A Hulu spokeswoman did release a statement to All Things D, a Web site owned by the News Corporation: “Unfortunately, we were put in a position of needing to block Fox content on Hulu in order to remain neutral during contract negotiations.” Hulu refused to comment further.

But for reasons that remained unclear, the blockade did not work in all Cablevision households. Furthermore, within hours, the News Corporation realized that by blocking Cablevision subscribers’ computers it was also blocking some people who pay Cablevision for Internet only and pay competitors like DirecTV for television. Those people were “caught in the crossfire,” Ms. Wright said.

The News Corporation reinstated access in a matter of hours.