Virgin Media Site Blocker

[Daveoc64]

Anybody got any idea what the "Site blocker" tab on "My Virgin Media" is for?

It links to the following site:

https://my.virginmedia.com/site-blocked.html

I could understand the error appearing if a site was blocked for legal reasons, but why is there a tab on My Virgin Media that points to it?

Neither of the links on that page work.

[boroboi]

Strange...

[Milambar]

I don't know why this is flagged "100MB" because I get it too, and I'm only on 30Mbit.

It's going to be interesting to see what materializes there. I hope its a list of what sites they have been ordered to censor.

[Sirius]

I don't know why this is flagged "100MB" because I get it too, and I'm only on 30Mbit.

It's going to be interesting to see what materializes there. I hope its a list of what sites they have been ordered to censor.

Thankfully i have a VPN so if its any sites i use they will not be able to block them ;)

[General Maximus]

i imagine it will be to do with sites the government has deamed super illegal and orders all isps to blacklist and probably search engines like google as well

[philipp]

its probably going to be used to block things like newsbin2 etc (wasnt that in the news recently for bt need to block it?) when the time arises.

[Sirius]

its probably going to be used to block things like newsbin2 etc (wasnt that in the news recently for bt need to block it?) when the time arises.

Thing is Newsbin2 has its own program now that allows it to be reached no matter what the isp does. The more they block these web sites the more the web sites will find ways around it.

[Daveoc64]

I don't know why this is flagged "100MB" because I get it too, and I'm only on 30Mbit.

I wasn't able to post the thread without putting something, and that seemed like the most relevant option (although I realise it's miles off).

[kwikbreaks]

I wasn't able to post the thread without putting something, and that seemed like the most relevant option (although I realise it's miles off).You could have selected the blank option.

[Skie]

I bet even using a different DNS server will get around it.

With CISPA in the states, the GCHQ wanting to read all of your emails and facebook posts and this sort of thing I can see the day when everything is encrypted or tunnelled. Which will hamper the security services far more than these misguided policies will ever help them.

[craigj2k12]

If CISPA/SOPA/SISPA/RISPA/RASPA/TROOPA/POOPA etc ever become as strict as planned, the internet is going to change massively for everyone, web browsing software is going to change, and as mentioned, encryption and tunnelling is going to increase tenfold

[kwikbreaks]

Which will hamper the security services far more than these misguided policies will ever help them.Not half as much as reading all the tripe on facebook..

[Chrysalis]

so whats the name of the site that was blocked?

I forsee a time where browsers may remove the facility to use proxies on order of the state, possibly VPNs been made illegal in consumer equipment as well. But the law makers are always behind so those kind of changes are probably a decade away. I also forsee a time where isps whitelist allowed traffic only such as port 80 and mainstream ip's only in that port. The internet is a nightmare for the global elite.

[MovedGoalPosts]

Looks like Pirate bay will be one of the first to be hidden by this link : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17894176

[Stuart]

so whats the name of the site that was blocked?

I forsee a time where browsers may remove the facility to use proxies on order of the state, possibly VPNs been made illegal in consumer equipment as well. But the law makers are always behind so those kind of changes are probably a decade away. I also forsee a time where isps whitelist allowed traffic only such as port 80 and mainstream ip's only in that port. The internet is a nightmare for the global elite.

I doubt it. Both VPNs and Proxies are heavily used in Enterprise, and Government computing.

While any enterprise that wants it's customers to work from home, or from a hotel, should provide enterprise level equipment, that's not always practical, as enterprise equipment can be rather large and heavy.

[qasdfdsaq]

Most users prefer enterprises that allow them to use their own equipment as well. BYOD fosters increased job satisfaction and productivity, it's not going away anytime soon.

Given there are many VPN solutions (including software only ones) that now use SSL - including Cisco's - blocking it would be nigh on impossible.

[jimexbox]

I thought it was relatively easy to circumvent blocked sites? Either using a proxy server or VPN.

[qasdfdsaq]

I did it by accident in China.

[apb27]

yep tpb will be blocked within the next few weeks by all major UK ISPs

[kwikbreaks]

I hope the local prat who seeds flat out 24x7 is too stupid to figure out how to get around it. Fat chance of that though. It's a complete waste of time and ISPs money.

[Chrysalis]

top 2 replies on the bbc both contrasting.

I purchased all three Bourne movies after downloading one of them. Had I not been given the downloaded movie, I would still be convinced that the Bourne series would be movies I wouldn't enjoy. I've seen others comment similarly. There's argument to suggest that piracy is not quite the perpetrator behind their losses as the entertainment industry believes it to be.

I find this one to be somewhere near the truth in that a lot of people actually do buy stuff they like after they download, not everyone of course but some people do. p2p is effectively free advertising for the media companies as well as free distribution.


People are trying to find any reason they can to justify stealing films, songs, software etc. that other people have worked to produce (including hundreds of thousands low paid staff whose jobs are gone or going),

Why not just admit that you liked getting a load of stuff for nothing rather than pay for it and that you want to carry on getting it for nothing.

Just be honest.

I agree that people obviously like getting stuff for nothing, however he drifted from fact by claiming its stealing when it isnt, and that the majority of piracy is not a lost sale.

The UK is heading down the wrong path censorship to appeal to a minority of th epopulation who get rich from copyright. Some legal firms have even been closed down due to shady practices of profiteering from copyright infringement.

[_wtf_]

It's a complete waste of time and ISPs money.

Yeah, but shillings have been passed under the counter so it had to be passed.

Funny how both Labour and the Lib Dems were against any censoring of the internet when the Conservatives were in power. Yet it's all coming in now.

