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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 8/25/2013 2:41 PM, Dave Lahr wrote:<br>
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<blockquote
cite="mid:CADfnNseCQt=PWhGK=M+R95YPdMTC66_QfMYkOQbY5JcJngcKNg@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">I'm in the same boat: for example <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://yelp.com">yelp.com</a> and
TDBank North are blocking us.</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Sun, Aug 25, 2013 at 2:30 PM, David
Carlson <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:david.carlson.417@gmail.com" target="_blank">david.carlson.417@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">It seems
that at least two 'normal' online store websites that I
visit<br>
from time to time have apparently decided to block my IP
address which I<br>
am also using for a non-exit Tor relay. I have had extended
discussions<br>
with one of them and they considered unblocking my IP
address to be a<br>
risk greater than the lost income (US $160/year revenue) was
worth.<br>
They suggested switching to a different IP address, which
was like<br>
pulling hens' teeth from my ISP. To do that, I had to have
a technician<br>
visit my house and install a new modem because they do not
have a person<br>
who understands tech talk available for ordinary users, and
I couldn't<br>
get sufficiently elevated in their support hierarchy. The
supposedly<br>
dynamic IP address that I get from them hardly ever changes,
probably<br>
because I am buying U-verse television service from them.<br>
Now, after a couple of months, the "new" IP address is also
blocked.<br>
<br>
My question is this. What if it becomes common practice for
commercial<br>
entities such as online stores to block all IP addresses
that they find<br>
on lists of Tor relays such as <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.dan.me.uk/tornodes" target="_blank">https://www.dan.me.uk/tornodes</a>>
or the<br>
official Tor metrics data?<br>
That list is updated every half hour, includes all nodes,
and is not<br>
limited to exit nodes. It currently lists 4438 nodes. That
is a<br>
manageable size for a blacklist, but it could represent tens
or hundreds<br>
of thousands of clients.<br>
<br>
Wouldn't this eventually either cripple the Tor network or
generally<br>
discourage Tor clients that can no longer buy products
online from store<br>
XYZ through the Tor network?<br>
<br>
David C<br>
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</blockquote>
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</blockquote>
In the short term, it is possible to to circumvent these practices
by using one or more of several different methods, but informing the
online store that they are shooting themselves in the foot is not
one of them. After all, they are experts and we are just
ignoramuses, even if we know what an IP address is.<br>
Also, client tactics like going to a public hotspot is either not an
option for someone who wants the Tor anonymity, or problematic at
best if all or nearly all Tor node IP addresses are blocked at the
vendor end.<br>
<br>
That is why I asked the general question.<br>
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