Slashdot Mirror


Internet Backbone Provider Cogent Blocks Pirate Bay and Other 'Pirate' Sites (torrentfreak.com)

Several Pirate Bay users from ISPs all over the world have been unable to access their favorite torrent site for more than a week. Their requests are being stopped in the Internet backbone network of Cogent Communications, which has blackholed the CloudFlare IP-address of The Pirate Bay and many other torrent and streaming sites, reports TorrentFreak. From the article: When the average Internet user types in a domain name, a request is sent through a series of networks before it finally reaches the server of the website. This also applies to The Pirate Bay and other pirate sites such as Primewire, Movie4k, TorrentProject and TorrentButler. However, for more than a week now the US-based backbone provider Cogent has stopped passing on traffic to these sites. The sites in question all use CloudFlare, which assigned them the public IP-addresses 104.31.18.30 and 104.31.19.30. While this can be reached just fine by most people, users attempting to pass requests through Cogent's network are unable to access them.

186 comments

  1. Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Level3 should have nuked it when they were caught hot-potato routing in violation of peering agreements

    1. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Thus begins the breakup of the free and open internet. No matter what you think of Pirate Bay.

    2. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      internet was never free and open

      we block and black hole IP's all the time at work due to scanning, attempted hacking, and being a dick on the internet

    3. Re: Cogent is shit by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Filtering on your own end is fine for security purposes, but we can't have peering broken or else the whole thing just won't work.

    4. Re:Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Cogent is a flaccid little paper tiger. I can still access TPB just fine.

      In fact I hadn't planned on pirating anything but because of Cogent doing this, I'm going to grab a bunch of stuff at random from TPB today just to be a dick. Copyright holders take note and take it up with Cogent because they are the ones who spurred this on.

    5. Re: Cogent is shit by Ranbot · · Score: 0

      Would you protest if a physical store was shut down because it commonly sold or traded pirated media or other illegal items? Because I don't see much of a difference.

    6. Re: Cogent is shit by flink · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is more like the road leading to the store being dynamited. Cogent should loose its common carrier status since they are now exerting editorial control over the contents of their network. Let them be liable for all copyright infringement they happen to route.

    7. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bad analogy, you are cutting out the whole freedom of information part. Even if you dont care about copyright infringers.

    8. Re: Cogent is shit by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You're not looking at the Big Picture. If any backbone provider can unilaterally decide to disallow arbitrary traffic to traverse their network, then the Internet as a whole can become profoundly broken in no time. This sort of behavior sets a dangerous precedent for behavior for network providers at all levels. If you've ever been afraid of the Internet being broken up into 'walled gardens', then you should be afraid now, because moves like this from Cogent may set the tone for the future, emboldening other companies to take similar actions for whatever reasons suit them. This goes beyond frivolous things like, for instance, Comcast/Xfinity deciding to slow (or block) Hulu traffic because they offer their own streaming video service; what if, say, Wells Fargo Bank decides to pay a large ISP to slow (or block completely) access through their network to all Credit Unions? You might say "well, I'll just get a different ISP", but many people have no other choice of ISP. Since Comcast/Xfinity is a business, it can do whatever it wants. If there's no Net Neutrality regulation, then there's nothing to stop them. This is just one example; do you see the problem now?

    9. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      And you work for a backbone provider?

      There is a big difference between a major provider cutting off access to millions of people and your little rinky-dink, Mickey Mouse operation cutting off IPs for your handful of employees while they are holed up in your converted boxcar "business" site.

    10. Re: Cogent is shit by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 2

      This is more like the road leading to the store being dynamited.

      Bingo.

      To further the analogy, there may be perfectly legitimate reasons for going to the store in question, even if they dealt exclusively in pirated media or other illegal items. To block access to the store or a site absent any criminal behavior on the part of the visitor is overreaching.

      I can think of exceptions (kiddy porn sites, for example) but it's still a slippery slope. It's a minor step from claiming "child porn" to "anarchist materials", whatever that might be.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    11. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "free and open" internet died a long time ago. It was doomed the moment Big Money sank its claws in it. Then Big Government stepped in with a big club and wiped away all the vestiges and semblance of freedom. It's over. The revolution never happened. The dream died. Get over it.

    12. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      good analogy fix. Perhaps slightly more accurate is now like having border patrol on every road intersection to make sure you are not going to that store... but the road is for information. Pirated stores are now off limits, but... the thin edge of the wedge and all that.

    13. Re: Cogent is shit by Solandri · · Score: 1

      They're not shutting down the store though. They're inspecting all traffic on the road going past the store, and preventing anyone going to that store from using the road.

      As has been posted multiple times, this has serious privacy implications - akin to the Post Office reading everyone's letters to make sure nobody is using it to mail child porn to each other. Common Carrier status was invented to avoid this situation. A Common Carrier agrees to allow all traffic without inspecting it, and in exchange they are shielded from liability for any illegal traffic that happened to pass upon their road (or wires). But if they start inspecting cars / letters / packets, they're giving up their Common Carrier status, and they become liable for any illegal traffic crossing their road / wires, even the stuff they miss You either blindfold yourself and dutifully move the packets along, and are not liable for any bad packets you happened to move. Or you closely examine the packets to filter them, and are liable for any bad packets you failed to spot.

    14. Re: Cogent is shit by ezdiy · · Score: 1

      Did they fix it or is it covert filtering? Clogent sends me Cloudflare's 104.31.16.0/20. I hope they don't actually announce something they don't transit. Moreover there's no any special community attached - 174:10031 174:20666 174:21000 174:22013 these are all ordinary.

    15. Re: Cogent is shit by ezdiy · · Score: 1

      Welp, never mind, the route is specific: BGP routing table entry for 104.31.19.30/32, version 611495772 Paths: (1 available, best #1, table Default-IP-Routing-Table) Local 10.255.255.255 (metric 10177050) from 154.54.66.21 (154.54.66.21) Origin IGP, metric 0, localpref 150, valid, internal, best Community: 174:990 174:20912 174:21001 Originator: 66.28.1.228, Cluster list: 154.54.66.21, 66.28.1.9 This is normally done in case of sustained ddos attacks, but if it's spurious, then it's pretty nasty.

    16. Re: Cogent is shit by Ranbot · · Score: 1

      I do understand the slippery slope, but your examples of Hulu and Wells Fargo are ones of arbitrarily limiting the legal activities of competitors versus not facilitating blatantly illegal activities on Pirate Bay or similar sites. Those are far from equivalent activities.

