27th
JUL

AT&T casting a dark shadow on Apple – iPhone Hell

Posted by Andrew | Filed under branding

You’ve heard the classic “United Breaks Guitars” hit by now. It’s certainly true to say that a YouTube viral can hit a brand hard. Spare a thought for Apple who now have to put up with the rather good spoof ad from Pat Lee. “AT&T – iPhone Hell”.

None of the problems Pat mentions are anything specific to do with the iPhone. They’re all AT&T issues and yet it’s Apple’s brand that’s being used in the spoof.

It really hasn’t been a good day for AT&T today. This morning the news was out that the service provider had started to block some of 4chan. In response the hacking literate 4chan community readied the dogs of war. After only a few hounds had been released AT&T dropped the block. Pete Cashmore, himself, has the write up over at Mashable.

Could this be the end of this bizarre turn of events? If AT&T is smart, it will be.

Tech.blorge.com’s John Lister, however, reminds us that;

It’s hard to assess the case without knowing why exactly AT&T blocked the site. It’s possible there was a valid technical reason for doing so.

That’s a comment worth baring in mind. A reader of Erling Løken Andersen’s blog noted that;

It was blocked because it’s been a DDoS target for weeks. This had nothing to do with content.

Blame the idiots who run javascript embedded images.

It seems almost certain that 4chan would have begun to pressure Apple to drop At&T had their battle with the network continued. Even without 4chan pushing the iPhone Hell video it seems all too possible that the spoof will be seen by thousands.

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  • ace
    And once again, it NEVER fails with the incessant lying, as lying is a way of life for these hacker creeps. I salute AT&T for blocking viruses, trojans and nasty spider scripts, as that is what the REAL truth is as to WHY AT&T has flashed the middle finger [blocked] to 4 Chan. Why should AT&T waste time and energy in dealing with viruses, trojans and uncontrollable script programs emanating from the 4 Chan site?

    I don't condone censorship and I certainly don't condone lies "in the name of lulz". The only thing 4 Chan has proven again and again, is that they are infantile and violent. A bunch of two year olds who go on tirades. And just like an out of control two year old, they need some REAL hard slaps from the school of hard knocks.

    Any consequences or denial of internet access to AT&T customers due to NAZI actions emanating from 4 Chan [or any other hacker creeps for that matter], I pray that they are caught, rounded up, prosecuted beyond the extent of the law, thrown in a windowless cell and locked up forever until the day they die.

    I commend AT&T for taking the step forward and I sincerely hope that other ISP'S follow suit ASAP. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Hackers cause destruction, chaos, waste everyones time and energy. Normal people on the net are SICK AND TIRED of these two year old tantrum antics that 4 Chan displays on a daily basis. These hacker creeps really and truly need to GROW THE F*** UP.
  • AT&T posted a pretty good response and it seems to echo your thoughts here. Turns out that a DDoS was coming from a 4chan IP address so AT&T moved to block it for the duration of the attack. AT&T have the details here.
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