Porn Blocked in Boonies
Tahsis Internet users receive government warnings; glitch blamed.
Users got scolding message.
When William Davidson started getting government warnings saying he's blocked from visiting favourite Internet sites from his home computer, he didn't suspect it might have something to do with a government push to bring broadband to rural communities.
"A couple of us were scared there'd been a new Internet policy thrown at us," said Davidson. "I don't think anybody should be able to decide what we look at. I have a kind of libertarian view of that."
Davidson lives in Tahsis, a small community west of Campbell River on northern Vancouver Island. His Internet provider is Cable Rocket, which is part of a company called Conuma Cable. He has used the local provider for two years without problem.
Then in early February he and other users began having trouble with their e-mail. All but the smallest notes were being rejected. A few days later Internet users started getting what Davidson called, "The red screen of inappropriate use."
Restricted Categories
An attempt to visit a pornography site, for example, would return a red screen with a British Columbia logo and a "** WARNING **" message: "This connection has been refused. The Internet site you are attempting to access has been designated by a web classification service as containing material that contravenes the BC Government's Internet usage policy."
The warning linked to a page that said, "Users must not access Internet sites that might bring the public service into disrepute or harm government's reputation, such as those that carry offensive material."
Restricted categories include sex, adult content, racism/hate and "extended government inappropriate." It also blocked sites deemed security risks containing spyware, phishing software and bot networks. The screen would be familiar to government workers, who have contended with the filter for years.
Davidson said private users should not be blocked from going where they want on the Internet. "Our whole community has succumbed to 'Big Brother,'" he wrote in an e-mail. "I don't know how far this problem extends, but some of the folks here are pretty upset."
Hard to analyze
The manager of Conuma Cable, Steve Savola, said the company is working to fix the system and doesn't need any negative publicity. "We're in a difficult little pinch right now," he said. "We've had a problem for a few days . . . . We're trying to deal with a problem that's out of our control."
The explanation for what was going wrong was technical, not one of censorship, though a person in the office working on the problem joked that "aliens" had taken over the system. It has to do with how the community's broadband is wired.
"We route through a government tunnel in Tahsis," said Savola. Normally there are parallel ports that keep private users separate from the government line, but something had changed somewhere. They were working to figure out what. He believed the problem was in New Westminster or Vancouver. "It makes it very hard to analyze."
The warning screens are the kind of thing government employees or students would normally get, he said. Asked what he makes of people worrying about the government controlling what sites they visit, he said, "Go smoke another doobie."
Partnership with Telus
The problem may, however, be related to the province's attempts at Closing the Digital Divide that aimed to bring broadband Internet service to rural communities.
Now known as Connecting Communities, in 2005 the government signed a $117 million partnership with Telus to provide broadband infrastructure to 119 communities, said Telus spokesperson Shawn Hall. Telus's website says so far 116 communities have been connected through the program. The remaining three have had right-of-way issues.
Tahsis was not part of that project, said Hall, but was the subject of an earlier, similar agreement. The problems there were probably not caused by Telus, he said. "It sounds very odd to me," he said. "It sounds to us like it's probably a configuration issue between Network B.C. and the ISP provider."
A spokesperson for the Labour and Citizens' Services Ministry, which is responsible for Network B.C. and the project, said the problem in Tahsis is an isolated incident. The government buys Internet service from Conuma Cable, he said, and somehow "the pipelines crossed" because of a "technical glitch."
Conuma's Savola said nearby Woss, which was in the Connecting Communities program, had Internet routed through the government's computers when it first started and had restrictions like the one that hit Tahsis last week. "Everyone had to live with that for six months," said Savola. In that case customers were warned ahead of time about the limits of the service. "People were told up front and it was their choice."
Despite the limitations, said Savola, the program has been a great success. "What the government's done for small communities has been probably the most proactive in North America."
Related Tyee stories:
- Wiring BC's Native Villages
How the Internet is changing life in First Nations communities. - Heads up, Digital Wonks!
