Hundreds of Sites Blocked By Canadian ISP

An anonymous reader writes "Last week Slashdot reported on the blockage of a union website by Telus, a leading Canadian ISP. Since that story, the company has restored access but the fallout continues. The move may lead to new ISP regulations in Canada and a study by the OpenNet Initiative has found that by blocking the union site, Telus also blocked an additional 766 websites including a breast cancer fundraising site." From the article: "While there are a number of different ways to block access to Web sites, the method Telus chose to block the Voices for Change site -- blocking its IP address -- produced massive collateral filtering. Filtering by IP address is efficient since ISPs can quickly and effectively block access to the target site using their existing routing technology. Many ISPs already block certain IP addresses to combat spam and viruses. Large networks, like Telus, have mechanisms in place to block IP addresses almost instantaneously, simply by updating their routers with a "block list" of addresses. However, it is common for many different, unrelated Web sites to share the same IP address."

i'm confused....

[BillyZ]

"However, it is common for many different, unrelated Web sites to share the same IP address."

It is?

Uh oh

[coflow]

From TFA: "the blockage occurred at the Internet backbone level, thereby blocking access for other ISPs (and their customers) that use Telus as their provider."

I'm certainly no legal expert, but this seems like it could open the floodgate for litigation. Maybe by the time the regulations arrive the market will have already corrected this problem?

Re:Hypocrisy in action.

[TheSneak]

It's not that they blocked these websites really, it's that they went about it the wrong way. There are rules and regulations regarding this sort of thing, and they were not followed.

If they had gotten the permission of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, then you would be correct. Though i suspect that even if they did this the legal way, it would cause bad PR anydangway!

And the moral of the story is...

[jerryodom]

Don't block IPs unless you're really really sure about it. Lasy bastard admins.

Re:Illegal, reckles, and dangerous.

[oostevo]

I'm about the farthest from an expert on Canadian legal matters that one can be, so I'm truly curious, not trying to argue:

Does the Canadian Telecommunications Act include ISPs as 'carriers'? Most legislation considering telecommunications and common carriers that I know of was written before the internet was as popular and vital as it is now.

Re:Illegal, reckles, and dangerous.

[Anonymous Coward]

I was under the impression that the web site was posting the address and personal information of scabs. Thats obviously an intimidation tactic, possibly even dangerious.

I think if they felt the site posed a danger to their employees, their right to safety is more important then thier status as a carrier, collateral damage be damned.

Re:the ultimate hypocrisy of slashdot

[TeQGame]

Hm, Telus is an NSP not just an ISP. They are a significant part of the backbone in Canada. As an NSP they are subject to different criteria for providing connectivity. Unfortunately, the laws in Canada are somewhat different than the laws elsewhere.

the ultimate flawed argument

[TripMaster Monkey]

So let me get this straight...you're comparing the behavior of an ISP, who is required by law to not impede access to the websites it hosts, to the behavior of a private website, who is under no such requirement.

Your argument is rather like saying since the city cannot ban people from driving down a street for no good reason, then it necessarily follows that these same people must be allowed unfettered access to the private residences on that street.

Next time, think before you post.

Goodbye Telus, Hello Shaw

[Winterblink]

In my area I have a choice between two high-speed internet carriers, Telus and Shaw Internet. Telus has pretty much just cinched the deal for me, that I'll be moving to Shaw as soon as possible.

Corporations Replacing Governments

[loyukfai]

Used to see films set in the future that corporations had replaced governments and thought, it will never happen.

But seeing more and more such news today, it happens to me that, are we in the midst of this change?

In China, the government censors you, in Canada and Australia, the ISP censors you!

Re:Public Outcry

[TCM]

a) Force them to let everything through, but this means they can't block virus speading sites, etc

And why should they? Blocking the spreading won't make the viruses go away. Plus, if I were a researcher or hobby virus analyser, I couldn't get to them anymore.

