text:
List Of Services Blocking Tor
Page Outline
- List of RBL Blocking Services
- List Of Software Used To Block Tor
- How to unblock Tor users
- Ad-hoc Solutions for accessing blocked content on Tor
- Field guide to common block pages
- List Of Services Blocking Tor
The Tor community maintains the following three lists (RBL blocks, Blocking software, and Individual blocks) as part of the DontBlockMe project. It is the opposite of the WeSupportTor project.
- CDN - A Content Delivery Network: these are networks that websites use to serve high amounts of traffic to their clients. CDNs can be geographically distributed to provide "local" copies of web content to people worldwide.
- Exit relay - This is a Tor relay that exits traffic onto the plain Internet. All Tor traffic (though not when using onion services) appears to originate from these exit relays.
- Non-exit relay - A Tor relay that does not act as an exit relay. A non-exit relay does not originate any traffic other than to other Tor relays and thus there is no necessary reason for services to block traffic from them. Guard and middle relays are the two types of non-exit relays, and many non-exit relays act as both types at the same time.
- TCP RST - The TCP reset (or reject) is a way to gracefully close connections. Many services/software to block Tor traffic may block by explicitly closing the connection instead of ignoring the traffic.
- TCP timeout - A TCP timeout is another way to block Tor traffic on the protocol- or routing-level, however it involves silently ignoring the traffic instead of rejecting it.
List of RBL Blocking Services
An RBL is a "realtime blackhole list" which is a DNS query-based list used to tag IP addresses as being malicious or as being an origin of spam. Due to the inability to filter or monitor Tor user behavior across the entire network, many Tor exit relay IPs will be marked as threatening (even indiscriminately) which means many legitimate web surfers will be incidentally included in such blocks. This is a subproject to routinely search for and clear Tor relay nodes from RBL and RBL-like lists.
- [URL] - Description of service/list, threat detection and consequences for Tor users
- https://www.abuseat.org/ - Composite Blocking List (CBL) - A Division of SPAMHAUS. By policy, TOR nodes cannot be removed from the CBL list. - Thus, the exact reason for being listed can no longer be established by the individual Tor .Exit Relay operator. Consequently, trying to effectively handle any 'abuse' issues being unfortunately perpetrated from an individual Tor .Exit Relay has become increasingly difficult or impossible when referencing this resource.
- https://akismet.com/ - Blog comment spam protection. (Note: Previously this entry was "askimet.com", a misspelled version of "akismet" that redirected to the official site. It is not known whether this was a typo or a malicious website. Edited 10/5/2016)
- https://www.blocked.com/ - Web request blocker against proxies and anonymity networks. The site itself is not available over Tor.
- https://blogspam.net/ - Blog and forum content spam protection.
- https://www.cloudflare.com/ - Announces itself as Cloudflare. Blog post on Tor: https://blog.cloudflare.com/the-trouble-with-tor/.
- https://www.dan.me.uk/dnsbl - Blocklist designed to identify all Tor relays, even ones that do not exit traffic. There are both a list for exit relays as well as for all relays, though the provider does warn against using the list of all relays. The site itself is not available over Tor.
- https://www.incapsula.com/ - Announces itself as Incapsula. Blog post on Tor.
- https://www.imperva.com/ - Announces itself as Personalized Security
- https://www.imunify360.com/ - Announces itself as "Imperva Cloud Application Security"
- https://www.norse-corp.com/ - Web and networking protection including IP blocking.
- https://www.projecthoneypot.org/ - Honeypot for e-mail harvesters by listing unique e-mail addresses on web pages.
- https://recaptcha.net/ - the CAPTCHAs given are, on occasion, very difficult and timed [last check: 2015-11-21]
- https://stopforumspam.com/ - IP-based blocking service based on forum and blog spam. The site itself is available from some Tor Exits, but not others (403 Forbidden). [last check: 2015-09-15, 1/10 Exits Blocked]
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webroot - Webroot, specifically their service BrightCloud(R) "Threat Intelligence" (brightcloud.com), provides block lists to customers that includes Tor middle nodes marked as "Proxy." [Last checked 2018-04-17]
List Of Software Used To Block Tor
A listing of the software that has been identified as being used by the services listed below. This can present via another avenue to accomplish the goals of the DontBlockMe project. The format is:
- [URL] - How to identify the blocking software when used by a service
- https://akamai.com/ Fifa.com, tdbank.com, expedia.com, www.ecb.europa.eu, discussions.apple.com seem to be using Akamai and use some sort of configuration that blocks Tor (not all Akamai sites block Tor). Akamai blocks usually present with a basic page saying "Access Denied" and a 'reference' note like "Reference #18..." You can definitively confirm whether a site uses the Akamai CDN by running a WHOIS on the site's domain and looking for akam.net nameservers. Akamai report on Tor traffic.
- http://www.bluehost.com/ - Web hosting company. Block page has the phrase "If you feel this is in error please contact your hosting provider's abuse department".
- https://www.incapsula.com/ - Announces itself as Incapsula. Blog post on Tor: https://www.incapsula.com/blog/tor-does-not-equal-deny-access.html.
- Convio/Blackbaud - A web host for various nonprofits. Blocks Tor specifically, returning an HTTP 501 error: "Not Implemented Tor IP not allowed". A traceroute leads to a subdomain of convio.net. http://www.adl.org/ is one affected site [last check: 2015-07-15].
- Distil Networks - Anti-scraping company. Serves a captcha or block page with a form to request unblocking. Sample block pages: https://www.distilnetworks.com/distil_r_captcha.html, https://www.distilnetworks.com/distil_r_blocked.html, #Distil #Distil. Also at https://www.distil.it/. Blog post on Tor: https://resources.distilnetworks.com/h/i/246101200-cloudflare-vs-tor-is-ip-blocking-causing-more-harm-than-good/181642.
How to unblock Tor users
See: Best Practices. If you run a web site on Cloudflare, and you don't want Tor users to see captchas, then whitelist the "T1" country code in the Access Rules of the Cloudflare Firewall app. See this article for more information. The best option is not using Cloudflare at all. There are many alternative self-hosting options. See The Great Cloudwall? for more information.
Ad-hoc Solutions for accessing blocked content on Tor
There are various ad-hoc ways by which Tor Browser users may access websites that block Tor. All of these solutions involve fetching content via other websites, a privacy tradeoff.
|Allows embedded non-static content?
|Allows PDF/.exe/mp3?
|The Internet Archive's WaybackMachine
|Archive.org respects robots.txt restrictions, works best with JS enabled
archive.fo/?run=1&url=<URL> And their official onion service:
|Ideal for news sites, doesn't require JS
|Google Cache
webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:<URL without "http://">
|Google sometimes blocks these requests
|No - static only
| (1) Find the URL by searching, (2) Click on the
proxy option
|Not always efficacious
| (1) Find the URL by searching, (2) Click on the
proxied option
|Not always efficacious
|Behind Cloudflare
|Online Proxies
|JS disabled by default
|JS disabled by default
Other relevant services
- To avoid captchas that are often required when visiting YouTube, use this. To avoid captchas that are often required when visiting YouTube, use
hooktube.com/(behind Cloudflare recaptchas).
imgur.comblocks Tor uploads, to upload images on an imgur domain go to a stackexchange website (for example
tor.stackexchange.com), click on
Ask a Question, use the image upload tooltip to upload the image, the resulting url will have a
- If you want to know which site is harassing Tor users or behind CloudFlare, try using this search engine.
Field guide to common block pages
Access Denied You don't have permission to access "%websitename%" on this server. Reference #[\d\.a-f]+
Akamai is a CDN.
Bad Behavior
Bad Behavior is an antispam PHP plugin.
Not implemented Tor IP not allowed.
Blackbaud does web hosting for nonprofits.
Bluehost is a web hosting company. This seems to be their source code that is the source of the message: mod_rbld.
One more step Please complete the security check to access %websitename%
Cloudflare is a CDN acting as MITM by design, decrypting all TLS (HTTPS) traffic to plaintext and harming users privacy by (feature called flexible SSL) intransparently forwarding traffic from https end-user in plaintext to origin webserver most of time. See The Great Cloudwall?.
Access To Website Blocked
Distil Networks is an anti-bot/anti-scraping company. They also have challenge pages that are less severe than this block page (which has status code 456).
%websitename% - Additional security check is required Why am I seeing this page? The website you are visiting is protected and accelerated by Incapsula. Your computer may have been infected by malware and therefore flagged by the Incapsula network. Incapsula displays this page for you to verify that an actual human is the source of the traffic to this site, and not malicious software. What should I do? Just click the I'm not a robot checkbox to pass the security check. Incapsula will remember you and will not show this page again. We recommend you run a virus and malware scan on your computer to remove any infection. Powered by imperva
%websitename% is protected by Imunify360 We have noticed an unusual activity from your IP %exitIP% and blocked access to this website.
List Of Services Blocking Tor
Services should be listed if:
- They display a written policy that prohibits "Tor" specifically by name.
- They display a written policy prohibiting proxies, VPNs, open/free networks, travelers, etc.
- The text of an error message indicates "Tor", anonymous proxies, etc.
- After testing with "signal NEWNYM / New Identity / MAPADDRESS", access and/or full use via Tor is found to be consistently problematic (defined as affecting at least 80% of all exits).
The list is formatted in alphabetical service groupings as follows:
- URL of service - nature of block: complete, account creation, read-only, random breakage, etc. [last check: <current date in YYYY-MM-DD>]
Attention: Please be aware, that this page itself (https://trac.torproject.org) does block Tor traffic for registration and editing by showing very hard to read captchas. Try: http://ea5faa5po25cf7fb.onion/projects/tor/register
The List
Category List
- Education
- Forums / Imageboards
- Gaming
- Government services / Publicly-funded resources
- Clusters:
- Health / Medical
- Image Hosting
- Jobs
- IRC / SIP / XMPP / "non-web" network communication services and messaging
- Mail services
- News media
- Professional
- Search engines
- Social
- Social networking
- Dating
- Professional
- Science
- Sports
- Translation
- Travel / Transportation
- Hotels
- Utilities ( Electric / Gas / Water / Telecom / TV / Internet )
- Shipping
- Telecommunications
- TV / Video
- Wikis
- Uncategorized
The current list is as follows.
Banking / Finance
- https://www.2checkout.com/ - the page https://www.2checkout.com/checkout/purchase gives "500 Internal Server Error" [last check: 2018-04-21]
- https://personalsavings.americanexpress.com/ - timeout [last check: 2018-01-06]
- http://www.bankia.es/ - Blank Page never loads [last check: 2017-12-25]
- https://secure.bankofamerica.com - Partial block, site works but impossible to log in. Returns "We did not recognize the Online ID you entered" for valid ID's.
- https://www.bitpanda.com/ - One more step - Please complete the security check to access bitpanda.com (cloudflare) [last check: 2020-04-15]
- https://bitcointalk.org/ - Registration may require up to US$5. [last check: 2015-01-04] "it is a known proxy/VPN/Tor exit node, so you are required to pay a small fee before you are able to post messages or send PMs. To atone, you must pay a total of 0.00084575 bitcoins If the fee is so small that your wallet is unable to send it, you can send any larger amount, though you will not be refunded the difference." [last check: 2020-04-24]
- https://www.bitstamp.net/ - "This request was blocked by the security rules." [last check: 2020-03-14]
- https://buttercoin.com/ - Block page: "VPN or Tor connections are prohibited."; Cloudflare 522 returned from the IP of a non-exit node [last check: 2015-09-17]
- https://www.chase.com/ - Does not block Tor, but always asks for verification (email, text or phone call) when using Tor.
- https://www.coinbase.com/ - "One more step - Please complete the security check to access" (Cloudflare) [last check: 2017-10-10]
- https://www.commbank.com.au/personal/ and other Commonwealth Bank Australia help pages are blocked (Akami), but online banking at http://netbank.com.au/ works fine. [last check: 2016-02-23]
- https://www.lloydsbank.com/ - Sorry, an error has occurred. Error 1007 [last check: 2017-02-11]
- https://www.mastercard.de/ - "Access Denied - You don't have permission to access "http://www.mastercard.de/" on this server." [last check: 2020-04-25]
- https://www.patreon.com/ - "One more step - Please complete the security check to access" (Cloudflare) [last check: 2017-10-11]
- https://santander.de/ - "Access Denied - You don't have permission to access "http://santander.de/" on this server." [last check: 2020-04-15]
- https://www.sc.com/ - "Uh oh. As an anonymous user, your access to this network has been blocked. Requests from anonymous users using TOR (The Onion Router) IP addresses are routed through various networks and the identity of the original user cannot be traced, which is a security risk. If you are not using a TOR IP address and continue to receive this message, please get in touch with your local Standard Chartered contact centre." Status code 200. A direct link to the block page seems to be https://www.sc.com/global/error/AnonymousProxy. The block seems to use the same infrastructure as country-level blocking: editing the URL of an in included image leads to the page http://countryblock.standardchartered.com.edgesuite.net/SanctionedCountries/blocked_ctry/: "Uh oh. Standard Chartered Online Banking cannot be accessed from Cuba, N. Korea, Iran, Syria and Crimea/Sevastopol. If you are not in one of these countries and are getting this message, please contact your local Standard Chartered contact centre." [last check: 2018-03-27]
- https://www.tdbank.com/ - Blocks Tor, but (as of 2015-01-04) didn't always recognize Tor exit nodes. As of 2020-03-14 blocks 10 out of 10 of exit nodes. (Akamai) [last check: 2020-03-14]
- https://investor.vanguard.com - Blocks Tor - blank page, no error [last check: 2015-04-27]
- https://sberbank.ru - Nullroutes every public node in directory, even those with "ExitPolicy reject *:*" [last check: 2017-10-22]
- https://www.unicredit.it - UniCredit S.p.A. allows login of middle operators, but blocks every operation of your online banking account. (SMS)"UniCredit informs that the operational activity of your Multichannel Bank has been blocked (COD.005). Please contact the number 800575757"
Blogs ( by engine )
- https://www.donenright.com/ - timeout [last check: 2018-09-17]
- http://www.mindtheheart.org/ - timeout [last check: 2018-04-26]
- http://rankexploits.com/ - "TOR detected" (ZB Block), blocks even after solving captcha. [last check: 2015-03-18]
- https://www.typepad.com/ (and subdomains) - Returns a custom 403 page, which is misleadingly labeled 404 [last check: 2016-06-05]
- http://www.thebeatlesrarity.com/ - "Access has been blocked. Your IP [184.108.40.206] is found at Project Honey Pot . If you feel this is incorrect please contact them. Protected by: AVH First Defense Against Spam"
try or region your IP address is in (TOR) from accessing this website."
- http://fordfoundation.org/ - Cloudflare hard block (1009): "The owner of this website (www.fordfoundation.org) has banned the country or region your IP address is in (TOR) from accessing this website."
Business-to-User / Retail Shopping
- https://www.abebooks.com/ - Nginx 403 or custom 403: "Code 403: Access forbidden" [last check: 2017-03-21]
- http://www.adverts.ie/ - TCP timeout (hosted by hosting365.ie) [last check: 2015-03-17]
- http://alibris.com - "This site has been blocked by the network administrator. Block reason: Gateway GEO-IP Filter Alert. IP address: 126.96.36.199. Connection initiated from country: Anonymous Proxy." [last check: 2017-03-21]
- https://www.allmodern.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-03-25]
- https://www.applebees.com/ - "The owner of this website (www.applebees.com) has banned the country or region your IP address is in (TOR) from accessing this website." (Cloudflare) [last check: 2020-03-31]
- http://www.autotrader.com/ - We're sorry for any inconvenience, but the site is currently unavailable. [last check: 2017-03-13]
- http://www.autozone.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2015-03-17]
- Baskin-Robbins (ice cream) - blocked with "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2016-12-12]
- Ben & Jerry's (ice cream) - blocked with "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2016-12-07]
- http://www.bestbuy.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2015-03-17]
- Breyer's (ice cream) - blocked with "Access Denied (Akamai)" [last check: 2016-12-12]
- http://www.carsdirect.com/ - Blank Page never loads [last check: 2016-05-31]
- http://www.cloudflare.com/ - "One more Step" proof: #32703 [last check: 2020-04-15]
- http://www.daft.ie/ - TCP timeout (hosted by hosting365.ie) [last check: 2015-03-17]
- https://www.delta.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-07-16
- https://www.dominos.com/ - Typically redirects to https://www.dominos.com/index.intl.html, from which it is not possible to place orders for U.S. customers. [last check: 2019-11-27]
- https://www.doordash.com/ - "error code: 400" [last check: 2020-03-14]
- https://www.dunkindonuts.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2019-09-26]
- https://www.flashpoint-intel.com/ - Cloudflare hard block (Error 1009). [last check: 2017-05-26]
- https://www.fossamail.org/ - "One more step - Please complete the security check to access" (Cloudflare)
- https://www.hyatt.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2016-07-13]
- https://www.immonet.de/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2020-04-21]
- http://www.kohls.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai).
Also from non-exit node.[last check: 2015-03-17; non-exits seem fine as of 2015-01-04 (and 2015-09-17)]
- http://www.lg.com/ - "Access Denied - You don't have permission to access on this server." [last check: 2020-04-23]
- http://www.lowes.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2016-05-09]
- https://www.lufthansa.com/ - Access Denied (Akamai). [last check: 2016-02-25]
- http://www.nashbar.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2016-05-31]
- https://www.nike.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2016-05-09]
- http://nolo.com/ - "Unable to connect TCP Time-out" [last check: 2016-05-03]
- http://nordstrom.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-03-25]
- https://www.officedepot.com/ - "We're Sorry. We are unable to process your last request" [last check: 2015-03-17]
- https://www.overstock.com/ - TCP timeout
- https://www.papajohns.com/ - "Papa John's Online Ordering can not take your order at this time due to technical difficulties." [last check: 2019-09-26]
- https://www.qantas.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai), both HTTP and HTTPS - [last check: 2016-02-21]
- https://order.redrobin.com/ - "The owner of this website (order.redrobin.com) has banned the country or region your IP address is in (TOR) from accessing this website." (Cloudflare) [last check: 2020-03-31]
- http://www.retailmenot.com/ - "Request Forbidden - Access to RetailMeNot from your current location has been blocked" [last check: 2015-07-02]
- http://www.riteaid.com/ - "Thank you we were not able to process your request" [last check: 2016-05-31]
- http://www.samsung.com/ - "Access Denied - You don't have permission to access on this server." [last check: 2018-03-17]
- http://www.sophos.com/ - "Access Denied - You don't have permission to access on this server." [last check: 2020-04-18]
- http://www.sportsmansguide.com/ - Access Denied. (Akamai) [last check: 2016-06-30]
- https://www.staples.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2015-03-18]
- https://www.starbucks.com/ - "We're sorry — something has gone wrong on our end." [last check: 2019-09-26]
- https://www.statefarm.com/ - "Error code: Technical Error 403. Support ID: 9566150499978592151." [last check: 2018-01-06]
- https://www.stubhub.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2015-03-18]
- https://www.tacobell.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2019-12-04]
- https://www.taxact.com/ - Ignores traffic, even from non-exit relays - "ERR_CONNECTION_RESET" [last check: 2016-05-22]
- https://www.techforless.com/ - redirects to http://www.techforless.com/blocked.html?from=index.html with a 200 status code. [last check: 2017-09-24]
- https://tedscafe.com/ - "Your access to this site was blocked by Wordfence, a security provider, who protects sites from malicious activity." [last check: 2019-12-07]
- http://www.realtor.com/ - "403 ERROR The request could not be satisfied." [last check: 2020-04-15]
- http://www.tigerdirect.com/ - "Notice: Order Verification Required" [last check: 2020-04-15]
- https://www.ticketmaster.com/ - "Forbidden" [last check: 2015-03-18]
- http://www.totalwine.com/ - Application firewall error, Your request has been blocked. [last check: 2016-06-30]
- https://www.ubereats.com/ - Works through picking a restaurant in Tor Browser (standard security level), but clicking on any item on a restaurant's menu has no effect. Looking at the JS console suggests the problem may be related to 3rd-party storage being blocked by Tor Browser. [last check: 2019-11-27]
- http://ulta.com/ - "Your request has been blocked." [last check: 2017-03-25]
- https://www.wayfair.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-03-25]
Business-to-Business / Commerce and Industry / Advertising
- https://www.bbb.org/ - Fake 500 Internal Server Error: "It's us not you." [last check: 2018-09-15]
- http://www.bizjournals.com - "Access to Website Blocked" (Distil). [last check: 2016-03-18]
- CrunchBase - "Access To Website Blocked" (Distil) - A database for TechCrunch, an online publisher of technology industry news. TechCrunch is not blocked. [last check: 2016-03-18]
- Google Analytics - After login they can't grant access: "IP tied to OFAC list. http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/". Tor relays affected, even ones in the US.
