Bangladesh blocking access to Google?
[Rezwan, Germany.]
Perhaps not yet but this question was raised by Canadian expatriate blogger Shawn as problems in accessing Google started from around September 8-9.
Shawn informs:
This problem seems to affect Bangladeshis trying to access Google
I’d recommend TOR to all the activists out there. Indymedia has been using it for some time now.
[...] It’s stories like this that show me just how hard it is to be a good blogger. I tip my hat to Rezwan for looking into this story when I had already brushed it off. You can read Rezwan’s analysis here. [...]
[...] E-Bangladesh on whether Bangladesh's government is blocking access to Google. Share This [...]
[.. Has been published..]
Hi Rezwan, let me share my unpleasant experience with Google/Gmail. Unfortunately I was unable to access Gmail from my computer for quite a while, and yes I live in USA. Then contacted Google and eventually found that they offer certain alternate links for accessing Gmail. I am not sure if it is because of heavy traffic Google/Gmail experiences or for some other reason. What they have told me is, the new link is a more secured one! I am not sure exactly what kind of problem users in Bangladesh have experienced but they can utilize Google/Gmail’s HELP option, trust me that really works
Take care.
Hi Manobi:
What works for you doesn’t always hold true for others. In Bangladesh, I tried the following URLs to access Gmail. ALL FAILED (including the “secure” ones):
http://www.gmail.com
http://gmail.com
https://gmail.com
http://mail.google.com
https://mail.google.com
Again, using TOR made these pages load as if there were no problem at all. And using non-web based ports (such as the custom POP3 port used by Gmail for email clients) also worked. And, if the problem was limited to Gmail. It would not explain why there were problems accessing other Google properties on other Google servers using other IP addresses:
http://google.com
http://www.google.com
http://news.google.com
http://www.blogspot.com
http://blogspot.com
http://blogger.com
http://www.blogger.com
http://www.google-analytics.com
http://google-analytics.com
https://www.google-analytics.com
https://google-analytics.com
Again, if this was load related — why would they load just fine using TOR?
It’s funny rumor that Bangladesh government is blocking Blogger or Google or Gmail. What I know they are not that smart to read your blogging games. I appreciate if they would have been more wise and read your blogs, they would have been mad. God save, they are not aware of all these blog posts or discussion that takes place here. But why are you asking a mad person not to shake a shako” (pagol ke shako narate nished)? It’s really funny, you guys.
One of the sufferer, details and a solution is here:
http://www.banglasavvy.com/2007/09/gmail-lite_must-have-script-for-rest-of-us.htm
[...] Access – blocked or a technical glitch? Seems possible that the government could block it, but more like a technical glitch. Click here [...]
I have been using gmail since inception, use google.com as search engine. I never faced any problem and yes, I live in Bangladesh.