No Such Weblog

District authorities of Düsseldorf have been trying to get ISPs to block certain harmful web sites (including rotten.com) for quite some time. According to this report at Heise Online, Düsseldorf ISP ISIS has implemented such a block by tampering with name server records for at least rotten.com, effectively redirecting surfers to a web page at the Düsseldorf district authority (this was reported on FITUG's debate mailing list; the report should show up in the web archives later today). Today, ISIS ended their blocking attempt, saying that it had been initiated by a single technician without proper authority, and was inefficient anyway, according to this news item. The district authority, in a press release, regretted ISIS' latest step, and noted that 12 other (as of yet unnamed) ISPs continue to block the various harmful sites.

A press release from the Chaos Computer Club is available here.

More information on the Düsseldorf web blocking attempts is available from CCC Düsseldorf.

$ nslookup Default Server: localhost Address: 127.0.0.1 > server 195.158.131.2 Default Server: issv0099.isis.de Address: 195.158.131.2 > ls -d rotten.com [issv0099.isis.de] $ORIGIN rotten.com. @ 1D IN SOA issv0099.isis.de. webmaster.isis.de. ( 2001072601 ; serial 13h23m20s ; refresh 2H ; retry 1W ; expiry 1D ) ; minimum 1D IN NS issv0099.isis.de. 1D IN A 195.158.131.132 * 1D IN CNAME www www 1D IN A 195.158.131.132 @ 1D IN SOA issv0099.isis.de. webmaster.isis.de. ( 2001072601 ; serial 13h23m20s ; refresh 2H ; retry 1W ; expiry 1D ) ; minimum > Note, in particular, that they are not just blocking web access, but also e-mail and all other services offered under that domain.

In a press release published in the evening, ISIS gives its version of the day's events: According to this press release, a technician had been experimenting with blocking the relevant web sites since the beginning of the week, despite the fact that the ISP originally didn't want to implement the block (the district government had originally called for the block in early October). This experiment was then stopped in the morning, and reactivated in the late afternoon after an ISIS executive had met the head of the district government to discuss the issue. ISIS then complains about the situation of ISPs which are either perceived as censors, or as fostering right-wing radicalism. It is emphasized that ISIS maintains its criticism of the technical solution used to block the sites - in particular because the solution leaves so many back doors that the effort can't actually be justified. According to the press release, ISIS will meet the district government in December, in order to discuss further activities and work on a political solution.