Managing access to no-cost content

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes obtaining a whitelist that identifies one or more content providers that are accessible for free through a particular network service provider, wherein the particular network service provider also provides access to the other content providers for which a fee is charged, a debit against an account is taken, or a subscription with the particular network service provider is required, establishing a particular network connection with the particular network service provider, identifying a network configuration that indicates whether to restrict communication with content providers by the computing device to only communication that is free, receiving a request to communicate with a particular content provider using the particular network connection, determining, based on the network configuration, whether the particular content provider is included in the whitelist for the particular network service provider, and blocking, based on the determining, the request to communicate with the particular content provider.