Wednesday, August 18, 2010

How To Make Sure You Don't Accidentally Visit Organizations That Don't Want You

To make sure that you don't unintentionally copying and pasting too much, and getting sued by Righthaven LLC, it is perhaps wisest to not visit any of the news organizations associated with the Stephens Group--who apparently are funding at least part of Righthaven's actions.  The Stephens Group has a lot of different newspapers.  While the list of these organizations has been floating around for a couple of weeks, someone pointed out this useful Firefox add-on.

1. Install this Firefox add-on by clicking this link and following the instructions: http://bit.ly/dnCc8I

2. Copy the following into a .txt file and save it somewhere on your computer. The easiest way to do this is Start, All Programs, Accessories, Notepad.  Come back to your browser, then select the following text with your mouse, and pull down the Edit menu and pick Copy.  Then go back to Notepad, and pull down Notepad's Edit menu and pick Paste.

[BlockSite]
http://www.stephensmedia.com/
http://www.stephensmedia.com/gamingwire/
http://www.examiner-enterprise.com/
http://www.boonevilledemocrat.com/
http://www.charlestonexpress.com/
http://www.courier-tribune.com/
http://www.columbiadailyherald.com/
http://www.thedailyworld.com/
http://www.eltiempolibre.com/
http://www.elynews.com/
http://www.greenwooddemocrat.com/
http://www.hilohawaiitribune.com
http://www.hilohawaiitribune.com
http://www.herald-democrat.com/
http://www.herald-democrat.com/
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com
http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/
http://www.reviewjournal.com/
http://www.reviewjournal.com/
http://www.arkansasnews.com/
http://www.arkansasnews.com/
http://www.thevidette.com/
http://www.nwaonline.net/
http://www.paris-express.com/
http://www.pbcommercial.com/
http://www.pressargus.com/
http://www.southernnevadahomeandgarden.com/
http://www.snhomes.com/
http://www.swtimes.com/
http://www.vanburencountydem.com/
http://www.viewnews.com/
http://www.stephensdc.com/
http://www.westhawaiitoday.com/
http://www.1st100.com/
http://www.FOIArkansas.com/
http://www.LasVegasNewsPapers.com/
http://www.NWAOnline.net/
http://www.FortSmith.com/
http://www.PineBluff.com/
http://www.Van-Buren.com/
http://www.CasinoGaming.com/
http://www.LasVegas.com/
http://www.LA.com/
http://www.Hawaii.com/
http://www.lvrj.com/
http://donrey.koz.com/
http://www.texomalink.com/

This puts this list in Notepad.  Now pick File, Save in Notepad, and save the file in My Documents with the file name SummersEve.txt

3. Goto Tools > Add-ons in your copy of FireFox and click the Preferences button for the BlockSite add-on.

4. Make sure the blacklist radio button is selected and use the import button to import your list from My Documents\SummersEve.txt.

5. Enable BlockSite, warning messages, and link removal.


Now, you won't be able to unintentionally visit one of the Evil Empire's websites.  Obviously, you can disable the Add-On, or change the list if you need to.  This is primarily to protect yourself from the infamy of putting even a fraction of a penny in the pocket of these creeps.

UPDATE: From the comments here:

There is an extension for chrome called 'SiteBlock' that seems to do the same thing for that browser.

https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/pfglnpdpgmecffbejlfgpnebopinlclj?hl=en
 And from a comment over at Snowflakes in Hell:
If you want to join in on the Stevens Media boycott with Safari, GlimmerBlocker is an open source proxy based solution for Mac OS X (10.5+).

50 comments:

  1. You've got steps 3, 4, and 5 listed twice. Blocking them twice - you really don't like these people, do ya?

    ReplyDelete
  2. There is an extension for chrome called 'SiteBlock' that seems to do the same thing for that browser.

    https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/pfglnpdpgmecffbejlfgpnebopinlclj?hl=en

    ReplyDelete
  3. Is there a way to feed this list into AdBlockPlus for FF so that there aren't two separate mechanisms trying to block sites?

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  4. "You've got steps 3, 4, and 5 listed twice. Blocking them twice - you really don't like these people, do ya?"

    Sorry, but I used to write software for telephone switching equipment; I got used to duplicate everything, just to be sure!

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  5. "Is there a way to feed this list into AdBlockPlus for FF so that there aren't two separate mechanisms trying to block sites?"

    Probably, but I don't use AdBlockPlus. If you find out the answer, add the description here.

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  6. I went ahead and downloaded it, and made a small contribution to the developer.

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  7. I also fed the list into AdBlock with copy-and-paste, we'll see if that doubles my blocking pleasure.

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  8. AdBlockPlus no longer supports whole site blocking. They recommend using the BlockSite plugin linked above.