    17. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's more than a slippery slope. Government uses a fictitious perception due to media hype of particular rare cases of child rape- frequently combined with kidnapping and murder to make us think banning child porn somehow has a positive impact on reducing child rape/murder/kidnapping/etc. They then use this, other sex related laws, drug laws, etc against peaceful persons (and activists of all sorts in particular). The attacked doesn't have to ever be convicted or guilty of having done anything what-so-ever. The FBI's own statistics evidence the stupidity of the laws with the majority of sex offenders not having committed any violent act (fully developed 13 year old lures 17 year old in and lies about age, college kids pissing in garbage cans outside a bar at 3AM which happen to be next to a playground, etc, that makes up the majority on the sex offender list, followed by child porn, of which is NOT child rape and no connection exists between the two, despite some subset obviously overlapping, but no more than accusing every man of rape because some men rape).

      A perfect example of an attack on Free State Participants (and activists) where we are reasonably confident that the targeted had nothing to do with the raid beyond his name being on the internet connection (and has been raided for random other petty stuff- like a smoke detector lacking batteries). Ian Freeman is a huge figure as far as getting the word out on the migration of liberty-minded persons to New Hampshire. Between his activism and a radio show that airs on hundreds of radio stations around the USA and on multiple continents it's the largest libertarian radio program in the world:

      http://freekeene.com/2016/03/22/free-talk-lives-press-release-about-fbi-raid/

    18. Re: Cogent is shit by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      You're still not seeing my point. You're thinking with your emotions rather than your logic and reason.

    19. Re: Cogent is shit by starblazer · · Score: 2

      Well.. you know how we fix that? L3, cogent, cox... etc... nullroute foxnews.com, drudgereport.com, infowars.com. When they come screaming just point to the FCC chair and say "Hey, they just dismantled the rules that forbid us from doing that" oh... wait... that would require an ISP to be for the free movement of information, not for the sole purpose of squeezing cash out of consumers.

    20. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      Its a shipping container asshole. And we aren't holed up. Jake lost the padlock keys. The pile of poo in the corner (hr area) is fine by me.

      Its so hot and I'm so thirsty.

    21. Re: Cogent is shit by Ranbot · · Score: 1

      You're still not seeing my point. You're thinking with your emotions rather than your logic and reason.

      I mentioned below that my main reason to support limiting blatantly illegal file-sharing activities is because transmitting large files strains ISPs forcing them to upgrade systems, the cost of which they pass on to me in my monthly bill. If a portion of those costs is due to illegal activities I don't support, then I don't want my internet service fee to pay for it. Why is it not reasonable and logical that I don't want to indirectly pay for someone else's access to illegal stuff? If ISPs charged internet usage based on the actual amount of data used, then I wouldn't care if someone wants to use their data on Pirate Bay, torrents, etc., but that's not the business model most [non-mobile] ISPs use.

      Look, you make good points, I'm not saying you're completely wrong, and I certainly don't want the walled gardens, but you need a better argument than a fear of the slippery slope, because to me that fear looks more emotional than logical.

    22. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Welp, never mind, the route is specific:


      BGP routing table entry for 104.31.19.30/32, version 611495772
      Paths: (1 available, best #1, table Default-IP-Routing-Table)
          Local
              10.255.255.255 (metric 10177050) from 154.54.66.21 (154.54.66.21)
                  Origin IGP, metric 0, localpref 150, valid, internal, best
                  Community: 174:990 174:20912 174:21001
                  Originator: 66.28.1.228, Cluster list: 154.54.66.21, 66.28.1.9

      This is normally done in case of sustained ddos attacks, but if it's spurious, then it's pretty nasty.

      My bet would be on that IP being null-routed due to a DDoS attack or Cogent not doing proper filtering on their null-route server.

    23. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I mentioned below that my main reason to support limiting blatantly illegal file-sharing activities is because transmitting large files strains ISPs forcing them to upgrade systems, the cost of which they pass on to me in my monthly bill. If a portion of those costs is due to illegal activities I don't support, then I don't want my internet service fee to pay for it. Why is it not reasonable and logical that I don't want to indirectly pay for someone else's access to illegal stuff? If ISPs charged internet usage based on the actual amount of data used, then I wouldn't care if someone wants to use their data on Pirate Bay, torrents, etc., but that's not the business model most [non-mobile] ISPs use.

      The fact that you think file-sharing strains ISPs forcing them to upgrade systems which is then passed on to you clearly shows you don't understand the current system in play. ISP's routinely oversell the amount of actual bandwidth they can produce and you're blaming the people who actually use their internet for what was sold to them? MAYBE 10, or even 5 years ago I would maybe agree with you that file-sharing was the biggest strain on ISPs. Now though with Youtube, Netflix, 4k video, people downloading 30-60 gig games, tons of online video games you can't just blame "illegal file-sharing" for people actually using their internet.

      Look, you make good points, I'm not saying you're completely wrong, and I certainly don't want the walled gardens, but you need a better argument than a fear of the slippery slope, because to me that fear looks more emotional than logical.

      Except it wasn't a slippery slope because time and time again we have seen businesses will do anything they can (especially big ones who have a monopoly or an oligopoly) to make profits. That means at the expense of anyone but themselves, including fucking the environment up and ruining other peoples businesses through any means necessary.

    24. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're not seeing his point: Most political decisions are made based on emotion, rather than reason.

    25. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      the self-deluded autism blight is too deep here, just move on traveller

    26. Re: Cogent is shit by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      File sharing p2p actually reduces overall network strain compared to centralised streaming/downloading... Traffic stays more localised, and doesn't traverse the more expensive links between different ISPS and different countries.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    27. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your notion for believing that anything would be different/better is foolish. The text of the rules indicate "access to all (lawful) destinations on the Internet" (paragraph 15). Make TPB an "unlawful" place to visit, and you have the same blocking in place. Worse, once that happens, it is easier to then toss more unfavorable–or politically inconvenient–sites on that list.

    28. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, because the two aren't remotely related. A shop selling pirated media is 1) illegal and 2) profiting. Pirate Bay is a free web site that does not host nor transfer any pirated materials whatsoever.

      It would be like arresting someone for merely _talking_ about a crime.

    29. Re:Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh noooooo!!! What have we done!!!!!!

      Ppplease don't download random stuff from TPB, we are terribly sorry.

    30. Re: Cogent is shit by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Most political decisions are made based on emotion, rather than reason.

      And that, right there, is what will destroy civilization and the Human race in the end, not climate change, not an asteroid strike: Humans being stupid humans doing stupid human things for stupid human knee-jerk emotional reasons, rather than THINKING THINGS THROUGH FIRST.

    31. Re: Cogent is shit by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      I don't mind giving up my 'freedoms' if it means I'm safer!

      Sounds like comparable logic to me.

      I don't mind ISPs arbitrarily and unilaterally deciding whether I am allowed to access certain parts of the Internet or not so long as they're doing it to prevent 'piracy'

      You sure you want to go with that?

      I'm OK with the Internet being fragmented, so long as my Internet bill doesn't get more expensive!

      Now we're getting down to it, aren't we?

      I don't really care if anyone else can use the Internet for what they want or not, so long as I get what *I* want!

      There, I think I've pared it down to the bare truth.

    32. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      . (missing)

    33. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good, maybe Cogent and Level3 can block all of Cloudflare's ip addresses and actually put a dent in the piracy, child porn and blackhat operations.

    34. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you're not a tier 1 provider.
      If Cogent wants to do this, fine, but say goodbye to your Common Carrier protects and prepare to take full liabilit for aiding and abetting any time any illegal traffic psses over your links.

    35. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Torrent sites are 100% legal in the US. They do not host any copyrighted content. Secondary copyright infringement does not exist under US law. Technically the downloaders are not violating copyright law either since copyright law only makes unauthorized distribution of a copyrighted work illegal, not reception as a result of the unauthorized distribution committed by someone else.

    36. Re: Cogent is shit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny, because my internet is free and open. I suspect you are simply using the wrong provider and going to the wrong places.

    37. Re:Cogent is shit by Lord+Flipper · · Score: 1

      In fact I hadn't planned on pirating anything but because of Cogent doing this, I'm going to grab a bunch of stuff at random from TPB today just to be a dick.

      Please be a good "dick," don't forget to seed :)

    38. Re: Cogent is shit by Ranbot · · Score: 1

      There, I think I've pared it down to...

      ...strawman arguments.

  2. Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Doesn't the pirate bay have a tor node?

    If so, doesn't that make this whole black-holing kind of moot?

    1. Re:Tor? by dunkindave · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Someone puts a chain and lock across the front door of a business. But the place has a backdoor down a poorly lit alley that is still open and accessible, so IF PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT IT AND KNOW HOW TO GET THERE they can still get in. Do you think the blocked front door will cause some, maybe most, visitors to go away instead of looking for another way in?

    2. Re:Tor? by unrtst · · Score: 2, Informative

      Doesn't the pirate bay have a tor node?

      Using bittorrent over the tor network isn't a great idea.
      * It's very slow over tor. The tor network can't handle that sort of load. https://blog.torproject.org/bl...
      * bittorrent leaks identifying information (your IP address is included in the bittorrent headers, and most clients pick a random port to listen on, which is can be found on the tracker and every peer; combined, they can clearly ID you)
      * Due to aforementioned point, if you're using bittorrent over tor, and you're ALSO browsing the web over tor at the same time, an attacking exit relay can break the anonymity of some of your web traffic. https://blog.torproject.org/bl...

    3. Re:Tor? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      No, it won't.

      Instead people will ask on board and will be pointed to the backdoor.

      The internet treats such things as damage and simply routes around them.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tech minds like to theorycraft how to improve crime. We're satisfied with a Proof of Concept. We consider a leak to have instantly compromised all access on that level, and that everything exposed should already be considered viewed, taken, infected, manipulated, and so on. We like to have a scenario airtight before declaring it "solved" - which is what we should, especially in code, where all possible use cases and fringe events are anticipated or at least routed for.

      This is in contrast to what the mafiAAs do. They're not trying to enforce a law, they're not doing something for the public's safety, they're entirely after profit and this is how to distinguish it as such. They don't give a flying fuck if it's still accessible, they don't care what's being done at that terrible, awful pirate site. All that matters is that Joe Everyman can't get to it. Not even that - disrupt "most" Joes and they'll call it mission accomplished.

    5. Re:Tor? by dunkindave · · Score: 2

      No, it won't.

      Instead people will ask on board and will be pointed to the backdoor.

      The internet treats such things as damage and simply routes around them.

      Well, to use a car analogy, there is road construction near me right now. The businesses on the other side of the construction are significantly closer than the ones in the other direction, but I still prefer to avoid the hassle of dealing with the special twists and turns to get to my preferred places, and instead go to the farther ones since they are easier to get to.

      Fact - people are lazy animals, and if you put obstacles in front of them, the vast majority of them look for the path of least resistance, even if it yields an inferior result. Blocks like this one aren't designed to block everyone, just make it painful enough that a large number won't hassle with a workaround, and because of human nature, it normally works.

    6. Re:Tor? by Wintermute__ · · Score: 1

      Depends how many exit nodes are routing through Cogent to get to the destination (or if CloudFlare itself relies on Cogent for their connection, which would be the worst case scenario). If only a few exit nodes can see it, there still could be major degradation in connectivity.

    7. Re:Tor? by bigfinger76 · · Score: 4, Informative

      This isn't about using bittorrent over Tor; this discussion is about accessing TPB (the tracker), which is necessary in order to obtain either .torrent files or magnet links. Once acquired, the client can be run as usual (not over the Tor network), and Cogent's blocking will have no effect on that.

    8. Re:Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Using bittorrent over the tor network isn't a great idea.

      Your observations on Tor and torrenting are of course generally correct.

      However, accessing the TBP interface via Tor in order to search and find the Magnet URLs is perfectly fine.

      Just do the actual torrenting elsewhere, preferably via one of the many viable VPNs out there.

    9. Re:Tor? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Sure, that's fine -- until, in a world where Net Neutrality is an utterly dead concept, and backbone providers feel empowered to block any traffic they decide they want to block for whatever arbitrary reasons they might have, they decide to start blocking all Tor exit nodes, essentially killing Tor altogether.

    10. Re:Tor? by camperdave · · Score: 2

      TPB isn't a tracker. It is just a source for torrent files. The torrent files contain a list of trackers. These trackers maintain an active list of who has what part of the original file.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    11. Re:Tor? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      The internet treats such things as damage and simply routes around them

      Right up to the point where backbone providers start rerouting the traffic somewhere else, so packets go through, but not to where you intended them to go.

