You dont have to disable IP checking, you can drop its threshold to 5 days or something like that.

How about posting the IP numbers youre seeing as polluted so that I can check them out.

Like paying someone to manually validate every entry? Right... we barely break into double digits each month in donations....

If someone finds their IP number on the database, they can remove it themselves.

So far, Ive seen no one come and say "this IP is listed and shouldnt be, its Sun" - give me the IP and I can look into it but anything past that and I dont have the time to start scanning CIDR networks for something that might not even be there. You had the time to contact Sun but not stopforumspam?

I am in the process of coding a reputation system for inclusion in the results but as I code the website in my spare time, its slow progress.

You are entitled to your opinion. I am entitled to mine. You are not going to change
mine by arguing with me or acting as if you know more than people you disagree with. All you are going to accomplish is to alienate me because you disagree. So be it.

I don't like your combative tone. You can't accept a different view because you are so attached to your work. You act like it is perfectly acceptable for a professional at Sun to be locked out frustrated and that he must spend time to contact a crappy database because the database is so polluted. Nonsense, IMHO. You are free to have a less respectful opinion about your potential forum members :)

The only reason our admins (including me) got involved was because the user was kind enough to contact us (very unhappy and frustrated three times) and ask....

Why Is Your Site Blocking Us???

We apologized and disabled IP checking. I doubt we will turn it on again, and may consider de-installing the mod.

False positive blocks are not acceptable to us.

The Stop Forum Spam db is polluted.

That IP address 192.18.8.1 is in the StopForum database only once so a frequency filter would have prevented this from registering for site admins that are more sensitive to the risk of a "false positive"

That being said, a quick Google search on 192.18.8.1 makes it very clear that IP address, while it may be registered to Sun MicroSystems, is not being used just for business purposes. Given the multiple users that appear to be posting from that IP address to various social forums, my guess was that it is a Proxy server or shell server.

Then I started looking into some of the posts:

Luzhou Guestbook Spam

Korean University Forum Spam

Thailand Message Board Spam

Shopping Site Feedback Spam

...and the list goes on for pages.

And in case you're wondering *why* or *how* this could be happening to an IP address that is registered by Sun MicroSystems and whose employees confirm this?

That is because this is a shell server that was compromised in November 2009 and access to various "Premium Accounts" on it are being sold online to spammers, including the root account.

http://www.neararsan.org/karisik-pre...-t266276.html?

This took roughly 2 minutes of investigation to find this using just Google

As I said in previous posts, there is a chance that someone maliciously or accidentally enters a legitimate IP address. There are existing tools to help reduce the risk of false positive on an Admin as well as more long term things such as the reputation system that Pedigree eluded to.

That being said, it is a community of Admins. It is give and take. For the thousands of spammers that don't make it on your site (and the time you save not having to clean up their mess) we ask that you add spammers that do make it back to the database. While there are other sources of the data (honeypots, etc) If Admins deinstalled the mod every time a spammer wasn't in the database the service would shut down and the spammers will have won (oh the humanity!).

The same is true for invalid IP addresses in the database (should there be any). If an admin identifies an erroneous IP, the hope is that they should report it back to Stop Forum Spam to help clean the database up for everyone. While we're working to make that an easier process (and automated validation, etc), again the time you save NOT having to clean up thousands of spammers should more than make up for the time it takes to report a false positive.

Do us both a favor, stop using the database and uninstall the mod because I certainly have better things to do that listen to you rant in whatever thread you decide to post in and I certainly dont have time to drop whatever Im doing to help fix your problem.

That IP looks like a real false positive, I mean, there is no way that a IP allocated to Sun could ever spam right? All those people that reported that box mustve been reporting it as part of some vindictive plan to undermine Sun.

I dont like your attitude, the way that you complain in most threads and the way that you think the world owes you attention. I hope you uninstall my mod and never visit this thread again. Im sure Im not the only one that would be happier not to see you around as well. Mod of the month, 2000+ installs, and Im sure that there are a lot of happy people, some that have PMed me asking (nicely) for help, whom Ive spent hours with. You however are better off without the support of the community that attempts to help others.

Next time, i suggest typing an IP into google. I mean, with your "15 years of anti-spam" experience.... I hope you dont charge by the hour...

and



Im going to quote this, for future reference, should imported_silkroad decide to edit his post... =

Pedigree, you can't win against these so-called "experts." Just because someone works at Sun doesn't make him some sort of god. The Sun IP address is being used for nefarious purposes and your plugin did EXACTLY WHAT IT'S SUPPOSED TO DO. This isn't a question of a different view, as Silkroad states... The facts speak for themselves.

You can only hold your hand out to offer help so many times before something with rabies goes in for a bite. Ive had to deal with many so called "self appointed experts" before in my full time job. Having to endure someone from IBM, charging $1700 a day, coming in to provide vendor support for IBM websphere and having to show them how to do things. They are everywhere

http://www.googleisyourfriend.net/

You and Pedigree, et al are being childish.

We talked to the person directly and they are definitely a legitimate Sun employee.

Pedigree can "Google for two minutes" all day long and still not be accurate.

StopForumSpam blocks perfectly good people from registering.

Why do you argue that point like a child with Google in your hand?

Why should I edit the post?

Your product blocks professionals at Sun.

Your "two minute Google analysis" proves nothing.

We spoke directly to the Sun Employee and he is not a spammer and your software blocked him.

Why argue this point?