[At-Large] [lac-discuss-en] US PTO Blocks Access to Certain Websites
Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro
salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com
Thu Sep 20 21:18:49 UTC 2012
Thanks Carlton.
My comments are in line.
On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 9:06 AM, Carlton Samuels
<carlton.samuels at gmail.com>wrote:
> Thanks Sala for sending the link to the categories the Bluecoat Filter may
> be programmed to block. I have just copied them inline here:
> Abortion<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Adult/Mature Content<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Alcohol<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Alternative Sexuality/Lifestyles<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Alternative Spirituality/Belief<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Art/Culture<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Auctions<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Audio/Video Clips<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Blogs/Personal Pages<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Brokerage/Trading<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Business/Economy<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Charitable Organizations<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Chat/Instant Messaging<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Child Pornography<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Computers/Internet<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Content Servers<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Dynamic DNS Host<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Education<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Email<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Entertainment<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Extreme<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Financial Services<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> For Kids<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Gambling<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Games<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Government/Legal<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Greeting Cards<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Hacking<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Health<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Humor/Jokes<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Illegal Drugs<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Informational<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Internet Telephony<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Intimate Apparel/Swimsuit<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Job Search/Careers<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> LGBT<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Malicious Outbound Data/Botnets<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Malicious Sources<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Media Sharing<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Military<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> News/Media<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Newsgroups/Forums<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Non-viewable<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Nudity<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Online Meetings<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Online Storage<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Open/Mixed Content<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Pay to Surf<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Peer-to-Peer (P2P)<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Personals/Dating<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Phishing<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Placeholders<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Political/Activist Groups<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Pornography<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Potentially Unwanted Software<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Proxy Avoidance<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Radio/Audio Streams<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Real Estate<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Reference<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Religion<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Remote Access Tools<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Restaurants/Dining/Food<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Scam/Questionable/Illegal<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Search Engines/Portals<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Sex Education<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Shopping<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Social Networking<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Society/Daily Living<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Software Downloads<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Spam<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Sports/Recreation<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Suspicious<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Tobacco<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Translation<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Travel<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> TV/Video Streams<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Vehicles<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Violence/Hate/Racism<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Weapons<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Web Advertisements<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Web Applications<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
> Web Hosting<http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/catdesc.jsp?referrer=null&locale=en_US>
>
> Click on any link and it gives an explanation of intent, *inclusive* of
> example websites. For example for the Abortion category, it refers
> abortionfacts.com.
>
> When I read the thread - and before I made the original post to the list -
> it was the torturous explanation that got to me.
>
> Explanations of the type 'well, it was standard procedure' or 'whaddya
> know, the slack-jawed geek we had doing this went off on a frolic of his
> own' strains credulity. I have worked as a contractor in several US
> federal government agencies in the DC area, including the PTO. This was in
> the late 80's. Note the time period and what was happening then. My area
> of expertise was network systems and binary object processing. I cannot
> see a COTR allowing you, a contracted geek, to setup such a filter profile
> without direct oversight.
>
I agree. Usually when contracts are drafted, they specify the scope of the
filtering profile. It would be interested to see that "scope". Here we see
a few things happening, one one hand, the contractor in this case like
every other business is concerned about making money and frankly there is
nothing wrong with that. We expect businesses to behave that way, don't we?
However, what we perhaps may not expect is for the US Government through
the US PTO to select a contractor that is known for helping the Syrians
from catching dissidents etc. Or am I missing something???
As always Carlton, I love your posts :)
> - Carlton
>
> ==============================
> Carlton A Samuels
> Mobile: 876-818-1799
> *Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround*
> =============================
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 2:55 PM, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro <
> salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 3:57 AM, Evan Leibovitch <evan at telly.org> wrote:
>>
>> > Ooops!!
>> >
>> > (from the same URL, edited:)
>> >
>> > Update: At 5 pm the USPTO called and said that the public access wifi
>> > > network was using a filter, provided by a contractor, to block
>> "political
>> > > activist" sites. This filter was not used by the network providing
>> > Internet
>> > > access for the USPTO staff. After our meeting, the USPTO reviewed its
>> > > policies, and has removed the filter. USPTO says the filter was
>> > implemented
>> > > by a contractor, and no one we talked to at USPTO was aware of who was
>> > > being blocked. In any event, the filter has been removed.
>> >
>> >
>> > Makes you wonder what the contractor was doing creating the filter in
>> the
>> > first place.