Eight tech law issues to watch in 2008. - How the Grinches Stole 'Net Neutrality
Internet service providers play favourites with video, large files and political sites.
![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
alive
18-02-2008
penny pinching
Yep, the penalty for not living in a more "civilized" community!
The Tahsis website (tahsisbc.com) was off line as well, causing frustrations to anyone looking for information about that last bit of wilderness on northern Vancouver Island.
While the server may have a legimate problem, it seem cheap that they shut down over the weekend and left people trying to repair their websites without any technical help!
I am sure they will not credit subscribers for the time no service was provided, so it is the almighty dollar syndrome again.
skeptikool
18-02-2008
That lubricated slope
Not being a technical wiz, perhaps I'm confusing broadband with "free" WIFI, available in some areas and in and around many public libraries - under discussion recently, as I recall, for Vancouver.
I can see a role for an ombudsperson dealing specifically with Web communication issues, given the kangaroo court procedures that can and do occur on certain message boards.
It's not a big step from blocking mild porn to acquiescing to a "progressive" site's prudish concerns about fart jokes, for instance.
woody
18-02-2008
Tahsis people
Why don't you Tahsis people fire Cablerocket. If you have no other Internet suppliers available, then simply sign up with the Sources Wireless Satellite Internet system, no phone hook up required, or any thing else needed. I canned Cablerocket about a month ago. Here where I reside there are 4-5 Internet suppliers other wise, I would have signed up with the Source, in the blink of the eye.
snert
18-02-2008
This article just shows....
how easily one's internet connection can be tampered with by an outside source. Packets can be read anywhere they can be picked off.
kootcoot
18-02-2008
Inquiry for Woody
Could you provide a link or something for this "Sources Wireless Satellite Internet" system, to which you are referring. Or some way to obtain more information. I'm at a loss to imagine how you can access satellite internet without a dish and receiver and some systems even use phone line for uploads while downloading from the satellite via the dish.
But then, technology changes and maybe you are describing something I haven't got around to hearing about. Sounds too minimal to be true to me without something.
kootcoot
18-02-2008
Some info for skeptikool
Broadband is usually used to refer to highspeed data transmission generally delivered by Digital Service Line capable of data transmission rates from generally of 1.5 MB/s and up, compared to 52-56 Kbps on an analog (Plain Old Telephone Line/Dial Up Connection. Broadband is also commonly delivered by cable along with TV, with speeds that tend to decrease inverse to the amount of subscribers and traffic on the particular cable section.
WiFi is a signal received via cable, DSL or even Dial Up (though not usually) and then rebroadcast (generally via a wireless router) locally for a wireless network. Anyone with a wireless card can access a WiFi signal within range unless the signal has protected/password access. Thus with a laptop with a wireless card one can access WiFi signals that are intended to be publically accessible (as at a cafe or library) or simply left unprotected by the network admin knowingly or not.
Entire cities, or downtown areas can provide WiFi if they choose,with installation of some hardware, though Internet Providers aren't necessarily thrilled with this notion.
anne cameron
18-02-2008
not really
Well, it makes an okay story as written but it was really something Other...we had no outgoing e-mail for a week. In-coming was fine, internet unaffected, but e-mails piled up in the Outbox. Phoned Conuma Steve, phoned Tech Support, all I got for a week was "working on the problem". Then we had outgoing e-mail for one day and bang we were back to another week with no outgoing e-mail. Finally got a nice guy at Tech Support who coached me through a check of my system, cable connection, router, rah rah three bags full, then said he would put a "flag" and an explanation on the "file"...great...the next guy told me it had something to do with using Telus lines but he couldn't explain why people who were computer linked with the Telus dialup weren't having trouble. People could e-mail out on Telus or on AOL, it was JUST cablerocket subscribers who were S.O.L. Service from cablerocket is....well, let's just say it is "variable" and leave it at that. Most of us had nothing at all to do with porn sites, although that makes for a great yuk yuk har har for some people, I suppose. The big problem was with outgoing e-mail and nothing in your article even begins to target that or explain anything. But keep on the yuk yuk har har porn angle, you might be on to something that will sell some advertising space, y'never know... this article is really a pee poor report on what was actually happening. And the CRTC as much help as a wet toilet seat.
skeptikool
18-02-2008
Thanks kootcoot for that info.
anne cameron:
Just curious.
