What is a Proxyban?

[outatime1]

I made a separate account on Bitcoin Forum and got the following message:


Bitcoin Forum > Remove Proxyban

Your IP address has previously been used for evil on this forum, or it is a known proxy/VPN/Tor exit node, so you are required to pay a small fee before you are able to post messages or send PMs. You can still use all of the read-only features without paying.

Your account contains 1.03 units of evil. To atone, you must pay a total of 0.00004155 bitcoins (0.04155 mBTC; 4155 satoshi). Pay to the address 1Nq1RGJReRpxzKTo56jbSS6RXAXihSUUwZ. Once you have paid the full amount, wait a few seconds and then reload this page. If the fee is so small that your wallet is unable to send it, you can send any larger amount, though you will not be refunded the difference.

Alternatively, any forum staff member and some other notable members can manually whitelist you. Paying the fee is probably easier/quicker, though.

If you don't have any bitcoins, you can get small amounts of free bitcoins using the sites listed here. It is recommended that you give the free bitcoin sites the address listed above. Do not collect money in your own wallet and then send the bitcoins to the forum -- this will likely result in significant network fees.

If you find any bugs in this system, email pbbugs-...@.... For example, send email here if your payment is not registered an hour after sending it. You will be permanently banned if you send email here requesting free whitelisting.


Is this legit and why would I get this?  I thought we could have more than one account on Bitcoin Forum.  What is proxy/VPN/Tor exit node?

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[Lutpin]

Your IP address has previously been used for evil on this forum, or it is a known proxy/VPN/Tor exit node, so you are required to pay a small fee before you are able to post messages or send PMs. You can still use all of the read-only features without paying.

Pretty straightforward, isn't it?

Is this legit and why would I get this?  I thought we could have more than one account on Bitcoin Forum.  What is proxy/VPN/Tor exit node?

Yes, it's legit. Have a read here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1215937.0

I thought we could have more than one account on Bitcoin Forum.

You can.

[achow101]

Is this legit and why would I get this?  I thought we could have more than one account on Bitcoin Forum.

Yes, it is legit. Yes you can have multiple accounts here. You get this because the IP address of your computer has evil points. Evil points are assigned to IP address ranges based on the behavior of previous accounts that were created by or used that IP address.

What is proxy/VPN/Tor exit node?

These three are various methods that people use to hide their IP address. The users data is routed through another server and the data appears to come from the server's IP address.

[outatime1]

Your IP address has previously been used for evil on this forum, or it is a known proxy/VPN/Tor exit node, so you are required to pay a small fee before you are able to post messages or send PMs. You can still use all of the read-only features without paying.

Pretty straightforward, isn't it?

Is this legit and why would I get this?  I thought we could have more than one account on Bitcoin Forum.  What is proxy/VPN/Tor exit node?

Yes, it's legit. Have a read here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1215937.0

I thought we could have more than one account on Bitcoin Forum.

You can.

How is it straightforward?  I haven't used an account for evil.  The only thing I have done on this site is post comments.

[outatime1]

Is this legit and why would I get this?  I thought we could have more than one account on Bitcoin Forum.

Yes, it is legit. Yes you can have multiple accounts here. You get this because the IP address of your computer has evil points. Evil points are assigned to IP address ranges based on the behavior of previous accounts that were created by or used that IP address.

What is proxy/VPN/Tor exit node?

These three are various methods that people use to hide their IP address. The users data is routed through another server and the data appears to come from the server's IP address.

I have never tried to route data through another server and I don't even know how to.  So I wonder if my account was hacked.

[Lutpin]

How is it straightforward?  I haven't used an account for evil.  The only thing I have done on this site is post comments.

It doesn't say "your account" though, does it? It clearly says "Your IP address".

I have never tried to route data through another server and I don't even know how to. So I wonder if my account was hacked.

Probably not.
Maybe you got a dynamic IP address from your ISP and are just unlucky to be assigned one with evil points on it.
Or you got a neighboring address and were assigned evil points for that reason.

Can I somewhere find out how much given IP has evil points?

Try to register an account with it.

[IMR]

Can I somewhere find out how much given IP has evil points?

[outatime1]

How is it straightforward?  I haven't used an account for evil.  The only thing I have done on this site is post comments.

It doesn't say "your account" though, does it? It clearly says "Your IP address".

I have never tried to route data through another server and I don't even know how to. So I wonder if my account was hacked.

Probably not.
Maybe you got a dynamic IP address from your ISP and are just unlucky to be assigned one with evil points on it.
Or you got a neighboring address and were assigned evil points for that reason.

Can I somewhere find out how much given IP has evil points?

Try to register an account with it.

So you are saying I might have to pay for something evil someone else did?  Also what I don't get is that the other account I made got that message, but this account didn't and I'm using the same IP address.  So why the difference?

[--Encrypted--]

So you are saying I might have to pay for something evil someone else did?

I don't know what lutpin was saying. but yes, you might.

