Content Lock

I came across a really irritating thing when I was trying to access this site via my mobile today at work. Apparently because the site has an 18 rating, I couldn't view it because T Mobile applied "content lock". I was invited to register to remove content lock - which involved entering my CC details and paying £2!

What a scam on the part of T Mobile just to get money out of people :(

Our site is content locked? I wonder if we have any recourse against that.

Yeah .... certainly by T Mobile it is. It's annoying because I don't have net access on my work PC so I often use my phone just to browse, but I'm not paying £2! It's the principle! We don't stop under 18s from coming here, and there's nothing distasteful about the forum so I can't see why they're doing it, other than to try and get money out of people.

Precisely, that's why I'm inquiring internally here to see if there's something we can do about it. That seems like arbitrary blocking of our site to me, not to mention extorting funds from users on their part.

Can you use a web based proxy in the meantime?
http://www.phpproxy.com/

There are plenty more out there...

Yeah that should help. Thanks phish.

From my phone? To be honest, browsing the net from a mobile isn't fantastic to start with, I'd probably just find it even more irritating having to go through a proxy, but I'll make a note of the URL and give it a try when I next get a chance.

Sounds like the old issue of AO being a "hacker site" still exists after all these years. JP, I would suggest perhaps getting T-mobile to remove AO from that listing (CyberCop or something like that always had us on their "hackers" listings)

Have you read the T-Mobile SLA? If so, is there anything in there that explicitly states that premiums will be added for "site ratings"? Who decides and what criteria is used to assess these fees? This is a disturbing and dangerous precident. They should provide you with a pipe and nothing more. This incident is fuel for my argument about ISPs filtering content. You *know* they're not going to do it for free and you will *always* be the one hit with the expense.

--TH13

I haven't actually read any terms and conditions ... I've been trying to find something on their site, all I know is I signed up for £1 a day maximum internet charging.

I'll email them and ask them to point me towards whatever the terms and conditions there are regarding internet use and invite them to explain why this site is content locked, who decides what criteria is used etc.

Edit OK that's done, I'll let you know what response I get.