

O2 installs 18+ filter on the mobile web - adam-_-
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-03/04/o2-mobile-web-filtering

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jrockway
_The restrictions are at the DNS level_

8.8.8.8.

~~~
pavel_lishin
But can you change that on a phone?

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jrockway
Easily. Edit /etc/resolv.conf, write an HTTP proxy, write a web browser, etc.
There is probably some GUI way of doing it too.

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pavel_lishin
Oh, and here I thought it would be _difficult_ even for someone tech savvy.
:)(

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dazzawazza
This article was published on the 4th March and at this moment I can access
all sites mentioned in the article and tube8.com without entering any details.
I'd suggest the article is a little out of date.

I'm a contract customer so they may have updated their policy to exclude all
contract customers (who are all over 18) or they may have dropped it. I don't
know.

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kingofspain
I used to get this years ago on an O2 pay as you go with old school crappy
mobile internet. Can't remember exactly what sites triggered it, but it was
something pretty innocuous, perhaps gambling/lottery related.

The switch from PAYG to contract made it disappear but it would be foolishly
tin-foily of me to assume that this is exactly what O2 wanted to happen.

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jarin
Sending this to the few of my friends who still think Net Neutrality is a bad
idea. If blocked porn can't convince them, nothing will.

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ataggart
Because using the police power of the state against otherwise peaceful
organizations is more convenient than taking your business elsewhere, and
allows you to substitute your preferences for the revealed preferences of
other consumers.

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jarin
Which works great, if the organizations in question don't have a virtual
monopoly on what should be considered a public utility. There is no
"elsewhere".

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ataggart
Does O2 have a monopoly on wireless internet access?

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jarin
The IMCB is a collaboration between Vodafone, Orange, T-Mobile, 02, 3 and
Virgin Mobile.

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ataggart
Perhaps I wasn't clear. Does O2 have a monopoly on wireless internet access?

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jgrahamc
This is who's behind this: <http://www.imcb.org.uk/> and here are the details
of the filtering policy:
<http://www.imcb.org.uk/pdfs/ClassificationFramework.pdf>

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pavel_lishin
For one specific mobile service provider.

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iaskwhy
Actually I have been using Vodafone Mobile Broadband here in London and it has
the same kind of filter. Somehow it disappeared after three weeks. It didn't
seem to be as bad as this one from O2 since I did some tests and I was able to
see erotic images without a problem, only porn sites seemed to trigger the
filter. That and also maybe 5% of all the different sites I have visited on
the last month.

~~~
pavel_lishin
From the headline, I thought this was some sort of government initiative.

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ionfish
Moral panics have a long history here; a lot of it is due to the
sensationalist media culture. Government clampdowns are usually the result of
whipped-up public hysteria.

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glenjamin
This happened to a colleague of mine, but I'm on the same network and it
didn't happen to me.

You can turn it off by either going into an O2 store with some ID, or paying
£1 on a credit card - you'll be given £2.50 in credit to your phone bill to
compensate.

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brackin
O2 have had this on my phone for quite a while.

