Aral Balkan

Well, I guess there's a first for everything... I just got the finger [link removed -- see comments] for visiting someone's site!

I don't really think I did anything to piss off Robert and I'm not using an anonymous proxy so I'm guessing that my IP just happened to be in an unfavorable range :)

It's sad that we have to resort to such methods these days but I can't say that I don't empathize. I remember once realizing that I had effectively banned all of Asia on the WhatIsFlash wiki after a terribly nasty bout of blog spam from China. In fact, I find myself spending more and more time creating things just to keep these people at bay (eg. the implementation of a captcha on WysiwygWiki or hacking my b2 blog to allow only registered members to comment.) There has to be a better way... a p2p trust system of some sort, perhaps?

I'm afraid that if things continue in the same direction, with sites putting up ever stricter controls with unreliable results, we may all end up giving ourselves the finger and ruining the community aspect of the Internet. Somehow, we have to find a reliable way of measuring/certifying trust in a p2p fashion... I'm off to Google to start my search!

Comments

• Same here, but I linked to him yesterday and it was all working then, the link now redirects to the finger. NTL / UK even? Hopefully just a temp. glitch.

  by Richard Leggett on 2005-05-11 12:16:10

• Got the same thing happening here, looks like he blacklisted a bit too big an IP range.

  by peter on 2005-05-11 12:23:35

• Hi Aral and everyone.
  
  Yes I have to ban anonymous proxies and other IP ranges - unfortunately.
  
  But by directing folks to that page, they are automatically banning themselves. Aral, would you mind removing the link so folks dont visit it and ban themselves accidentally. The only way you can normally reach that link is from my custom built database of IP's that are known sources of spam, hosts to anonymous proxies, or IP ranges that have been attacking my servers. Sometimes it catches innocent folks in the mix - not much I can do about that.
  
  Anyone who visits that page is automatically added to an IP ban list on my server. So if you visit that page - sorry your IP will be banned from my site for 30 days.
  
  Im going to turn off the system for the next 24 hours to let things subside, but please remove that link from your post and FOLKS DONT VISIT THAT LINK unless you want to be auto-banned.
  
  Regards,
  Rob

  by Robert M. Hall on 2005-05-11 13:20:15

• Quick update: I just turned off the system temporarily on my site, so anyone should be able to visit my site without getting banned. However, if you have visited the link with the picture of Johnny Cash, when I turn the system back on tomorrow - you may still be banned. If so, drop me a note at rhall-bannedIP@impossibilities.com and I'll send you instructions on how to unban your IP.
  
  For what its worth, I have had this system in place for over 3 years now, and never had a problem till today when the URL for the autoban page got posted. I wondered why I had about 150 autobanned IP messages in my inbox this morning - now it makes sense. :)
  
  Regards,
  Rob

  by Robert M. Hall on 2005-05-11 13:27:10

• Damn, i saw Robert's comments too late :)
  

  by Alex on 2005-05-11 13:29:40

• Oh boy -- sorry, had no clue that would happen :) I've removed the link. Hopefully all it will take is a single SQL query to remove the newly banned IPs (either by id or timestamp.)

  by Aral Balkan on 2005-05-11 14:04:22

• Hey Aral,
  
  No problem - actually its not quite that simple - but it can be rectified pretty easily - thanks for removing the link. :)
  
  I just put up a post with more info on my site -
  
  http://www.impossibilities.com/blog/entry_blog-176.php
  
  Regards,
  Rob

  by Robert M. Hall on 2005-05-11 14:20:38