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How to Access HTTP 451 Articles on Habr

Complete guide to identifying and accessing geo-restricted content on Habr with HTTP 451 status code. Discover tools and methods for bypassing regional restrictions.

#article-parsing#bypass-restrictions#geo-blocking#geographical-restrictions#http-451-habr#legal-blockings#regional-restrictions

How can I get a list of articles on Habr with limited access (code 451)?

I’ve noticed that when viewing the Habr feed from different geographical locations, different content is displayed. In one case, articles available only in a specific region are visible, while in another case, articles available everywhere are shown. How can I obtain a list of articles that are available only in a particular geolocation?

NeuroAgent

HTTP 451 status code on Habr indicates access restriction to content due to legal requirements, such as regional data protection laws. To get a list of articles with restricted access, you’ll need specialized tools for identifying geo-blocked content, including methods for checking from different regions and analyzing network requests.

Contents

What is HTTP 451 on Habr?

HTTP 451 is an official HTTP protocol status code that means “Unavailable For Legal Reasons”. On Habr, this code is used to block access to specific content in accordance with regional legal requirements.

As noted in Habr’s documentation, after receiving a court order or requirement from authorized bodies, the platform blocks access to specific content using exactly this status code.

Main reasons for content blocking on Habr:

  • Legal requirements of various countries
  • Personal data protection (for example, in accordance with GDPR in EU countries)
  • Copyright and intellectual property
  • Government censorship in certain regions

The geo-blocking system works by determining the user’s location through the IP address and then deciding whether to provide access to content based on that location.

How to identify geo-restricted articles

To identify articles with restricted access on Habr, there are several effective methods:

1. Comparative analysis from different regions

The most reliable way is to view content from different geographical locations:

bash
# Example using curl to check from different locations
curl -I -H "X-Forwarded-For: 185.207.96.180" https://habr.com/ru/post/123456/  # Moscow
curl -I -H "X-Forwarded-For: 5.61.25.201" https://habr.com/ru/post/123456/    # Berlin
curl -I -H "X-Forwarded-For: 104.16.122.96" https://habr.com/ru/post/123456/   # San Francisco

2. Analyzing HTTP response headers

When accessing geo-restricted content, the server returns a special header:

HTTP/1.1 451 Unavailable For Legal Reasons
Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8

3. Using proxy servers

To determine restricted content, you can use proxy servers from different countries:

python
import requests

proxies = {
    'usa': {'http': 'http://us-proxy.example.com:8080'},
    'germany': {'http': 'http://de-proxy.example.com:8080'},
    'russia': {'http': 'http://ru-proxy.example.com:8080'}
}

def check_article_from_location(url, proxy_location):
    try:
        response = requests.get(url, proxies=proxies[proxy_location])
        return response.status_code, response.text
    except Exception as e:
        return None, str(e)

Tools for detecting blocked content

Specialized geo-blocking services

  1. Abstract API - provides API for checking geo-restrictions
  2. IP Geolocation API - accurate determination of user location
  3. MaxMind GeoIP - commercial solution for geolocation

Browser extensions

  • GeoSwitcher - allows simulating location from different countries
  • User-Agent Switcher - changing user agent to bypass restrictions
  • Proxy SwitchyOmega - automatic proxy server switching

Automation scripts

javascript
// Example script for checking article availability from different regions
const regions = ['US', 'DE', 'FR', 'RU', 'CN'];
const articleUrl = 'https://habr.com/ru/post/123456/';

async function checkGeoRestrictions() {
    const results = {};
    
    for (const region of regions) {
        try {
            const response = await fetch(articleUrl, {
                headers: {
                    'CF-IPCountry': region,
                    'X-Forwarded-For': getIPForRegion(region)
                }
            });
            
            results[region] = {
                status: response.status,
                accessible: response.status !== 451,
                content: await response.text()
            };
        } catch (error) {
            results[region] = { error: error.message };
        }
    }
    
    return results;
}

Methods for bypassing geo-restrictions

VPN services

The most effective way to access geo-restricted content:

  • NordVPN - special servers for bypassing blocks
  • ExpressVPN - high speed and reliable encryption
  • Surfshark - support for unlimited devices

Tor Browser

Anonymous browser that automatically routes traffic through multiple servers:

bash
# Launching Tor via command line
torify curl -I https://habr.com/ru/post/123456/

Public proxy servers

Free but less reliable options:

python
import requests

proxies = {
    'http': 'http://185.220.101.38:3128',
    'https': 'http://185.220.101.38:3128'
}

response = requests.get('https://habr.com/ru/post/123456/', proxies=proxies)
print(response.status_code)

Practical guide for data collection

Step 1: Prepare tools

  1. Install Python 3.8+ and necessary libraries:
bash
pip install requests beautifulsoup4 selenium
  1. Set up proxy or VPN connection

Step 2: Create a Habr parser

python
import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
import json
from fake_useragent import UserAgent

class HabrGeoAnalyzer:
    def __init__(self):
        self.ua = UserAgent()
        self.session = requests.Session()
        
    def get_articles_from_region(self, region_url, max_pages=5):
        """Gets a list of articles from the specified region"""
        articles = []
        
        for page in range(1, max_pages + 1):
            url = f"{region_url}/page{page}/"
            headers = {'User-Agent': self.ua.random}
            
            try:
                response = self.session.get(url, headers=headers)
                if response.status_code == 200:
                    soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')
                    page_articles = self._parse_articles(soup)
                    articles.extend(page_articles)
            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Error processing page {page}: {e}")
                
        return articles
    
    def _parse_articles(self, soup):
        """Extracts article information from the page"""
        articles = []
        article_elements = soup.find_all('article', class_='tm-article-snippet')
        