    12. Re:Tor? by green1 · · Score: 1

      That would likely be the case, if there even were legitimate ways to pay for such content.

      Now many people may chose "don't watch the content at all", but many more will still try to watch things that the studios have worked hard to avoid allowing people to pay them for.

    13. Re:Tor? by bigfinger76 · · Score: 1

      My point still stands.

    14. Re:Tor? by wardrich86 · · Score: 1

      As you can tell, I'm not 100% certain on how BT works on a technical level... can't you use TOR to download the .torrent file and then open that through your torrent client outside of the VPN?

    15. Re:Tor? by Mattcelt · · Score: 1

      The GP didn't say that people treat such things as damage; s/he said that the internet does. And that is the crucial difference - the internet will figure out a way to route around the "damage" so that even lazy animals will be able to access it unimpeded.

      (Those with long memories will note that this isn't the first time TPB has been violated. And EVERY time, it's come back up, usually within hours.)

    16. Re:Tor? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Erh... we live in the world of Steam and Netflix. Unless you absolutely MUST see the latest blockbuster DAMN RIGHT NOW (and, bluntly, I can't even think of one that I want to see at all, let alone now) there are quite a few venues available that are way less of a hassle to get what you want than TPB.

      If people have shown anything then that they will climb over the mountain on hand and feet instead of driving through the tunnel just to avoid the toll booth.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    17. Re:Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Fact - people are lazy animals, and if you put obstacles in front of them, the vast majority of them look for the path of least resistance, even if it yields an inferior result. Blocks like this one aren't designed to block everyone, just make it painful enough that a large number won't hassle with a workaround, and because of human nature, it normally works.

      Except that when you got no money for 30$ BD films and 200$ BD TV series, or you need it for booze and/or feeding your kid, the path of least resistance is still very much taking a few minutes to talk to your friends or post on some random forum, and get a walkthrough to follow blindly.

      TPB is blocked in Italy (and has been for 7 years), the UK and Finland (for 5 years), Ireland (for 4 years), India (for 3 years), France, Spain and Russia (for 2 years), Australia (for 2 months)...

      'Problem' solved, outside the US, then? Well, no.

      http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18833060 :

      "A major UK internet service provider (ISP) said peer-to-peer (P2P) activity on its network returned to just below normal only a week after the measures were enforced earlier this year".

      People applied the various workarounds, or simply went to one of the many other search engines or trackers available... Private trackers have been particularly popular...

      Sure some people did quit. But more people probably joined from the free 'advertising', and many people went to even higher-quality websites, with an even stronger community, meaning they are now even farther from paying the content industry more.

      They cannot be ignoring it now... Remember Napster? it's been 16 years now... remember SuprNova? it's been 12 years now... and Megaupload, RapidShare and others? 5 years ago... isoHunt? 3 years... and a multitude of other closed or abandoned services... ever been on eDonkey/eMule or KaZaA (Lite) lately?

      Thus the noise is actually mostly addressed to the producers they represent ("the situation is terrible, but we're doing stuff, please keep our pockets filled!"... you know, like Wall Street's "who cares about stocks crashing, investors will still fill our pockets with fees!"), and governments ("the situation is terrible, please create more taxes and send the easy cash our way so we can save creation!")... while actually, the content industry is having profit record years after profit record years... There had never really been a problem to begin with... Did they have to adapt to maintain and increase their profit? Well, yeah, but look how slow they've been, and how much there is still to be done to get to what most people really need...

      If you want to dig deeper, though, it's not even about money (of course they have enough)... it's about maintaining a certain overall status quo in the mind of the general population, for the purpose of maintaining some level of control. People feel like they're "transgressing a little", it gives them some illusion of freedom and power. Just enough so apathy remains in fact firmly set. Is it good? does it prevent worse? Or is it bad? are we only exploited and prevented from happiness forever? are we in Hell? Well, to be sure, things could be much, much better. So if they were benevolent, they're not very good at it, considering their power... Still, do not attribute, etc.

      CAPTCHA: "prologue"... ominous...

    18. Re:Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have added nothing of value to this thread.

    19. Re:Tor? by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 1

      Fact - people are lazy animals, and if you put obstacles in front of them, the vast majority of them look for the path of least resistance, even if it yields an inferior result.

      Yes. And that's why people "pirate": the copyright cartels have made it so inconvenient to get usable content that even if you throw a bunch of caltrops in the road to TPB, it's still better than a DVD with unskippable warnings and ads, or stuttering streaming video.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    20. Re:Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, exactly.

      TPB doesn't host any content files, only .torrent files and magnet links, which are both just metadata about the content files. Your BT client can use that metadata to find peers which have the files available for download.

      Talk to TPB using your web browser over Tor to get around the block: YES
      Talk to your peers using your BT client over Tor: NO (there's no block between you and your peers, and BT is slow over Tor.)

    21. Re:Tor? by lgw · · Score: 1

      Erh... we live in the world of Steam and Netflix. Unless you absolutely MUST see the latest blockbuster DAMN RIGHT NOW (and, bluntly, I can't even think of one that I want to see at all, let alone now) there are quite a few venues available that are way less of a hassle to get what you want than TPB.

      Forget about the latest blockbuster - it's the old library. Netflix and Hulu have maybe 1% of the content they should. The MAFIAA still seems to think there a vast fortune to be made in streaming rights for the likes of Hogan's Heroes and Gilligan's Island. Older shows come and go, but mostly go, in streaming availability.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    22. Re:Tor? by lgw · · Score: 1

      If TPB had a Tor Onion site, there are no exit nodes in that story. Onion sites have proven quite weak against nation-state attackers, but I bet the tech stands up well against corporate attackers (to the extent a difference still exists, I guess).