- http://manta.com - "Access to Website Blocked" (Distil). [last check: 2016-03-18]
Classified Ads
- https://www.craigslist.org/ - "This IP has been automatically blocked. If you have questions, please email..." [last check: 2017-02-08].
- https://www.letgo.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-08]
- https://www.olx.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-08]
Computing / Technical
- Certain Apple.com sites:
- https://getsupport.apple.com/ - "Access Denied." (Akamai), blocks sporadically [last check: 2017-02-18]
- https://support.apple.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai), blocks sporadically, block includes non-exit relay IPs. [last check: 2018-01-05]
- https://discussions.apple.com/ - "Access Denied" but sporadically blocking (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-18]
- https://www.box.com/ - Can access the site but not login or sign up
- https://git.openprivacy.ca/ - Can register over Tor but delete your account data without any warning
- https://cryptovillage.org/ - timeout [last check: 2018-08-25]
- https://action.eff.org/ - "403 Forbidden" (nginx) [last check: 2016-05-26]
- https://www.linuxquestions.org/ - "Error 403" [last check: 2017-03-13]
- https://apps.db.ripe.net/ - "ERROR:201, Sorry, access from your host has been permanently denied because of a repeated excessive querying." [last check: 2017-03-13]
- http://www.emergingthreats.net (Snort rules) - Redirects to https://www.proofpoint.com/emergingthreatsnet/, an Incapsula block page: "Error code 16. This request was blocked by the security rules." [last check: 2015-03-16]
- https://flagfox.net/forum/ - "No soup for you! It looks like you have been flagged as a spammer."
- https://github.com/ - Deletes the accounts created via Tor after some time with all associated information. And if you login to github via bad exit nodes unluckily, Github will flag your account.
- ftp://ftp.gnu.org - "425 Security: Bad IP connecting." https://ftp.gnu.org/ serves the same files and doesn't block Tor. [last check: 2017-07-27]
- ftp://lists.gnu.org - "425 Security: Bad IP connecting." [last check: 2017-07-27]
- https://forums.informaction.com/ - the official forum of NoScript trolls the users trying to sign up via Tor with the message, that the recaptcha was incorrect (even if recaptcha gave the string the user have to paste into the box) [last check: 2015-11-21]. Note: The "cypherpunks" account was banned after I have signed in it through Tor (I haven't written anything using it, just tested, if it is present).
- https://support.lenovo.com/ - "Access Denied." (Akamai) [last check: 2018-03-17]
- https://store.hp.com/ - "Access Denied." (Akamai) [last check: 2018-03-17]
- https://www.linuxquestions.org/ - "Error 403" (Bad Behavior), blocks registration through Tor, but claims to allow unblocking by logging in. [last check: 2016-05-05]
- https://talk.maemo.org and https://wiki.maemo.org - blocked completely; discussion here - [last check: 2015-08-08]
- http://www.manux.info/ - Votre connexion internet dispose d'une adresse IP interdite. Cela peut indiquer que vous utilisez un proxy web, ou une adresse IP listee comme malveillante aupres de nos serveurs.
- http://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/GeoLiteCountry/GeoIP.dat.gz and http://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/GeoIPv6.dat.gz - The company MaxMind provides these databases for use in a GeoIP package that determines a user's IP geo-location. Tor-connected systems are unable to use it, receiving a "Forbidden" code. Maxmind says they can't be bothered to look into why these are blocked; they recommended StackOverflow.com for "technical support". In one correspondence they recommended changing host to geoip.maxmind.com as a workaround, but they also insist this is not the recommended location.
- https://www.moonchildproductions.info/ - "One more step" (Cloudflare)
- Certain Mozilla & Firefox sites:
- https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/ - Blocks account creation via Tor (requesting an account via email still works)
- https://accounts.firefox.com/ and by consequence https://addons.mozilla.org/ #16450 uses 3rd party cookies in a way torbrowser does not permit. By consequence login ("Invalid token") and password reset ("Reset password link expired" within two minutes) fail. Problem confirmed by friendly firefox.com sysadmins on channel #fxa of irc.mozilla.org. - [last check: 2016-01-11]
- https://www.namecheap.com/ -
Blocked harshly by Cloudflare. If you're extremely lucky, you can access only 3 times.Serves you a Cloudflare captcha, you solve it, want to login, then it just returns "The password does not match the user account or the account does not exist. Please verify both the user name and password and try again." [last check: 2015-01-24]
- https://www.palemoon.org/ - "One more step" (Cloudflare) and the Palemoon developer is very anti-Tor.
- https://pastebin.com/ - Certain exit IPs are blocked completely, even from reading the site. The unsecured version of the page (http://pastebin.com) also have Cloudflare wall.
works without any restriction [last check: 2017-02-18](not any more.)
- https://www.proofpoint.com/ - "Error code 15. This request was blocked by the security rules." [last check: 2016-06-04]
- https://www.random.org/ - The site is very suspicious of Tor addresses: it always presents Cloudflare captchas, and requires multiple challenges to be solved in quick succession to verify the Tor user is human. The site can still be accessed if all the challenges are solved correctly. [last check: 2016-02-11]
- https://secunia.com/ - "Forbidden! We have registered this IP Address (x.x.x.x) as being a robot. Secunia does not allow content leaching robots on our website thus this IP address has been banned."
- http://www.slingbox.com/ - TCP timeout (including non-exit relay IPs) [last check: 2015-09-17]
- https://statuspage.io/ - "Your IP address x.x.x.x has been flagged as a scanner. Scanners are not permitted. If you are seeing this message in error, please contact security@…." [last check: 2015-05-30]
- https://turbofuture.com/ - "403 Forbidden" (nginx) [last check: 2017-03-16]
- http://www.xprivacy.eu/ and https://crowd.xprivacy.eu/ -
Resource site for XPrivacy Android app: ironically blocks Tor and other "spammers" at firewall level; administrator refuses to allow Tor visitors even just to read the website. (github ticket)It appears that the Tor block has been lifted--at least for reading privileges. It is not known whether writing privileges are possible over Tor, though writing is much less important. [last check: 2015-03-19]
- https://cc.emsisoft.com/ and https://www.emsisoft.com/ - "One more step Please complete the security check to access cc|www.emsisoft.com" (Cloudflare)
- http://www.clamav.net/ - "One more step! Please complete the security check to access www.clamav.net" (Cloudflare)
- https://freedns.afraid.org/ - You can create an account, but after several days he will lock your account without explanation. Login with Tor will trigger this tripwire.
- https://dl.acm.org/ - ACM Digital Library: "403 Error - Access Forbidden" "...we have temporarily restricted your access to the Digital Library. Your activity appears to be coming from some type of automated process. To ensure the availability of the Digital Library we can not allow these types of requests to continue. The restriction will be removed automatically once this activity stops." [last check: 2015-10-04]
- http://www.apa.org/ - "Access To Website Blocked" (Distil) from 9/10 Tor Exits, including the oAmerican Psychological Association's journals. [last check: 2016-03-18]
- http://attainmentcompany.com/ - Augmentative & Alternative Communication software & device maker; appears to be returning TCP Timeout for non-exit nodes. [last check: 2015-09-15]
- http://www.austlii.edu.au/ - AustLII (Australasian Legal Information Institute) website refuses connections from Tor Exits, but other IP addresses work fine. "A joint facility of UTS and UNSW Faculties of Law" [last check: 2015-09-16]
- https://cltc.berkeley.edu/ - various forms do an AJAX POST that appears to stall forever. In the background it is receiving a response with status 200: "Access Denied. You have been blocked due to suspicious activity. If you believe this is in error, please email help@ischool/>. Allow Request. You have been blocked from entering information on this blog. In order to prevent this from happening in the future you may ask the owner to add your network address to a list that allows you full access." When I emailed help@ischool about it, they cited the stopforumspam.com database as a reason for blocking the IP, and "considering that this is a cybersecurity website, it would not be a wise choice to unblock that IP address." [last check: 2016-01-28]
- http://www.disneyjunior.com/ - iPad and iPhone App IP blocked, "International Agreements/Cannot view outside the US". Customer service confirms IP is "Known Anonymizing Proxy Address". Blocks non-exit relay IPs.
- http://www.gotw.ca/ - "The requested URL was rejected."; TCP timeout returned to non-exit relay IP [last check: 2015-09-17]
- https://www.gutenberg.org/ - Error 403: "Don't use anonymizers, open proxies, VPNs, or TOR to access Project Gutenberg." (Most but not all exits) [last check: 2017-03-13] For an alternative download site, try https://archive.org/details/gutenberg.
- http://adsabs.harvard.edu/ - "ADS Access Denied" custom 403 that mentions Project Honeypot. [last check: 2017-09-13]
- http://ibiblio.org/ and subdomains - timeout. [last check: 2017-01-07]
- http://www.ieeelcn.org/ (IEEE Conference on Local Computer Networks) - timeout. [last check: 2016-05-24]
- http://www.justanswer.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2015-04-02]
- http://www.lirrhistory.com/ - "The requested URL was rejected. If you think this is an error, please contact the webmaster."; TCP timeout returned to non-exit relay IP [last check: 2015-09-17]
- http://www.msudenver.edu/ - timeout [last check: 2018-08-16]
- http://sites.nationalacademies.org/ - timeout [last check: 2016-07-13]
- http://www.ohsu.edu/ - Blocked from non-exit relay IPs. [last check: 2015-01-23]
- http://www.planetary.org/ - Not Implemented Tor IP not allowed (Convio/Blackbaud) [last check: 2015-10-04]
- http://www.popsci.com/ - "You are receiving this error message because your ip (x.x.x.x) is listed in the StopForumSpam.com database." [last check: 2015-11-25]
- http://www.questbridge.org/ - QuestBridge homepage refuses connections from Tor Exits, but the "Apply" subpage blocks all Tor nodes.
- https://study.com/ - "403 Forbidden" returned when accessing any page. [last check: 2016-09-29]
- Wikimedia projects including https://wikipedia.org/ - Reading free and supported; can also edit, after email request
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/ [last check: 2018-03-16] - Akamai.
- https://web.archive.org/ - saving is prohibited with a deliberately ambiguous message "<h1>Unknown Error</h1><p>failed to archive the URL. specifics of failure is unknown</p>" (sic!).
