Mobile phone company 3 UK blocking MRa websites

[Marx]

What was the warning, Dylan? Was it an anti-virus package warning or a google-chrome warning, etc. etc?

[Dylan MacVillain]

What was the warning, Dylan? Was it an anti-virus package warning or a google-chrome warning, etc. etc?

It was probably an anit-virus warning. I'll have to make a note of what it is exactly the next time.

[johnkimble1]

There is quite a lot of loose language used on this site, as well as sexual references. It is possible that companies might block it in a too-wide attempt to reduce porn sites over their network, or restrict swearing to under-age children, etc. I know that Vodaphone pay-as-you-go automatically put on both sexual content and language blocking and you have to ask them to remove it from your account to access some quite mild web sites.

I don't see any such language on www.manwomanmyth.com which is apparently blocked as well.

Can Three users check some comparable feminist websites such as mumsnet, thefword, the fawcett society and feministing please? If they're blocking extreme feminist sites as well as MRA sites then we really can't complain too much.

[nivek]

Have searched via planet3 for Antimisandry, manwomanmyth, feministing, mumsnet, avoiceformen and thespearhead, all come up ok which isn't surprising really because planet3 uses the google search engine.

when I said up thread that I wasn't wearing my glasses when I first tried I was being serious, I probably miss spelled Antimisandry the first time round (am short sighted and typing at arms length on a small screen is a bit tricky )

Again I have no idea what pin-blocking is so I could be looking at this all wrong but planet3 is merely a customer environment like virginmedia.com or sky.com where customers can check their bill, account status, buy ons, download apps etc, the search panes on these company web sites are all powered by google so when using them you get exactly what you get when searching direct from the google home page.

[Celtic Druid]

All of these insignificant 'incidences' are dangerous examples of our pitiful dependence on electrically driven technology. It is a forewarning to prepare ourselves for worse eventuality's that will inevitably befall us as a population within our fragile lifetimes.

[johnkimble1]

According to posters on TROM pin blocking is where sites are rated as for an 18+ audience. They state that antimisandry and manwomanmyth are subject to this block but the known hate site radfemhub is not.

[nivek]

Mmmmm having reread the thread at TROM the commenter Ian complains about 3G (3rg generation mobile telecommunications) which is a mobile telecommunication standard and not specifically to do with Three mobile. 3g is a wide area network (WAN) used by service providers.

MY phone uses the 3G network, as would most nowadays, and I don't have any problem accessing any sites.

[Marx]

I'm on Orange and have never had any issue directly accessing AM via it's own web-browser on the HSDPA (and 3G & G) networks or via tethering to my laptop.

No such warnings come up and access has never been an issue.

Regardless, given the possibility, I sent Three this message via their 'contact us' page.

To whom it may concern,

I have been a loyal Orange customer for some time but am drawing near the end of my current contract with them. I am keen to reduce my bill but Orange no longer supply a budget-friendly 'all you can eat data' package. I am forced to either continue with my current expensive contract or take my business elsewhere.

And that is why I am looking to 'Three'.

However, I have some concerns. I am told you block certain sites and would like to konw what sites you block and why. I ask because I am an administrator of a well known forum pertaining to men's rights and have been told that my site is on your blocked-sites list. If I cannot access my own site on my android phone through your network, then Three will not be of any use to me and thus you lose a potential customer.

Could you be so kind as to explain which sites you block and for what reasons you have taken it upon yourselves to do so?

I look forward to your reply.

[nivek]

All of these insignificant 'incidences' are dangerous examples of our pitiful dependence on electrically driven technology. It is a forewarning to prepare ourselves for worse eventuality's that will inevitably befall us as a population within our fragile lifetimes.

Aye our society is heavily dependent on technology and when the lights go out many will perish, it will be those amongst us who know that man cannot live by rabbit alone that will have the edge.

[Douglas]

All of these insignificant 'incidences' are dangerous examples of our pitiful dependence on electrically driven technology. It is a forewarning to prepare ourselves for worse eventuality's that will inevitably befall us as a population within our fragile lifetimes.

With the various laws such as CISPA, SOPA and other country's equivalents coming into force, the Internet is likely to be blacked out quite quickly. There is already a resurgence in alternate forums of the type we had before the existence of the Internet and which will be harder to control.

[Marx]

A reply from Three;

Dear Mr xxxxxxxx

Thanks for letting us know you're interested in joining our network – we’d love to welcome you. I understand you're concerned that we block certain sites.

However, I assure you that we offer open internet access to all our customers on all phones. This means you can have unfiltered internet access. We do this to offer the optimum browsing experience to our phone customers. At the same time, we respect customers’ who would like age restricted sites blocked. They can do this by sending a text ‘FILTER’ to 33333.

Coming back to your question, we don't block any sites in particular. But there may be certain sites which may not be accessible as they may not be on our domain. As we don’t block any sites we don’t have any list for them.

When any customer reports a site which is not accessible on Three's network we'll get it escalated and try to make it accessible. However, we may not be able to guarantee this.

If you would like to know more about our products and services you can visit our website or call our 3Store Helpline on 0844 338 0330 (charged at standard rate).

Alternatively, you can also call our Direct Sales team on 0800 358 9571 and select Option 1. Their working hours are:

* Monday to Friday: 8am - 10pm
* Saturday: 8am - 8pm
* Sunday: 10am - 8pm

I hope this information is helpful. If you have any more questions, please call us on 333 (free) from any Three mobile or on 0843 373 3333 (5.1p/min from a BT landline, other networks may vary) between 8am and 10pm.


Regards



Kamran Anwar Shah
Three Customer Services

[johnkimble1]

I've looked into this further and I now have proof both how and why mobile company O2 block this site.

They have a url checker, and there seem to be 3 levels of blocks - a total block, a "default" block or a parental block. This site is blocked by default. O2 have it in their "hate" category and class it as a "hate site".

I haven't checked other mens rights sites yet but I suggest we check each and every one to see what else they're censoring. Other have been able to overturn these ridiculous classifications. and we all need to contact o2 ASAP.

here is the url checker so people can see the proof for themselves:

Website status checker

[johnkimble1]

I've now investigated further, full details in my article here:

The Rights Of Man : MOBILE PHONE COMPANIES ARE CENSORING AND DEFAMING MEN'S RIGHTS SITES

[Marx]

Email to: enquiries@os-communications.org

To whom it may concern,

I have recently used your URL checker and found the website: AM Articles - Articles is automatically blocked as a 'hate' site. Could you explain why it is hateful? Meanwhile, Radfem Hub | a radical feminist collective blog is not blocked.

Now, the first (from hereon I'll refer to it as AM) supports men and equality for men in areas such as health-care, campaigns, awareness, parental responsibility, etc. and acknowledges that strains of feminism hold nothing short of ill-will towards men.

On the other hand, the second URL (from hereon known by it's alter-ego of radfemhub) has promoted various forms of hate towards men, such as castration of men, penoctomy, forced poisoning (of men & women pregnant with male babies), literal killing of men (and women who stand in their way), murder of babies, hate towards the trans-gender community (m2f) and plotted out methods of tricking people into supporting their bigoted views.

Yet somehow, you want to classify men who want equality as 'hate' while ignoring threats to wipe out 50% of the world's population.

Can you even slightly begin to explain your prejudice policy?


Regards,

A very concerned individual.


ps - if you wish to see what is held within the radfemhub forums, this URL will be of assistance. AGENT ORANGE FILES - CLICK AOF.ZIP TO DOWNLOAD

[johnkimble1]

Not sure what os-communications is Marx? The companies in question are O2 and T-mobile.