Scratch

Great idea    Count me in!

If you can't beat them

Join them

Something similar has been created for the case of commercial spammers. I can't remember the name of the software that was used, but basically, the software was integrated with the forum and the ban list was constantly updated when someone added a spammer to the list - the result is that all the other forums using the same software would also have their IP ban list updated.

The system you present isn't really flawless - in most cases, the IP address used is dynamic, so the ban list would have to be updated constantly to keep up with the changing IP address, not to mention someone could just use an open proxy or simply switch to a public computer where blocking access isn't practical and unfair to other users who are on the same network (example: a school network).

And don't think banning doesn't necessarily teach the blocked user anything - when you block a user, it sends a message that his/her behavior isn't tolerated. Maybe the troll might move to another site (and most likely kicked out of there, too), but that is really his/her problem if he/she fails to learn to follow the guidelines of the community he/she visits. To relate it to real life - people are usually kicked out of public places and are unlikely to be accepted back in if they cause a ruckus and fail to observe the rules of that place, so don't think that blocking a user for inappropriate behavior is useless. 

Last edited by cheddargirl (2011-01-21 20:34:39)

I had already programmed the filter when the troller joined. What exactly is IP blocking?

Even if I was in control of who gets to join, that would stop spam bots, but a troller could just act like he was interested in your site and then when he is let in, post a a ton of spam/trolling.

I can use tracert and ping to contact the computer. I can also netsend a message in Command Prompt.

The only problem was, if someone up to mischief got into the systems of that website... well, it would be disastrous.

Oh yeah, and proxies. And dynamic IP.

martianshark wrote:

cheddargirl wrote:

IP blocking is pretty much sounds like what it is - an IP address is blocked, so anyone with that IP address cannot access your forum.

Wouldn't that pretty much be the same thing as IP banning?

Yep, same thing.

There's this really big problem though

Troll gets whatever thing and adds IPs of not trolls and would you look at that

agscratcher wrote:

martianshark wrote:

I'm sick of trolling. Recently, someone joined my forum called King Lu, and he spammed the heck out of my site. He insulted members, reported people for reporting him, and repeativly posted the F word over and over.

Obviously he was doing this just for the heck of it to be an idiot and annoy people online. And there isn't really anything you can do about it. I banned him, of course, but now he'll just go on to another site and troll in that forum. Banning him doesn't teach him anything.

So anyway, I have an idea to help stop trolling. I'm not sure if this has been done before, but there could be a website with a huge list of IP adresses to ban from your site. The idea is kind of like one of those programs that blocks bad websites on their "bad list." It would be frequently updated, and people could report IPs of people that trolled/spammed on their site. Then someone working for this ban-list website would check, and then add them to the list (or not if they didn't really troll). The website would also have requests for people on the list so they can maybe get off the list.

If this website gets popular enough, almost every forum could use it, and then trollers would have a very hard time finding a website to troll on. And people probably wouldn't troll as much, because they wouldn't want to be added to the list. That would make them unable to post on most message boards.

So, does that sound like a good idea? Is there someone with enough brains to build a site like that? This system isn't flawless, of course, because someone might report an innocent IP adress. But maybe that problem could be solved.

An IP bank?

Sounds more like a haven for hackers. 

You can't do anything with an IP Address. 

martianshark wrote:

What could they do besides take everyone off the list? Also, maybe there could be a back-up list in case they do that.

Let me give you an example.

LIST OF TROLLS

1)Troller
2)TrollKing
3)I'mNotATrollDude
4)SpamMaster
5)Troll_with_club

BACKUP LIST

1)Troller
2)TrollKing
3)I'mNotATrollDude
4)SpamMaster
5)Troll_with_club.

This is before the hack.

This is after the hack.

LIST OF TROLLS

1)martianshark
2)Paddle2See
3)coolstuff
4)Andremsh
5)Lightnin

BACKUP LIST

1)martianshark
2)Paddle2See
3)coolstuff
4)Andremsh
5)Lightnin

Get the point?

PW132 wrote:

agscratcher wrote:

martianshark wrote:

I'm sick of trolling. Recently, someone joined my forum called King Lu, and he spammed the heck out of my site. He insulted members, reported people for reporting him, and repeativly posted the F word over and over.

Obviously he was doing this just for the heck of it to be an idiot and annoy people online. And there isn't really anything you can do about it. I banned him, of course, but now he'll just go on to another site and troll in that forum. Banning him doesn't teach him anything.

So anyway, I have an idea to help stop trolling. I'm not sure if this has been done before, but there could be a website with a huge list of IP adresses to ban from your site. The idea is kind of like one of those programs that blocks bad websites on their "bad list." It would be frequently updated, and people could report IPs of people that trolled/spammed on their site. Then someone working for this ban-list website would check, and then add them to the list (or not if they didn't really troll). The website would also have requests for people on the list so they can maybe get off the list.

If this website gets popular enough, almost every forum could use it, and then trollers would have a very hard time finding a website to troll on. And people probably wouldn't troll as much, because they wouldn't want to be added to the list. That would make them unable to post on most message boards.

So, does that sound like a good idea? Is there someone with enough brains to build a site like that? This system isn't flawless, of course, because someone might report an innocent IP adress. But maybe that problem could be solved.

An IP bank?

Sounds more like a haven for hackers. 

You can't do anything with an IP Address. 

Low-Orbit Ion Cannon 

agscratcher wrote:

An IP bank?

Sounds more like a haven for hackers. 

Serves the people on the list right.

If all static proxy IPs were banned, that would partially solve the proxy problem.