I recall no reference to the CRTC in the article and wondered to what degree, if at all, the CRTC is involved with the Internet. Would one submit a complaint, for instance, if a dispute arose over moderation of a Web forum?
woody
18-02-2008
kootcoot
kootcoot, this is kind of ironic, here I was 2 hours ago, making up a reply for you, when my Internet crashed. I mentioned the Source, as their probably better known than most suppliers. I believe they act as an intermediary for these Satellite Internet carriers. Yes, you have a small satellite dish installed to send and receive your data. I know a fella who took the course for the setting up of these units, he claims they work just fine. Here are a couple of links for these suppliers, there are quite a few more.
http://www.galaxybroadband.ca/Galaxy_Broadband_residential_solutions.html
http://www.infosat.com/prod_serv/data/fixed_trans/hse/?gclid=CMKu_6vKz5ECFQLaYAodokFRjw
woody
18-02-2008
anne cameron, snert
I was told, the CRTC is not involved with any aspect of the Internet, which is probably a good thing. This way, your probably free to take your supplier to small claims court for not supplying the service as agreed to, but is still billing you for it.
gassyandy
19-02-2008
right of way
Even in the big city Internet connections can succumb to right of way issues., seems that whenever they position the construction crane
here in blood alley a certain way my wireless internet connection goes for a loop.
I also have noticed that even though the 2.4ghz spectrum is designated as a NON-COMMERCIAL part of the spectrum according to industry Canada, there are about 6 cameras
monitoring construction sights down here
(thats commercial) using the already overcrowded 2.4ghz band. especially since the
the IT guys responsible for the installation are so irresponsible they leave the Cameras on the default of channel 6.
skeptikool
19-02-2008
Are we avoiding the BIG problem?
Anyone familiar with the message board medium has seen how ganging up can, and does, occur, and it's a medium rife with sycophants and hypocrisy.
There are many lobbies and interests to offend and whether the NRA, gambling industry, auto industry, or the pharmaceutical industry, to name a few, no shortage of shills.
Service suppliers and board operators may be compliant, or lazy, and too easily "got at". If there isn't an ombudsperson there certainly should be, in my opinion. How else can one demand accountability?
kootcoot
19-02-2008
Discussion Board Issues
I don't think anyone, the CRTC or any other agency should monitor discussion boards for anything and that means content, issues of taste or whatever.
I feel each board has the right to set its own standards and enforce them how they please. The Tyee for example chooses to delete certain comments about certain issues or that they feel are insulting to other commenters. Anyone participating has the choice of following the "local" conventions or going elsewhere. There are discussion boards that pretty well cover that gamut of possible interests and some that definitely test one's stomach for poor taste or idiocy. In the end no one has to participate in or even read any particular forum and thus can avoid having to be exposed to subject matter or style that disagrees with their own sensibilities.
Budd Campbell
19-02-2008
FED GOVT NET NANNY MAKES BC GOVT NET NANNY LOOK LIKE HEFNER
Pity the poor net surfers in Tahsis.
If a standard Federal Government Net Nanny had been imposed, they would be missing a lot more than adult sites.
They would have no access to third party Email, no access to news or other videos, YouTube, Facebook, or any other contemporary used of the medium.
kootcoot
19-02-2008
Federal Net Nanny
But I'm sure we could spend the whole day looking a lovely pics of Stephen Harper!!!
Maybe some people remember how recently they hijacked the weather office website for political advertising. You couldn't even check the forecast without hearing how great the HarpoCons are.
I was about to start using an American based weather service. I can handle Farenheit.