AT&T commits suicide by 4chan

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

Everybody back your shit up NOW and brace for impact:

AT&T Has Managed To Really Piss Off the Wrong Bunch of Web-Nerds

By The Cajun Boy, 5:09 AM on Mon Jul 27 2009

AT&T, for reasons unknown at this point, has blocked user access to portions of 4chan, the online hangout for the world's most notorious cyber-terrorists. And they thought iPhone customers were a pain in their ass! This will end badly.

For benefit of the uninitiated, 4chan is a popular Wild West-ish outpost of internet known equally for its infamous hacking jobs and pranks (Rickrolling emerged from this murky swamp) as its meme generation, perhaps most notably the LOLcats phenomenon. 4chan's /b/ messageboard, one of the sections of the site blocked by AT&T, was once described as "the asshole of the internet" by Gawker and Valleywag alum Nick Douglas, an outpost where "btards" gather to engage in tasteless games of uncensored oneupsmanship, where the objective is often to see who can elicit the most shock from other members of the community.

Reports Tech Central:

Users of AT&T's DSL internet access across many states in the US are reporting that they are being blocked from the infamous /b/ message board in what appears to be an act of internet censorship by the phone company. This started today Sunday and no one has yet been able to get any official confirmation out of AT&T as to why.

Moot, the founder of 4chan, has confirmed AT&T is filtering/blocking the site.

In addition to starting a war with the internet's most skilled collection of cyber-rogues, Central Gadget says that AT&T may also be breaking the law.

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.

Predictably, the 4chan crowd is already mobilizing both inside and outside of their online community. AT&T didn't just open a can worms, they dove headfirst into a den of vipers, and this will be very interesting to watch play out.

 

[Douche Pukehole]

This should be good :rofl:

 

[Conchaga]

Yeah, I was browsing /b/ yesterday when this news broke. They were providing the personal info of the head of At&T. Finding everyone from the top down, and tracking them back to their homes. It's not pretty when 4chan gets upset.

Though, this is a major exception for 4chan. They're not attacking AT&T directly, they're attacking them indirectly by making public awareness of their censorship a big deal. It's really quite an anomaly how restrained they're being.

There are already 4 invasion sites set up all with the same copypasta gameplan. Very organized.

 

[Dirk Funk]

I can still get into /b/. Think they reversed course?

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

There's an update in the Central Gadget article that says "AT&T appears to have restored access network-wide to all areas of 4chan."

Dunno if that's true or not. Even if it is, it probably won't stop the waves of retribution...

 

[Classic_Forever]

AT&T commits suicide by 4chan

The correct terminology is "AT&T becomes an hero by 4chan"

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

An hero?

 

[Dual]

He was an hero.

 

[Conchaga]

An hero?

Yes, an hero.

It was a phrase coined when one of Mitchell Henderson's friends said, "He was such an hero, to take it all away." 4chan got a hold of that statement and took it to their meme machine and it's stuck ever since.

Anyway, apparently AT&T removed the block 12 hours after it began. 4chan has also vowed to fuck AT&T up the ass sideways with a ping-pong paddle for its erroneous ways. I'm guessing it will only be a few weeks before we start seeing AT&T CEO's getting arrested for something that 4chan decided to dig up.

This should be fun to watch.

 

[Eggs Mayonnaise]

Can't a multi-millionaire CEO trade kiddie porn on his encrypted server in peace?

 

[FBI parte due]

I'm sure this'll have an EVEN BIGGER impact than the Scientology protests! (none at all)

 

[Conchaga]

Hey, the Chanology stuff actually did some good in France or England or something. They're getting their religious status revoked and being investigated for fraud and tax evasion.

I generally don't care. But I do know a high-level scientologist. The guy is a major prick.