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  9. I tried this, but it blocks every website, because they are not specified on my whitelist.. what did I do wrong?

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  10. fixed it.. bad copy paste of the URL list

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  11. Did you import into your blacklist, or your whitelist?

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  12. If using SiteBlock in Google Chrome, be sure to search/replace all instances of "http://www." with "" (nothing) in your text file before pasting into the SiteBlock box.

    i.e. http://www.whatever.com becomes just whatever.com

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  13. It's twue! It's twue!

    Like shoosh said above -- ABP has the following in their FAQ:
    Why was “Site blocking” removed?

    “Site blocking” was a feature in Adblock 0.5 that allowed filters to be applied to web pages as a whole and prevent you from navigating to a page that matched some filter on your list. The main reason why this function wasn’t kept in Adblock Plus 0.6 is: preventing you from seeing a page you explicitly requested doesn’t have much to do with ad blocking. Also, the way it was implemented in Adblock was flawed in a number of ways:

    * Instead of leaving you on the page where you were before, Adblock would show you an ugly error page.
    * The way this error page was displayed often caused browser issues like dysfunctional tabs.
    * Any filter on your list was used for site blocking even though only a few were intended to be.

    Yet there are still people who need this functionality. And therefore I am happy that there is an extension now that can prevent the browser from navigating to certain web pages better than Adblock ever did: BlockSite. This extension supports the same filter syntax as Adblock Plus 0.7. And instead of displaying an error page this extension will notify you via info bar, similar to when a popup is blocked — you don’t leave the page you are currently viewing.

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  14. Your blog is very informative.This is obviously one great post.i keep on reading articles from here.thanks for sharing..

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  15. One could also use HostsMan which is a program that helps you edit your Hosts file, and turn all of these hosts into the loopback address, ensuring that NO program or browser can access them.

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  16. Nice plug in. Works as advertised. Won't be seeing any Stevens Media sites...

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  17. Just installed it and it works just dandy. I tried to open the lvrj.com website and it blocked it. Perfect!

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  18. Is the title of this post a little ... uh ... ungrammatical? No matter how I read it, it doesn't seem to make sense.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Clayton:

    The Chrome extension listed at comment 3 works great. Move it to the main body of the post. Took me about 15 seconds to do.

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  20. there appears to be some nuance between using "www" and not using it in the URL. Best to add both for the extra protection.

    http://stephensmedia.com
    http://www.stephensmedia.com

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  21. Outstanding. Now if I can figure out some code to prevent people in comments from posting links. I've seen some code that prevents comments from being posted if they contain certain words.

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  22. "Is the title of this post a little ... uh ... ungrammatical? "

    It was. I wrote it late at night. Fixed it.

    ReplyDelete
  23. "there appears to be some nuance between using "www" and not using it in the URL."

    Yes, because there can be many other pages in the domain because www.

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  24. I can't get it to work on my Mac. It doesn't see any word files. Can you just paste the list into the locations window?

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  25. Why not create a Facebook group for those of us supporting the boycott to register a public show of support? I'd do it, but your name will give it far more panache.

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  26. OK, I'm in. I doubt I have cause to visit these sites, but just in case.

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  27. can not import txt file (created from a Word docx file). Copy-txt did not function to create an entry into a new txt file. using win xp pro and ie-8. Any suggestions?

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  28. Frank: to create a simple text file, try the notepad editor (Start -> Run -> type in "notepad").

    ReplyDelete
  29. Adblock Plus 1.2.2 doesn't seem to mind or throw up glitches in Win7, in case I get to one of their ads it too will be blocked. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  30. working like a charm. Thanks!

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  31. "Why not create a Facebook group for those of us supporting the boycott to register a public show of support? I'd do it, but your name will give it far more panache."

    It has already been suggested that perhaps I should not have been this vigorous until we get this suit settled or thrown out. But to quote Julius Caesar, "The die is cast." But I certainly won't discourage you from setting up such a Facebook page.

    There may be more...technical solutions to the larger problem at a later time--especially if this drags on indefinitely.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Now that I can block these sites, is there any way to automatically send the owners a message stating:

    "Because of your stupid, avaricous policy of sueing those who spread your material, my site blocker has blocked this visit to your site"

    Maybe, if they are inundated with these messages, they will see how stupid they are being.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Jim, their business model is not intended to make money by pageviews the way MOST people make money off of internet content, although that is a metric they use to derive a specific "value" for the content (or so they claim). Their business model is based solely on the amount of money they can extort via lawsuits from those who cite/link to their content. fair use be damned. they do not even follow the law and ask that the offending content be taken down first, they simply sue you, forcing you to expend money to defend yourself, making settling out of court an attractive alternative (but kicking the can down the road for the next poor schmuck that they harass instead of stopping them in their tracks.).

