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Government mandated blocking of foreigen Web content



[disLEXia permalink http://md.hudora.de/blog/guids/53/53/5261415523775104.html]

Endlich fertig mit Korrekturlesen usw.: "Government mandated blocking of foreigen Web content"
ist jetzt zum Verlag gegangen, einen Preprint gibt es unter http://md.hudora.de/publications/200306-gi-blocking/200306-gi- blocking.pdf

Zu den empirischen Ergebnissen zählt:

* Many providers seem to assume that http://stormfront.org/ is not to be blocked while http://www.stormfront.org/ should be blocked. Of of 27 surveyed providers 12 didn't block http://stormfront.org/ it at all and 11 possibly blocked it only by accident. This is an error rate of at least 44%.

* Keeping email usable seems to be no issue to most providers. All providers block at least some email via MX record manipulations. A single provider has tried to reduce email blocking by not tampering with DNS MX resource records, but failed in this effort. All other seemingly didn't even try to keep email from being affected.

* Privacy of users trying to access the blocked pages seems to be no issue to most providers. One provider is even using - possibly by accident - cookies, two providers reroute email to their own systems, 10 providers return DNS A resource records at machines located at other providers allowing third-party logging, 12 providers allow third parties to monitor redirects leading to them, where in two cases the third party is the district government itself.

* Informing users of what actually is happening seems of no priority. Web accesses to blocked content results at 11 providers always in confusing errors and at all other providers at least in some cases in confusing errors.

* Configuration of DNS-tampering seems to be difficult. At least 30% of the providers have created major misconfigurations besides being overrestrictive or underprotective.

* Sites not directly mentioned in the blocking order and run by different persons than the sites which were mandated to be blocked where substantially hit by erroneous blocking. http://kids.stormfront.org/ is blocked by 58% of the surveyed providers. http://www.rotten.com/, which the district government in 2001 briefly considered to be blocked, is blocked by 11% of the providers.

* Compliance with the blocking orders seems to be next to impossible. Even when stretching the legal principles to the maximum and interpreting the blocking orders in the broadest possible way, only 55% of the providers comply with them. Interpreting the blocking orders more reasonable in a way that they try to protect non-Web communication from being blocked, we see no single provider complying. With this interpretation 45% underprotective and overrestrictive at the same time while the remaining 55% are "only" overrestrictive.

Ich halte dsa für die laufenden Verfahren für bedeutsam, weil gezeigt wird, dass in Theorie und Praxis eine Vielzahl von "anderen" Websites und sonstigen Services gesperrt werden. Auch zeigen die vielen Fehlkonfigurationen, das die Sperrung eben nicht "einfach und mit geringem Personalaufwand" durchzuführen sind. Obendrein liegt an mehreren Stellen ein offensichtlicher Ermessensnichtgebrauch vor. Insdbesondere Layer 3 Filtering (d.h. per IP-Adresse) vorzuschreiben, ohne auch nur Layer 4 Filtering (d.h. nach Ipadresse und Port) zu erwähnen ist so eine Stelle. Obendrein bleib ich dabei: Der Verfühgung ist nicht zu entnehmen WAS gesperrt werden soll.

Aber natürlich hält man im Elfenbeinturm seine eigenen Ergebnisse immer für besonders wichtig.

Das ganze gibts als kurzen, teuren Vortrag beim DFN am 12.6. und als Langfassung für lau beim CCCC in Köln am 26.6.

Gruß

Max Dornseif

--
Maximillian Dornseif - http://md.hudora.de/blog/
Dipl. Jur., University of Bonn, Germany - ars longa, vita brevis!


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