Forbidden text string aka censorship

[liamtoo]

SMF 2 RC3
I recently composed a longish discussion topic on our forum and when I clicked on preview, the message;
FORBIDDEN
You don't have permission to access /forum/index.php on this server. popped up. The message was lost (it's a bug in RC3 that text is lost if the browser back button is used) I had to rewrite it ... this time saving it to notepad before trying the preview again. The same thing happened; FORBIDDEN
You don't have permission to access /forum/index.php on this server.
Other topics and messages were going up just fine so I deleted line by line of the message until I discovered that the text string search engine optimization (my italics) was the culprit. I was not allowed to upload a message to my forum with this precise term in it. SEO was ok and each individual word was ok but not the three words together. I eventually managed to solve it by spelling optimization optimisation.
I know it's likely to be a server issue but before I tackle my Hosting Co. (Enom) I thought I'd ask if anyone else has come across this kind of censorship before. To my mind what is discussed on my forum is none of their business and I resent this restriction, whatever the reason. 

[Antechinus]

I've never encountered that, but when working on a friend's site that was hosted by Enom at the time, I did encounter Enom doing quite a few very stupid things. This is a hint.

[Arantor]

I call over-zealous mod_security rules.

[Antechinus]

Most likely. They are rather in love with that module, but seem to lack common sense.

ETA: TBH, my personal opinion is that I wouldn't host a site with Enom if they paid me.

[liamtoo]

This is not the first time I've run into problems with Enom .. I've stayed with them as they were supposedly reliable. (though not cheap) It's just inertia that holds me!

[MrPhil]

They're trying to protect ignorant customers from themselves by implementing "mod security". SMF doesn't need it, and as you've found, it only causes problems, so find out how to disable mod security. Sometimes the following in the .htaccess file (on a Linux server) will do the trick:

Code Select Expand

SecFilterEngine Off
SecFilterScanPOST Off
If not, you'll have to find out from your host. If they won't let you, find another host.

[liamtoo]

I'm not as ignorant as you might think. I had to join Enom many years ago as a reseller. It was the only way to recover my domains which had been frozen by Enom when a UK reseller went bust.  I've had dealings with them previously regarding mod security and a few other things. They have some real 'by the book' robots on their help desk and they won't allow access to mod security. I'm getting a bit fed up with them TBH but as a reseller I'm kinda tied in at the moment. Moving stuff immediately would be too painful, hence the inertia! Maybe I'll do it one by one nearer to renewal dates. That will all take time . . . I tried the htaccess option some time ago. It didn't work but thanks anyway.

[MrPhil]

Sorry, I wasn't implying that you were ignorant. They're just trying to protect the run-of-the-mill customer from themselves.

Sounds like a tough break if you can't disable Mod Security in some way. Maybe you should escalate to above the helpless desk robots.