Limited service websites

Have you ever been denied access to a seemingly innocuous website on account of your nationality. I am not talking about NASA or Pentagon websites, but about www.komando.com. I got the shock of my netlife to get this message .

Request denied

For security reasons, we block IPs from a few parts of the world. Our business primarily serves the citizens of the United States. Regarding online operations, we will take whatever precautionary steps that we believe are in the best interests of our company and our operations. However, if you reside in the United States of America or are a member of our armed forces and feel this is an error then let us know. When you see this message, your IP address can help us resolve the problem. You can determine your IP address by going to: http://www.whatismyip.com We are not affiliated with whatismyip.com. We do not support for their product. We are not liable for any damages incurred by using their product nor any claims or representations they or their advertisers make. There you'll see: ``Your IP Address Is XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX'' and the X's will be numbers. Once you know your IP address, please reply to this e-mail and send me the reported IP Address. I'll need all 4 numbers; please be sure that you get them all. Again, send your address only if and when you see this message. I appreciate your assistance in this matter. Again, sorry for the inconvenience. Hope to hear from you soon! Please send an e-mail with your IP address obtained with the instructions above to noc-admin@komando.com.

It is a first for me. It is not as if this website is about nuclear science or American Star wars programme. See the description from google

The Kim Komando Show: America's top weekend talk radio program about all things digital! Free tips, downloads, software, newsletters, advice and more about

This is quite an interesting tactic. Is this the beginning of a trend where public websites also will be limited service, only within certain nations. Why make your content available to customers whom you do not wish to serve? Limit the hits, have focus and save the load on your server and also save on band width. Screen visitors out by their IPs. Or have a Visa system to allow selected users. Internet also need to be territorially organized. As it is in real world, so it in virtual world.When the cyber security threats from some nations increase exponentially may be this is the only way to go. There are stories floating about hacker breeding academies and tomorrow's war being on the servers. Why take a chance let us have territorial bounds to internet with Bot Security Forces manning access.

IP tracking offers tremendous possibilities. You can deny access, show different content to different visitors. May be have pages load faster for visitors from Europe while Asians can wait . May be the concept of net neutrality has to be seen not only from the point of view of carrier, but also the content provider.

Anonymous browsing software and services are a rage in countries like China where the Government prevents the user from visiting certain websites. If such websites increase may be you need a reverse anonymizing service .


End Note

Amazing. I just checked the link once again after completing the post. No denial, simply the website welcomed me with open arms. All the more confused.