Gil was stuck in an American Airlines Admiral’s Club for 5 hours waiting for his flight back to L.A., so he tried to access the South Park website to help pass the time. What he got instead was the screen here, saying that the site had been blocked because it’s considered “tasteless.” We’ve seen the same message at a Cosi restaurant in NYC. Thanks, companies, for protecting our delicate sensibilities! We’re going to go get the vapors now.
Here’s Gil’s account:
I’m stuck in the Admiral’s Club in Narita Airport for another 5 hours in Japan because AA cancelled my flight to LA. To kill time I figured I catch up on my South Park episodes and watch the last few shows. I type in http://www.southparkstudios and settle in for some quality comedy and satire, but then I get the attached message from AA’s network nannies.
Tasteless? Who decided that? What makes this almost sublimely ironic is the picture of the naughty Japanese lady cop they use as an image for the blocking page. They apparently consider that tasteful.
I went through to see what else they block but couldn’t find anything else. Apparently serial killing (Dexter), selling dope (Weeds), trashy evening soaps (Desperate Housewives), and crappy South Park wannabees (Family Guy) are considered acceptable.
Just for the hell of it, we went to the Fortinet website (fortiguardcenter.com) and requested a review of their classification on southparkstudios.com. Their drop-down list of possible categories for web content is amusing all by itself—it’s a compendium of Things That People Take Offense At, from abortion to homosexuality to marijuana to tobacco.
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ha ha. is the 12 year old asian girl dressed in mini skirt on their webpage not tasteles?
Now I understand a workplace blocking certain sites (my old company used to block facebook/streaming music/web based email/games/etc) for whatever reason they want, but an airline lounge?
I don’t get it…
This wouldn’t have anything to do with their commentary on the airlines in the United States, would it?
[www.southparkstudios.com]
It’s their lounge they can block what they want. Get a wireless card from a cell phone company connect thru it then you can watch what you want.
You can thank the lawyers for this. They don’t want to get sued cause you want to watch something that may affect others around you in the Admirals Club.
Oh and quit yer bitchen you can make it five hours without South Park!
While we all may disagree with their decision, it’s their network and they have the right to block anything they want.
Filtering used in a business workplace, public libraries and primary/secondary schools are understandable, but filtering used in a public place where adults have to have to pay (in some form) to enter sounds unacceptable.
Wouldn’t have mattered anyways. He was in Japan at the time and the South Park site only serves up video to US IP addresses.
This is why I continue to download my favourite shows, even when they are available for streaming. You never know when you will be without internet or otherwise blocked.
It’s their network and they can filter whatever they want, get over it.
Love the pic.
Yes,sexy lady.Don’t just TELL me what is tasteless,SHOW me….
Why are these cranky people here?
@Landru: It’s because they’re right. It’s AA’s network. They can block whatever they want.
I still stand by that it’s because of the linked episode that AA blocks the site. They weren’t exactly friendly about how the airline companies took that 15 billion dollar bailout and still fired all their employees.
@WingZero987: Doesn’t matter if it’s their network. The website would have been blocked anyways because Viacom hates non-US ip addresses.
As much as I would like to side with the OP, I have to agree with some of the other posters here.It’s their network.They can block whatever they want.
Although the OP did hurt his case by dissing Family Guy.Stewie is teh God.
j/k
@pecheckler: @WingZero987: It’s their network, but you pay to use it. They have thus taken the role of the ISP. Would you accept your ISP blocking this site?
@TheManator: That’s missing the point. The argument is on whether or not AA can manage their network however they please while they fail to recognize post-modernism as a legitimate art form hehehe
@WingZero987:
Is it a conspiracy to hide the truth about airline bailouts?
Or, did just someone configuring their gateway simply check the box marked “Tasteless” in the list of categories to block in their filter software?
“I went through to see what else they block but couldn’t find anything else… and crappy South Park wannabees (Family Guy) are considered acceptable”
What??!?! How the hell is Family Guy a South Park wannabe? Because it’s animated? That’s about where the similarities end.
Dude, I felt for you up until that point.
so I’m guessing that “Education” is on that list for Red State companies that use FortiGuard – I mean, what could be more dangerous to a Red Stater than some some “fancy lurnin’?”
@se7a7n7: LOL perfect post.
@longcrosse: lol I was just going to wonder who would find child education offensive, but you answered that. ;D
@thirdbase: cell phone wireless card?
While this is possible in Japan, it’s by no means cheap. Roaming in costs quite a bit, and rental isn’t much better (something like $.025/kb- if you’re watching video be ready for an enormous bill).