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    23. Re:Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion/

    24. Re:Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bullshit...

      fact 1) tor can handle the load. PROVIDED that YOU run a NON-EXIT relay and give back 7x the bandwidth you consume as unused pipe that you reserve for that giveback purpose. 7x is the cost to the tor net. Provided you give that back, no problem. Note VERY clearly, this 7x is NOT your torrent sharing ratio as configured in your torrent client (that ratio is irrelavant to tor), this is your ETHERNET NETWORK INTERFACE ratio as configured OS packet filter bandwidth rate limits, there is a difference.

      fact 2) bittorrent does NOT leak anything when you use both a proper darknet OS like Whonix, and you configure your Transmission/Vuze torrent client to use ENTIRELY and ONLY hidden trackers, PEX/DHT, OnionCat, and hidden services clients as peers with properly written torrent files. Do NOT use exits or clearnet, EVER, there is no need for them. This works brilliantly with I2P as well. Lots of content and lots of sharers there.

      fact 3) this is false, PROVIDED you have configured your app and tor's SOCKS5 settings correctly. your torrent app and web browser are two different apps, with two entirely different tcp streams and different data between them. don't combine them.

      I2P is more tuned to bittorrent, however both networks can handle it well and safely, provided
      a) you know what you're doing
      b) you give back what you use

    25. Re:Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NO, you're stupid.

      TPB is NOT a "tracker" and has NOT offered a tracker service in many years.
      TPB is a "torrent index", and while it used to offer torrent files plainly, it now hides them and promotes the infohash and magnet link instead.
      This is all fine, because while yes you do need a tracker to seed your DHT/PEX, once that's done, DHT/PEX can answer raw infohash queries if it's popular enough.

    26. Re:Tor? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      The internet treats such things as damage and simply routes around them.

      Who's doing the routing?

    27. Re:Tor? by bigfinger76 · · Score: 1

      Again, my point still stands.

    28. Re:Tor? by unrtst · · Score: 1

      Thank you for the clarification. You are absolutely correct, as was the original AC poster, who I misunderstood.

      For anyone affected by the cogent block, they're unlikely to be running tor already, so they'll need to heed those warnings if/when they do start using it. IE:
      * access TPB and other web sites over Tor (this will anonymize your access to that site, and bypass the IP filters)
      * do NOT run bittorrent over Tor (it will still work fine, and using it on tor is problematic)

    29. Re:Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://suprbayoubiexnmp.onion/
      http://uj3wazyk5u4hnvtk.onion/

    30. Re:Tor? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Been doing this for a few years now. Let's just say I'm very happy with performance. Can easily get a full lossless DVD-9 vob rip, a lossless FLAC cd rip, some books... per day, basically more than I can ever consume. I'm happy, and share all of it back to the networks 24x7.
      I use I2P, CJDNS, Tor. No problemo.

    31. Re:Tor? by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      It is a tracker too, or at least it was a few years ago... it seems like the newer torrents are magnet-only.

  3. VPF, FTW! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And "F" Cogent. :(

  4. Hey cogent... by wbr1 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Do you want to retain common carrier status? Or do you want to be charged for every illegal piece of data flowing through your network? I am sure if you look hard enough you can find illegal porn, drug deals, terrorist communications, plans to commit crimes, insider trading.. etc.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re: Hey cogent... by mmell · · Score: 5, Informative

      D'ya suppose the current FCC will even care?

    2. Re:Hey cogent... by bobbied · · Score: 0

      I don't believe data carriers have "Common Carrier" status like the phone company.

      And before you figure that the data carrying phone company does...I don't think they have that legal designation for the data traffic they carry, only the voice stuff.

      What does this mean, well if you are not a common carrier, you have legal reasonability for what you are carrying. If you transport something illegal or infringing and you are NOT a common carrier, you can be held liable for it. If you are a common carrier, the shipper/receiver gets held responsible, not you.

      I could be wrong... Cogent might be a common carrier, but I don't think they are.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    3. Re:Hey cogent... by omnichad · · Score: 0

      Trump was elected. This is a moot point.

    4. Re: Hey cogent... by Mashiki · · Score: 5, Informative

      D'ya suppose the current FCC will even care?

      The FCC isn't the only organization that this falls under. ISP's in Canada use cogent as well, and oversight falls into the domain of the CRTC. We also have net neutrality rules, cogent operates offices here and in turn is subject to Canadian laws.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    5. Re:Hey cogent... by jon3k · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Yes, they are common carriers:

      The most controversial part of the FCC's decision reclassifies fixed and mobile broadband as a telecommunications service, with providers to be regulated as common carriers under Title II of the Communications Act.

      Their bigger concern should be the exemptions provided to them under the OCILLA Act. If you argue that you're just a carrier and you can't block illegal content you're fine. But once you prove you CAN block illegal content then why aren't you blocking more of it?

    6. Re:Hey cogent... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The FCC classified Internet Service Providers as common carriers, effective June 12, 2015, for the purpose of enforcing net neutrality.[5] Before that time, the Good Samaritan provision of the Communications Decency Act established immunity from liability for third party content on grounds of libel or slander, and the DMCA established that ISPs that comply with the DMCA would not be liable for the copyright violations of third parties on their network.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_carrier#Telecommunications

    7. Re:Hey cogent... by epyT-R · · Score: 3

      You know, the democrats are big friends of the entertainment industry as well.

    8. Re:Hey cogent... by Kagato · · Score: 3, Interesting

      All these companies were born out of the fact that Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILEC) like Verizon couldn't cross LATA lines with their network. They had to pay third parties to do it. So, at one point most of these companies were Title II common carriers. Then Micheal Powell F'd everyone during the Bush Jr. era when he blew up Title II.

      The question is does it still stand? I don't know if it's ever been tested. Most ISPs and Upstream Network providers operate as a common carrier because they want to be able to make the argument that they are a common carrier.

      The only reason I could see them null routing the traffic is for DDOS mitigation. They can make an argument about overall traffic and network stability. But it's not clear if that's actually at play.

    9. Re:Hey cogent... by omnichad · · Score: 1

      But they have typically fought for net neutrality, rather than against it.

    10. Re: Hey cogent... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      D'ya suppose the current FCC will even care?

      Nope. They have socialist agendas to pursue.

    11. Re:Hey cogent... by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      ..all that means is that they set the rules instead of the ISPs, and considering they're entertainment industry lapdogs it's obvious how their legislation will shape up. It dovetails nicely with their ambitions to control online behavior.

      Of course, the ISPs see themselves as new age AOLs which is no better. The debate over net neutrality is really a false dilemma.

    12. Re:Hey cogent... by Ranbot · · Score: 1

      Do you want to retain common carrier status? Or do you want to be charged for every illegal piece of data flowing through your network? I am sure if you look hard enough you can find illegal porn, drug deals, terrorist communications, plans to commit crimes, insider trading.. etc.