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  34. Is there a version of this that works with Internet Explorer? I don't have Firefox or any of the other browsers mentioned.

    Thanks.

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  35. First: Thank You!!! I've already alerted my co-bloggers to this, and we're all interested in using these add-ons.

    Two issues: First, I tried the Blocksite add-on in FF, and it works, but now EVERY site is blocked, not just Stephens'. I poked around trying to figure out how to just have a blacklist and not a corresponding whitelist. Help?

    Second, there don't seem to be any freeware IE programns like this. I'm not averse to spending some $$, but of course would prefer a freebie :-) It looks like I can do that in IE itself, but one at a time, not as a list, which seems daunting. Help?

    Thank you!!

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  36. Clayton, keep fighting the good fight. I'm having the same problem using BlockSite in FF3.6. When I load the block list, it blocks every site. I've tried a couple variations, but no luck yet.

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  37. Love the "file name SummersEve.txt"... hahahaha

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  38. I'm lazy, is there an Adblock+ URL I can point my Chrome's AdThwart at?

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  39. Thanks for doing the heavy lifting!
    It may have been obvious to others, but not to me--you must insert [BlockSite] as the first line of the text list in order for it to import.

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  40. Thanks! I just copied and pasted the list of sites into Safari's AdBlock. :)

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  41. Make sure you make the mentioned links text only only on your site. You are giving these bloodsuckers links by posting the actual URLs. Make them plane text so you are not aiding them with links.

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  42. Lynne asked: Is there a version of this that works with Internet Explorer? I don't have Firefox or any of the other browsers mentioned.

    Use content Advisor in IE.

    See How to Block a Website in Internet Explorer at: http://www.wikihow.com/Block-a-Website-in-Internet-Explorer-7

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  43. Don't be silly to block yourself from the internet. There are already various plugins, extensions for browsers: firefox, chrome which do that very successfully.

    Some website which are reported as not online or not existent can be reached by using proxy applications.

    Just don't do it.

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  44. The plug-in does not work for me. Followed instructions exactly. It will not import my text file. It will be let enter site URLs one at a time, but when I click "Import" and point it to the file to import, nothing happens.

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  45. Here's the list for "HostsMan" the host file domain remapper that will eliminate the possibility that *any* application will access any of these domains. DOWNLOAD the HOSTSMAN application, install it and click on the "+ Add" button, then paste this list into the text box. Done!

    stephensmedia.com
    www.stephensmedia.com
    examiner-enterprise.com
    www.examiner-enterprise.com
    boonevilledemocrat.com
    www.boonevilledemocrat.com
    charlestonexpress.com
    www.charlestonexpress.com
    courier-tribune.com
    www.courier-tribune.com
    columbiadailyherald.com
    www.columbiadailyherald.com
    thedailyworld.com
    www.thedailyworld.com
    eltiempolibre.com
    www.eltiempolibre.com
    elynews.com
    www.elynews.com
    greenwooddemocrat.com
    www.greenwooddemocrat.com
    hilohawaiitribune.com
    www.hilohawaiitribune.com
    herald-democrat.com
    www.herald-democrat.com
    lasvegascitylife.com
    www.lasvegascitylife.com
    reviewjournal.com
    www.reviewjournal.com
    arkansasnews.com
    www.arkansasnews.com
    thevidette.com
    www.thevidette.com
    nwaonline.net
    www.nwaonline.net
    paris-express.com
    www.paris-express.com
    pbcommercial.com
    www.pbcommercial.com
    pressargus.com
    www.pressargus.com
    southernnevadahomeandgarden.com
    www.southernnevadahomeandgarden.com
    snhomes.com
    www.snhomes.com
    swtimes.com
    www.swtimes.com
    vanburencountydem.com
    www.vanburencountydem.com
    viewnews.com
    www.viewnews.com
    stephensdc.com
    www.stephensdc.com
    westhawaiitoday.com
    www.westhawaiitoday.com
    1st100.com
    www.1st100.com
    FOIArkansas.com
    www.FOIArkansas.com
    LasVegasNewsPapers.com
    www.LasVegasNewsPapers.com
    NWAOnline.net
    www.NWAOnline.net
    FortSmith.com
    www.FortSmith.com
    PineBluff.com
    www.PineBluff.com
    Van-Buren.com
    www.Van-Buren.com
    CasinoGaming.com
    www.CasinoGaming.com
    LasVegas.com
    www.LasVegas.com
    LA.com
    www.LA.com
    Hawaii.com
    www.Hawaii.com
    lvrj.com
    www.lvrj.com
    koz.com
    donrey.koz.com
    texomalink.com
    www.texomalink.com

    ReplyDelete