Domains being blocked by Messenger

Messenger seems to be blocking a few domains that aren't unsafe. For
instance, www.mediafire.com and www.teamviewer.com. Both are blocked by
Messenger. Can someone please review the list of blocks and take them off?

Denis Wong wrote:

> Messenger seems to be blocking a few domains that aren't unsafe. For
> instance, www.mediafire.com and www.teamviewer.com. Both are blocked by
> Messenger. Can someone please review the list of blocks and take them off?

Well, you got me curious. Where in Windows Live Messenger can you
configured any blocking of domains? Or where in Windows Live messenger
do you configure it for "safe" sites?

Hi,

This has been going on for years. Although in the past the messages were simply dropped and
you weren't notified that they weren't sent.

The purpose of the list (which is downloaded from the Messenger server when you sign in and
is uncustomizable) is to prevent worms from propagating. You remove the link from being
sent, you remove the worm from spreading.

--
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
(c) 2008 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
--


<> wrote in message
news:20500aaf-00d8-440f-9ac9-...
> On Apr 28, 9:46 pm, Denis Wong <DenisW...@discussions.microsoft.com>
> wrote:
>> Messenger seems to be blocking a few domains that aren't unsafe. For
>> instance,www.mediafire.comandwww.teamviewer.com. Both areblockedby
>> Messenger. Can someone please review the list of blocks and take them off?
>
> HI, It is confirmed that Messenger is blocking certain domains. I
> tried to send a link http://www.teamviewer.com to my friend several
> times and it was blocked each time. I find this a little strange.
> Anyone know how to remove this. Been using Messenger for many years
> now and I find this odd.

This actually saves more trouble than the little annoyance it causes in most
cases.

They are doing you a big favour by blocking links to sites that are known
for hosting dubious code, but i must say that blocking places like mediafire
and rapidshare are not really a good decision.

All these free file hosting sites now use a capcha system, that in itself
will stop drive by downloads.

Even trying to use rapidshare normally is a nightmare with their "guess the
cat" capcha, and i dont think any link that you ever receive is going to be
able to get past this when the human eye has trouble in doing it.

Maybe mediafire/rapidshare and the like also sell webspace and this is
possibly the reason why they on the bad list ?.

The easy solution is to just email your contact the links , no big hassle
and makes being online a bit safer for most people online.

Hi,

This blocking isn't only about directly and/or automatically downloading
stuff. Most of the time people will get tricked if they recieve a message
like "download my new photoalbum" when they recieve it from one of their
friends, which is one of the most used methods for viri to spread via IM.

A captcha is not going to stop people from downloading and executing
something which is malicious. And many of these free hosting sites are the
source of many viri.

So, blocking such stuff server-side is a way to stop such stuff from
spreading. Not a perfect way though (you block one site, and in no-time
another will be created containing the malicious program) and I agree that
the block list needs some finetuning... to say the least...

--
Kurt Robaer
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger/MSN Messenger


"Cyberhash" wrote:

> This actually saves more trouble than the little annoyance it causes in most
> cases.
>
> They are doing you a big favour by blocking links to sites that are known
> for hosting dubious code, but i must say that blocking places like mediafire
> and rapidshare are not really a good decision.
>
> All these free file hosting sites now use a capcha system, that in itself
> will stop drive by downloads.
>
> Even trying to use rapidshare normally is a nightmare with their "guess the
> cat" capcha, and i dont think any link that you ever receive is going to be
> able to get past this when the human eye has trouble in doing it.
>
> Maybe mediafire/rapidshare and the like also sell webspace and this is
> possibly the reason why they on the bad list ?.
>
> The easy solution is to just email your contact the links , no big hassle
> and makes being online a bit safer for most people online.
>
>
>

Hi,

I doubt very much this is being specifically targeted -- it's just the keywords that are in
there are too close to some other malware link.

That or its been mistakenly blocked.

