Quite a few cafe networks have filters set up to block various kinds of use. My usual failure modes with these are that they mark perfectly reasonable internet services as inappropriate.
Here's a litany of Panera complaints, to give you a feel for it.
Tinotopia was blocked for a while, which got the author riled up enough to document some of the failures. No entries since April 2005:
TinyURL.com is blocked by Panera Bread, notes Technology Evangelist :
I can understand Panera choosing to block porn sites, since it could be disturbing for customers to glance over to see a neighboring table watching porn while they're trying to enjoy some bread bowl chowder.
But why is TinyURL.com banned? Why not just block inappropriate sites that people may be trying to access after being redirected from TinyURL.com?
BookOfJoe documents the Panera Blocked Site Hack:
I remarked Saturday on the fact that I couldn't access bookofjoe on my local Panera's WiFi because it was blocked.
Reader Benjamin Tung of the great state of Michigan confirmed shortly thereafter that the Italian–American corporate version of the Chinese firewall is up and functioning in a similar fashion at his local branch of the sandwich/bakery chain.
Benjamin wrote, "Don't make me choose between the cinnamon raisin bread and reading your blog."
The solution is as simple as it is perfect, and should work nearly anywhere.
http://www.google.com/translate?langpair=en|en&u=http://www.bookofjoe.com/
translates bookofjoe.com from english to english via $GOOG. hey presto. Replace the URL as needed, and bonus points for the next step of turning this into Greasemonkey or your favorite bookmark tool.