- http://www.gocomics.com/ - timeout [last check: 2018-01-29]
- http://www.montypython.net/ - "Malicious activity has been detected from your computer or another computer on your network." Status line
HTTP/1.1 481 Request rejected due to security concerns. Please contact the website administrator for more information.Offers a captcha and submits form to
/?_xv_waf=challenge. last check: [2017-03-27]
- Block page provider isn't evident, but the block page of http://vtem.net/ shares the same recaptcha
- Block page provider isn't evident, but the block page of http://vtem.net/ shares the same recaptcha
- https://noisetrade.com/ - blank response with status code 200. [last check: 2017-05-19]
- https://www.rottentomatoes.com/ - Akamai. [last check: 2018-05-07]
- http://www.simpsonsworld.com/ - Akamai. [last check: 2017-04-28]
Forums / Imageboards
- http://4chan.org/ - "Permanently banned from all boards: Proxy/Tor exit node." - Read-only allowed, posting blocked.
- http://www.albumartexchange.com/ - "www.albumartexchange.com is protected by BlockScript. Your request was blocked because you appear to be accessing this website from a Tor exit node." [last check: 2015-04-27]
- https://arstechnica.com "Uh oh - it looks like your IP address or email has been reported by another forum system as a source of spam. Ars Technica uses StopForumSpam to keep our forums and comments clear of unwanted solicitations and malware. In order to register as an Ars Technica user, you will need to first clear up the issue with StopForumSpam. You can do that by filling out their handy contact form and explaining your situation." [last check: 2016-04-29]
- http://bash.org/ - timeout. [last check: 2016-12-18]
- http://www.boards.ie/ - TCP Connection timeout (also bans known VPN services) [last check: 2015-01-04]
- https://drugs-forum.com/ - "Error 403" (Bad Behavior) returned when accessing any page [last check: 2015-04-27]
- http://www.funtrivia.com/ - "Access Denied: code FTTT" with status 200. [last check: 2017-11-26]
- https://www.jeuxvideo.com/ - "Votre adresse IP a été bloquée." - Read-only, can't subscribe or log in. [last check: 2015-05-01]
- https://www.juraforum.de/ - "Forbidden You don't have permission to access / on this server." [last check: 2020-04-16]
- http://knowyourmeme.com/ - looks custom: "Your ip address 18.104.22.168 has been banned. If you think this is a mistake then please contact bans@… immediately and make sure to include your ip address." [last check: 2016-02-13]
- http://www.marioboards.com/ - connection timeout. Possibly related to the www.mariowiki.com block (which is also a timeout) [last check: 2016-12-16]
- http://forums.scribus.net/ - "Error 403" (Bad Behavior) [last check: 2017-07-31]
- https://forum.speeddemosarchive.com/ - nginx 403. [last check: 2018-01-02]
- https://stackexchange.com/ and subservices like https://stackoverflow.com/ and https://tor.stackexchange.com/ - you can read questions, but doing a search sometimes results in: "Human Verification: Are you a human being? We apologize for the confusion, but we can't quite tell if you're a person or a script. Please don't take this personally. Bots and scripts can be remarkably lifelike these days!" with a Google captcha. It looks like the error page is always available at https://stackoverflow.com/nocaptcha. [last check: 2015-08-05]
- https://alphagamers.net/ - redirects to https://blocked.alphagamers.net/, a custom 200: "BLOCKED YOUR 7 PROXIES." [last check: 2016-08-01]
- http://www.gamefaqs.com/ -
"Blocked IP Address - Tor Exit Node" [last check: 2015-03-18]Very recently GameFAQs appears to have explicitly lifted the block for visitors using Tor; sign-up and messaging is still prohibited (according to this page). [last check: 2016-02-20]
- http://www.go4go.net/ - "Sorry, 22.214.171.124 has been banned." Some exit nodes work. [last check: 2016-03-13]
- https://megamanleaderboards.net/ - timeout [last check: 2018-10-23]
- http://www.minecraftskins.com/ - "One more step" (Cloudflare) [last check: 2016-12-10]
- https://www.nvidia.com/ - "Access Denied - You don't have permission to access "http://www.nvidia.com/" on this server." [last check: 2020-04-26]
- http://hackernews.org/ - Cloudflare captcha presented [last check: 2016-01-30]
- http://nintendo.com/ (and possibly all subsites?) - "This page can't be displayed. If you feel that you've received this message in error, please send the error ID to secalerts@…. The error ID is..." Status code 200. [last check: 2016-12-10]
- Steam, Steam Community - Several reports of users having their accounts banned or restricted permanently, which generally means new products cannot be purchased and the person is no longer permitted to talk to friends or post in Steam discussions and boards. (references: 2015-03-15 and 2015-01-13)
- Steam Users' Forums - "Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP address." [last check: 2017-10-11]
- https://forums.nexusmods.com/ and https://www.nexusmods.com/ - "Your IP was flagged"(registration denied) or "Your IP was banned"(can't access website)
- http://www.modthesims.info/ - Generic nginx's "403 Forbidden" message. Blocking all Tor exit IP address.
Government services / Publicly-funded resources
- Wiener Krankenanstaltenverbund (Wien KAV) - TCP timeout [last check: 2015-03-18]
- Estonian Police and Border Guard - TCP timeout [last check: 2015-03-17]
- European Central Bank (ECB) - 403 (Akamai custom error); email support stopped replying [when?] at the mention of Tor, didn't (dis)confirm
- https://www.expresstoll.com/ - Ignores traffic, even from non-exit relays - "ERR_CONNECTION_RESET" [last check: 2016-03-27]
- http://anything.gov All the GOV sites are blocking TOR - Time out exceeded 2016-05-03
- https://www.healthcare.gov/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2016-01-30]
- https://www.senate.gov/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai), also to all sites in second-level domain. [first check: 2015-07-04; last check: 2016-09-19]
- https://www.tra.gov.ae/ - timeout [last check: 2018-02-07]
- http://www.fisc.uscourts.gov/ - Ambiguous "404" when using Tor [last check: 2015-01-04]
- https://www.usmint.gov/ - "Error: This page can't be displayed." [last check: 2016-01-30]
- Public national passenger and freight train operator in Italy - TCP timeout [last check: 2015-03-18]
- https://www.usps.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-05-09]
- Andalusian Regional Government of Spain (SANDETEL - AS34285, 188.8.131.52/20) - inaccessible via Tor (blocked on TCP/IP level -> timeout), even when accessing as non-exit (entry/middle) node. Many *.es sites are located there. A few examples:
Health / Medical
- http://www.everydayhealth.com/ - "Error: This page can't be displayed. Contact support for additional information. The incident ID is: N/A." [last check: 2017-01-17]
- http://www.nejm.org/ (New England Journal of Medicine) - timeout. [last check: 2018-03-02]
- https://secure.zilverenkruis.nl/PremieBerekenen/ (Zilveren Kruis Zorgverzekering) "ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED". [last check: 2018-12-29]
Image Hosting
- https://imgur.com/ - blocks viewing with a fake "Imgur is over capacity!" page. Blocks uploading with "We're really sorry, but uploading from the Tor network has been disabled. Please disable Tor and try uploading again." Due to abuse, the Tor network is always blocked. [last check: 2018-08-30]
- https://angel.co/captcha/blocked/TBLKIP - "Your IP address has been temporarily blocked for security reasons. Sorry for the trouble. If you have an AngelList account, try logging in. If you're on a VPN or other proxy, try disconnecting. If you're having persistent issues connecting to AngelList, please email team@… with your name, your AngelList profile URL, and (optionally) your company name and telephone number. Error code: TBLKIP"
IRC / SIP / XMPP / "non-web" network communication services and messaging
For information specific to IRC, see Blocking IRC
- https://kiwiirc.com/client - "Error Connecting (DNSBL blocked (18.104.22.168))" [last check: 2016-03-09]
- https://webchat.oftc.net/ - "== ERROR: Anonymous TOR usage is unavailable" [last check: 2016-03-09]
- Skype - Login attempts via a Tor exit node are rejected (since 2013, see list and blog): load icon spins forever; experience shows it can take ~6 weeks for a new exit node to be blacklisted
- irc.mozilla.org - "Looking up your hostname... You're banned! ERROR :Closing link: (unknown@...) [Z-Lined: Tor exit server detected]" [last check: 2017-01-11]
- http://chat.efnet.org:9090/ - "* Banned Temporary K-line 4320 min. - TOR exit node found. Visit http://rbl.efnetrbl.org/?i=220.127.116.11 for info. (2017/2/28 18.27)" [last check: 2017-03-01]
Mail services
- https://gmail.com/ - Sometimes blocks POP3 via Tor (forces password changes/phone verification after "suspicious" logins)
- https://inbox.com/ - Browser: 'Connection was interrupted' for signup or login
- http://mailinator.com/ - TCP/80 connect timeout but works with SSL/TLS: use https://mailinator.com/ instead
- http://mail.walla.co.il/, http://mail.walla.com/ - Serves a 404 [last check: 2015-07-16]. Other subdomains such as http://news.walla.co.il/ are okay.
News media
- http://www.broadsheet.ie/ - TCP timeout [last check: 2015-03-18]
- https://news.ycombinator.com/ - You can't create an account.
- https://www.popsugar.com/ - Blocks about 50% of the time. (Bad Behavior) [last check: 2017-03-25]
- http://www.usnews.com - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-07]
- https://www.theverge.com/ - "Forbidden" (custom 403). Can usually be worked around by doing "New Tor Circuit for this Site" a few times. [last check: 2018-04-19]
- http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2016-05-31]
- http://www.actorsequity.org/ - "This request is blocked by the SonicWALL Gateway Geo IP Service. Country Name:Anonymous Proxy." [last check: 2016-09-17]
Search engines
- http://www.azlyrics.com/ - Site consistently is not accessible over Tor (TCP RST) for some unknown reason. This seems rather bizarre for a lyrics database site, assuming blocking the Tor connections is intentional. [last check: 2016-02-15]
- https://tineye.com/ - "403 Forbidden, Your IP has been blocked from TinEye because it appears that you are not adhering to our Terms of Service." [last check: 2017-03-13]
- https://www.ecosia.org/ - Returns "404 Not Found" but non-Tor IPs can access it.
- https://www.google.com/ - Almost always shows the message "403. That's an error. Your client does not have permission to get URL /sorry/IndexRedirect?continue=". Otherwise shows a captcha before permitting searching. In most cases after you have solved a captcha it will give you infinite chain of captchas. If the first attempt failed, change identity and try again. [last check: 2016-03-30]
- https://www.yahoo.com/ - Yahoo temporarily blocks IPs sending too many queries. No workaround provided.