--
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
(c) 2009 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
--

"Mercyground" <> wrote in message
news:41303CA2-6F6C-4576-8B21-...
> I would like to know why both http://www.teamviewer.com/ and the direct link
> to their Quick Support module
> http://www.teamviewer.com/download/TeamViewerQS.exe are still blocked from
> being sent on MSN Messenger.
>
> I'm very curious as to why MS feel the need to block these? Especially since
> they have broken their own internal remote desktop support between the
> different versions of the MSN Client. It is why i switched to using
> Teamviewer.
>
>
>
> "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> This has been going on for years. Although in the past the messages were simply dropped
>> and
>> you weren't notified that they weren't sent.
>>
>> The purpose of the list (which is downloaded from the Messenger server when you sign in
>> and
>> is uncustomizable) is to prevent worms from propagating. You remove the link from being
>> sent, you remove the worm from spreading.
>>
>> --
>> Jonathan Kay
>> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
>> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
>> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
>> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
>> (c) 2008 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
>> --
>>
>>
>> <> wrote in message
>> news:20500aaf-00d8-440f-9ac9-...
>> > On Apr 28, 9:46 pm, Denis Wong <DenisW...@discussions.microsoft.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >> Messenger seems to be blocking a few domains that aren't unsafe. For
>> >> instance,www.mediafire.comandwww.teamviewer.com. Both areblockedby
>> >> Messenger. Can someone please review the list of blocks and take them off?
>> >
>> > HI, It is confirmed that Messenger is blocking certain domains. I
>> > tried to send a link http://www.teamviewer.com to my friend several
>> > times and it was blocked each time. I find this a little strange.
>> > Anyone know how to remove this. Been using Messenger for many years
>> > now and I find this odd.
>>
>>

"Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I doubt very much this is being specifically targeted -- it's just the keywords that are in
> there are too close to some other malware link.
>
> That or its been mistakenly blocked.
>
> --
> Jonathan Kay
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> (c) 2009 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
> --
>
> "Mercyground" <> wrote in message
> news:41303CA2-6F6C-4576-8B21-...
> > I would like to know why both http://www.teamviewer.com/ and the direct link
> > to their Quick Support module
> > http://www.teamviewer.com/download/TeamViewerQS.exe are still blocked from
> > being sent on MSN Messenger.
> >
> > I'm very curious as to why MS feel the need to block these? Especially since
> > they have broken their own internal remote desktop support between the
> > different versions of the MSN Client. It is why i switched to using
> > Teamviewer.
> >
> >
> >
> > "Jonathan Kay [MVP]" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> This has been going on for years. Although in the past the messages were simply dropped
> >> and
> >> you weren't notified that they weren't sent.
> >>
> >> The purpose of the list (which is downloaded from the Messenger server when you sign in
> >> and
> >> is uncustomizable) is to prevent worms from propagating. You remove the link from being
> >> sent, you remove the worm from spreading.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Jonathan Kay
> >> Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
> >> MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
> >> MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
> >> Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
> >> (c) 2008 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >> <> wrote in message
> >> news:20500aaf-00d8-440f-9ac9-...
> >> > On Apr 28, 9:46 pm, Denis Wong <DenisW...@discussions.microsoft.com>
> >> > wrote:
> >> >> Messenger seems to be blocking a few domains that aren't unsafe. For
> >> >> instance,www.mediafire.comandwww.teamviewer.com. Both areblockedby
> >> >> Messenger. Can someone please review the list of blocks and take them off?
> >> >
> >> > HI, It is confirmed that Messenger is blocking certain domains. I
> >> > tried to send a link http://www.teamviewer.com to my friend several
> >> > times and it was blocked each time. I find this a little strange.
> >> > Anyone know how to remove this. Been using Messenger for many years
> >> > now and I find this odd.
> >>
> >>
> hi my question is how do i know if someone on my contacts list is blocking me?Its hard to tell if someone just hasnt got my instant messages or if they are actually blocking me.Can you help with this please?
>

Greetings,

Although there can sometimes be clues as to if someone is blocking you, as well as social
tricks (making another account and adding them there for instance), there is no direct
technical way to find out.

--
Jonathan Kay
Microsoft MVP - Windows Live Messenger
MSN Messenger/Windows Messenger
MessengerGeek Blog: http://www.messengergeek.com
Messenger Resources: http://messenger.jonathankay.com
(c) 2009 Jonathan Kay - If redistributing, you must include this signature or citation
--



"chrissie" <> wrote in message
news:AAA75684-9A9E-4B0F-8EE4-...
> hi my question is how do i know if someone on my contacts list is blocking me?Its hard to
> tell if someone just hasnt got my instant messages or if they are actually blocking me.Can
> you help with this please?