Not too long ago I used Tor Browser to visit a website and found I was rejected completely. Not even a captcha. Clicking new circuit many times didn’t help either.
At least their site wasn’t just a stiff arm giving me the finger. It actually had a note saying if I thought it was blocked in error to contact them. Of course it had a tracking number and time stamp. So I sent them a screen shot of my browser window and this short note: > Your website blocks me from using it. Most likely your website is blocking > EVERYONE who uses the Tor Browser. This is not good for business. It keeps me > from getting the info I want. > > Respectfully, [my name] > [State in USA] A day or two later I heard back. It was gracious enough but supposedly the blocking was to protect customers (ahem, me) and themselves “from possible illicit activity.” After a few days on the back burner, I wrote them back and asked: what was illicit or illegal with me trying to learn their business hours. And I provided a bunch of v2 & v3.onion addresses to some popular and well known organizations to show there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with Tor. But since I considered it a possibility they don’t run their own website, and that possibly those who do may be pocketing a slice of the cost for blocking people like me, I also printed out my reply and took it to the store. Then I would have a bit more confidence someone at the actual business would know what happened. On my next trip to the store I talked with the person at the customer service area, gave them my printout, and tried to explain how great Tor is. It was a good conversation and since the guy was interested in computers we hit it off, and he learned a few things. It wasn’t until a month or two later I used Tor Browser to look at their website. I was very pleased they’d stopped blocking Tor exit nodes. And I’m pleased to report they still don’t block Tor. -- tor-talk mailing list - tor-talk@lists.torproject.org To unsubscribe or change other settings go to https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-talk
