AT&T did the Internet equivalent yesterday of poking a beehive with a stick: the company blocked parts of 4chan, the Internet forum known for its pranks, hacks and the invention of the Rickroll (see AT&T Blocks 4chan). Within hours, the site's members had begun their attacks on AT&T, including the creation of a fake rumor about the death of AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson with the intent to lower AT&T's stock price.
AT&T's block of areas of the site to its ISP customers looked almost certain to turn the site's massive - and often troublemaking - userbase against it. AT&T confirmed the partial block to the blog CentralGadget, claiming the company was “following the practices of their policy department.” Others questioned whether the move was even legal under FCC rules. The site was still accessible on devices using the carrier's phone service, too: it was just the ISP that blocked traffic.
Now, as quickly as it started, AT&T customers are reporting that 4chan is unblocked. Except for the fact that 4chan is currently suffering from a DDOS attack that's taken the site down in a seemingly unrelated coincidence.
Could this be the end of this bizarre turn of events? If AT&T is smart, it will be.