I just called FT now to find out why Flickr was blocked. According to the technical support person I spoke to, “Flickr is blocked because it contains links to adult content”.
So for FT users you have to continue using the following IP to access the site: https://68.142.214.24/
27 replies on “Hello FastTelco”
that’s gay
Thats really annoying!
adult content? they think people are 4 year olds.
Why don’t they go ahead and block Google because it links to a lot of things as well! :/
Just try some saucy search in Google image search
https://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&q=
You will get far more adult content than you can ever get on flickr.
What a bunch of fucking morons.
Just to add to the above statement of mine, whenever someone finds any objectionable material on Flickr, users can simply click “May Offend”. This creates alarms to Flickr Staff, who will mark pornographic or other offensive material as NIPSA (Not in Public Search Areas)
Also, each new account is reviewed when a user joins and gets marked as NIPSA or Public based on the first few photos posted.
To a very large extent, this self-imposed filters work. This should be considered by FastTelco when making a final decision on this site.
The benefits of Flickr far outweight any negative aspects – as is the case with the entire internet. Remember how Saudi did not have internet access for quite some time because they were worried that their citizens will get corrupted by the internet ?
Cajetan: the saudi people are like any other.. if they are corrupted then they are corrupted and if they are not then they are not.. the problem with these idiots making the decisions is that they have no idea what the internet is.. and the ministry of communication doesnt ask this of them.. its self imposed by the stupid ISPs!!!
Best ISP in Kuwait is Unitednetworks. Cheap DSL (10kd for 128kb, 15kd for 256kb, 25kd for 512kb)and they have thier own data center, with mild censorship on web content.
Idiots!
urgh United Networks belongs to Global Direct who have the worst customer service in Kuwait.
They are also not cheap. Qualitynet is cheaper, I pay KD24 for 512kb
Huh, i called FT earlier today, and I was really mad at them….. They’re probably working on a filter right now that block me from calling them again :p
Anyhow, in the past… ISP’s used to apply internet filtering voluntarily. Ministry of information did not force them. Thus they had a moderate filter.
Now, however, I believe they’re applying the ministry’s rule. They receive letters from the ministry asking them to block certain sites and they do. That’s why flickr for instance is now blocked on all ISP’s.
It is also important to mention that Kuwait signed some kind of agreement under the GCC so that what is blocked in Saudia and UAE is going to be blocked in Kuwait too!
This is really bad especially that when it comes to the internet between Kuwait and UAE… UAE is still living in the stone age.
So you can expect anything to be blocked now, from IM to VoIP and internet tv, radio, movie stores… and book stores.
Flickr is not blocked with Qualitynet.
luckyboy:
the worst customer service eveeeerrrrr
and it’s get disconected every day 76757548 times!!
i switched to Qnet so i dont have to get angry every day talking to idiots dont know what they r doing
hahaha… now its not blocked on FT too.
I don’t think anyone can compare to our esteemed Etisalat’s efforts when it comes to blocking internet contents…Flickr’s been blocked forever–even access to the IP address you supplied is “denied”.
Gimme a fucking break, retarded idiots. When one can access any site available on the net using one of a bajillion FREE dial-up ISPs in effing Cairo, yet can’t check out pics one’s friend’s posted on Flickr using a 256kbps DSL connection in the middle of Abu Dhabi, then there really is something wrong in this world.
(Don’t read my Cairo comments wrong–I’m part Egyptian and love that country and truly admire its internet policy)
Phew!!!
Must have been the letter I wrote to them 🙂
Talal, As I mentioned before… UAE is living a fake dream. Don’t believe what you see on ur TV when they talk about internet city and whatever. its just a fantasy your rulers love to live.
I remember visiting Dubai once and I had to get internet access. We looked everywhere for dialup cards. we couldn’t find any. Apparently we have to register our name at the ministry, get a phone line, and apply for a permit just to get an internet connection!! our only other choice was cybercafe. Which of course took copies of our civil ideas and stuff.
ISPs in Kuwait all use a centralized database( to update their list of blocked sites. if something is blocked .. send em an email, they willl check it out and unblock.
Aziz you must be talking a few years back, now its super wifi infested
they just want to hog all of the web’s porn.
Maybe if we shower them with emails requesting the unblocking of flickr they will listen.
It worked with NBK and Watani Online who now support Firefox 🙂
3baid – I wouldn’t be so sure abt Google images anymore. For the past few days the erotic images in the Google images search is not displayed, inspite of the SAFE SEARCH FILTERING being set to OFF. And once you set in a proxy – it shows up.
Aziz, RaZ is right–there’s WiFi (known as iZone) EVERYWHERE now, available if you’re willing to pay the exorbitant fees of course.
Also, I totally agree with you. I *love* the UAE (esp Abu Dhabi) to death–I grew up here and most of my family is here. But when I see how badly everything’s becoming for expatriates–esp Arabs–here, my disillusionment grows more and more. And don’t get me started on Dubai…I used to have dreams of living there one day. Now, I can’t stand to be there more than a few hours.
On another note, I haven’t found one single proxy that works (well) in the UAE.
Proxy.org can do the work….!!
I’ve had each isp for about a year Qnet, FT, and Unitednetworks.
Fasttelco: sucks fucking cock, its a piece of shit company that provides the shittiest service possible just for the sake of providing dsl. Their customer support is a lebanese guy that works 24/7 (I feel sorry for him).
Unitednetworks: Was amazing from launch till recently. This whole Fujairah island thing is an annoying fucking headache. My internet (Unitednet 512 atm) has been messed up for the past month and a half high pings, packet loss the whole lot.
Qualitynet: A company that cares I truely mean it. Qualitynet fixed its internet and put all the people in Kuwait on a secure 100% working backup line ONLY 2 days after the fujairah problem started. This company knows it’s shit, they get the job done and they have better technical support. Can’t really compare Qnet to isp’s in the states but they are doing really good considering how long dsl has been in Kuwait. I praise qnet.
Oh and for all you people that want to get past block sites its easy.
https://www.antiproxy.com/proxysearch.php
Search for a proxy using the 8080 port.
If you use a router: tools>internet options>connections>Lan Settings> Input the ip and port.
If you use a regular adsl modem: tools>internet options>connections>settings> Input the ip and port.
Fuck censorship. If i wanna watch porn or read something which some fucking asshole desides is not appropriate i’m going to do so regardless. It’s my fucking house and my fucking privacy you fuckers.
Yea I hope you dipshits are reading this