      The difference between your examples of illegal internet activity and illegal file sharing on Pirate Bay, Torrents, etc. is the latter typically hogs way more network resources, which someone has to pay eventually. ISPs will just pass the buck down to customers, which means you and I will supplement others illegal movies, music, child pornography, etc.

    13. Re: Hey cogent... by Altus · · Score: 1

      What color is the sky in your world?

      --

      "In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson

    14. Re: Hey cogent... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mostly purple but grey at the moment. Sometimes there's a really nice blue sunset.

    15. Re:Hey cogent... by Ranbot · · Score: 1

      They can make an argument about overall traffic and network stability. But it's not clear if that's actually at play.

      I think that would be the main argument for blocking known pirate sites. Transmission of large files (like movies, programs, etc.) require resources necessitating ISPs to make network upgrades with demonstrable financial impacts, which ISPs of course will pass on to consumers. If certain sites are well-known for transmitting large illegal files, then blocking them could have a real financial benefit for everyone. There's also a moral argument here, because if ISPs pass on infrastructure upgrade costs to customers, that means we all help pay for someone to have access to illegal movies, music, programs, child porn, etc.

      It not sound like it, but I'm actually pretty libertarian on many issues and generally support net neutrality... but I really do not like that any portion of my internet bill will supplement some asshole's illegal online activity. I live my life mostly above board, including my online activities, as the majority of people in our society do, and until we pay for internet access by actual usage (i.e. not flat connection fees) then I will support shutting down blatantly illegal file-sharing like this, because it does impact my wallet one way or another.

    16. Re:Hey cogent... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've been looking for a new career lately. How much do they pay you?

    17. Re:Hey cogent... by Kagato · · Score: 1

      I'll admit upfront I don't torrent and I don't use the sites. But I was under the impression that they just provide a small amount of meta-data about the file and where to find it. They don't actually host it. I would think the traffic was fairly low.... but they sites operate in a legal grey area and make a lot of money off ad revenue. They attract a lot of extortion via DDOS.

    18. Re:Hey cogent... by sjames · · Score: 1

      How do you feel about "subsidizing" Netflix?

      Though in fact, you're not. Each person, including torrent users pays a monthly ISP bill. The ISPs haven't proven to be even slightly shy about imposing caps, hiking prices, or throttling users to make sure nobody uses enough to make that transaction unprofitable.

    19. Re:Hey cogent... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not for long, Chairman Pai says:

      “I favor a free and open Internet, and I oppose Title II,” said Pai, referring to the FCC’s move in 2015 to reclassify broadband service as a common carrier. That was a regulatory maneuver that gave the agency a firmer legal footing to impose rules that bar Internet providers from blocking or slowing traffic, or from creating “fast lanes” for sale to deliver content at speedier rates to consumers. Major Internet providers have challenged the rules in court, but so far they have been upheld.

    20. Re:Hey cogent... by tepples · · Score: 1

      But once you prove you CAN block illegal content then why aren't you blocking more of it?

      Probably because the copymafia hasn't yet reported the other sites properly. "We are blocking The Pirate Bay based on evidence that you have submitted to us. If you have evidence of other sites with a clear focus on facilitating infringement of your organization's copyrights, please let us know."

    21. Re:Hey cogent... by Kagato · · Score: 1

      I agree. I pay the ISP (these days that's a Cable Company or Telco) money each month for transport to a tier 1 nexus point. The ISP costs to peer with Google/Netflix/etc is trivial. It's the cost to string a couple ethernet cables from one cage to another.

    22. Re:Hey cogent... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How is this any different than somebody who legally downloads lots and lots of large files? I think your argument is fairly weak here. Where is the proof showing the number of TPB users consuming excessive bandwidth is much greater than non-TPB users that also download large files on a regular basis? All this means for cable folks is that people on the same node or whatever are potentially going to see slower speeds. But if $LARGE_BANDWIDTH_USER pays for 300mb/s down and uses it, what's the problem? He paid for his bandwidth, he can do whatever he wants with it. It really should not affect you in any way.

  5. Re:***VPN***, FTW! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Sorry, meant VPN, not VPF, although VPF sounds like it could be fun, lol

  6. Why only now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is the thing that really frustrates me. They can, and have always could, easily censor ANY site on the Internet. They can "seize" domain names, for example, which is devastating. They can blackhole like they did now. They can do literally anything. But they don't tend to. They simply let those sites keep running, sometimes doing things like this very half-assedly and temporarily. Nobody in their right mind could possibly believe that there is any real will by the ones who control the Internet to remove "pirate" sites.

    1. Re:Why only now? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      And why should there be any "will"? What's in it for them?

      Pay them to do it and you'll see them do it. Welcome to capitalism.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Why only now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who said I wanted anything to do with "capitalism"?

    3. Re:Why only now? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Sorry, that's non-optional.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  7. Yawn, another day, another lame block by Zocalo · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Completely useless for anyone using a VPN with an endpoint that doesn't transit Cogent to get to Cloudflare, and even if that is the case you can *still* work around it since assigned IPs on Cloudflare are entirely administrative and almost any Cloudflare IP will work as long as you present a valid hostname and HTTP header. Add $blocked_site to your hosts file with a different IP (104.31.18.31 instead of 104.31.18.30, for example) and off you go.

    --
    UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    1. Re:Yawn, another day, another lame block by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I admin a commercial VPN service and I am going to use that DNS trick to fix this for our customers. Thanks.

    2. Re:Yawn, another day, another lame block by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, what? This works? Holy fuck.

      Thanks Cloudflare. Still dicks for killing my friends account without warning. But thanks.

  8. What about... by bobbied · · Score: 1

    Net neutrality? Wasn't that supposed to address this kind of thing? (I'm kidding..)

    Oh that's right, ISP's and internet services are not generally seen as "common carriers" so maybe somebody wised up and started hinting at taking legal action for those folks carrying obviously (OK, Quasi) legal traffic?

    I've always wondered why countries didn't start enforcement of IP law where the internet crossed international borders myself. Why a copyright owner couldn't get access to stuff they owned rights to blocked at the border by court order or something. I know it wouldn't really fix the problem, but it sure would make things like the "Kodi Box selling from the BBC" story from a few days ago easier for the UK government to address. Just block those sites that are providing the content illegally at the border, one IP/Port at a time, until it's too hard to make a buck breaking the law anymore...