And it’s friggin’ Narita- find some other access point if you’re that desperate for South Park (the block on non-US IPs is a trivial matter to bypass).
@heavylee-again: They have the right to do what they want, but we have the right to ridicule them for it.
Just because you own something and have the legal right to do what you want does not make you immune from public criticism about it. Particularly if it’s a service you’re selling to the public.
Yes, like it is AA managing the list of websites you can and cannot visit…
From the article:
“What makes this almost sublimely ironic is the picture of the naughty Japanese lady cop they use as an image for the blocking page. They apparently consider that tasteful.”
I can’t agree more with the op, it was my first thought when I saw the image lol.
While I agree AA can block whatever it wants on their network, deeming SP “tasteless” is quite hilariously subjective. Obviously some bored IT has a sly sense of humor.
@huadpe: Post of the day! Thanks!
@nickripley:
X2, finally someone with common sense.
Not only that, they are in Japan… JAPAN! Do you realize how over the lien you have to be to be considered “tasteless” in Japan?
“It’s their network, blah blah..”
That might be an acceptable response at the public library, but I’d expect a little more if paying extra for an “Admiral’s Club” membership.
I’m torn…while I’d personally be off eating and people watching given the location, I’ll give him credit for his taste in TV.
D@%#! that folklore! If I saw someone googling Paul Bunyan in an Admiral’s Lounge, I think I’d tell airport security that he had a bomb so that he’d get a cavity search! Nothing is more offensive to me than g@$ @#$% FOLKLORE!
Haha, one of the blocked categories is “Culture.” Heaven forfend!
@se7a7n7: I haven’t seen that episode in particular, but I imagine that joke is completely out of context for the plot of the episode because every other joke in FG is.
The jokes may sometimes be funny and I enjoy it, but it’s still a poorly structured show.
now i wanna be a japanese online ladycop for halloween!
Heh, one time at school I tried to access Nytimes.com and the firewall blocked it. At first I thought that they hated liberal bias…
@Angryrider:
Because Faux news is the shining star of reason in the journalism world…
I’m just curious about the notice “…is in violation of your internet usage policy.” Saying ‘your’ makes me think there are some settings somewhere to allow people to block anything they like to block. I’ve never used the computer at AA, but shouldn’t say “…is in violation of our internet usage policy,” if they are the ones blocking it internally?
@pecheckler:
And it’s your money and if you don’t want to use a network controlled by overbearing censors, then you don’t have to. But the only way to avoid it is to be informed about it.
“lady cop”…I’m pretty sure that’s a FLIGHT ATTENDENT
If you’re into web proxies you’ll recognize this as basically a branded version of WebSense. The thing is pretty annoying and while wide swaths of the internet are inexplicably blocked (SourceForge is blocked because it’s ‘freeware’). Other large sites that should fall under certain categories aren’t blocked for some reason.
Tasty Flight Attendant thinks South Park is Tasteless.
Try ComedyCentral.com. I was just in Paris and watched streaming episodes of South Park.
I don’t understand why others would consider it offensive. He’s not projecting it up on a wall. He’s probably watching it with headphones on.
That image is so ironic. Somehow it makes me want to puke.
That’s because South Park is tasteless.
You know, they can block whatever they like on their own network — it’s theirs, so they’re well within their rights to go nuts, blocking anything they take offense at. However, I think the more important issue here isn’t whether they have a right to block content, but the antiquated, puritanical attitudes that lead them to think it’s important that they do so. People who think it’s worth it to ‘protect’ others from ‘tasteless’ content really need to grow up.
Here’s a slightly different situation. Denver’s airport just started offering free wi-fi. However many sights considered objectionable are blocked.
The airport, just like the library, was paid with the public’s taxes and sustained by the public’s fees. Why should THEY say what sites should be blocked?
Meanwhile, as some said in local news articles, Playboy and Penthouse are sold in the city run concessions and stores at the airport.
where does it say he paid for this service? I missed that.
if your are paying for Internet access it should be explicitly defined what is filtered in a legal agreement.
If this service is provided free of charge than i stand by my original statement.
Just a note to everyone.
If you run into this problem somewhere, try viewing the page through google translate. Its a really simple version of a proxy. You can get past a lot of filters using that method.
south park = teh evil
scantily clad Asian Chick on website declaring thusly = fine with them…
well, I’m confused.
In a few weeks, this is going to be on South Park and they are going to screw AA for being such dweebs.
Tech-savvy travelers might consider using a proxy server. I use a VPN connection to my home server when I travel.