If you want a good idea of how all this is really going on take a look at the 80's series Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. Whitehall probably have what they want for the internet, for the next 5 years at least, already planned. After the 'Arab Spring' you can bet it isn't going to be as free and open as it has been.

The other problem with all of this is that people will start using VPN's, Tor, etc. the government are basically pushing people toward darknets. The law enforcement agencies will have a much tougher time once that happens. I know they recently caught a group of people the other day for something or other who were using Tor but they were using PayPal and the postal system.

[Skie]

I find this one to be somewhere near the truth in that a lot of people actually do buy stuff they like after they download, not everyone of course but some people do. p2p is effectively free advertising for the media companies as well as free distribution.


There have even been studies recently that show those users who pirate also have much larger paid for collections and spend more per month on content than those who dont pirate.

[qasdfdsaq]

I find this one to be somewhere near the truth in that a lot of people actually do buy stuff they like after they download, not everyone of course but some people do. p2p is effectively free advertising for the media companies as well as free distribution.
This has been proven to be true time and time again in numerous scientific studies, so often that I don't even bother reading them anymore. Course some people just don't listen.

---------- Post added at 19:02 ---------- Previous post was at 19:00 ----------

There have even been studies recently that show those users who pirate also have much larger paid for collections and spend more per month on content than those who dont pirate.
Me included.

[Sirius]

The other problem with all of this is that people will start using VPN's, Tor, etc. the government are basically pushing people toward darknets. The law enforcement agencies will have a much tougher time once that happens.

:clap:

I have had a VPN for a while just so i can have some privacy when i need it and to get to sites that the recording industry and movie industry do not want me to visit.

I have now decided that the industrie can for forth in short jerky movements because of there blocking of sites and i will be reverting to my old ways.

[Milambar]

The problem is, while I don't agree with the path the record industry or movie industry has elected to take, people are going to have to be very careful. Especially now they are starting to get their way with the censoring of websites.

The path ends at a "whitelist internet". One that all sites are blocked, except for the ones they approve of, and that will be a very bad place for the internet to be at.

[AndyCalling]

The problem is, while I don't agree with the path the record industry or movie industry has elected to take, people are going to have to be very careful. Especially now they are starting to get their way with the censoring of websites.

The path ends at a "whitelist internet". One that all sites are blocked, except for the ones they approve of, and that will be a very bad place for the internet to be at.

No, it doesn't. A white list internet requires staff in massive amounts, which won't happen. It will also result in an embarrasing number of hackers and a cyber warfare savvy generation. Nasty. It can only be black list and the game becomes, can the internet generate bad sites faster than we can hire staff? The answer in China may be no (though I doubt it). The answer in the UK is certainly yes. High profile sites may be taken down as a show of strength. That is all though. It'll move too fast for a system like that.

What they want to trigger by shows of strength and state backing is a cultural change. Away from tape-to-tape thinking and into coin-op-arcade thinking. This is an essential misunderstanding of the human experience though. We like buying nice new things with our pennys. We also like copying our mates' tapes. I personally have an account with a music purchasing service I like and buy straight off my radio. I also have some CDs. I also have some mix tapes and some MP3s from mates. Like most folk. People don't see an either/or situation here, but corporate fear of one extreme leads them to over promote the other. They think that adds no risk to them, but I think it leads to things like 'Amazing Radio'. Watch out big business. Once Youview gets going it's only a matter of time until 'Amazing Video' comes along. And not a lot of time either.

The encryption is necessary because of the new proposed phone/internet tapping laws. Basically, it won't just be Rupert Murdoch we have to worry about, the local council will be at it as well (you know they will in the end...).

[qasdfdsaq]

Even China didn't manage that.

[Chrysalis]

No, it doesn't. A white list internet requires staff in massive amounts, which won't happen. It will also result in an embarrasing number of hackers and a cyber warfare savvy generation. Nasty. It can only be black list and the game becomes, can the internet generate bad sites faster than we can hire staff? The answer in China may be no (though I doubt it). The answer in the UK is certainly yes. High profile sites may be taken down as a show of strength. That is all though. It'll move too fast for a system like that.

What they want to trigger by shows of strength and state backing is a cultural change. Away from tape-to-tape thinking and into coin-op-arcade thinking. This is an essential misunderstanding of the human experience though. We like buying nice new things with our pennys. We also like copying our mates' tapes. I personally have an account with a music purchasing service I like and buy straight off my radio. I also have some CDs. I also have some mix tapes and some MP3s from mates. Like most folk. People don't see an either/or situation here, but corporate fear of one extreme leads them to over promote the other. They think that adds no risk to them, but I think it leads to things like 'Amazing Radio'. Watch out big business. Once Youview gets going it's only a matter of time until 'Amazing Video' comes along. And not a lot of time either.

The encryption is necessary because of the new proposed phone/internet tapping laws. Basically, it won't just be Rupert Murdoch we have to worry about, the local council will be at it as well (you know they will in the end...).

Its evident so far they dont care about the cost of implementation.

I expect a whitelist internet would be managed by a central provided whitelist aka IWF style. So isp's wouldnt individually manage whitelists.

The barrier isnt cost its public acceptance.

[Mick Fisher]

My guess is, now Hollywood have got the Courts to order ISP's to implement a ban on TPB, the next step will be to try to get the Court's to order ISP's to filter their networks for infringing media.

Massive penalties will then be levied on the ISP's for falure or non-compliance.

Bottom line, BB charges will increase and us punters will end up paying to fix Hollywood's problem.

[mark1234]

Which is why they haven't cared about implementation costs so far - they aren't the ones paying for it.

[Chrysalis]

Maybe I should ask the isp's to ban all my competitors as its losing me £1000 every time they get someone and I have lost 2.5billion this year alone.