I cannot reach the hackage server so cabal can't download packages.

Have I the correct address? 
http://hackage.haskell.org

stuart@rumbaba:~# resolveip hackage.haskell.org
IP address of hackage.haskell.org is 69.30.63.204

I also cannot access any of the Hackage web pages. 
I suspect that my ISP may be filtering or that their DNS is giving me the wrong info.

--
Stuart Coyle
stuart dot coyle at gmail dot com