- http://atheologie.ca and http://atheology.ca - Timeout. See #23246.
Social networking
Communities / Friends / Interests
- https://www.airbnb.com/ - Partial block. Impossible to log in, some pages return Error code: 503
- https://ask.fm/ - Shows sometimes "Access denied".
- https://artofproblemsolving.com/ - "Loading failed for the <script>" (cloudflare) #32924
- http://www.avito.ru/ - Blank page.
- https://www.chess.com/ - "We were unable to create your account. Please contact support to resolve this issue."
- https://counter.social/ - "YIKES! You appear to be accessing Counter Social from a prohibited VPN, Proxy, Tor Node, hostile nation IP space or otherwise blacklisted IP." Home page says "We also actively block nodes and access to our community from IP space originating in Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Pakistan and Syria, along with over 100,000 VPN and proxy services." [last check: 2017-11-26]
- https://ello.co/ - "You've been blocked from accessing Ello. Oh no! Why me? Your recent actions have triggered our force field to protect Ello from online attacks. There are several actions that could trigger this, including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data." HTTP status is "416 Request Range Not Satisfiable" (wtf?). Appears to use Distil Networks for blocking. Direct link to block page: https://ello.co/distil_r_blocked.html. [last check: 2015-10-04]
- https://forums.freebsd.org/ TCP timeouts, explicit rejects (TCP RST) and even works sometimes. [last check: 2016-06-18]
- https://furaffinity.net/ Complete block. "Your IP address has been banned. Reason: Known TOR exit node." However, whatever list of exit nodes they're using seems to be pretty outdated, so it's very roughly 50/50 on whether you'll actually encounter that block or not.
- http://www.godlikeproductions.com/ - "Sorry, ip address has been banned"
- http://klinkk.com/ - "This request has been denied for security reasons. If you believe this was in error, please contact support."
- http://mibbit.com/ - Closing Link: IP Z:Lined Tor exit server detected. torexit.dan.me.uk
- https://www.pinterest.com/ - Error message after logging in. [when?]
- https://twitter.com/signup - "Signup Denied, use Android/iPhone app on your phone instead."
- https://twitter.com - "Twitter status pages are often blocked with the message
Something went wrong." [last check: 2020-02-24]
- https://yelp.com/ - "Sorry, you're not allowed to access this page." (also for other top level domains like yelp.de) [last check: 2017-02-18]
- https://www.lovoo.com/ - "One more step - Please complete the security check to access lovoo.com" (cloudflare)
- https://www.joyclub.de/ - "403 - Zugriff verweigert." This error is permanent and the operator says blocking Tor is intended.
- https://www.pof.com/ - Periodic process may delete user after a while (hour to days) if geoIP does not match profile location, and for other reasons possibly related to IP. Try contacting csr@… and post any results to tor-talk.
- https://www.zoosk.com/ - Access Denied (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-01]
- https://linkedin.com/ - You need to pass an image test before login, after which a login email validation is required. Might block completely due to "unusual traffic from your network connection." [last check: 2015-03-18]
- https://researchgate.net - "We've picked up some unusual traffic from your network and have temporarily blocked access from your IP address. Are you a researcher? To avoid being denied access, log in if you're a ResearchGate member or create an account if you're not." [last check: 2017-04-16]
- https://tei-c.org/ - timeout [last check: 2020-03-19]
- http://www.fifa.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2015-03-18]
- http://www.foxsports.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2015-06-26]
- https://translate.google.com/ - "Your client does not have permission to get URL / from this server. (Client IP address: )" [last check: 2016-12-29]
- https://youglish.com/ - "Some images from Cloudflare don't load up and a 403 Forbidden is returned" (cloudflare) #32582
Travel / Transportation
- http://www.autopass.no/ - "ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT" [Last check: 2018-02-14]
- https://www.cheapair.com/ - "403 Forbidden" nginx [Last check: 2018-06-08]
- https://www.vegvesen.no/ - "ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT" [Last check: 2018-02-14]
- https://www.expedia.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-02]
- https://www.travelocity.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-02]
- http://wikitravel.org/ - TCP timeout, even from non-exit IPs [confirmation?]. [last check: 2017-02-02]
- https://www.bestwestern.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-02]
- https://www.countryinns.com/ - "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access / on this server." [last check: 2017-02-02]
- https://www.hyatt.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-02]
- https://www.ihg.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-10-18]
- http://www.marriott.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-02]
- https://www.motel6.com/ - "Error: This page can't be displayed. Contact support for additional information. The incident ID is: XXXXXXXXXXXX" [last check: 2017-02-02]
- https://www.parkplaza.com/ - "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access / on this server." [last check: 2017-02-02]
- https://www.radisson.com/ - "Forbidden. You don't have permission to access / on this server." [last check: 2017-02-02]
- http://www.theroosevelthotel.com/ - "Your request has been blocked. If you feel you have been blocked in error..." [last check: 2017-02-02]
- https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-02]
Utilities ( Electric / Gas / Water / Telecom / TV / Internet )
- http://randomdatagenerator.com/ - Bad Behavior [last check: 2016-05-19]
- https://www.uline.com/ - "There was an error with your session." [last check: 2017-03-25]
- http://www.ups.com/ - ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT
- http://wwwapps.ups.com/ ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT
Whitepages-owned sites:
- http://www.411.com/ - "Access To Website Blocked" (Distil) upon access. [last check: 2017-03-04]
- http://www.switchboard.com/ - "Access To Website Blocked" (Distil) upon access. [last check: 2017-03-04]
- https://www.whitepages.com/ - "Access To Website Blocked" (Distil) upon access. [last check: 2017-03-04]
- http://www.addresses.com/ - "Error - This page can't be displayed. Contact support for additional information." upon access [last check: 2017-03-04]
- https://www.anywho.com/ - "Error - This page can't be displayed. Contact support for additional information." upon access [last check: 2017-03-04]
- https://pipl.com/ - "Access Denied." (Incapsula) [last check: 2017-03-04]
- https://www.phonedetective.com/ - "403 - Forbidden" upon accessing site sometimes [last check: 2015-07-07]
- https://people.yellowpages.com/whitepages/ - "Error - This page can't be displayed. Contact support for additional information." upon access. [last check: 2017-03-04]
- - https://www.twilio.com/ -
"Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2016-11-08] Appears to be working now. [last check: 2017-02-01]Custom 200, "Access Denied. Please write to help-access@… and include: * Your IP address * The URL you were accessing * Your reference ID so we can help get you communicating again as soon as possible: twilio-ref-id: (18.5685655f.1518210536.9cc24cc)" [last check: 2018-02-09]
TV / Video
- https://biqle.ru/ - Video download links return a 404 error in Tor Browser unless stream isolation is disabled. [last check: 2018-06-23]
- https://www.directv.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2015-03-18]
- http://www.hulu.com/ - Video playback is blocked even from non-exit relay IPs. [when?]
- https://www.mtv.com/ - "Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-12-02]
- https://www.netflix.com/ - "Proxy error (code S7111-1331-5059)". From non-exit node. Blockage confirmed by support. [last check: 2017-12-25]
- https://www.showmax.com/ - "Showmax isn't available anonymously. Sorry, this is due to studio rights issues." Status code 200. [last check: 2017-12-31]
- https://play.spotify.com/ - Partial block, for free accounts, site comes up but message states "Your country does not match the one set in your profile". Premium accounts work.
- https://www.vevo.com/ - Consistently redirects Tor connections to http://comingsoon.vevo.com/ with the message "Oops! This page is currently unavailable in your region.", making the site effectively unviewable over Tor. [last check: 2017-01-19]
Service blocked (cannot view over Tor):
- http://www.dkwiki.com/ - timeout. [last check: 2016-12-16]
- http://dragon-quest.org/ - "Access denied. Your IP address is blacklisted. If you feel this is in error please contact your hosting provider's abuse department." [last check: 2016-12-16]
- http://www.pikminwiki.com/ and http://fanon.pikminwiki.com/ - timeout. [last check: 2016-12-16]
- http://www.mariowiki.com/ - timeout. Possibly related to the www.marioboards.com block (which is also a timeout) [last check: 2016-12-16]
- http://www.ssbwiki.com/ - timeout. [last check: 2016-12-16]
- http://starfywiki.org/ - "403 - Forbidden" (by "Stop Forum Spam") [last check: 2016-12-16]
Service open (can view and edit over Tor):
- http://strategywiki.org/ - Appears to allow editing over Tor (null edits aren't rejected). Doesn't seem to mention Tor. [last check: 2016-12-16]
- http://www.wikihow.com/ - Appears to allow editing over Tor (null edits aren't rejected). No mention of Tor in their policy. [last check: 2016-12-15]
- https://www.zendesk.com/ - "Complete the security check to access this page" [last check: 2020-05-09]
List of formerly listed services
These were formerly listed in the above list, but someone (you) found that they now seem to work "more often than not" and thus moved them here adding the move date (do not remove the original reason for listing). Once listed here, other readers will check them from time to time. If they are still blocking "more often than not", feel free to move them back into the lists above. If they've been on this list for over a year, feel free to remove them as apparently having been a temporary IP block, not a complete class-based (Tor/VPN/Proxy) block. Listings older than 3 months should probably be removed.
- [YYYY-MM-DD listed - URI - original reason, delisting notes]
- 2015-03-18 -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ = States not in the UK even from non-exit relay IPs. (BBC says they are trying to fix this problem since 10/2014 still not working 2/2015)It seems to work from UK-based exit nodes, which is actually surprising since it's trivial to "be" in the UK when you're using Tor. Then again, it's not like YouTube blocks Tor users despite the fact that Tor can be used to "be" anywhere and bypass regional blocks. It's probably in their best interest to not block Tor at least unless content providers become angry over regional bypassing. Perhaps we should have a new category just for content providers that are blocking for regional purposes and not for "security" reasons.
- 2015-03-17 - http://facebook.com/ -
Login puts account in validation required mode, if no phone number associated, may lose forever.Facebook offers an "experimental" .onion since October 2014 so this should relieve problems, at least when accessing it from its onion address.
- 2015-03-18 - https://www.napaonline.com/ - "Access To Website Blocked" (Distil). Checking on 2016-03-18, the site is no longer on Distil, and doesn't block Tor.