How about we get systems more secure so it wouldn't matter a single bit whether a site distributing some malware is reachable or not?

Re:If they want to do that its fine

[Patrik_AKA_RedX]

So all I need to do the get the post office in trouble is mail something illegal to some random person? In essence the post office and an ISP provide the same kind of service. Both allow 2 individuals to send each other materials. If I send a list of instructions on how to build some kind of explosive device, does it make any difference if I send it by email or by regular mail?

Besides can an ISP check on what you send without violating the law on privacy (the one that makes it illegal to read other peoples mail)?
IMO an ISP can't be held resposible for a email or file transfered. However they can be held responsible if they, after being notified by other people or an authority, don't stop a certain person from continuing sending harmfull mails or don't remove illegal content from their webspace.

Just my 2 cents.

Re:Wow

[schon]

Bingo.

A few years ago, Telus offered me a job, at 3x what I make now.

I told them to get stuffed.

The problem with Telus is that they grew out of a government department, with a government-mandated monopoly. They got spun off as an independant company 15 years ago, but still think and act like they're a government monopoly.

Re:If they want to do that its fine

[Stocktonian]

Being European myself (but prefering to be called British, that's a whole different matter), I have NEVER known another European to consider Canada another part of "America" unless specifically talking about the continent. I won't go into which country most of us prefer, I'll leave that to your imaginations.

FOX NEWS INTERNET

[friendswelcome]

"AOL also uses their web filters to promote a political agenda. For example, children can visit the home page of the Republican National Committee, but not the Democratic National Committee." http://www.computergripes.com/Aol.html [computergripes.com]

AOL is a good example of this, but I have found censorship to be a big problem with a few other cheap internet providers.

In college, I think I was trying compuserve, but they blocked lots of sites. With them, I could not do political research for my sociology class at home. I would have had to go to the computer lab to do real research. That made me angry, so back then I decided not to switch and to keep my $24 a month Earthlink account :P I didn't like Earthlinks webmail system or their customer service or their price, but at least they gave me the same level of internet access as I got in the computer labs.

It makes me wonder about people looking for a good deal (poor people) and how this affects their political views.

FOX NEWS INTERNET Explosions, Warnings, and none of those boring educated LIBERALS!

Does Censorship = Profit? For who?

- Your friendly neighborhood systems analyst

Re:Don't cry for telus employees

[Gallowglass]

I looked at the union's website when the story first came out. I looked at the picture. The closest I saw to what you were describing was a couple of pictures where managers were standing (not entering, standing or leaning against a wall) watching the picketers (and smoking a cigarette in one case if my memory serves aright.)

I did not see any "pictures of employees who were crossing the picket line for the purpose of later harrasing those said employees."

As to the other claims, so far the only corroboration that I have run across is the company's assertion. Do you have any supporting evidence/references to these claims?

I WANT A LAWSUIT

[FFFish]

Does anyone know of a class action lawsuit against Telus for this act? I am *mighty* pissed that they blocked my access to the site, and I want to make them pay for it: I want to join a lawsuit against them.

Please post a reply to this message if you know of a class-action lawsuit against Telus for IP blocking.

Where is the government in all this?

[davvr6]

It would seem to me that primus has definitely crossed the line. I would hope to hear a strong response from the government and the other members of parliament. As we have become inundated with spam and virus traffic people have let the internet providers filter all of their emails and web content already. Now I get the odd email that is sanitized with .pif virus, funny in it that it doesn't even run on a mac. Internet providers have been able to sneak their filters into service supposedly based on this threat. So it's like grade school all over again. I can just hear the teacher, " Nobody can throw snowballs all winter again because of what "Johnny" did". Because of a bunch of sick bastards who write spam and virus's we must now submit ourselves to a level of censorship we don't even allow our own governments, and yes I am Canadian. My closing idea is that if these businesses are not classed as common carriers, this would imply a failure of government to protect it's citizens. I see hand washing all the way to the top. By the way write your MP.