Also what I don't get is that the other account I made got that message, but this account didn't and I'm using the same IP address.  So why the difference?

that happened to me too. unless you're using a VPN, you can randomly get evil points because:

their IP and some of their neighboring IPs receive evil points

or your ISP changed your IP to an evil one.

[Lutpin]

So you are saying I might have to pay for something evil someone else did?

Yes, or you just register an account using another IP address, or you just don't register another account at all.

Also what I don't get is that the other account I made got that message, but this account didn't and I'm using the same IP address. So why the difference?

A lot of things can happen between February 15th and March 31st.

[outatime1]

So you are saying I might have to pay for something evil someone else did?

Yes, or you just register an account using another IP address, or you just don't register another account at all.

Also what I don't get is that the other account I made got that message, but this account didn't and I'm using the same IP address. So why the difference?

A lot of things can happen between February 15th and March 31st.

Are you saying that they can only do a proxyban on a brand new account?  So it won't ever affect this account?

[outatime1]

So you are saying I might have to pay for something evil someone else did?

I don't know what lutpin was saying. but yes, you might.

Also what I don't get is that the other account I made got that message, but this account didn't and I'm using the same IP address.  So why the difference?

that happened to me too. unless you're using a VPN, you can randomly get evil points because:

their IP and some of their neighboring IPs receive evil points

or your ISP changed your IP to an evil one.

How evil could it be if they only want less than 2 cents?  I mean, what's the point?  If someone did something evil why such a small punishment?

[Lutpin]

Are you saying that they can only do a proxyban on a brand new account?  So it won't ever affect this account?

It's only affecting the registration, nothing more. Evil points won't affect any already registred accounts.

How evil could it be if they only want less than 2 cents?  I mean, what's the point?  If someone did something evil why such a small punishment?

It scales. Doesn't matter for 1 account maybe, but if you're registering 100 or more accounts (like the spam/fud accounts for ether or knc for example), that's something different.

[achow101]

Are you saying that they can only do a proxyban on a brand new account?  So it won't ever affect this account?

The proxyban fee only applies to creating new accounts. You will never have to pay the fee for using an account.

How evil could it be if they only want less than 2 cents?  I mean, what's the point?  If someone did something evil why such a small punishment?

It is to prevent spammers from creating more and more accounts.

[outatime1]

Are you saying that they can only do a proxyban on a brand new account?  So it won't ever affect this account?

It's only affecting the registration, nothing more. Evil points won't affect any already registred accounts.

How evil could it be if they only want less than 2 cents?  I mean, what's the point?  If someone did something evil why such a small punishment?

It scales. Doesn't matter for 1 account maybe, but if you're registering 100 or more accounts (like the spam/fud accounts for ether or knc for example), that's something different.

So the payment only covers that one account?  If I (or someone else at the IP address) wanted to make another account I (or they) would have to pay again?

[Lutpin]

So the payment only covers that one account?  If I (or someone else at the IP address) wanted to make another account I (or they) would have to pay again?

Yes, as long as you register it from the same IP address and the address still has evil points tied to it (afaik evil points vanish over time, don't know details though).

[outatime1]

Your IP address has previously been used for evil on this forum, or it is a known proxy/VPN/Tor exit node, so you are required to pay a small fee before you are able to post messages or send PMs. You can still use all of the read-only features without paying.

Pretty straightforward, isn't it?

Is this legit and why would I get this?  I thought we could have more than one account on Bitcoin Forum.  What is proxy/VPN/Tor exit node?

Yes, it's legit. Have a read here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1215937.0

I thought we could have more than one account on Bitcoin Forum.

You can.

I went to the link you suggested and it does mention that the evil points can fade over time.  The extra account I made was one I made because I came up with a clever/interesting account name that I thought I could sell at some point.  I don't even need to use the account.  So theoretically, could I just wait it out and the evil points will fade away?

[Lutpin]

I went to the link you suggested and it does mention that the evil points can fade over time.
So theoretically, could I just wait it out and the evil points will fade away?

I think the sum is now fixed, since it's tied to the evil points at the moment the account was created.
However, I'm not sure about that, so if anyone knows better (possibly with a source), feel free to correct me.

[SaltySpitoon]

As others have said, yes it is real, and its purpose is as an anti bot measure. Units of evil accumulate when an account created by a certain IP is banned, so in theory if someone creates 100 accounts, tries to spam, and they get banned, the IPs they used are hit with units of evil. Rather than disallowing people to create accounts via Tor or VPN, this system was introduced. Essentially, it is very inexpensive for users to create a single account (you said around 2 cents in your case) but should someone want to create 1000 accounts, it starts to add up. As designed, it is made so that someone could easily collect the funds needed to register an account via Tor/VPN etc just hitting a couple of faucets. But expensive for those that want to test the moderator response time with ads and other annoying spam posts. More Units of evil = higher cost to register the account.

[bitboy11]

This is the 1st time I'm hearing about this.
This forum is one strange cat!