Jump to content

How to block IPs of one country specifically?


Spock the Vulcan

Recommended Posts

Although the use and availability of an IP filter is already possible for some time in uTorrent, there now seem to be developments that might trigger new functionalities. Just let me explain.

Recently, a fellow BT enthusiast from Germany asked me whether it is possible to block all IP addresses for Germany specifically. When I asked him why, he told me that currently lawyer firms in Germany are hunting file sharers actively. On the German "60 Minutes" it was shown how large groups of people roam the internet, join swarms of files that are specifically on their "to-watch" list, automatically filter out the German IPs (since these only are of judicial interest), and through WHOIS retrieve a name and address with that IP. Subsequently the lawyer firm will sent the file sharer something called an "Abmahnung", which is basically a letter proposing the file sharer a shady deal to OR pay more than 1000 dollars direct to let the case go away, OR to go to court.

As a result, my German contact hypothesised that, since he is in located in Germany, and this practice seems to relate to, and is conducted in Germany, he would be very interested in excluding all German peers, thus only being interested in international file sharing. When I then later shared his idea with an acquaintance in France, she too mentioned to be interested in this. After all, the French ISPs have mentioned to disconnect overly enthusiastic file sharers.

Curious, I have been reading the messages here and on the web. However, although all seem to agree that it is possible, most likely through IPFilter.dat, no one seems to have a workable solution. Maybe I am cross eyed and missed it completely, but...

Is there a simple way to help file sharers who like to block all IPs from one specific country?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No.

And I think it's a stupid idea like banning thousands and thousands supposed torrent poisoner IPs.

Use a VPN, it's a better solution.

I see your point and do agree that this is of course not a route to take in an ideal file sharing world.

But then again, this is a reaction to an action/ development, fuelled by very real law suits, huge payments, and potential criminal registration that never goes away. So is it stupid that people look for these kind of solutions? IMHO I think that perspective probably varies with the real life situation that you are in.

The suggestion was just to offer the user control over who/ where he wants to upload to. (I am sorry but did not mention this before, the judicial model seems to be such that only uploading/ sharing is prosecuted, not downloading. Knowing the fundamental discussion concerning P2P file sharing, this is not surprising).

Hence one can argue that if this option is not created, uploading will diminish and there will be no more torrents to ban, since leeching seems the way to go.

As for VPN: Of course that is no solution as you probably know yourself. Yes, VPN does indeed create a secure connection to the main server/ proxy. But then the IP of that proxy will be visible again, and thus can be back tracked. In practice this will be similar to the situation where now the ISPs are forced successfully to deliver the name and address connected to a certain IP at a certain time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But your friend living in Germany is wrong. Excluding all the German peers will NOT fix the issue.

Many monitor companies mandated by the right owners to track the filesharers have their servers in foreign countries.

So a German company can rent a dedicated server to LeaseWeb (NL) or OVH (FR), and you will never know that's in fact a fake peer with a monitor BT client. In this case banning German peers will NOT help.

As I said, just rent a seedbox (because in many cases the law concerns only 'vanilla' IPs, i.e. IP of ISP customers) or a VPN service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many monitor companies mandated by the right owners to track the filesharers have their servers in foreign countries.

So a German company can rent a dedicated server to LeaseWeb (NL) or OVH (FR), and you will never know that's in fact a fake peer with a monitor BT client. In this case banning German peers will NOT help.

Yep, you got a very valid point there Moogli. And business plan presentations like the one I got from the tracking company DRS in Germany seem to suggest just that option (torrentfreak.com/files/praesentation_de_gesamt.ppt).

But then again the question was more whether it might be possible to block the IPs of a whole country. Not whether it is desirable, or sensible.

As I said, just rent a seedbox (because in many cases the law concerns only 'vanilla' IPs, i.e. IP of ISP customers) or a VPN service.

Also very true, but do not forget that the bulk of the file sharers targeted with this are what you call vanillas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

I use PeerBlock to block whole countries. In fact I am interested in allowing only one country. Some providers in Ukraine provide cheaper Internet for Ukrainian IPs, therefore I prefer to download from Ukrainian hosts. One trouble, however, is that I would like to be able to browse Internet normally, i.e. allow HTTP(S) worldwide. There is such an option in PeerBlock, but now I wonder if uTorrent can use port 80 to transfer files as well?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use PeerBlock to block whole countries. In fact I am interested in allowing only one country. Some providers in Ukraine provide cheaper Internet for Ukrainian IPs, therefore I prefer to download from Ukrainian hosts. One trouble, however, is that I would like to be able to browse Internet normally, i.e. allow HTTP(S) worldwide. There is such an option in PeerBlock, but now I wonder if uTorrent can use port 80 to transfer files as well?

Enjoy your scamware :-)

Peerblock is run in association with an anti-p2p group.

Spock, it's not a theory that they use overseas hosts, it's long been that way. Logistep was a popular one in Germany a few years back, was a SWISS company, using dutch peers.

the past few weeks i've been working on Prenda cases, that's American copyright trolls, and they use leaseweb (dutch hosting company) IPs.

British copyright trolls have used swedish, American, and italian peers.

Your plan fails for the same reason ANY AND ALL blocklist based ideas fail. they somehow rely on being able to tell who a bad guy is, when there's no actual way to tell.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your plan fails for the same reason ANY AND ALL blocklist based ideas fail. they somehow rely on being able to tell who a bad guy is, when there's no actual way to tell.

Actually ... 'They' are the "Good Guys" due to having "International Copyright" and "Intellectual Property" laws on their side. In this case YOU are the "Bad Guys".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your plan fails for the same reason ANY AND ALL blocklist based ideas fail. they somehow rely on being able to tell who a bad guy is' date=' when there's no actual way to tell.[/quote']

Actually ... 'They' are the "Good Guys" due to having "International Copyright" and "Intellectual Property" laws on their side. In this case YOU are the "Bad Guys".

Er, no.

That's the attitude that got me out of Commercial Copyright Enforcement 13 years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...