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    1. Re:What about... by epyT-R · · Score: 2

      ..or maybe start with saner copyright law in the first place.

    2. Re:What about... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Now that's heresy! You cannot charge nothing for nothing, that's un-American and reeks of pinko commie talk!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:What about... by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      Well, it isn't 'nothing.' It costs money to develop ideas and art. So I'm not against the idea of protecting those returns on investment, but the current 'infinite copyright' is completely unreasonable.

    4. Re:What about... by JesseMcDonald · · Score: 1

      Well, it isn't 'nothing.' It costs money to develop ideas and art.

      And they're welcome to charge for the development and initial publication of those ideas and works of art. The part that costs "nothing" is making and distributing copies—and yet that's what they charge for now. You're not paying for an idea or work of art to be developed, you're paying for permission to make a copy of an idea or artwork which already exists. (Or you're paying someone else to make the copy for you, since they won't grant you permission to do it yourself.) What you are paying for comes at zero cost to the patent or copyright holder. If you made said copy without their permission they would not be harmed in any way—in terms of cost to the patent or copyright holder, infringement has exactly the same effect as if you never became aware of the work in the first place. Either way, they neither gain nor lose anything as a result of your actions. It is absurd to punish someone for infringement when simply ignoring the work causes exactly as much harm to the patent or copyright holder and yet goes unpunished.

      --
      "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
  9. Breaks the internet ultimately. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't care about pirate bay, but what if it spreads to "fake news" as defined by ISP or national whim.

    1. Re:Breaks the internet ultimately. by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      You don't have to make a claim of fake news. Just claim that some site is enabling piracy and an internet backbone that has no backbone will just block it for you.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    2. Re: Breaks the internet ultimately. by mmell · · Score: 1

      "What if"? Don't you mean "when"?

    3. Re:Breaks the internet ultimately. by bobbied · · Score: 1

      Each nation has the right to filter what it chooses as it crosses it's borders... This means the 1st amendment only applies to USA sovereign territory. Consider China's strict filters as an example of this run amuck, but it's their country. However, I don't think that's an issue here.

      Cogent has the right (with in the net neutrality regulations of course) to carry data for you or not. So if you want to get data from some IP they refuse to route, it might be time to chose another route if you can.... Unless they are somehow a common carrier, in which case they cannot pick and choose what they carry, but I don't think they are.

      --
      "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
    4. Re:Breaks the internet ultimately. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm, no, they have not. Our contract with Congent says they must not drop any of our traffic (both inbound or outbound) unless specifically requested (by us) OR due to a network-wide technical reason (routing instability, volumetric DoS, etc) or court order.

  10. Well.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If they start blackholing IP ranges just because of "infringing content", it's not much more to assume that they will start blackholing VPN providers, porn, non-backdoored services, inconvenient "alternate facts", the competition of their corporate friends, "undesirables", or indeed anything else that they want to. Best part of all is, it's all the blocking they could ever want, and it's not the government doing it but a private company. So there's no threat of lawsuit to reverse the policy as it's not a first amendment violation.

    The citizenry needs a decentralized network NOW if we are to preserve freedom of expression, and association on the net. Guess we could start adhocing the APs, that would be a start. (Better yet someone produce an AP gateway that routes traffic to other gateways. With a passthrough for the central net if it can't find the destination on the citizen net.)

    1. Re:Well.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This will happen anyway. The EU is actually legislating on this right now and it will be enforced. As for a decentralized network... Where do you get the infrastructure? You will need money and equipment, they only have to pass a law that will make you a criminal for just thinking about it. It's over: they won, we lost, and that's the end of it.

    2. Re:Well.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where do you get the infrastructure?

      Note: original poster.

      There's plenty of old APs lying around we could use to make a mesh network with, just reflash them with ddwrt and put the wifi into bridge mode. (Ad hoc would be best, but we may need a firmware patch to really get this going.) Treat the mesh the same as the open web, (segmenting, firewall, etc.), and your good to go.

      You will need money

      Not really. Just connect the APs and leave them plugged in. Worse case is someone hacks an AP for root, but if you put the thing on the modem side of your network like you should, the best that they have is a node to route packets with. Nothing in the private side of your LAN. If you really want to have some people monitor the net for would be hackers, or bad security, maybe promote it, but that's about it. Most of that can be volunteer work, but you could fund raise for that if you wanted to provide an incentive.

      they only have to pass a law that will make you a criminal for just thinking about it.

      News flash: You are a criminal right now just for reading this site as far as they are concerned. Hell, we all are criminals in their eyes. That's the damn problem, it's even the reason why the summary exists. ("Those damn pirates are taking all of the money, (that we of course never made on paper), from us. We have to do SOMETHING!!!!! Oh, my gawd! They are streaming the movie more than once per payment! They are TALKING about it to other people, They are ripping the movie after paying for it and watching it on another device WITHOUT PAYING US AGAIN!!!!! Those HORRIBLE vermin! Don't they know it takes more than the world's GDP in a year to make one of those???? Why else would we have perpetual ownership of ideas on the installment plan???? Hell, we even have to sue the dead to make up for the damages!!!! We have to BAN ANYTHING THAT DOESN'T FIT OUR ARTIFICIAL SCARCITY BUSINESS MODEL AND SUE ANYONE who trys to undo our perfect ROT-13! protection. We have to lock down every computer on earth so that they obey US not the people who buy them. Etc.")

      It's over: they won, we lost, and that's the end of it.

      No, it's not. You are just too frightened that they might come after you. Guess what? They will come for all of us soon enough. Just as soon as they figure out how to intercept the signals from your eyes, ears, tongue, skin, nose, etc. that you didn't make your daily royalties payment for. You may as well try to put these people in their place. Because it's not over, until they lock you inside of your head.

      Alternatively, get active and protest it. They have more to fear from a public that refuses to play their game than they do from a submissive public. They are not all powerful unless you let them be. Is it a pain in the ass to use content you paid for they way you want? Yes, but you can. Learn how to do it, and tell others how to do so. Get creative and make your own content or support others that create and won't put their creations behind lock and key. It's possible to do, you just need to ignore that laziness itch of yours and do it anyway.

  11. The internet was our last, best hope for the shari by mmell · · Score: 1

    (N/T)

  12. Re: ***VPN***, FTW! by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 2

    VPN may not solve that. It really depends on who your VPN provider's ISP is. The only sure way around this is by using tor.

