[tor-relays] What if my favorite online store websiteblacklists all Tor Relay IP addresses?

[tor at t-3.net]

Likely someone was doing credit card fraud/hacking type stuff and 
choosing Tor as the way to connect for it. That stuff is a pain in the 
ass for online stores when it happens. Not surprised that outfits 
handling online payments don't want Tor connections, and I can't blame 
them tbh.

It shouldn't be hard to find a workaround if your purchases are 
infrequent and anonymity in that particular connection isn't an issue 
(cell phones have internet these days, 'net from a friend's house, 
whatever).

Not sure where you live but, I read that these days, USA is 
photographing the fronts of all postal mail. So, mailed merchandise 
isn't exactly a win on privacy anyway.




On Sunday 25/08/2013 at 4:23 pm, David Carlson  wrote:
>
>
> On 8/25/2013 2:41 PM, Dave Lahr wrote:
>
>>
>> I'm in the same boat:  for example yelp.com and         TDBank North 
>> are blocking us.
>>
>>
>> On Sun, Aug 25, 2013 at 2:30 PM, David           Carlson 
>> <david.carlson.417 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> It seems             that at least two 'normal' online store websites 
>>> that I             visit
>>> from time to time have apparently decided to block my IP             
>>> address which I
>>> am also using for a non-exit Tor relay.  I have had extended           
>>>   discussions
>>> with one of them and they considered unblocking my IP             
>>> address to be a
>>> risk greater than the lost income (US $160/year revenue) was           
>>>   worth.
>>>   They suggested switching to a different IP address, which            
>>>  was like
>>> pulling hens' teeth from my ISP.  To do that, I had to have            
>>>  a technician
>>> visit my house and install a new modem because they do not             
>>> have a person
>>> who understands tech talk available for ordinary users, and            
>>>  I couldn't
>>> get sufficiently elevated in their support hierarchy.  The             
>>> supposedly
>>> dynamic IP address that I get from them hardly ever changes,           
>>>   probably
>>> because I am buying U-verse television service from them.
>>> Now, after a couple of months, the "new" IP address is also            
>>>  blocked.
>>>
>>> My question is this.  What if it becomes common practice for           
>>>   commercial
>>> entities such as online stores to block all IP addresses             
>>> that they find
>>> on lists of Tor relays such as <https://www.dan.me.uk/tornodes>        
>>>      or the
>>> official Tor metrics data?
>>> That list is updated every half hour, includes all nodes,             
>>> and is not
>>> limited to exit nodes.  It currently lists 4438 nodes.  That           
>>>   is a
>>> manageable size for a blacklist, but it could represent tens           
>>>   or hundreds
>>> of thousands of clients.
>>>
>>> Wouldn't this eventually either cripple the Tor network or             
>>> generally
>>> discourage Tor clients that can no longer buy products             
>>> online from store
>>> XYZ through the Tor network?
>>>
>>> David C
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> tor-relays mailing list
>>> tor-relays at lists.torproject.org
>>> https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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  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.
> 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.
>
> That is why I asked the general question.
> _______________________________________________
> tor-relays mailing list
> tor-relays at lists.torproject.org
> https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
>

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