        for article in article_elements:
            try:
                title = article.find('h2').text.strip()
                link = article.find('a')['href']
                author = article.find('a', class_='tm-user-info__username').text
                date = article.find('time')['datetime']
                
                articles.append({
                    'title': title,
                    'link': f"https://habr.com{link}",
                    'author': author,
                    'date': date
                })
            except Exception as e:
                print(f"Error parsing article: {e}")
                
        return articles
    
    def check_article_access(self, article_url, proxy=None):
        """Checks article availability from different regions"""
        headers = {'User-Agent': self.ua.random}
        
        try:
            if proxy:
                proxies = {'http': proxy, 'https': proxy}
                response = self.session.get(article_url, headers=headers, proxies=proxies)
            else:
                response = self.session.get(article_url, headers=headers)
                
            return {
                'url': article_url,
                'status_code': response.status_code,
                'accessible': response.status_code != 451,
                'content_length': len(response.text)
            }
        except Exception as e:
            return {
                'url': article_url,
                'error': str(e)
            }

Step 3: Comparative analysis

python
# Using the analyzer
analyzer = HabrGeoAnalyzer()

# Get articles from different regions
russia_articles = analyzer.get_articles_from_region('https://habr.com/ru')
usa_articles = analyzer.get_articles_from_region('https://habr.com/en')

# Find unique articles for each region
unique_russia = set([art['link'] for art in russia_articles])
unique_usa = set([art['link'] for art in usa_articles])

geo_restricted_russia = unique_russia - unique_usa
geo_restricted_usa = unique_usa - unique_russia

print(f"Articles available only in Russia: {len(geo_restricted_russia)}")
print(f"Articles available only in USA: {len(geo_restricted_usa)}")

Step 4: Automated checking

python
def analyze_geo_restrictions(articles_list, proxy_list):
    """Checks article availability through different proxies"""
    results = []
    
    for article in articles_list:
        article_results = {'url': article['link'], 'checks': []}
        
        for proxy in proxy_list:
            result = analyzer.check_article_access(article['link'], proxy)
            article_results['checks'].append({
                'proxy': proxy,
                'result': result
            })
            
        results.append(article_results)
        
    return results

# Example usage
proxy_list = [
    'http://185.220.101.38:3128',  # Germany
    'http://45.77.39.204:3128',    # USA
    'http://195.154.220.231:3128'  # France
]

geo_analysis = analyze_geo_restrictions(russia_articles[:10], proxy_list)

Ethical and legal considerations

Legality of bypassing methods

  1. GDPR and other data protection laws - when bypassing geo-restrictions related to personal data protection, you may be violating laws of EU countries
  2. Copyright - accessing blocked content may violate copyright
  3. Platform terms of use - most platforms prohibit automated data collection

Responsible approach

  • Respect platform policies and content authors
  • Don’t use obtained data for malicious purposes
  • Comply with laws of your country
  • Limit request frequency to avoid overloading servers

Alternative solutions

Official access methods

  1. Request for access - many platforms provide legal ways to access content
  2. Local versions - some services have official local versions for different countries
  3. Subscription - premium access often includes access to all content

Technical alternatives

  1. Platform APIs - if the platform provides an official API
  2. RSS feeds - some platforms offer RSS feeds with available content
  3. Official mobile applications - may have different access to content

Example using RSS for Habr:

python
import feedparser

def get_habr_rss(feed_url='https://habr.com/ru/rss/'):
    feed = feedparser.parse(feed_url)
    articles = []
    
    for entry in feed.entries:
        articles.append({
            'title': entry.title,
            'link': entry.link,
            'summary': entry.summary,
            'published': entry.published
        })
    
    return articles

Conclusion

  1. HTTP 451 on Habr is used to block content for legal reasons, including regional restrictions and data protection requirements

  2. Main methods for identifying geo-restricted content include comparative analysis from different regions, using proxy servers, and specialized geolocation APIs

  3. Most effective tools for working with geo-blocking are VPN services, Tor Browser, and specialized proxy servers with support for different countries

  4. Ethical approach requires compliance with laws and platform terms of use, as well as respect for copyrighted content

  5. Alternative solutions include official APIs, RSS feeds, and premium subscriptions that provide legal access to content

For practical use, I recommend starting with simple checking methods through proxy servers and gradually moving to more complex automated solutions, always complying with legal norms and ethical principles.

Sources

  1. Geographic restrictions / How it works / Habr - Official Habr documentation on geographic restrictions

  2. HTTP 451 - Wikipedia - Detailed description of HTTP status 451 and its usage

  3. Geo-blocking - Wikipedia - General information on geo-blocking technologies

  4. Understanding Geo-Blocking: Key Aspects Explained - Abstract API - Technical aspects and methods for working with geo-blocking

  5. 451 Status Code: Meaning and How to Fix Issue | ResultFirst - Practical solutions for working with HTTP 451

  6. HTTP 451 Error: Causes, Fixes & How to Handle Legal Blocks | SkyNet Hosting - Detailed analysis of causes and solutions for error 451

  7. What is Geo-blocking? | Definition from TechTarget - Technical definition of geo-blocking

  8. How To Fix or Bypass Error 451: Unavailable Due to Legal Reasons | Kinsta - Methods for bypassing blocks and practical recommendations

How to bypass geo-blocking on Habr without using VPN services?What are the legal ways to access blocked content on platforms?How to programmatically check article availability from different countries using proxy servers?What legal risks are associated with bypassing geo-restrictions on Habr?How to set up an automated parser to collect a list of articles with restricted access?What alternative methods exist for accessing Habr content for users from different regions?
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