Tell HN: Uceprotect is extorting website owners

I recently discovered by accident that our website was being blocked by Orange&#x27;s security filters.<p>After a quick check, I found that our IP address is listed on UCEPROTECT Level 3. The listing is based on the reputation of the entire ASN 14061 (DigitalOcean, US) [1]. In other words, even if your IP did nothing wrong, it will still be listed because of its ASN.<p>If your site is innocent and listed only because it&#x27;s hosted on DigitalOcean, UCEPROTECT offers to whitelist it for about $30&#x2F;month or $108&#x2F;year [2].<p>I checked the ASNs of several other popular hosting providers, and they&#x27;re all listed too. So if your site is hosted on DigitalOcean or any other major provider, it&#x27;s probably blacklisted as well. That can cut you off from customers on mobile networks like Orange, whose &quot;cybersecurity protection&quot; uses blacklists like UCEPROTECT to filter traffic.<p>Honestly, in my 20-year career, this is the first time I&#x27;ve seen a blacklist misbehave this badly and ask for money when there&#x27;s clearly been no wrongdoing.<p>[1] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.uceprotect.net&#x2F;en&#x2F;rblcheck.php?asn=14061<p>[2] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.whitelisted.org&#x2F;