- https://archive.org/upload/ -
Uploading with the in-browser uploader gives "There is a network problem. 403 Forbidden (details)." Clicking "(details)" doesn't do anything. [last check: 2016-07-03]It seems the problem has to do with third-party cookies: https://archive.org/post/1063278. Unchecking "Restrict third party cookies and other tracking data" in Privacy and Security Settings allows the uploader to work. [last check: 2016-08-30] As of 2018-02-19, Tor Browser 7.5 with the medium security setting doesn't have a problem: https://archive.org/post/1087821.
- 2017-02-01 -
http://www.wiley.com/ - When trying to see or download a paper "Access to Wiley Online Library has been temporarily suspended at your institution. Your library and other administrators are working with Wiley to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. Please contact your library to see if there are alternative means of accessing the content you require (such as via on-campus access). We apologize for the inconvenience." [last check: 2016-04-10]Appears to work fine now. [2017-02-01]
- 2017-02-18 - http://arxiv.org/ -
some operations sometimes result in an error, depending on your exit. For example, "Access Denied. Sadly, you do not currently appear to have permission to access http://arxiv.org/find. If you believe this determination to be in error, see http://arxiv.org/denied.html for additional information." [last check: 2015-08-05]Appears to work now.
- 2017-03-04 - https://www.reversephonelookup.org/ -
"One more step" (Cloudflare). [last check: 2016-05-09]
- https://www.etsy.com/ -
Blank page [last check: 2015-09-04]Works without problems for a month now.
- 2017-07-24 -
https://www.r-bloggers.com/ - "This request has been denied for security reasons. If you believe this was in error, please contact support." Status code 406 "Not Acceptable" [last check: 2017-02-04]The site appears to be allowing connections through Tor now. It was probably a temporary block or on a specific Tor address.
- https://www.twitch.tv -
"You have been blocked from using Twitch. Please visit the Support Center for more information on why you may have been banned." Status code 200. [last check: 2017-03-24]Hasn't been a problem since around AGDQ 2018 (currently 2018-02-19).
- http://www.ba.com/ http://www.britishairways.com -
"The requested URL was rejected." It was blocking non-exits from about May to September 2016 (ref: mailing list post). [last check: 2016-09-10]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ & http://bn.com (redirect to first) -
"The requested URL was rejected."; "This page is unavailable for viewing, due to geographic or other restrictions in place at this time. Please try again later, as the restrictions may be lifted." returned for at least one non-exit node IP address. [last check: 2017-05-12]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- Burger King -
"One more step" (Cloudflare) [last check: 2017-07-03]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- http://www.fieldandstream.com/ -
Your IP is listed in the StopForumSpam database.[last check: 2016-06-30]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- http://www.fullsailbrewing.com/ -
TCP Timeout from non-exit node IPs. [last check: 2015-09-17]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- http://www.hyundaiusa.com/ -
Your request has been blocked. (tiqcdn.com) [last check: 2016-05-31]Works, SVGs are messed up [2019-06-14]
- https://www.keepshooting.com/ -
You don't have permission to access / on this server. [last check: 2017-04-28]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- https://maxict.nl/ -
"ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT" [Last check: 2018-11-15]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- http://www.outdoorlife.com/ -
Your IP is listed in the StopForumSpam database. [last check: 2016-06-30]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- https://pizza.de -
"Access Denied" (Akamai) - [last check: 2015-09-04]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- http://www.rent.ie/ -
TCP timeout (hosted by hosting365.ie) [last check: 2015-03-17]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- http://www.ryanair.com/ -
IP addresses of Tor relays (even non-relays) can connect but receive no response to HTTP requests [last check: 2017-12-25]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- http://www.samsclub.com/ -
"Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-02-03]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- https://www.target.com/ -
"Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2017-03-19]Works fine below security level Safest. [2019-06-14]
- http://www.tigerdirect.com/ -
"Blocked Request", siteissues@…?subject=Blocked+Request Works fine 2015-03-17, Not working again 2016-01-30Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- https://www.victoriassecret.com/ -
Ambiguous "File not found" [last check: 2015-09-04]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- http://walmart.com/ -
"Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2016-05-03]Works fine. [2019-06-14]
- https://www.foxnews.com/ -
"Access Denied" (Akamai) [last check: 2015-09-04]Works fine. [2019-07-11]
- https://www.lot.com/ -
"403 Forbidden" [last check: 2019-06-14]Now works fine on 100% of sample of 10 Tor circuits. [2019-11-20]
- 2017-05-04 - https://aip.scitation.org -
"Your IP (%IP%) is blocked. IP Blocked. Abuse monitoring: your IP has been blocked"works 2020-03-19
Attachments (8)
akamai.png (10.9 KB) - added by 5 years ago.
Akamai block page, 2015-10-22.
badbehavior.png (29.6 KB) - added by 5 years ago.
Bad Behavior block page, 2015-10-22.
blackbaud.png (1.9 KB) - added by 5 years ago.
Blackbaud block page, 2015-10-22.
bluehost.png (7.8 KB) - added by 5 years ago.
Bluehost block page, 2015-10-22.
cloudflare.png (13.1 KB) - added by 5 years ago.
CloudFlare block page, 2015-10-22.
distil.png (5.7 KB) - added by 5 years ago.
Distil "Access to Website Blocked" screenshot.
imunify360.png (1.3 MB) - added by 6 months ago.
We have noticed an unusual activity from your IP *.*.*.* and blocked access to this website.
imperva.png (2.0 MB) - added by 6 months ago.
imperva block page, 2020-05-09


text:
- For the plant, see Trees.
Tree is a clothing company in Grand Theft Auto IV. It is featured in the in-game website www.peepthatshit.com under the "Hip Hop" shopping section. The logo consists of a three-branched tree. The company is likely a parody of LRG Clothing because both logos are in shape of a tree. Pedestrians can be seen wearing Tree clothing.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Currently on hiatus. Trying to figure out my life and what may or may not lie in my future. My dream is to become a filmmaker, but life (and one's self) has it's ways of hindering the process…
- Poker Girls Episode 2.3 out now!!! by tansy
Episode 3 of Poker Girls is out… Check it out here… http://www.pokergirls-series.com/S2E3.html
- Looking for Producers &… by tansy
Unfortunately, things did not work out with the Producer that originally signed on for the short film "fragments", so we are now producer-less. Need to look for new Producers and Executive Producers as well. Good news is that the writer and I have finished developing the script (for now) and will now start looking into[…]
- Late Night Development by tansy
The writer and I are giving "fragments." some serious treatment and development at 1:56AM…
- Bad Dad Wins! by tansy
Just found out "Bad Dad" won an AMIPA Award for Best Screenwriting! Way to go, Cameron!!!
- This is Amazing! by tansy
Had a meeting with the Writer and Producer earlier this afternoon. Had a great meeting. So happy that we are all on the same page. Not only that, I even found the artist that we want to do the painting that will be in the film. Her work and style is amazing and exactly what[…]
- Poker Girls S2E2 by tansy
Episode 2 of "Poker Girls" Season 2 is airing now. Check it out.
- Producer Found by tansy
Got a Producer signed on to the short. I'm confident that he will definitely be a good fit and help the Writer and myself to bring this story to life.
- Looking for Producers by tansy
Just read the newest draft of the script. Now need to find a couple of Producers to get this show started.
- Long Cold Nights Required f… by tansy
Spent the last two nights filming the last scenes of episode 1 for the new web series, "Necessary Action". So cold and tired, but feels good to be working with a great cast and crew.
- Wow! by tansy
Just read the first draft of the script for the short film I will be directing and WOW! What a great story. Starting to nervous about directing it. Hope I do a good job on such a great script.


text:
Corps OKs increased water level at Lake Cumberland
Lake Cumberland will be allowed to rise to its normal elevation this summer.
Dam repairs have kept the water lowered the last few years, and it was due to rise to normal levels this year, but the discovery of an endangered fish in Lake Cumberland headwaters prompted a delay.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Tuesday that it has finalized its review and expects conservation measures to protect the duskytail darter's survival in the Big South Fork.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided to allow the lake to rise to a target elevation of 723 feet this summer, the normal elevation at the beginning of the recreation season.
Lower water levels beginning in early 2007 affected tourism and the economy at the recreational lake in southern Kentucky.


text:
Removing Melson Will Not Fix the ATF
The controversy over the ATF's ill‐conceived scheme to "walk" guns across the border with Mexico finally resulted in the removal of one high‐ranking official: Acting Director Kenneth Melson. The U.S. Attorney for Minnesota, Todd Jones, will fill the position for now.
A quick review: ATF supervisors ordered agents to facilitate firearm sales to known or suspected "straw buyers" that intended to move the guns across the border and give them to drug cartels. Gun dealers in the U.S. reported the suspicious transactions to the ATF, expecting to cooperate in apprehending the gunrunners. As it turns out, the suspect buyers had disqualifying conditions that should have shown up in federally mandated instant background checks…but didn't. The firearms trafficked across the border predictably showed up at crime scenes, including those involved with the murder of a Border Patrol agent, an ICE agent, a Mexican military helicopter shoot‐down, and other murders on both sides of the border.
If you're a private citizen, this sort of thing gets you 30 years in prison. If you're a whistleblower within ATF, you get terminated. If you're a supervisor responsible for such a scheme, you get promoted reassigned to ATF headquarters.
This ATF scheme broke numerous firearm laws, possibly the Arms Export Control Act, and facilitated multiple murders. The end result this litany of crimes and persistent ATF and DOJ stonewalling congressional investigations cannot simply be Melson's removal and replacement with a DOJ official who may also have been complicit in the gun‐running scheme.
Meanwhile, the multiple long‐gun sale reporting mandate that I wrote about last year, which imposes conditions on gun dealers in border states in violation of federal law, has been implemented by the ATF. This was almost certainly one of the goals of the "gun control for the sake of Mexico" push we've seen for over two years, even though the numbers of private arms in cartel hands are far lower than we've been told, ATF efforts notwithstanding. ATF headquarters is throwing a party to celebrate the latest round of illegal action.
Melson's departure is certainly warranted, but we're a few indictments and many terminations short of justice, in my mind.


text:
Perhaps the biggest thing at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is the giant hole where Microsoft Corp. used to be.
For the first time in more than a decade, the massive software company is not participating in the huge technology trade fair. Microsoft's boisterous chief executive, Steve Ballmer, won't deliver the traditional show-opening keynote speech Monday night — the first time in 15 years that a Microsoft CEO will not give the speech.
Instead, this year's CES will reflect a technology world in which Microsoft's dominance in personal computer software seems increasingly irrelevant. These days, the chief drivers of innovation are mobile devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, and even automobiles. It explains why this year's keynote will be given by Paul Jacobs, chief executive of Qualcomm Corp., a leading maker of the chips that drive the world's wireless devices.
