Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

[Kholdstare]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

.

But Hey on my site, when I get some RMT punk, I post his info, but I can understand why he cannot, due to NDA etc, (But no clue why he had to sign a NDA anyways???)

I would imagine that it'd be due to the site's status as a premier site. It could very well be information exchange with the Special Task Force (in which case you wouldn't want to give away SE's battle plans) , or something of a similar nature that would result in the need for an NDA. Generally, like I said, it's the "premiereness" of the site that would necessitate such a need, I think.

[Taskmage]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

No, I believe AKosygin's NDA has to do with his place of work. Nothing to do with the site itself. He's a GM or admin of some kind for another online game. Exactly what the position is and what title he deals with I don't even know. But some of the information that lead to this decision comes from dealings with RMT companies in that privileged context between him and his employer.

[KamuroIshigami]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

Actually, let me back up a little bit. I actually have more than one NDA, one applies to me directly (work), and the other one applies to me indirectly: FFXIOnline.com.

In order not to comprimise PiNG's position, FFXIOnline.com does have an NDA and it applies to admins indirectly. As in, I cannot release any information that may comprimise PiNG's obligation to the NDA. So that is indirect. This applies equally to all Premiere sites.

The work NDA prevents me from providing specifics and details, and only vague generalities.

So both Taskmage and Kholdstare are correct.

[Asiren]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

While initially I don't like the idea of a ban, I do understand why it is necessary. Sometimes the only way to get rid of a repeat abuser/spammer is to just ban them outright. My only worry is if there will be a way to undo the ban when either:

1. IP addresses change. They don't change right away, but eventually they get moved around, so you'll be blocking an innocent user one day.

2. An innocent user wishes to sign up and finds that they have been IP blocked even though they could have sworn they've never even visited the website before. (Hey, this happened to me when I tried to sign up for a deviantArt account. o_O; I couldn't even contact any Help admins for assistance; I had to register again at later date on a different IP address.)

There's also one other consideration: an IP generator of some sort. I'm not talking about proxy services, I'm talking about someone somehow generating "disposable" IP addresses and then just cycling through that... Granted, I'm not too sure how it's done; I just know it exists. (I work at a web-based business, so I'm somewhat familiar with tricks done by people who commit online fraud... I won't be surprised if RMT get desperate enough to do that....)

Also, I do understand why you can't give out any specific information about IP addresses and such. Believe it or not, those things can be traced (even if it doesn't lead anywhere) and it is a privacy concern. Information like that can be dangerous to give out. (Even if it's just a RMT spammer.)

[Jei]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

Well. I don't know why these bans are a big deal for any ordinary players.

How many RMT were posting on this site? It wasn't once a day. More like 4-5 times a day. Each time, they flooded tons of threads.

How many actual members of this site are actually posting from China or Korea? I know none.

Are there legit Chinese players? Sure, yes. But have they ever posted here? I haven't seen one. Not for 5 years. Why would they even care if we block their IP now? They have their place to talk among themselves.

So why would you worry about them?

[Clever Ninja]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

This isn't as big a deal as people are making it out to be. Yes, RMT are all over, but many are from parts of Asia also, and according to what we've been told, alot of our RMT spam comes from those parts of Asia. There are Japanese sites that outright block all U.S. IP addresses just because we're U.S. and they can do it as much as they please, it's their forums/sites and they can do what they choose.

This isn't an act of singling out certain Asian countries, it's a security measure that's being taken because lately, if none of you have noticed, we've gotten alot of RMT spam. The mods are quick about it, but it resulted in that URL spam message feature to be added, and while it doesn't affect me or alot of the normal/older posters, it hurts new users of the forum. It's actually nice to see the Admins making a public stand against RMT, since this is the only site I beleive that doesn't have major RMT ads around.

Srsly.

[Ameroth]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

Srsly.

QFT.

[Richie]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

Can you ban south Korea too? I'm sick of hearing about starcraft.

[Omni]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

way to chime in there Richie.

anyhow...

theres nothing wrong with restricting access to certain ip blocks. ping pays for the site so he and his admins have the right to restrict access to whomever they choose and for whatever reason.

a lot of people are confusing with what they can do and if its nice or not.

[neokaril]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

These types of bans are nothing new, all U.S. gov and DOD sights already have these and other countries I.P. blocks banned, reason being we get flooded with attacks from these regions, this isn't a brash generalization, it is a truism. For the safety and sanity of the legitimate users these bans need to be in place, will some innocent people be caught up and have to go through extra steps to have access, sure, but the alternative, no one having access or every other thread being filled with spammed URL's or even worse Trojans and viruses is much worse.
Kudos on taking the steps to ensure a safe forum for sharing and gaining knowledge.
BTW those who PM and are legit can have dest to source exceptions listed to allow them to communicate with the site, so nobody is banned because they live in area X.

[DR2D2]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

If you have a problem with this policy or with the resulting embargo/prohibition after 20 days from the date of this post, you can email me at akosygin AT ffxionline DOT com for further assistance.

If you think I am a racists to do this, please PM or Email me and I will explain to you why it is not. It runs along the lines similar to accusing a Jewish persion for being anti-semetic.

Thank you all for your support and understanding,
AKosygin
FFXIOnline.com Moderation and Administration Team

This is FFxionline's site correct? Since this is the property of FFxionline, they get to make the rules, and thus can also determine who can and can't post. This gets me upset when a certain group of people feel they should be allowed to go againts the rules because they are a certain group of people. Come on all you from China and N. Korea get real(if you are involved in RMT activities you should get banned from this site). The only reason why FFxionline would have taken this action in the 1st place is if they had evidence that these were problem areas.



I know this will upset a lot of people but why is it that when any other country other than America takes similar actions there is almost no outrage, but as soon as something like this happens in America, then everyone expects someone to be sued or fired.(talk about hypacritical behavior)

[Mhurron]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

I know this will upset a lot of people but why is it that when any other country other than America takes similar actions there is almost no outrage, but as soon as something like this happens in America, then everyone expects someone to be sued or fired.(talk about hypacritical behavior)

ffxionline != America

You might want to keep that blind patriotism in check, it will make you say silly things.

[Feba]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

I love when people on the internet assume that English = America, and I love when Americans think that we're the only ones that get looked down on for our faults. Anyone ever heard of 2chan?


Also, post 42, take that unibase!

[fallenintoshadows]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

Personally I don't really a see a problem with this, it'll do more good than bad (if any).

It may seem a bit extreme to some, but I think we always need more action taken against RMT.

[KamuroIshigami]

Re: Enactment of Regional Access Prohibition

There are two things I like to address that I have not covered:
Republic of Korea (South Korea)
and
Republic of China (Taiwan)

I cannot ban South Korea out-right because we actually have legitimate users there.

I, as Administrator of FFXIOnline.com, primarily placed Republic of China there as clarity, and never intended to lump them together with the People's Republic of China.