6 ms·

Twitter, Flickr, Bing, *.live.com, Hotmail blocked in China

24 points by est 17y ago

ivankirigin 17y ago
Does this mean twitter's API is blocked in china? It seems like an open API is a great defense against getting blocked, if you already have an active developer community who can work to unblock it. It would be cool if someone could make an open source project deployable on GAE or heroku to proxy twitter. It could self redirect daily to another instance of the app, making it unblockable. I don't know much about blocking btw.
- est 17y ago
  I am thinking of Google infrastructure has a BIG advantage now, last time I checked all youtube IP lists, it's about 1.6MB, I can't image how effective a firewall could block all of these IP's. Currently Google's services could be accessed with simple technics, just modify your browsers PAC (proxy auto config) to this http://gfwtf.googlecode.com/svn/gfwtf.pac http://gfwtf.googlecode.com/svn/gfwtf.pac And just curious: does anyone happens to know an Akamai node within China that could deliver contents over GFW?
  - megaduck 17y ago
    Hey, that works! Thanks a bunch. Much faster than the SSH tunnel I was using.
deleted 17y ago
[deleted]
- omouse 17y ago
  It sounds like you're trying to terrorize TechCrunch. Why do they care if they're blocked in China, much of their traffic comes from elsewhere.
  - deleted 17y ago
    [deleted]
    - tlrobinson 17y ago
      Are you saying TechCrunch shouldn't report things like this for fear of being blocked by China?
      - deleted 17y ago
        [deleted]
    - omouse 17y ago
      This is exactly what terrorism is. This is coercion with threats. All you're talking about are the threats to TechCrunch from China and your tone seems to be threatening and very negative compared to others. No praise for China or for TechCrunch talking about this story, no criticism of China, no criticism of TechCrunch, only threats of being blocked.
      - anigbrowl 17y ago
        Saying 'don't put your hand on that stove or you'll get burnt' is not a threat to grab your hand and hold it to the stove.
amalcon 17y ago
Wait, so MS isn't cooperating with China and giving them a special search engine? Microsoft's product is actually being less evil than Google's? Is this some kind of topsy-turvy world? Well, this is the first compelling reason to switch to Bing I've seen to date. Maybe I'll give it a spin later.
- tlrobinson 17y ago
  I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories, but what if Google is setting up China? They gain popularity in China to the point that the country is reliant on it, and the government is comfortable with Google because they're given some control. Then, at some point in the future once enough of a fuss has been made about Google helping China, Google gives China an ultimatum, either they end the censorship or Google leaves China. Google can claim it's bad for their business to help China censor, when in reality they were planning it all along... Unlikely, but who knows?
  - jhancock 17y ago
    I would say its unlikely as Google is not the top search engine in China. Baidu lives with the same (possibly more) monitoring and censoring than Google and the Baidu content is more in Mandarin.
- calambrac 17y ago
  Um, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4088702.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4088702.stm
  - amalcon 17y ago
    MS has been really bad about cooperating with China in the past. I understand this, and in fact it's why I'm so surprised. I don't necessarily expect it to last forever, but hey -- there's always a chance. Maybe we should write letters, wherein we express that we are pleased that MS's search engine division isn't cooperating with China, and that we've started using Bing for this reason.
omouse 17y ago
Hey, look at that, China is a dictatorship. Amazing, isn't it??
- jacoblyles 17y ago
  Wasn't aware of that. Thought it was a one-party state, complete with power struggles inside that party. Not all words with the connotation "bad" in the Western mind have equivalent meanings.
megaduck 17y ago
Wow. Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google have all spent obscene amounts of money and time building "special relationships" with the Chinese government, ostensibly with the hope of preventing this sort of thing. Fat lot of good it's doing them. I expect that some, probably most, of these blocks will stay in effect for a while. The 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic is coming up this fall, so the authorities are busy creating a "harmonious society" in preparation. FWIW, the mood here in Beijing is increasingly tense. Not a lot of fun.
- omouse 17y ago
  That'll teach businesses to play nice with dictatorships...
w1ntermute 17y ago
Twitter's been unblocked: http://twitter.com/MissXu/status/2004993287 http://twitter.com/MissXu/status/2004993287
- est 17y ago
  negative as in CNC, Chengdu. I observed twitter has been trying to change IP for at least three times, but it's a URL block. Any port 80 TCP request that has a twitter.com between GET and HTTP/1.1 will be blocked.
  - paulgb 17y ago
    I thought the first line only contained the absolute path, not the host name. I assume it's checking the host: parameter? Just checked and twitter.com will accept an HTTP/1.0 request (which doesn't require a host to be specified). So one way to get around this block might be to set up a local proxy that uses HTTP/1.0 to connect remotely.
    - est 17y ago
      my mistake, they check URL as well as host: parameter. the GFW will RST your again and again even if you Google for twitter.com
tel 17y ago
I, American student working in China for a while, had a chance to take a look at Bing just before it went under (and Google itself is operating at maybe 25% tonight) and noticed that it had highly localized search results. I feel that Bing probably was trying to play along with the Chinese government but with June 4th just around the corner it's a very tight ship.