"That's emblematic of the shift to mobility," said Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates Inc., a technology consulting firm in Wayland. "There is a changing of the guard."
Then again, Microsoft isn't the only major company to opt out.
Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc., two of the biggest makers of computers that run Microsoft's Windows software, decided not to set up huge and costly display booths at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It may be partly due to the diminished fortunes of both companies, which have been hit hard by slumping sales of personal computers.
But the decision could also reflect the belief that CES — loud, crowded, and saturated with media hype — isn't the best venue for rolling out new products or communicating with customers.
"It's not a great place to make product announcements, because you get lost in all the noise," said Sarah Rotman Epps, senior analyst for Forrester Research in Cambridge.
When Microsoft announced its decision to cut CES, spokesman Frank Shaw said the show's early January time frame did not mesh well with Microsoft's new-product releases, which often happen in the fall.
Not participating in CES hasn't harmed Apple Inc., one of the world's most successful tech companies. The company even abandoned the once-popular MacWorld trade shows in Boston and San Francisco, deciding in 2009 to hold private events for all new-product announcements.
But there will still be plenty of action at the Las Vegas show. The space vacated by Microsoft was snapped up by others. The Consumer Electronic Association, which sponsors the conference, said displays will cover 1.87 million square feet, a record. Officials expect attendance to meet last year's level of 156,000.
Television manufacturers, undeterred by tepid demand for 3-D TV sets and "smart TVs" with Internet-connected software, are pushing onto the next big thing: ultra-high-definition sets with pictures far sharper than on today's HDTVs.
LG Electronics, Samsung Corp., and other TV makers are expected to demonstrate their ultra-sharp sets, but don't expect to see people rushing to buy them: These sets cost $17,000 and up. Besides, there's not much to look at; hardly any of the content in today's TV broadcasts and video recordings measures up to the new standard. There will also be plenty of new smartphones and tablets.
Taiwanese manufacturers Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc. may use the show to unveil tablets priced as low as $99, and struggling smartphone maker Nokia Corp. might unveil a rumored tablet computer running Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system.
Chinese technology companies are likely to put on a show. Huawei Technologies Co. will be on hand with its 6-inch phone-tablet hybrid, the Ascend Mate, as well as some smaller Android and Windows phones. ZTE Corp. will present its new Grand S, an Android with a 5-inch screen.
The most mobile devices of all, cars, will be well represented at CES, too. Eight major automakers will present new products, the most ever. Toyota Motor Corp. and Audi AG will demonstrate cars that can drive themselves, as carmakers try to keep up with the self-driving technology developed by the Internet search titan Google Inc. Self-driving cars are on the verge of mainstream acceptance; such vehicles can already be operated legally in Nevada, Florida, and California.
Hiawatha Bray can be reached at email@example.com.


text:
MERRITT — British Columbia's forest safety council has issued an unusual safety alert after a forestry worker narrowly escaped a pack of wolves while working in the province's southern Interior.
The bulletin states a woman working for a forest management firm was approached by at least five aggressive wolves while she was working near Merritt two weeks ago.
The warning said the wolves came within three metres of her, and as she reached for a can of bear spray, one of her two dogs tried to take on the pack.
Tanya Lawes, of Lawes Forest Management said their employee managed to make it back to her truck uninjured and called for help. However, the dog that tried to protect her against the wolves was severely wounded.
"Once (she) got to the truck and got the other dog in there, she called to heel her (other) dog and it came, but it was pretty injured and once she got to Merritt, they had to put it down," said Lawes.
She said human encounters with wolves are extremely rare.
"It's not normal to come across wolves or to have them act like that, that's for sure," she said. "It's more likely — if you're going to have an animal encounter — that it's a moose ... or we've had a cougar and bears, but not wolves before."
The bulletin advises that anyone who encounters wolves should raise their arms to make themselves appear larger, make loud noises, and use bear mace if the animals get close enough. (CFJC)


text:
Military Deployment: From Preparing to Reintegration
Latest Content
Voting While You're Away From Home: The Absentee Voting Process
When military life takes you away from home, you and your family can use an absentee ballot and ensure your voices are heard on Election Day.
When Your Guard or Reserve Service Member is Called to Active Duty
Your spouse or partner is preparing for deployment and transitioning from reserve status to active duty. Take advantage of several deployment support programs.
Returning From Deployment: Helping Your Family Transition
Armed with the right information and understanding, reuniting with your family after a deployment can go more smoothly for everyone. Educate yourself on what to expect upon reintegration, and be patient with yourself, your spouse and your kids. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Follow these eight tips to ease your adjustment.
National Guard and Reserves Reintegration
You're coming home after a deployment. It's been a long time coming and you deserve to celebrate. But it's important to know what other adjustments you might face post-deployment.
Cancelled or Postponed Deployment: Time for Contingency Planning
Gearing up for a deployment can be stressful. But getting those orders cancelled or postponed can be more so, especially after spending weeks, even months, preparing yourself for the mission—and your family for the changes.
Stress Management During Deployment
In the military, stress happens. But too much stress can have negative effects on performance, safety and well-being. During deployment, it is especially important to know the signs of stress and to be ready with good stress management techniques.
How to Create a Family Care Plan for Caregivers
Whether it's a deployment or training, sometimes our military careers take us away from loved ones and we leave them in the care of others. A family care plan is designed to guide caregivers, providing the important details about child care, school, medical care and family activities.
Military Clause: Terminate Your Lease Due to Deployment or PCS
Service members are protected by the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act if they need to break their lease on account of a deployment or permanent change of station.
Securing the Home Front: Deployment Paperwork Prep
Life in the military is about being ready for deployment. You may be duty-ready, but don't overlook preparations on the home front. That includes having or updating essential legal documents. Don't let it slip off your radar before deployment. Do it for your family's sake.
Plan My Deployment: A Must-Have Tool for Deploying and Coming Home
Whether you're on your first tour of duty or your fourth, Plan My Deployment helps you, your family members and loved ones prepare for – and stay strong and connected – through every phase of deployment.
Safe Driving Tips at Home After Combat Duty
The driving habits that kept you safe in a war zone can endanger you and others now that you're home. Reduce the risk of injury to yourself and others by retraining yourself to drive in normal conditions.
9 Tips for Reintegration After Deployment
Your deployment is over and now you are returning home. Next, it's time to reconnect with your family and friends and return to your "normal" life.
Your Deployment Plan for Staying Fiscally Fit
Deployment can impact a household budget. Your pay could change, or you could incur some unexpected expenses. With the right information and a little extra effort, you can stay fiscally fit during deployment and stay in command of your household budget. Follow these tips to achieve financial stability and health even while you're gone.
Four Steps to Put Your Financial House in Order
During deployment, you may be eligible for military pay entitlements, like family separation allowance or combat pay. This is an ideal time to save money or pay off debt. Here are steps to reach your financial goals.
Leaving Your Children With a Caregiver During Deployment
As a service member, you will benefit from some planning and organization when you leave your child with a caregiver during deployment. The more information everyone has, the better.
Get Ready for a Military Homecoming
While reuniting with your family after a deployment is an exciting time, there are a few things you may want to remember...


text:
Opportunity for All
Do you know a school where we must fight for equity and opportunity?
We want every educator, principal, parent, and community leader to share their stories, because all students, regardless of where they live or how much money their parents make should have great public schools. Far too often, too many students attend under-resourced schools where they face devastating equity and opportunity gaps.
Does this describe your school? Tell your story here:
Your story may be shared with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Education and with NEA leaders for whom equal opportunity in education is a top priority.
Press Release: NEA on the Department's Promise to Fight Inequity in Education
NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia: Do you know a school where we must fight inequity?
60 Years After Brown, Educators Demand More Focus on Public School Support
U.S. News and World Report
Educators Need to Speak Up Louder for School Equity, Says Civil Rights Expert
Brown v. Board at 60: Why Have We Been So Disappointed? What Have We Learned?
Economic Policy Institute Report
Black, Latino, and American Indian Students Facing Huge Barriers to Success
Annie E. Casey Foundation Report
Segregation Now
The Atlantic
Time for Change: Diversity in Teaching Revisted
NEA commissioned a current review of teacher diversity and ways in which efforts could create parity in our public school system. Find it here.
2014 marked the 60th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. See our complete coverage of the Brown v. Board anniversary and sign our petition to demand great public schools for every student.


text:
I have known Kristen for years! And by years, I mean over 20!! So, when she told me that her whole family was going to be in town for the 4th of July Holiday and asked if I would take their photos....OF COURSE I said yes!!!
Meet Kristen and Tim's sweet daughter, Lizzie! She is such a happy baby!
Carrie and her husband Dan were in town from Seattle...could these two be any more fun?
You can just see in their faces how happy they are to be new parents!
Here's the whole gang! I hadn't seen Art and Sherry since we graduated from high school! They have just moved to Kansas from Iowa to be near their new little granddaughter.
This shot cracks me up each time I look at it. I was taking a photo of the whole group together, when I noticed this hilarity going on in the background!
Kristen, thank you so much for asking me to capture your family! What a fun morning of catching up with everyone!


text:
ICT sales growth is slowing down, and in some segments requests to prolong payment terms and overdue payments have increased since the end of 2015.
- Domestic sales growth is decreasing
- Growing challenges for manufacturers and retailers
- More insolvencies expected in some segments
China is both the world's largest importer and exporter of electronic/ICT products. The abundance of low-skilled labour and manufacturing incentives has led to its heavy reliance on high-tech imports, which are then assembled, incorporated into end-products and finally exported. In absolute size, China accounts for more than 30% of global consumer electronics exports, while consumer electronics as a percentage of national exports account for nearly 25%.
According to the European IT observatory EITO, ICT sales growth in China has slowed down from 7.3% year-on-year in 2015 to 3.0% in 2016. In 2017 a 2.4% growth rate is forecast. This slowdown is due to China´s decreasing economic growth rates and increased economic uncertainty, higher market penetration and price competition. Decreasing sales in the PC and tablet market and the slowdown in the smartphone segment were compensated by technological innovations such as cloud computing, big data, and the Internet of Things. The continuing expansion of those emerging technologies should drive market expansion in the medium-term, together with income growth, enterprise modernisation and government support for the IT industry.
