Router-side/ISP-side filtering of MD - How is it being dealt with?

[Porkslope]

How do you do?

I decided to make an account because I found out that Trend Micro's router-side blacklist (on certain routers such as Asus) is no longer blocking MD, and I was wondering if the site had managed to win some sort of legal action or make an appeal that got through to them.
This is fairly concerning to me because there are a few other sites I visit which may or may not be accessible on public wifi hotposts, none of which have any connection to 18+ content or CSA content (4channel is a big one, Cisco hates them). Wardriving is a hobby of mine so I take note of these things. MD is uniformly blocked too by major hotspots.
All in all, I'd just like to know if sites are managing to convey to these companies that they're being unfairly blocked.

 

[BraveDude8]

For Asus's AIProtection service specifically, it hooks into Trend Micro's "Web Reputation Services" and you can appeal it by feeding a URL into their test page, clicking "Reclassify Request", and filling out the form.



The only two safety ratings I can see are "Safe" and "Dangerous", so it looks like we're still blacklisted.

Realistically, you're at the whims of massive corporations randomly blacklisting your website for no reason and there really isn't anything you can do about it beyond juggling a bunch of mirror domains around. I suspect the odds of getting a site removed from any given major blacklist without involving legal counsel is effectively zero, as they have no incentive to care.

EDIT: lmao, fuck off.


I put a fake serial number in and it appears to have gone through, which triggered a verification email, and the webpage linked in that email took nearly half a minute to load. Very promising.

 

[RogueKitsune]

Mangadex has several things working against it in this area. The biggest being its a site that engages in piracy (thats illegal).

Any site listed as engaging in illegal activities gets put on the shit list regardless of how safe or unsafe the site actually is. To be honest thats mostly a good thing, as it probably means i have to spend less time playing tech support from family downloading warez. Anywhom, the point is the site gets blocked without ever actually being checked if there is anything malicious (or actually illegal).

Last issue I will bring up is size. MD is a small fish in the ocean (or cesspool) that is the internet, and small things attract bullies. There are "services" out there that maliciously get smaller sites flagged as "bad" just to turn around and offer the site a "solution" to the problem. While less common it is something that can and does happen.

What can you do about it? Well... not much unfortunately. Most Anti-Virus software that has a "Web Reputation" service has some way that you can dispute sites being flagged as bad (or report sites as being bad). At the ISP level you could raise a support ticket (just don't expect much from it), ISPs usually don't just block stuff unless they have to. At the government level... well you are probably just out of luck unless you can vote everyone out that is getting all that money from big manga. /s

 

[tristan9]

it appears to have gone through

I tried a while back. I was getting the appeal instantaneously rejected lol. We’re 100% on their « blocked and ignore appeals » list as Roki suggests.

 

[Porkslope]

For Asus's AIProtection service specifically, it hooks into Trend Micro's "Web Reputation Services" and you can appeal it by feeding a URL into their test page, clicking "Reclassify Request", and filling out the form.

View attachment 380

The only two safety ratings I can see are "Safe" and "Dangerous", so it looks like we're still blacklisted.

Realistically, you're at the whims of massive corporations randomly blacklisting your website for no reason and there really isn't anything you can do about it beyond juggling a bunch of mirror domains around. I suspect the odds of getting a site removed from any given major blacklist without involving legal counsel is effectively zero, as they have no incentive to care.

EDIT: lmao, fuck off.

View attachment 383
I put a fake serial number in and it appears to have gone through, which triggered a verification email, and the webpage linked in that email took nearly half a minute to load. Very promising.

That's interesting. So I'm totally wrong and something must have simply changed with the Asus in question's Trend blacklist (it's not my home connection, so I can't be sure).
I do feel bad for users who are shackled with similar restrictions at home and elsewhere. It's starting to look like instead of just attacking certain websites through their hosts, web and hardware services are simply walling them off.
Even so, a case like 4channel (4chan's sfw mirror) has grounds for a libel action if they've been blocked for years for "adult content".

 

[RogueKitsune]

Even so, a case like 4channel (4chan's sfw mirror) has grounds for a libel action if they've been blocked for years for "adult content".

Except not really. As is common with service providers of any type, they usually include itty bitty fine print that amounts to "We can do whatever we want because fuck you if we feel that it protects the service and customers".

Aside:
Before someone goes "but muh net neutrality", even if your place of residence has those kinds of provisions, there are still usually exceptions in them that allow ISPs to block illegal and "harmful" (by the ISP's definitions) content. This puts the burden of proof that something is not actually harmful on the other party.