New DNS Filtering Policy

[crolse]

@nelsonfam Thanks so much for your reply! I have additional thoughts based on your response, but I'd like to take some writing time to make sure they are explained appropriately. When is your discussion going to take place?

[nelsonfam]

@nelsonfam Thanks so much for your reply! I have additional thoughts based on your response, but I'd like to take some writing time to make sure they are explained appropriately. When is your discussion going to take place?

No scheduled meetings right now but I would hope after the Thanksgiving holiday.

[harddrive]

It would be nice if you could set the filter on say Saturday night to block all those sites and then Monday morning have it removed. Set something up like a cron job.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Terry

[nelsonfam]

It would be nice if you could set the filter on say Saturday night to block all those sites and then Monday morning have it removed. Set something up like a cron job.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Terry

Ha, I agree but the service is a world-wide policy attached to a multicast service in dozens of data centers and it's difficult to implement those features. But it's something to discuss. Thanks for the feedback.

[jamiep39]

Ha, I agree but the service is a world-wide policy attached to a multicast service in dozens of data centers and it's difficult to implement those features. But it's something to discuss. Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for the replies! We've definitely experienced those bandwidth issues in our buildings so I can understand that, but we also benefit from using some of the now blocked services throughout the rest of the week. Is the Church still using zScaler? I read up on it once and I seem to remember one of their brochures mentioning that they support time-based DNS filtering. If so, that would be nice to do so we can still use those services throughout the rest of the week.

[sbradshaw]

Spotify specifically we use for YSA dances and to provide background music for activities, etc.

You might want to check the Terms of Service. That may not be copyright-legal.

Not to change the subject, but Amen. There is a general disregard when it comes to obeying, honoring, and sustaining copyright law in church settings, especially with regards to music – not just recorded music, but also sheet music. I give the benefit of the doubt in saying that in most cases it is probably just that people don't know – so no hard feelings towards jamiep39 – but this really needs to be brought up more often.

I second the comments above about social media being essential for sharing the gospel. I am curious why Facebook was not blocked but the others were. One great way to share the gospel is to check in on social media at church, tag a few people, put up a photo of you and your fellows in class (before it starts, of course ). Or, to share quotes from the lesson that stand out to you, with your testimony. I don't know the best solution, though, because most social media traffic at church is probably not related to sharing the gospel. I understand why it might be blocked, but I wonder if there's a better solution.

When it comes to blocking YouTube, is it possible to block everything except the official Church channels?

[russellhltn]

We need to be able to use Meetinghouse internet for teaching the Gospel on Sunday and retain the ability to prioritize bandwidth sensitive applications like streaming content from youtube.com, ....

Last I knew, YouTube was blocked. Has that changed? I can understand blocking YouTube at large, but some church videos are hosted there. It's also some stake's preferred method of webcasting.

[Mikerowaved]

The biggest issue we see is that Meetinghouse bandwidth on Sundays is not primarily used for teaching the gospel. It's used to browse pinterest, facebook, update iphone and android software, snapchat, and others. Less than %25 of the content coming into Meetinghouses has been recorded as LDS related content. We need to be able to use Meetinghouse internet for teaching the Gospel on Sunday and retain the ability to prioritize bandwidth sensitive applications like streaming content from youtube.com, lds.org and mormon.org.....etc.

Keep in mind that per instructions from HQ, most teachers on Sunday (in our stake, anyway) are pre-loading instructional media onto flash drives or personal devices at home, rather than try to stream during class time. Those choosing to use the internet for non-gospel activities don't affect classroom instruction at all. The only time BW is an issue is when streaming stake conference, and that's easily solved by turning off WiFi access.

Personally, I think you're fighting a losing battle if you think you can stop members from using the internet for personal purposes, without affecting those trying to use those same services for legitimate Gospel activities.

[nelsonfam]

We need to be able to use Meetinghouse internet for teaching the Gospel on Sunday and retain the ability to prioritize bandwidth sensitive applications like streaming content from youtube.com, ....

Last I knew, YouTube was blocked. Has that changed? I can understand blocking YouTube at large, but some church videos are hosted there. It's also some stake's preferred method of webcasting.

Youtube.com is still blocked however we are looking at enabling it and forcing the "Restricted Mode" view to limit the amount of questionable content being displayed. PSD has to ensure that videos are categorized correctly and viewable in Restricted mode but this is being explored right now. We want to enable youtube but not all the crap that comes with it.

Google is turning off the Safe Youtube for Schools feature which we were attempting to utilize as well but they are moving away from the "Personalized" service.

[nelsonfam]

The biggest issue we see is that Meetinghouse bandwidth on Sundays is not primarily used for teaching the gospel. It's used to browse pinterest, facebook, update iphone and android software, snapchat, and others. Less than %25 of the content coming into Meetinghouses has been recorded as LDS related content. We need to be able to use Meetinghouse internet for teaching the Gospel on Sunday and retain the ability to prioritize bandwidth sensitive applications like streaming content from youtube.com, lds.org and mormon.org.....etc.

Keep in mind that per instructions from HQ, most teachers on Sunday (in our stake, anyway) are pre-loading instructional media onto flash drives or personal devices at home, rather than try to stream during class time. Those choosing to use the internet for non-gospel activities don't affect classroom instruction at all. The only time BW is an issue is when streaming stake conference, and that's easily solved by turning off WiFi access.

Personally, I think you're fighting a losing battle if you think you can stop members from using the internet for personal purposes, without affecting those trying to use those same services for legitimate Gospel activities.

Yes we are in a losing battle because until 2 years ago the Meetinghouse environment had not expanded to keep up with the BYOD world. It's not the members we are worried about and their personal uses of Meetinghouse Internet. We fight abuse from Peer2Peer traffic, proxy services that are utilized while people sit in the parking lot of the Church and use us as a wifi hotspot to look at adult content. Constant issues from neighboring buildings and complexes that don't want to pay for internet access so they jump on Church wireless and consume any available bandwidth for their own purposes.... It's a constant game of cat and mouse and we have to find and test way to keep services available to members and investigators while locking out the abusers.