Despite on-going growth of the Chinese ICT market, challenges are increasing. For ICT manufacturers, competition is getting fiercer, as a large number of mainland Chinese enterprises have entered the component manufacturing industry in the past decade, causing price wars. At the same time, this segment is largely exposed to metal and oil price fluctuations. Another issue is increasing labour costs, as there have been regular and significant increases in the minimum wage payable in various provinces of China. Therefore, many ICT manufacturing facilities in China are facing difficulties when recruiting employees.
In the ICT distribution/retail segment, requests to prolong payment terms and overdue payments have increased since the end of 2015. For traditional sales channels competition from the growing online sales segment is increasing, as online sellers can offer competitive prices and convenient in home shopping, and brick-and-mortar businesses suffer from costs for logistics and warehousing. Another issue is higher moral hazard during a market downturn as some players may bet on one-off deals to make big money and disappear from the sector afterwards.
Retailers focused on selling foreign ICT brands are facing increasing downward pressure, given the Chinese government's preference for local brands due to the national information security strategy (i.e. they may face barriers from some government-sponsored projects).
For the time being, our underwriting stance remains generally open for large ICT manufacturers and national/regional distributors, while we are more cautious with system integrators and online sellers, where competition is fierce and the financial situation of businesses is often weaker. Caution is also advised for private ICT distributors with one or two brands only, as the ICT market is a fast changing one, and such companies are exposed to elevated risks due to highly concentrated product portfolios. In all those segments we expect business insolvencies to increase in 2017.
Transparency issues remain one of the main challenges in the Chinese ICT sector, as ownership of businesses and group structure are not always evident and there are often different sets of financials. Cross guarantees are widely used in bank lending to ICT traders, meaning that one company's liquidity collapse could drag down others. At the same time, governmental actions (e.g. anti-corruption campaigns) can further complicate risk assessments.


text:
It's a great time for antiques collectors, experts say. New global wealth is spurring growth in the number of collectors. At the same time, concern over potential inflation from currency debasement is leading some investors to consider antiques as stores of value.
Plus, older collectors are liquidating their collections, bringing valuable items to market, according to Eric Bradley, editor and content director of Antique Trader Magazine and AntiqueTrader.com. Internet sites and television shows about antiques abound, as well, helping to spark interest, he notes.
"There's a very diverse set of reasons drawing a lot of attention to the antiques and collectibles market now," said Bradley (left) in an interview with AdvisorOne. "It's a very unique opportunity at this particular time in our history to purchase very rare and valuable items. We expect to see that demand will only rise as global wealth increases."
One reason antiques are so popular is that the category's definition is extremely broad. Bradley points to a federal government trade law that defines an antique as an item over 100 years old.
But collectors have adopted more flexible guidelines, he says, for newer items, such as those from the first half of the 20th Century. Objects from those years are typically described as vintage or collectible.
"A lot of people will also use the word 'antique' to describe pieces that were made in the '20s and, we're generally OK with that," he explained. "As long as people have an understanding that what they're buying is not contemporary and that it's old. We mainly focus on describing the pieces themselves not necessarily what the best [methods] are to classify them."
Another factor driving interest in these objects is the broad range of collectible items, which includes furniture, art, coins, photographs, etc.
Collectors with a passion for a category probably can find a market, Bradley observes: "You'll see people pursue New England nautical antiques, and that can range from everything from quality weathervanes, which might not be nautical in purpose but nautical in motif and decoration," he shared.
"You might find, for instance, people who have a passion for Stickley furniture and focus on the pieces that came out of their New York State workshop," Bradley continued. "Or, you might people that like to pursue western art, which is a very hot and rising category right now and those pieces were produced by a famous artist active in the American Southwest and the American West, California and Washington State and so forth."
Antiques Vs. Kitsch
How can your clients buy investment-worthy items and avoid flea-market kitsch?
Bradley offers several guidelines:
- Look for markets and items with multinational demand
- Scarcity drives prices, so seek items that have a sense of scarcity
- Focus on quality and condition
- Find markets and items where there has been exposure, which in turn creates awareness and builds buyer interest. This can include items that have the subject of a museum exhibition or have gotten some level of publicity.
- Be aware of provenance, which is the object's ownership history. Sometimes a famous owner can add value to a piece, although that can change depending on the piece or the owner.
- Get validation. Make sure that pieces are not fakes, says Bradley. One way to do that is to have an object verified perhaps by a third party, either through an appraisal or through a certification company.
Before delving into the world of antique investing, prospective collector should do some homework to avoid getting ripped off.
"It's important for the collectors or the investors themselves to search out experts, search out reference guides, books, magazines, manuals and really know their business before they start dropping real dollars," Bradley stressed.


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Astrophysics and CosmologyThe members of the Astronomy and Astrophysics group are among the leaders of their chosen areas of research. We are one of the largest astrophysics groups within a physics department in the country. The research conducted in our group is interwoven and dynamic, with six complementary focus areas.
Our group is among the top few internationally in supernova research. Baron and Kilic are interested in the systematics of how supernovae explode and what kinds of stars lead to different supernovae. Baron studies the spectra of the expanding supernova atmosphere to determine physical conditions and chemical abundances in the ejecta. Kilic observes compact binary star systems that may lead to supernovae explosions. Some of these binary systems are among the strongest gravitational wave sources known. Dai studies the populations of gamma-ray bursts and their jet breaks. We have set up a "supernova spectrum repository" - a Web site at which any astronomer can view all of the supernova spectra that we gather from observers. This makes us the "headquarters" of supernova spectra.
Cosmological research in our group is anchored in observational data and aims at gaining a deep understanding of our universe.
Dai uses galaxy clusters to study the distribution of dark matter, the baryon fraction in clusters, and dark energy. Baron studies the use of supernovae as distance indicators to remote galaxies to determine the age, size and fate of the universe. Baron also studies the systematic uncertainties of using supernovae as cosmological probes.
Extragalactic Astronomy
Extragalactic astronomy focuses on the chemical and dynamical evolution on a vast scale.
Dai and Leighly study Active Galactic Nuclei. The ultimate power source for Active Galactic Nuclei is thought to be accretion onto a supermassive blackhole. Their extensive program involves observations in the X-ray, optical, and infrared, and also theoretical modeling. Leighly studies the fundamental properties (covering fractions and column densities) of quasar outflows. Dai uses gravitational lensing to map the quasar accretion disk structure. Henry studies the distribution of chemical elements in spiral galaxies like the Milky Way in order to determine the origin and evolution of these objects.
Extrasolar Planets and Circumstellar Disks
Extrasolar planets and circumstellar disks are studied by two of our faculty. Wisniewski uses multi-wavelength observational techniques, using ground- and space-based facilities, to investigate the structure, evolution, and origin of circumstellar disks. He studies spatially resolved images of protoplanetary and debris disks to search for morphological indicators for the presence of young exoplanets in these systems. Kilic studies the chemical composition of Earth-like planets around evolved stars by observing the remnants of such planets, debris disks.
When stars in the 1-8 solar mass range reach the end of their evolution, they shed outer portions of their atmospheres. The dying star left behind shrinks and gets hotter, and UV light from it causes the outer ring of gas to glow. This "planetary nebula" makes it relatively easy to study the chemical makeup of the gas. This image of NGC 7293, the Helix Nebula, was taken by Reginald Dufour of Rice University, using a CCD camera. Henry studies the chemical abundances of a variety of emission line objects with the goal of understanding stellar production rates and subsequent cosmic accumulation of elements such as C, N, O, Ne, S, and Ar. Kilic studies the chemical composition of Earth-like planets around evolved stars by observing the remnants of such planets, debris disks. Kilic uses white dwarf cosmochronology to measure the ages of the oldest stars in the Galactic disk and halo and to set limits on the age of the universe.
Observational Astronomy
Observational astronomy is the solid foundation that supports all of our research.
Our astronomers use ground- and space- based observatories to study supernovae, supernoave progenitors and remnants, Active Galactic Nuclei, galaxy clusters, gravitational wave sources, extrasolar planets, and debris disks. Our group has recently been awarded observing time on the ground-based MDM 2.4m, NASA IRTF 3m, APO 3.5m, KPNO 4m, Hale 5m, MMT 6.5m, Gemini 8m, Subaru 8.2m, Keck 10m, GTC 10.4m, LBT 12m telescopes and the space-based Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, XMM-Newton, and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We use our 16-inch campus telescope for student training and weekly public star parties. Our graduate students host these star parties as well as a weekly journal club.
Computational physics studies on our 112 node Xserve cluster, at OU's OSCER super computer, at Argonne National Laboratory, at the National Energy Research Supercomputer Center (NERSC) in Berkeley are also ongoing in the areas of supernovae, cosmology, Galactic chemical evolution, active galactic nuclei, and nucleosynthesis. Astronomy continues to be an exciting field with new ideas and new facilities emerging in the coming decade. We welcome the chance to work with motivated and qualified graduate students.
Research Areas
Emeritus Faculty
Research Highlight: Active Galactic Nuclei
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) such as the one imaged here by the Hubble Space Telescope, are the most luminous, persistently emitting individual objects in the Universe. They can be seen at the largest distances, and provide a probe of the early Universe after structure formation. Used as a background light, absorption lines in their spectra trace nonluminous matter. They are powered by accretion onto black holes, and are key for understanding black hole demographics and the black hole mass function. Prof. Leighly works to understand how the primary physical parameters for black hole accretion, the black hole mass and accretion rate, manifest themselves in the broad band continuum and line emission from AGN.
Research Highlight: Star Chemistry
The Ring Nebula was formed when a Sun-like star nearing the end of its life ejected part of its atmosphere into the interstellar medium. The nebular gas itself is heated by the UV continuum from the remnant of the original star visible at the center of the Ring. Also shown is a slitless spectrum of the Ring, where an image of the nebula appears at wavelengths of bright nebular emission. Planetary nebulae are useful in Prof. Henry's research in determining properties of the interstellar medium as well as for studying the evolution of stars like the Sun. Credits: Image, Hubble Heritage Team (NASA); Spectrum: Julie Skinner (former OU Astronomy undergraduate), using the 2.1 meter telescope at KPNO.
Research Highlight: OU-Apache Point Observatory Partnership
The University of Oklahoma has signed a 3-year lease agreement with the Astrophysical Research Consortium in Sunspot, NM (see the press release), giving its undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, and faculty access to research-grade 3.5m and 0.5m telescopes at the Apache Point Observatory. After being trained to use these facilities on-site in NM, OU astronomers will operate these telescopes from their offices in Norman. The agreement will help elevate OU's astrophysics research profile and provide invaluable educational training to OU students.