CIDR Blocking

[stryder]

As you might or might not be aware, the internet is comprised of an interconnection of many nodes that all use IP addresses.  These addresses were assigned on a country by country basis which leads to entire countries using specific IP ranges.  This literally means that a country can actually be blocked if the IP ranges are known and is one of the main reasons why Tor(The Onion Router) (wikipedia.org) and such networks were originally created to work around such blockades.

Blocking is simple enough as entire blocks can be identified using CIDR (wikipedia.org)

It is possible for me to block China and Pakistan IP ranges completely causing a code 403 "Forbidden" message to be sent to any clients attempting to connect from those ranges. (They can't spam what they can't access, although Tor and such systems would still offer a work around, although it does require more work on their part to use it. which either means they give up or fall for an Escalation of Commitment (wikipedia.org) which itself can prove fruitless to them in the long run)  While this is a great way to remove spam from those general parts of the world, it concerns me greatly in regards to the very nature of the internet itself. 

In some respects the internet is suppose to be about the freedoms of people, no matter where they are in the world, having the ability to communicate with each other.  Blocking entire country ranges are therefore a very Machiavellian (wikipedia.org) method at dealing with a problem that only occurs from a minority of the people in those countries and shouldn't be considered lightly (After all if everyone starts going this route, we all fall into some Orwellian fray)

It can be considered that certain state run spammers might exist just to create a negative firewall.

e.g.
(I'm not implying China's doing this but it's just a proposed example) China is known to take great care in what they do and do not want their general public to access, some Civil Rights activists protest at this. If a state similar to China was to increase spam yields across the globe, countries external to them would start blocking their capacity to access the www (worldwide web), thereby negating the Civil Rights concerns by implying that a criminal element was damaging their reputation and causing other groups/countries and institutions to block them for it. (so they aren't seen the bad guy)

So I put it to you, do we or don't we block country ranges?

[C C]

I vote a mitigated "yes": Block those countries only if as spam sources they are disrupting the forum in a persistent and significant degree; or it's the best way to deal with the nuisance due to _x_ reason(s). Which is probably the given qualification / boundary for resorting to such a measure, anyway.

[elte]

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So I put it to you, do we or don't we block country ranges?

Liking your ethical perspective and knowledge, I trust your good judgement and abstained.  Thanks for your good efforts.

[Magical Realist]

Sure. Why not? They block us don't they?

[stryder]

I've come to the conclusion to utilise a compromise. I'll block the IPa ranges that most effect here, but not the whole country where those ranges are from.

[Yazata]

I'm with CC, I guess.

Do it, but only if it's necessary to combat spam attacks.

I don't really like the idea of shutting regular innocent Chinese or Pakistanis out if it can be avoided.