Someone reported on Geekzone about problems accessing Google+ Photos and Picasa albums from New Zealand.

An industry person involved in the discussion commented:

“Hi guys - thanks for the heads up on this. Something odd is going on but I can't be specific about what it is I'm afraid. We are working towards a resolution. This isn't affecting all ISPs but is affecting several in NZ.”

When asked if a Telecom solution would need to be implemented on Vodafone (another ISP who joined the DIA filter initiative):

“I'll tell John [Vodafone person] what's up. I'm not sure whether this specific issue will turn out to require an ISP specific solution or not. I would expect VF was affected as well - thanks for confirming.”

The next thing we know someone tells us that there’s a rumour about the New Zealand DIA Filter being configured to block an IP address belonging to Google, affecting not only the previously mentioned services but also GMail.

Remember, the DIA filter is optional for ISPs, but once an ISP sign up for it, then it will filter all traffic, for all its customers. From TechLiberty:

“The filter works by creating alternative routes to particular network IP addresses and passing them onto the participating ISPs. Traffic to those IP addresses is then passed to the DIA and checked by the filter to see whether it is going to the blocked site or another site on the same IP address. If it is going to a blocked site, the user is redirected to www.dce.net.nz, or else it allowed through the DIA's ISP and out onto the Internet.”

There is more commentary from Techliberty here.

I have contacted both Telecom and Vodafone about this issue. A Vodafone spokesperson responded “Thanks for your email, but we don’t have anything to add to the comments.” Telecom’s comments were “We have no specific comment to make. We understand that Google are looking into it, and we are happy for them to resolve.”

The DIA did not respond for requests for comments.

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