OpenDNS blocking NorthwestFirearms.com

[elsie]

Normally I use OpenDNS as my primary. Found out today that they're blocking this site due to "firearms". Switched to Google DNS for now.


elsie

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[BlindedByScience]

Running OpenDNS here, no blocking, no problems......

How did you 'find out' they are blocking the site?

 

[elsie]

Oh, I dunno... 20+ years experience in networking and this big, honkin' page when I try to browse to NWF...

 

[BlindedByScience]

Congratulations on 20 years in the field....you've almost got as much time in as I have. You're not the only member here that has a working knowledge of how an IP lookup table works; no reason to be snarky. My question would have been worded better to ask if you'd confirmed with OpenDNS that they are actively blocking this domain...which I don't believe they are.

Are you by chance using a 3rd party hosts file? I've seen a number of them that block firearms sites....OpenDNS appears not to and works fine here.

Not sure what the issue is on your end.....good luck.

 

[BlindedByScience]

Direct from OpenDNS when I asked them for a list of blocked sites and domains:

"....OpenDNS does not block anything beside Phishing and Malware sites by default. Every other blocking is determined by your dashboard settings, so a general "list of blocked domains" does not make sense....."

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

Have no idea what you guys are talking about other than maybe someone is blocking this site due to "firearms".
So I did a search and found out that blocking sites does happen according to the community of subscribers.
Over 60 categories on the blocked list, I wonder what else they are blocking??

This is one explanation I found anyway:

In 2008, OpenDNS changed from a closed list of blocked domains to a community-driven list allowing subscribers to suggest sites for blocking; if enough subscribers (the number has not been disclosed) concur with the categorization of the site it is added to the appropriate category for blocking. As of 2014[update] there were over 60 categories. The basic OpenDNS service does not require users to register, but using the customizable block feature requires registering.[11]

 

[BlindedByScience]

Oldnewbie, you are correct as far as I can tell. My take and queries indicate the basic OpenDNS blocking scheme is limited to phishing and known malware sites. Users can register and customize blocked domains in several different ways. I've used it for years, never had an issue with anything other than a couple sketchy european music sites....which it turns out are known as virus and malware problem sites. My router has the OpenDNS IP as the default DNS look up address, so any device doing an IP lookup behind my router uses it. Fact is, I switched to OpenDNS so that sites my ISP blocks are now accessible. I browse this and several other firearms sites, never had an issue.

In any event, there are lots of DNS lookup providers a person can point their network at, so if one isn't working for whatever reason there are choices.

 

[elsie]

The only system using the OpenDNS IP was mine. I changed the primary to a different provider and it worked fine. While SpyBot does add to the local hosts table, it only redirects to localhost, whereas the site I landed on was obviously an OpenDNS landing site. It's almost as if they had parental blocking (which I never signed up for) enabled. My external IP hadn't changed so it's not like it was due to a previous subscriber.

And OpenDNS can put any statement they want on their web site, it doesn't stop someone from fat-fingering and entry and messing things up. I don't have an OpenDNS dashboard as I'm only using their DNS server and not buying their other services.

 

[BlindedByScience]

The error message you posted tells much. It most certainly looks like you're under some type of "parental control" system...."Cianin (?) close the computer now! Your time is probably up anyway."....I'm not sure how you are getting the screen you're getting, but it's interesting and makes me curious. Almost like you've been associated with someone else's modified DNS lookup.

I'm not paying for any of their services either, though I did register (free). Interesting that I don't even have the tabs in my user control panel to add category or site blocking if I wanted to.

But, to say OpenDNS is blocking firearms sites by default simply isn't correct. It can be done if a user wants to, but it's not something they are doing by default.

 

[elsie]

It would have had to be something that wasn't on my end as I didn't make any changes from the previous session, which worked normally. If I really wanted to, I could get a network trace and analyze the redirect from my end, but that wouldn't tell me that much.

But I didn't say they were blocking firearms sites; I said they were "blocking this site due to firearms" as it stated on the landing page. Which is why I think there might be some fubar with the parental controls as that would be one of the categories you could block on. And, as I don't have access via a different ISP, I couldn't tell if it was a widespread phenomenon or not. It could have been, and finding out was one point of the post. Either way, it's something to watch out for.


elsie

 

[BlindedByScience]

It is curious. Working fine here, and I called my son (also using OpenDNS) and it's working fine for him. It sure looks like somehow, someway, your DNS queries are being filtered by someone else's settings....though I'm not sure how that's possible. The error message you're getting is a huge clue there.....that is most certainly NOT a default error message.

If you are curious, it would be interesting to see what you get when you type the domain into http://mydnscheck.com/ and maybe NSLOOKUP, while using OpenDNS. Maybe even a tracert check, though I'm not sure the tracert output would tell you much about the DNS status.

Or use a different DNS server and call it good..... This stuff fascinates me, guess I'm a bit on the nerdy side (go figure).

 

[elsie]

I'm going with the last option. This isn't supposed to be work (work is bad enough)... B-)


elsie