Captain Obvious writing this, but apparently it's not clear to
those advocating and implementing such measures.

However, there's always a chance that some legislation exists that allows to
block access to sites very quickly upon complaints from allegedly
discriminated parties. Not being from the US I don't really know, but it seems
to be that that would be a worrying sign of an upcoming culture of information
censorship.

And if it is, then I wonder if there are representatives in the country that
would defend the Internet user's rights. Perhaps I am totally misinformed, but
from what I've read it would be hard to find a politician in the USA that is
not endorsed by one big company or another. If that is so, can one expect
their help on behalf of the people?

~~~
oinksoft
To tell you the truth, I don't know of any other good sites that have stuck it
out. Is there some resource for this? At one time Mininova et. al. were
viable, if not superior, alternatives, but if I recall, several of these sites
went offline or legit late 2008.

~~~
cmurdock
BtJunkie.org indexes a lot of them

------
indie69
Easy solution for bypassing the block (edit: or routing issue) : My post:
<http://wp.me/pJEJe-yr>

Direct link for those already familiar with what's going on:
<https://www.torproject.org/>

I can confirm that this solution works. Am on Xfinity and browsing TPB right
now.

~~~
sp332
Any proxy will work, you don't have to go to the trouble of setting up TOR.
It's just massive overkill to access a single site, especially when you don't
care about anonymity.

~~~
indie69
Absolutely true. But it still is an easy, 1 step, free fix for those not
familiar with using a proxy. Thanks. And anonymity as a bonus is certainly not
a downside. Besides, why bother using it for just one site? I'll be using it
now (with noscript and a few extras) to access any and all torrent-related
sites. Might as well nip it in the bud now rather than later.

Now we just have to be concerned about tracker-blocking, if they were to
choose to do so. As of now it's not an issue of any real concern, as most
piratebay-related trackers have been unreachable anyway.

~~~
mike-cardwell
IIRC, magnet URLs were invented so bittorrent doesn't have to rely on
centralised trackers

------
foobarbazetc
This is most probably just some network routing oddity, rather than an active
attempt to block by Comcast.

------
indie69
I guess its been established that this is not a DNS issue. But I just wanted
to point out that using Speakesy, no matter what DNS I use, speakeasy's own or
OpenDNS, I CAN reach TPB.

I'm not entirely sure if this makes a difference. I just wanted to add that
information since I had not mentioned it before. This information may or may
not be helpful. In case it is, here it is.

~~~
pstack
Same here. I'm on Comcast and I use OpenDNS and TPB is not reachable. While
I've had my issues with Comcast, I've been more or less happy with them ever
since I switched to their business class service (faster speeds and no hard
set bandwidth limits for them to complain to me over). If they're blocking
TPB, they're blocking other things. I don't want my utility service to block
how I use the utility.

------
wcchandler
I'm not a networking guy, but could a level 1 ISP implement an extra bounce
somewhere that isn't getting routed correctly?

Or to play the conspiracy theory card -- the government is tapping the line
and it's not able to receive a reply correctly.

------
click170
Rogers users up here in Canada-land are having the same problem as Comcast
users. I have no direct TPB access right now. I thought it was just more
regular TPB downtime except this time it's continued for several days.

------
Goronmon
Funnily enough, I can get through to the site just fine at work.

------
jenniart
It's bad enough Comcast throttles your internet, limiting legit ways of
watching video...

------
Maro
I'm in Hungary and it's blocked.

------
mike305
Miami Florida - Comcast - No Access. :(

------
fname
I'm on Cox and it's working for me...

------
josefresco
Confirmed. I'm on Comcast in MA and it's not loading for me.

------
truthtechnician
OH NO! I CAN'T DOWNLOAD MY PIRATED SOFTWARE AND MOVIES!

~~~
sp332
I have 157 torrents running. I have licenses for all of them. Well, except
<http://contemporary-home-computing.org/1tb/archives/2698> (an archive of
Geocities) which I consider to be historical and, since it was posted online
noncommercially anyway, I don't think it's hurting any content creators to
torrent it.

------
pxlpshr
When are you guys going to wake up and use newsgroups? BitTorrent is a huge
liability if you ask me. If you're caught and sued, it's for distribution —
not downloading.

~~~
jaysonelliot
The first rule of newsgroups is you don't talk about newsgroups. I feel like
they stay under the radar partly out of their mainstream obscurity.

On a serious note, though, what do you know about the legal issues around
downloading through Usenet? Have there been prosecutions or lawsuits?

~~~
pyre
For the most part, Usenet operators (e.g. EasyNews, GigaNews) would end up
being the ones targeted.

1\. Most of them seemingly don't keep any logs of who downloads what, so the
most info they have on you is: address, name, credit card, volume downloaded
per month.

2\. _All_ of the prosecutions thus far for file-sharing have been for
distribution. The pre-BitTorrent lawsuits were over files shared on Napster,
LimeWire, Gnutella, etc. The more recent lawsuits over BitTorrent downloads
are due to the BitTorrent technology which has you uploading and downloading
at the same time, thus by participating in a torrent you are aiding in the
distribution of it.

3\. In addition, some Usenet providers provide NNTPS connections, thus
(virtually) eliminating the ability for someone (i.e. ISP) to inspect what you
were downloading from the server.

4\. It might be _possible_ to get sued for downloading something from Usenet,
but the likelihood of extreme damages awarded by the court is pretty small.
The most likely reason that someone would be sued in this fashion would be to
prod them into taking a $2k-$3k settlement offer to avoid the hassle (and
cost) of defending the case in court. If someone were to battle such a case
through court, it would likely turn out in their favor (though IANAL). Though
the cost of getting to that point would likely be higher than the settlement
amount. So basically, such cases would be even more like Mafia shake-downs
than they are now.

Though, none of this speaks to the recent push to criminalize copyright
infringement. I have no clue if that would only cover downloading,
distribution or both (or what the penalties would be).

------
antihero
Welcome to China. Soon police will be beating up and imprisoning non-violent
political protesters for spreading dissent. Oh, wait.

