July 27, 2009 AT&T lifts Web site banPosted: 11:39 AM ET
Last night Internet Service Provider (ISP) AT&T began filtering portions of the controversial image board 4chan.org. ![]() AT&T broadband subscribers found they were unable to access the infamous /b/ and /r9k/ sections of the site. 4chan.org is a system of message boards primarily dedicated to anonymous discussion and image hosting. The site's popularity is largely due to minimal posting regulations that stimulate a freewheeling, Wild West atmosphere. The news of AT&T's filtering sparked a firestorm of criticism from blogs and Internet forums by contributors who believed AT&T was censoring content. 4chan fans and detractors alike condemned what they believed to be an apparent violation of net neutrality. Sites such as Encyclopedia Dramatica began calling on users to respond to AT&T with a show of anonymous force:
Anonymous posters also began to spread rumors claiming AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson was found dead outside his home and that AT&T had stopped carrying the iPhone in attempt to affect AT&T's stock price. By noon Monday, AT&T responded with the following statement:
It is unlikely that 4chan.org, or any popular web server, would engage in the illegal practice of denial-of-service attacks. Moot, owner and administrator of 4chan, offers another explanation:
Though the cries of censorship and claims AT&T violated net neutrality may have been misguided, AT&T should have informed its customers before blocking such a large and controversial Web site. I doubt that is a mistake they will make again. Posted by: Wes Finley-Price -- CNN.com Webmaster
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