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Coursera blocks access to students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

blog.coursera.org

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Re: Coursera blocks access to students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

#91

Post by smnrchrds »

sdegutis wrote: post #88
smnrchrds wrote: post #44

As someone who lives in Iran, this is sad but not news. I have gotten used to see half the websites blocked by my government(Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, WordPress, etc) and the other half by your government(Java SE or anything else from Oracle, Google Code, Google Play Store, anything from Xilinx, etc). If one of my favorite websites was blocked, I may have considered not using it anymore. When virtually all websites…

> P.S. Please stop using Google Code. Why?

As I said, it blocks anyone coming from Iran. I think it does not solely rely on IP address, because I can't access it with my normal VPN service, even though it gives me a Canadian IP.

Re: Coursera blocks access to students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

#92

Post by vdaniuk »

ekianjo wrote: post #78
schrijver wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they license their course materials under an open source license? If so, other parties could easily redistribute the material. If not, I guess we once again feel the pain of universities selling out their knowledge to commercial gatekeepers.

Well most of their courses are free (as in free beer) while they have recently been expanding their "paying only" courses catalog.

There are no "paying only" courses on Coursers.

Re: Coursera blocks access to students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

#93

Post by myzerox »

This is the worst possible measure to deal with those sanctioned countries.

As we've seen in the Arab Spring or currently in Ukraine, extremist regimes have to replaced by bottom-up grassroot movements, by the will of the people.

Having said that, what could be a stronger weapon than access to education?

Re: Coursera blocks access to students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

#95

Post by ekianjo »

vdaniuk wrote: post #92
ekianjo wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well most of their courses are free (as in free beer) while they have recently been expanding their "paying only" courses catalog.

There are no "paying only" courses on Coursers.

yes they do. recently started.

Re: Coursera blocks access to students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

#96

Post by sdfjkl »

smnrchrds wrote: post #91
sdegutis wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> P.S. Please stop using Google Code. Why?

As I said, it blocks anyone coming from Iran. I think it does not solely rely on IP address, because I can't access it with my normal VPN service, even though it gives me a Canadian IP.

Make sure your DNS lookups are also routed through the VPN.

Re: Coursera blocks access to students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

#97

Post by vdaniuk »

rikacomet wrote: post #2

This is ridiculous! What is the use of being the premier institute in the world, and do just about nothing about such a obvious immorality!? The kids in these countries are already suffering under oppression/war/famine/ you name it.. things you won't want upon yourself, much less on your kids.I know a guy who plays a rpg with me who is from Syria, he is 14 year old, and his school is defunct. Just few months back I r…

Please recommend your RPG acquaintance the following mooc platforms that won't have those absurd regulations:

Open2Study - Australian universities alliance MOOC platform.

Futurelearn - UK universities alliance MOOC platform.

Iversity - European coursers.

Content is still limited as these platforms are younger, but they are getting more courses and polishing their platforms.

Re: Coursera blocks access to students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

#98

Post by smnrchrds »

rwg wrote: post #82
smnrchrds wrote: post #44

As someone who lives in Iran, this is sad but not news. I have gotten used to see half the websites blocked by my government(Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, WordPress, etc) and the other half by your government(Java SE or anything else from Oracle, Google Code, Google Play Store, anything from Xilinx, etc). If one of my favorite websites was blocked, I may have considered not using it anymore. When virtually all websites…

Is it possible to write a script to scan all the internet (or at least the popular websites) and determine which ones are blocked? If you can find or make a list of websites you want to scan, you can script it. The biggest problem is doing it in a way that doesn't bring you to the attention of those doing the blocking. 1. Where can I find a list of all domain names, top 1000, top 100000? Alexa's "top 1,000,000" list…

Thanks. They do not use DNS-based blocking. I will try using the HEAD method if I find a way to do it anonymously.

Re: Coursera blocks access to students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

#99

Post by k-mcgrady »

What a stupid thing to do. I'm hoping (but not holding my breath) that the USG will change the export laws to accommodate businesses like Coursera. I don't really agree with the US export bans at all but banning an educational service just seems really dumb. If you want people in a country to agree with your ideals what better way than to allow them to access educational resources for free!

Re: Coursera blocks access to students in Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria

#100

Post by sdegutis »

smnrchrds wrote: post #91
sdegutis wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> P.S. Please stop using Google Code. Why?

As I said, it blocks anyone coming from Iran. I think it does not solely rely on IP address, because I can't access it with my normal VPN service, even though it gives me a Canadian IP.

Sorry I should have been more clear, I meant, why are you singling out Google Code over the other ones?
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