>> >
>> > - Evan
>> >
>>
>> Excellent point Evan. Apparently it was done by Blue Coat and James Tyre
>> kindly provided this link
>>
>> https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/blue-coat-acknowledges-syrian-government-use-its-products
>>
>>
>> To see the categories they used for blocking, visit: http://goo.gl/UY4fz
>> [Thanks to James Love for providing the link]
>>
>> James Love wrote about how they as political activists were blocked, see:
>>
>> USPTO blocks web access to "Political/Activist Groups" including KEI,
>> ACLU,
>> EFF, Public Citizen, Redstate, DailyKos <http://keionline.org/node/1548>
>>
>> - View <http://keionline.org/node/1548>
>> - What links here <http://keionline.org/node/1548/backlinks>
>>
>>
>> Submitted by James Love on 18. September 2012 - 12:32
>>
>> *Update:* At 5 pm the USPTO called and said that the public access wifi
>>
>> network was using a filter, provided by a contractor, to block "political
>> activist" sites. This filter was not used by the network providing
>> Internet
>> access for the USPTO staff. After our meeting, the USPTO reviewed its
>> policies, and has removed the filter. USPTO says the filter was
>> implemented
>> by a contractor, and no one we talked to at USPTO was aware of who was
>> being blocked. In any event, the filter has been removed.
>>
>> Today I was visiting the USPTO, for a high level meeting on global
>> negotiations on intellectual property and access to medicine. The meeting
>> was held in the Stockholm Room, on the 2nd floor of the USPTO library, at
>> the main USPTO building at 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA. The USPTO
>> also uses these meeting rooms for its Global Intellectual Property Academy
>> (GIPA). The USPTO offers free Wifi for the visitors. But when I tried to
>> login to http://keionline.org, I received this message:
>>
>> Access Denied (content_filter_denied)
>>
>> Your request was denied because this URL contains content that is
>> categorized as: "Political/Activist Groups" which is blocked by USPTO
>> policy. If you believe the categorization is inaccurate, please contact
>> the
>> USPTO Service Desk and request a manual review of the URL.
>>
>> For assistance, contact USPTO OCIO IT Service Desk. (io-proxy4)
>>
>> We checked and found that the USPTO blocks access to a number of groups
>> that have followed SOPA and the TPP intellectual property negotiations,
>> particularly those critical of the USPTO positions on intellectual
>> property
>> issues. Among the NGOs that were blocked were aclu.org, cdt.org,
>> citizen.org
>> , eff.org, healthgap.org, keionline.org andpublicknowledge.org. Among the
>>
>> sites NOT BLOCKED were the industry lobby groups BSA, MPPA, RIIA, and
>> PhRMA.
>>
>> The USPTO also selectively blocks certain blogs and new sites, including,
>> for example, dailykos.coms, firedoglake.com, redstate.org,
>> rushlimbaugh.com
>> andtalkingpointsmemo.com.,
>>
>> Here are examples of what the USPTO blocks, and does not block.
>> *Blocked NGOs* aclu.org
>>
>> cdt.org
>> citizen.org
>> eff.org
>> healthgap.org
>> keionline.org
>> publicknowledge.org*NGOs that are NOT blocked* bsa.org
>>
>> creativecommons.org
>> iipa.com
>> iipi.org
>> ipi.org
>> mpaa.org
>> PhRMA.org
>> pubpat.org
>> RIIA.Org
>> stockholm-network.org *Blocked Blogs and news outlets*dailykos.coms
>> firedoglake.com
>> redstate.org
>> rushlimbaugh.com
>> talkingpointsmemo.com *Blogs and new outlets that are NOT blocked*
>>
>> 71patent.blogspot.com
>> aljazeera.com
>> boingboing.net
>> dailycaller.com
>> democracynow.org
>> drudgereport.com
>> groklaw.net
>> huffingtonpost.com
>> ip-watch.org
>> itcblog.com
>> lessig.org
>> michaelgeist.ca
>> nationalreview.com
>> spicyipindia.blogspot.com
>> techdirt.com
>> washingtonmonthly.com
>>
>> - James Love's blog <http://keionline.org/blog/jamie>
>> - Add new comment <
>> http://keionline.org/comment/reply/1548#comment-form>
>> - Printer-friendly version <http://keionline.org/print/1548>
>> - Send by email <http://keionline.org/printmail/1548>
>>
>> Cause of foul up <http://keionline.org/node/1548#comment-7970>
>>
>> Submitted by Anonymous dude or dudess on 19. September 2012 - 12:02.
>>
>> 'Ex-Patent Examiner here. If this was anything other than a contractor
>> foul-up, I'll eat my hat. There were a dozen instances where I'd need to
>> call the help desk to access a website that would enable me to do my job.'
>> If true, this means no one at USPTO tried to access those sites and asked
>> for the filter to be removed since it was implemented.
>>
>> - reply <http://keionline.org/comment/reply/1548/7970>
>>
>>
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
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>> lac-discuss-en at atlarge-lists.icann.org
>> https://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/lac-discuss-en
>>
>
>
--
Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala
P.O. Box 17862
Suva
Fiji
Twitter: @SalanietaT
Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
Fiji Cell: +679 998 2851
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