up vote 1 down vote favorite
share [g+] share [fb]

When I download something, any browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox) will show following message:

Refresh (dynamic_bypass_reload)
Click here if you are not automatically redirected.
For assistance, contact your network support team.

What does that mean?

link|improve this question
all major browsers, IE, FIREFOX, etc – Mista Aug 21 '11 at 10:31
Any particular site, or every site? Are you on a corporate network or a home internet service provider? – Mokubai Aug 21 '11 at 10:34
It would be great to have a screenshot and a bit more information, i.e. does it only happen on your computer or any computer in your network? Is it a popup window or is it displayed within the website? What ISP are you on? – slhck Aug 21 '11 at 10:34
File hosting sites, like rapidshare, megaupload, and others – Mista Aug 21 '11 at 10:35
feedback

1 Answer

up vote 3 down vote

I researched a bit. Turns out, your ISP has a cache proxy which serves content to you. Now, ISPs aren't stupid. They know that when they use a cache proxy to serve content to you, they are hiding your IP address to the site they are serving.

So, when you browse any website, you request it from your ISP, the ISP fetches it for you, and returns it to you. By caching it, they can serve you the website faster.

I created a graphic which should show you a simplified version of that principle.

But, when you browse a legal grey-area website like Rapidshare or Megaupload, they don't want you to fetch content over their cache. This is why they directly connect you to it:

This is so that your IP is directly exposed to those websites, since the ISP doesn't want to be involved. So basically, this message only informs you that you're now being redirected.

link|improve this answer
1  
I mean, it would make sense just to call your ISP and innocently ask what they're doing. – slhck Aug 21 '11 at 10:45
+1 for the pretty diagrams! – Gareth Aug 21 '11 at 13:53
feedback

Your Answer

 
or
required, but never shown
discard

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.