AT&T has effectively banned Bitcoin nodes by closing port 8333 via a hidden fire

[smoothie]

https://imgur.com/trAwqOw

[RGBKey]

Wow, that's insane and ridiculous. Don't those new FCC rulings say they can't do stuff like this?

[Carlton Banks]

Wow, that's insane and ridiculous. Don't those new FCC rulings say they can't do stuff like this?

The FCC don't seem to be making too many waves in Illinois (who recently introduced a per MB Download Tax). Then again, I understand living in Illinois is kind of like living in a mash-up of New York, Michigan and Mexico these days.

[Za1n]

I wonder if the author tried to route his cable modem in front of, or at least in parallel to, the DVR box? I do not use AT&T, but my main cable line feeds a splitter, with one leg going to my cable modem and the other leg continuing on to all the other TV related devices. It could be a simple case of something needing to be blocked specifically for the DVR and not a big conspiracy as it is being made out to be.

[Carlton Banks]

It could be a simple case of something needing to be blocked specifically for the DVR and not a big conspiracy as it is being made out to be.

It would need to be a criminal act to be appropriately labelled as a conspiracy. A company like AT&T would be unlikely to put themselves in that position.

[Za1n]

It could be a simple case of something needing to be blocked specifically for the DVR and not a big conspiracy as it is being made out to be.

It would need to be a criminal act to be appropriately labelled as a conspiracy. A company like AT&T would be unlikely to put themselves in that position.

It doesn't always have to be criminal to be labeled a conspiracy:

    Conspiracy (civil), an agreement between persons to deceive, mislead, or defraud others of their legal rights or to gain an unfair advantage
    Conspiracy (criminal), an agreement between persons to break the law in the future, in some cases having committed an act to further that agreement
    Conspiracy (political), an agreement between persons with the goal of gaining political power or meeting a political objective

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy

In any event, the point still stands that it could be something unrelated to AT&T specifically trying to prevent users from running a Bitcoin node.

[achow101]

It could be a simple case of something needing to be blocked specifically for the DVR and not a big conspiracy as it is being made out to be.

It would need to be a criminal act to be appropriately labelled as a conspiracy. A company like AT&T would be unlikely to put themselves in that position.

It doesn't always have to be criminal to be labeled a conspiracy:

   Conspiracy (civil), an agreement between persons to deceive, mislead, or defraud others of their legal rights or to gain an unfair advantage
    Conspiracy (criminal), an agreement between persons to break the law in the future, in some cases having committed an act to further that agreement
    Conspiracy (political), an agreement between persons with the goal of gaining political power or meeting a political objective

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy

In any event, the point still stands that it could be something unrelated to AT&T specifically trying to prevent users from running a Bitcoin node.

But then why would a DVR need port 8333 blocked if there is nothing using that port? Port 8333 was specifically chosen because it was high enough that almost no other software used it.

Also, link to the actual email and thread: https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/pipermail/bitcoin-dev/2015-September/010798.html

[Carlton Banks]

It could be a simple case of something needing to be blocked specifically for the DVR and not a big conspiracy as it is being made out to be.

It would need to be a criminal act to be appropriately labelled as a conspiracy. A company like AT&T would be unlikely to put themselves in that position.

It doesn't always have to be criminal to be labeled a conspiracy:

    Conspiracy (civil), an agreement between persons to deceive, mislead, or defraud others of their legal rights or to gain an unfair advantage
    Conspiracy (criminal), an agreement between persons to break the law in the future, in some cases having committed an act to further that agreement
    Conspiracy (political), an agreement between persons with the goal of gaining political power or meeting a political objective

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy

In any event, the point still stands that it could be something unrelated to AT&T specifically trying to prevent users from running a Bitcoin node.

So you completely misused the word according to what you've discovered on Wikipedia. You used it in the "things that paranoid people believe" sense, and that's not morally responsible at all.

[White sugar]

Call Saul and sue them,

I'm almost sure this is an illegal practice pretty much anywhere in the free world.

Or just change ISP,if their finance bleed they will reconsider it

[eleuthria]

Just a case of a clueless user...your internet is not routed through your Cable/DVR box on AT&T (or any other ISP that also provides video service).  They're hooked to your service, but they're not in front of your computers.  They probably have the DSL Modem+Router and then a second router behind it that they plug their computers into, and have only opened ports on the internal router, not the DSL Modem+Router combo box.

[BitcoinEXpress]

If blocking  any port shuts down your node, then you are too noob to be running one in the first place.


~BCX~

[tvbcof]

How many times did I have to fuckin tell you guys!  Port blocking is nothing compared to what is technically possible and I'll bet is already in place.  The 'internet kill switch' is not what most people imagine at first blush.

If blocking  any port shuts down your node, then you are too noob to be running one in the first place.

~BCX~

What are you going to do when only back-door'd crypto is authorized big fella?  This isn't the kind and gentle 90's any more...now the mean and scary ISIS is threatening all us freedom-loving people you know.

[tadakaluri]

U-verse's authentication protocol only works with equipment provided by AT&T. Their ADSL service worked with third party modems, but their ADSL2 and VDSL don't. You can use a different router and put it into the U-verse router's DMZ though.

[Kprawn]

AT&T provides a service to their customers... If they blocked the port, it must be questioned. What does the customer support say about the matter?

In my country internet service providers are everywhere.. and competition is tough. They will not dare to block ports without a valid reason or explaining it to the customers, because they will lose customers to

other service providers. Get the reason for this, and if you not happy... leave to the competition. 

[turvarya]

It could be a simple case of something needing to be blocked specifically for the DVR and not a big conspiracy as it is being made out to be.

It would need to be a criminal act to be appropriately labelled as a conspiracy. A company like AT&T would be unlikely to put themselves in that position.

It doesn't always have to be criminal to be labeled a conspiracy:

    Conspiracy (civil), an agreement between persons to deceive, mislead, or defraud others of their legal rights or to gain an unfair advantage
    Conspiracy (criminal), an agreement between persons to break the law in the future, in some cases having committed an act to further that agreement
    Conspiracy (political), an agreement between persons with the goal of gaining political power or meeting a political objective

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy

In any event, the point still stands that it could be something unrelated to AT&T specifically trying to prevent users from running a Bitcoin node.

So you completely misused the word according to what you've discovered on Wikipedia. You used it in the "things that paranoid people believe" sense, and that's not morally responsible at all.

So, you don't like Wikipedia, what about Merriam Webster?

: a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal

: the act of secretly planning to do something that is harmful or illegal

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conspiracy

So, who is misusing words? Who is doing morally irresponsible things?

[S4VV4S]

Change your ISP.
Problem solved

[Carlton Banks]

So you completely misused the word according to what you've discovered on Wikipedia. You used it in the "things that paranoid people believe" sense, and that's not morally responsible at all.

So, you don't like Wikipedia, what about Merriam Webster?

Um, no issue with either? Are you sober?

: a secret plan made by two or more people to do something that is harmful or illegal

: the act of secretly planning to do something that is harmful or illegal

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conspiracy

So, who is misusing words? Who is doing morally irresponsible things?

Still you? You're citing definitions that defend my position, i.e:

conspiracy != "something you imagined because you're crazy"

That was what was intended, and what I objected to. Get a grip.

[Lauda]

Well I can say that this is both horrible and expected at the same time. Some ISP(s) are definitely going to try and block Bitcoin in any possible way. The real question is, who ordered this?

Change your ISP.
Problem solved

Exactly. Check whether you can sue them. If you can then go for it, if you can't switch your ISP and tell everyone else your story. AT&T deserves humiliation for doing this.

[dothebeats]

Good thin that the ISPs in my country didn't think of blocking some ports or creating firewalls to limit their customers' activities (the government don't even bother on checking out bitcoin lol). The only problem with the ISPs here in the Philippines is bandwidth capping and slow up/down speeds. I don't know if you can sue AT&T for doing such actions, maybe read the tos in getting their contract?

Change your ISP.
Problem solved

A simple solution, but a wise one.

[Denker]

AT&T provides a service to their customers... If they blocked the port, it must be questioned. What does the customer support say about the matter?

In my country internet service providers are everywhere.. and competition is tough. They will not dare to block ports without a valid reason or explaining it to the customers, because they will lose customers to

other service providers. Get the reason for this, and if you not happy... leave to the competition. 

Yepp same in my country. If any provider would try to do that he could say goodbye to his customers and the whole thing would end in a ugly image damage.