  13. Re: ***VPN***, FTW! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    most vpn's have several servers in many regions.

  14. Block or outage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is this actually a block, or just an outage? I've seen Cogento (and others) lose connectivity on certain routes before only to have it come back up a day or two later. This could be an unintentional fault, just with a noteworthy effect?

    1. Re:Block or outage by phayes · · Score: 1

      It's a route blackhole that blocks 104.31.18.30 and 104.31.19.30 entering cogent:
      $:~ phayes$ traceroute 104.31.18.30
      traceroute to 104.31.18.30 (104.31.18.30), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
        1 * 172.20.10.1 (172.20.10.1) 1.097 ms 0.549 ms
        2 172.31.255.250 (172.31.255.250) 38.182 ms 42.392 ms 32.059 ms
        3 172.31.255.10 (172.31.255.10) 40.190 ms 39.136 ms 47.807 ms
        4 * p11-9k-1-be1024.intf.routers.proxad.net (194.149.162.5) 778.023 ms 718.829 ms
        5 p11-9k-1-be2100.intf.routers.proxad.net (194.149.162.29) 47.728 ms 38.658 ms 39.877 ms
        6 p11-crs16-1-be1004.intf.routers.proxad.net (78.254.249.129) 44.077 ms 35.318 ms 51.958 ms
        7 th2-9k-3-be1001.intf.routers.proxad.net (194.149.162.86) 35.975 ms 34.663 ms 39.780 ms
        8 * * *
        9 * * *
      10 * * * ...

      $:~ phayes$ traceroute 104.31.18.3
      traceroute to 104.31.18.3 (104.31.18.3), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
        1 172.20.10.1 (172.20.10.1) 0.760 ms 0.534 ms 0.511 ms
        2 172.31.255.250 (172.31.255.250) 43.636 ms 39.232 ms 40.144 ms
        3 172.31.255.10 (172.31.255.10) 40.141 ms 38.507 ms 40.081 ms
        4 p11-9k-1-be1024.intf.routers.proxad.net (194.149.162.5) 715.054 ms 891.669 ms *
        5 p11-9k-1-be2100.intf.routers.proxad.net (194.149.162.29) 48.022 ms 42.905 ms 39.738 ms
        6 p11-crs16-1-be1004.intf.routers.proxad.net (78.254.249.129) 52.004 ms 31.451 ms 40.011 ms
        7 th2-9k-3-be1001.intf.routers.proxad.net (194.149.162.86) 36.100 ms 39.139 ms 40.123 ms
        8 be4204.ccr31.par04.atlas.cogentco.com (149.11.115.13) 39.932 ms 42.901 ms 31.747 ms
        9 be3184.ccr42.par01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.38.157) 39.915 ms
              be3183.ccr41.par01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.38.65) 34.140 ms
              be3184.ccr42.par01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.38.157) 39.195 ms
      10 be2424.rcr21.par05.atlas.cogentco.com (130.117.2.238) 43.208 ms
              be2425.rcr21.par05.atlas.cogentco.com (130.117.3.206) 35.184 ms
              be2424.rcr21.par05.atlas.cogentco.com (130.117.2.238) 31.005 ms
      11 gttnet.par05.atlas.cogentco.com (130.117.15.106) 39.691 ms 30.545 ms 39.862 ms
      12 xe-8-2-0.cr0-par9.ip4.gtt.net (141.136.109.65) 40.385 ms 30.774 ms
              xe-7-0-1.cr0-par9.ip4.gtt.net (89.149.185.118) 39.956 ms
      13 ip4.gtt.net (46.33.81.218) 29.080 ms 31.297 ms 43.968 ms
      14 104.31.18.3 (104.31.18.3) 39.838 ms 34.716 ms 43.958 ms

      --
      Democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the issue
    2. Re:Block or outage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What? They advertise a route and then throw away some packets to addresses that they advertise? Their peers need to visit them with pitchforks if this persists!

  15. IPv6 is working though by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Somebody forgot there's more than one protocol in the stack.

    1. Re:IPv6 is working though by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except for the parts of the IPv6 network that Cogent doesn't reach...

    2. Re:IPv6 is working though by petermgreen · · Score: 2

      The cogent/HE peering spat is only an issue when both ends of the connection were stupid enough to single home with a wannabe teir 1.

      Advertising a route and then blackholing traffic for destinations covered by that route is much worse than simply not providing a route because it also impacts multihomed downstreams.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
  16. Nice subversion. by MMC+Monster · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Love how the article doesn't just mention Pirate Bay, but gave me the names of a couple other site I didn't know about as well as IP addresses for a couple of them.

    Now I know more ways to get my torrents. Well done.

    --
    Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
    1. Re:Nice subversion. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Streisand effect.

    2. Re:Nice subversion. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here are the three best ways...

      CJDNS, I2P, Tor.

      They're encrypted anonymous overlay networks.
      They never touch clearnet at all, and cannot be shut down.
      Within them ride large filesharing communities.
      Learn, deploy, share. Have fun :)

  17. Know your demographic by sconeu · · Score: 0

    Fact - people are lazy animals, and if you put obstacles in front of them, the vast majority of them look for the path of least resistance, even if it yields an inferior result. Blocks like this one aren't designed to block everyone, just make it painful enough that a large number won't hassle with a workaround, and because of human nature, it normally works.

    Except that the demographic for TPB is those people who have shown that they don't mind hassling with a workaround.

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    1. Re:Know your demographic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except that the demographic for TPB is those people who have shown that they don't mind hassling with a workaround.

      Citation needed, or is that just your desired belief? Some people, yes, but "the demographic"?

    2. Re:Know your demographic by gnick · · Score: 1

      I don't know that a citation is needed - Most of the people going to TPB are going there to acquire pirated content (that's an assumption I'm making, but I think a valid one.) Acquiring pirated content rather than going through official channels is hassling with a workaround. So, yes, I agree with the GP that the demographic for TPB is largely made of people looking for a workaround.

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    3. Re:Know your demographic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No they're the ones who think their time is worth little enough that they'd rather jump trough the hoops of torrenting than pay the asking price for their media.

      Adding more or more difficult hoops adjusts the amount of time needed to pirate the media and therefore raises the price at which they will chosoe tompiarte rather than just pay.

    4. Re:Know your demographic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      For most content for most people on the globe it's actually easier to access pirated content.

    5. