OcUK forums blocked for under-18s by Orange

Justintime · 18 Jan 2007 at 20:04

Heh being a systemadmin has it perks i suppose, everything else is crap though

Deathwish · 18 Jan 2007 at 20:08

Wile E. Coyote said:
have to use quotatime at work to log on and only get 60mins per day Real pain

WebSense?

KizZ · 18 Jan 2007 at 20:13

Phnom_Penh said:
Wasn't there an ip backdoor as well?
Don't bet on it.

Do you think it would bypass Websense?

Wile E. Coyote · 18 Jan 2007 at 20:14

Deathwish said:
WebSense?

Correct

jaffacakes · 18 Jan 2007 at 20:16

yes there was a way to get round safeguard with the proxy settings, do this:

change accesspoint to orangewap (from orange internet)
and disable proxies.

it's been a while since i've had to do it (got NTL on)
if it doesn't work try variations of the above, there's 4 possible combinations.

Dolph · 18 Jan 2007 at 20:19

jaffacakes said:
yes there was a way to get round safeguard with the proxy settings, do this:

change accesspoint to orangewap (from orange internet)
and disable proxies.

it's been a while since i've had to do it (got NTL on)
if it doesn't work try variations of the above, there's 4 possible combinations.

Safeguard works on both access points, so this won't actually help, apart from if it's glitching as described earlier, but resetting the connection will have the same effect.

benjo plz. · 18 Jan 2007 at 20:36

jaffacakes said:
snippy

your sig's too big mate.

KizZ said:
Do you think it would bypass Websense?

Doubt it. The ip backdoor won't work because it's an unconfirmed ip, and when we had it, ocukmods, as well as forums.overclockers were blocked. ocukforums may not be though.

Wile E. Coyote · 18 Jan 2007 at 20:44

Phnom_Penh said:
your sig's too big mate.

Doubt it. The ip backdoor won't work because it's an unconfirmed ip, and when we had it, ocukmods, as well as forums.overclockers were blocked. ocukforums may not be though.

Lets hope ocukforums isnt will be trying it tommorrow, fingers crossed

Pho · 18 Jan 2007 at 20:52

If you have access you could always try editing your hosts file.

(start > run > notepad.exe %windir%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts )

Maybe something like
83.245.33.200 www.google.ie

would fool it. Then use www.google.ie in your browser.

Wile E. Coyote · 18 Jan 2007 at 20:57

Computers at work are zipped tighter than a rich mans wallet, about the only think I can do is change the speed of the mouse and thats it. Will still try it though, god loves a trier

benjo plz. · 18 Jan 2007 at 21:23

Pho said:
If you have access you could always try editing your hosts file.

IIRC, unless you have dns disabled, hosts doesn't do anything (I may be wrong on this, but I seem to remember reading it somewhere).

Werewolf · 18 Jan 2007 at 21:33

Phnom_Penh said:
IIRC, unless you have dns disabled, hosts doesn't do anything (I may be wrong on this, but I seem to remember reading it somewhere).

I'm fairly sure hosts overides DNS - hence the reason you can edit it to redirect requests (handy for a local network, or if you want to prevent access to a certain site), and why spyware etc tries to change it at times.

Burnsy2023 · 18 Jan 2007 at 21:39

Werewolf said:
I'm fairly sure hosts overides DNS - hence the reason you can edit it to redirect requests (handy for a local network, or if you want to prevent access to a certain site), and why spyware etc tries to change it at times.

Your right, the HOSTS file is the first port of call for IP resolution, DNS is next.

Burnsy

benjo plz. · 18 Jan 2007 at 22:05

Werewolf said:
I'm fairly sure hosts overides DNS - hence the reason you can edit it to redirect requests (handy for a local network, or if you want to prevent access to a certain site), and why spyware etc tries to change it at times.

Yeh, that's what I thought. Just wasnt sure. Vista won't let me edit the hosts file though :\. Damn overtight security :mad:

.

teaboy5 · 18 Jan 2007 at 22:34

[noodle] said:
Our IT technician is a really annoying guy too. But I don't think that he has a big keyboard (in the non-euphemistic sense; dunno about the euphemistic sense, don't particularly want to know). He blocks any websites that involve the slightest bit of fun, yet he hasn't blocked OCUk yet, so thank goodness for that. He's normally very efficient at blocking stuff, so you go on a website, and next day it's been blocked. With OCUk, me and my friend have been using left, right and centre, yet no blockage!

Ever think its not him thats blocking them? Its most likely it's software that index's all viewed sites at night and blocked them on the content. It takes a few key words. But hey its cool to **** of techies

blighter · 18 Jan 2007 at 22:43

WebSense is very very tight.

It scans all the domains that are blocked and also blocks the IP.
I guess your at school/college? If so then put Portable Firefox on a Pen Drive, install FoxyProxy and FoxTor then you have unlimited net access

EDIT:

also (if you have access) you can goto the connection settings on the web browser and if there is a proxy in the box, delete it and click "Auto obtain settings" or "Direct Connection", that also works

agw_01 · 18 Jan 2007 at 22:57

The joys of being the IT techy at work

I don't actually do any work... just surf OcUK all day

As long as I'm clicking my mouse and umming over dialog boxes all day, they think I'm working.

[TW]Fox · 18 Jan 2007 at 22:59

Dolph said:
It's currently being worked on, but can't be disabled entirely without getting a lynching from Ofcom.

Why is this, and is it a new thing? I was unaware OFCOM required service providers to sensor the internet, it certainly never used to be the case.

Whats the reason behind it? And in what way do Orange differ from a regular ISP which makes this apply to them and not, say, BT dialup, also easily accessible by under 18's?

Dolph · 18 Jan 2007 at 23:19

[TW]Fox said:
Why is this, and is it a new thing? I was unaware OFCOM required service providers to sensor the internet, it certainly never used to be the case.

It's been in place for about at least a couple of years now (iirc about halfway through 2004 or so), and followed a threat from ofcom of "Stop it yourselves or we'll force you to". The restriction method

Here is the 'self-imposed' code of practice as agreed between the major networks.

http://www1.orange.co.uk/documents/regulatory_affairs/uk_code_of_practice_self_regulation.pdf

Whats the reason behind it? And in what way do Orange differ from a regular ISP which makes this apply to them and not, say, BT dialup, also easily accessible by under 18's?

Parents whinged more and demanded controls, the regulator listened to them and demanded controls... Controls were implemented, people complained about the controls...

The marvels of "Think of the children" arguments, a company acts, they get whinged at, they don't act, they are accused of irresponsibility. Hence the attempt to find a workable compromise solution. It generally works pretty well, so well that most people don't realise how long it's been in place, until it throws up something like this.

jaffacakes · 18 Jan 2007 at 23:29

well i knew about it the very day it was implemented, and it wasn't a swear word that made them block overclockers, it'll be the word FORUM - because paedophiles meet kids in chatrooms and forums so they block the lot, they also block stuff that might stop people spending money on their site, i used to run a wap site and managed to avoid getting safeguarded, simply by calling the forum a members area and using a profanity filter, it worked great until i shut back in october.

my method of getting 'round' it used to work and over that i'd swear on my life cos i had to find alternative to "no, it has to be a credit card, not a debit card" getting into debt just to get on a bloody wap site lol