24 points by est 17y ago

Does this mean twitter's API is blocked in china? It seems like an open API is a great defense against getting blocked, if you already have an active developer community who can work to unblock it. It would be cool if someone could make an open source project deployable on GAE or heroku to proxy twitter. It could self redirect daily to another instance of the app, making it unblockable. I don't know much about blocking btw.

est 17y ago
I am thinking of Google infrastructure has a BIG advantage now, last time I checked all youtube IP lists, it's about 1.6MB, I can't image how effective a firewall could block all of these IP's. Currently Google's services could be accessed with simple technics, just modify your browsers PAC (proxy auto config) to this http://gfwtf.googlecode.com/svn/gfwtf.pac http://gfwtf.googlecode.com/svn/gfwtf.pac And just curious: does anyone happens to know an Akamai node within China that could deliver contents over GFW?
- megaduck 17y ago
  Hey, that works! Thanks a bunch. Much faster than the SSH tunnel I was using.

deleted 17y ago

[deleted]

omouse 17y ago
It sounds like you're trying to terrorize TechCrunch. Why do they care if they're blocked in China, much of their traffic comes from elsewhere.
- deleted 17y ago
  [deleted]
  - tlrobinson 17y ago
    Are you saying TechCrunch shouldn't report things like this for fear of being blocked by China?
    - deleted 17y ago
      [deleted]
  - omouse 17y ago
    This is exactly what terrorism is. This is coercion with threats. All you're talking about are the threats to TechCrunch from China and your tone seems to be threatening and very negative compared to others. No praise for China or for TechCrunch talking about this story, no criticism of China, no criticism of TechCrunch, only threats of being blocked.
    - anigbrowl 17y ago
      Saying 'don't put your hand on that stove or you'll get burnt' is not a threat to grab your hand and hold it to the stove.

amalcon 17y ago

Wait, so MS isn't cooperating with China and giving them a special search engine? Microsoft's product is actually being less evil than Google's? Is this some kind of topsy-turvy world? Well, this is the first compelling reason to switch to Bing I've seen to date. Maybe I'll give it a spin later.

tlrobinson 17y ago
I'm not usually one for conspiracy theories, but what if Google is setting up China? They gain popularity in China to the point that the country is reliant on it, and the government is comfortable with Google because they're given some control. Then, at some point in the future once enough of a fuss has been made about Google helping China, Google gives China an ultimatum, either they end the censorship or Google leaves China. Google can claim it's bad for their business to help China censor, when in reality they were planning it all along... Unlikely, but who knows?
- jhancock 17y ago
  I would say its unlikely as Google is not the top search engine in China. Baidu lives with the same (possibly more) monitoring and censoring than Google and the Baidu content is more in Mandarin.
calambrac 17y ago
Um, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4088702.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4088702.stm
- amalcon 17y ago
  MS has been really bad about cooperating with China in the past. I understand this, and in fact it's why I'm so surprised. I don't necessarily expect it to last forever, but hey -- there's always a chance. Maybe we should write letters, wherein we express that we are pleased that MS's search engine division isn't cooperating with China, and that we've started using Bing for this reason.

omouse 17y ago

Hey, look at that, China is a dictatorship. Amazing, isn't it??

jacoblyles 17y ago
Wasn't aware of that. Thought it was a one-party state, complete with power struggles inside that party. Not all words with the connotation "bad" in the Western mind have equivalent meanings.

megaduck 17y ago

Wow. Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google have all spent obscene amounts of money and time building "special relationships" with the Chinese government, ostensibly with the hope of preventing this sort of thing. Fat lot of good it's doing them. I expect that some, probably most, of these blocks will stay in effect for a while. The 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic is coming up this fall, so the authorities are busy creating a "harmonious society" in preparation. FWIW, the mood here in Beijing is increasingly tense. Not a lot of fun.

omouse 17y ago
That'll teach businesses to play nice with dictatorships...

w1ntermute 17y ago

Twitter's been unblocked: http://twitter.com/MissXu/status/2004993287 http://twitter.com/MissXu/status/2004993287

est 17y ago
negative as in CNC, Chengdu. I observed twitter has been trying to change IP for at least three times, but it's a URL block. Any port 80 TCP request that has a twitter.com between GET and HTTP/1.1 will be blocked.
- paulgb 17y ago
  I thought the first line only contained the absolute path, not the host name. I assume it's checking the host: parameter? Just checked and twitter.com will accept an HTTP/1.0 request (which doesn't require a host to be specified). So one way to get around this block might be to set up a local proxy that uses HTTP/1.0 to connect remotely.
  - est 17y ago
    my mistake, they check URL as well as host: parameter. the GFW will RST your again and again even if you Google for twitter.com

tel 17y ago

I, American student working in China for a while, had a chance to take a look at Bing just before it went under (and Google itself is operating at maybe 25% tonight) and noticed that it had highly localized search results. I feel that Bing probably was trying to play along with the Chinese government but with June 4th just around the corner it's a very tight ship.