Boing Boing "Censorware'd" Banned-In-Boston - Dan's Guardian
[Not a pure echo, original research here!]
Boing Boing got censorware'd by Boston Municipal Wi-Fi.
I sent them the following information:
"The phrase "Banned combination phrase found" is a characteristic message of the censorware Dan's Guardian. http://www.dansguardian.org/ It seems some combination of words has triggered the "isItNaughty" flag (that's what they call it).
It would be an interesting legal case to see if you had the right to file a Freedom Of Information Act for the settings and block logs to find out the exact reason you got censorware'd."
Note, to be clear, this looks like a words-on-the-page blacklisting, rather than a prohibited-site blacklisting.
Sigh. Why bother? I see Slashdot is spreading a rumor over it, and it's a huge joke to think I'm going to make any difference blogging about it :-(.
By Seth Finkelstein | posted in censorware | on April 21, 2007 11:30 PM (Infothought permalink)
BoingBoing quoted you. Last time I looked, BoingBoing outdraws Slashdot.
I could wish that I would be 'dismissed' as much as you are.
Ah, but that's not *blogging* about it. That's "Serving the A-list". There's a big difference between mailing a tip to a high-keeper-of-gates that he or she might like, and whatever reach I have on my own, which is comparatively trivial.
Remember, I had a huge amount of censorware research derailed and destroyed from Slashdot backing a vicious domain-hijacker. The lessons there are still relevant and in part suppress my further research.
Shelley,
maybe I am an idiot, but I couldn't find a direct link to Seth's blog or his work on this in either the boingboing or slashdot article or comments on /.
Please correct me where I am wrong.
I even searched the /. comments at -1 for one.
Not even anonymously Seth?
Nah. I don't bother commenting on Slashdot, not worth the trouble. Even anonymously, because of all the mud slung at me in the past from their backing you-know-who (that is, because I was tarred with the claim that anything done by an anonymous troll was in fact my work, I adopted the policy of not ever commenting anonymously - even if not logged-in, I left my name. Then I gave up. At this point, it just feels humiliating - "please, please, notice me, *squeak* *squeak* *squeak*").
Seth,
Keep pulling the holes you find in the dyke restraining ignorance.
Slashdot IS hardly worth commenting upon. I think the wisdom of crowds has a tipping point too. Find venues with fewer loud voices and more perceptive listener/voters... better yet, just keep blogging and add readers based upon a similar view of the world.