AT&T blocking 4chan?

Reports are coming in that US ISP and phone network AT&T is blocking access to certain sub-domains of one of the world's largest messageboards - 4chan - which has been described as the best and worst of the Internet rolled into one.

The site, which is notorious for spawning a large number of internet memes (Rickrolling, LOLcats) as well as the "Anonymous" subculture, has been quick to respond, with the site's status blog saying "It's come to our attention that AT&T is filtering/blocking img.4chan.org (/b/ & /r9k/) for many of their customers. There is no remedy at this time".

Many commenters have sucked their teeth and winced a little, due to the retaliatory nature of 4chan's inhabitants. TechCrunch said: "AT&T has just opened perhaps the most vindictive, messy can of worms it could have possibly found".

There are rumours that the block was placed after a section of the site became involved in a DDoS attack against AT&T, but it seems likely that if that were the case, there'd be a statement from the company. When we hear more, we'll let you know.

Update: AT&T appears to have reverted the ban as silently as it was created.