

XML creator Tim Bray has proposed a new HTTP error code: 451, "Legally restricted." The idea is to create an unambiguous code that ISPs can return when a user requests a page that has been censored by a court or government. Note the specific number of the error code. Bray thanks Ray Bradbury in the footnotes.

451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons

This status code indicates that the server is subject to legal

restrictions which prevent it servicing the request.

Since such restrictions typically apply to all operators in a legal

jurisdiction, the server in question may or may not be an origin

server. The restrictions typically most directly affect the

operations of ISPs and search engines.

Responses using this status code SHOULD include an explanation, in

the response body, of the details of the legal restriction; which

legal authority is imposing it, and what class of resources it

applies to. For example: