Are nearlyfreespeech.net servers globally banned by any filtering services?

October 31, 2006 5:58 PM

I'm researching nearlyfreespeech.net. So far I find their operating policies & philosophies very solid, but I see another mf user commented, "Aren't the nearlyfreespeech servers auto banned by many filters?" (No one answered, since that was a piggyback question.) If there's any truth to that, it could be a dealbreaker for me since I need to not exclude users in academic/institutional settings. What say ye?
posted by allterrainbrain to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)

I haven't had any problems and highly recommend NFS, but I don't have a ton of experience working behind filtering services. I know it works at my school, and pretty much all other universities in Ontario, and that was good enough for me.
posted by patr1ck at 6:15 PM on October 31, 2006

I also can second their service. Been using them for almost 3 years at this point with no problems, and great tech support/tech service. Never ran into any filter issues.
posted by Captain_Science at 6:34 PM on October 31, 2006

No problems, either.
posted by imposster at 7:02 PM on October 31, 2006

I haven't had any problems with 'em.
posted by rachelpapers at 7:16 PM on October 31, 2006

Response by poster: To be perfectly clear, what the person I quote was talking about (and what I'm asking about) is whether the people who run any of the major commercial content filtering services have implemented a global ban on any content hosted by nearlyfreespeech.net.

This sounded plausible to me since NFS makes a point of accepting "adult" and "controversial" sites. But the ONLY place I've found this suggestion so far is in that one mf comment, and the comment (which I quoted in full) sounds secondhand/uncertain.

I'm especially concerned about my users in schools, libraries, etc. in the U.S., many of which use filtering programs by default (and/or by law, in the case of public libraries). Sadly that's one of many ways in which the U.S. is not as "free" as Ontario/Canada.
posted by allterrainbrain at 7:24 PM on October 31, 2006

Response by poster: Uh... that is to say: has any filtering service implemented a global ban on ALL content hosted by nearlyfreespeech.net.
posted by allterrainbrain at 7:26 PM on October 31, 2006

No problems = sites I've tested have never been blocked by any filters. Have you tried asking NFS support?
posted by imposster at 8:10 PM on October 31, 2006

I know that BESS, one of the major filtering solutions used by secondary schools in the united states, does not have such a ban.

I use NFS, and they are by far the greatest service I've had the pleasure of using, hosting or otherwise.
posted by phrontist at 8:13 PM on October 31, 2006

I've been a satisfied customer for about a year now. Here are two sites hosted there if you're able to test a filter:
www.blendedtechnologies.com
http://tablegen.nfshost.com/index.py

I'll also do a search on their "members-only" support forums, see if there's any mention there.
posted by GregX3 at 8:26 PM on October 31, 2006

Ok, searched the member forums and didn't turn up anything. Considering that people complain about EVERYTHING in there, it's probably good indication that nothing is unusual as far as their servers being blocked/banned.
posted by GregX3 at 8:30 PM on October 31, 2006

Response by poster: Thanks everybody, especially GregX3 for looking in the member forums! I agree that if it's not there, it's really not likely to be an issue.

Now the only potential dealbreaker left is the fact that they don't provide pop or smtp, and my primary addresses are at domains I'd want to host at NFS. They will forward mail to a third-party address, and I've found highly-recommended third-party options for smtp, such as smtp.com. So, can I accept a somewhat higher likelihood of my emails being called spam (due to "faked" From lines and smtp) in exchange for the obvious benefits I see in using NFS? Probably... but if anyone has an alternate solution to the email problem, I would really appreciate hearing about it!
posted by allterrainbrain at 10:21 PM on October 31, 2006

Just for reference, I am able to view both of GregX3's test sites and I'm behind the Great fireWall of China.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:26 PM on October 31, 2006

Google now has a tool for hosting email at your domain, which might work for you. It's free but it's in beta.
posted by needs more cowbell at 1:29 AM on November 1, 2006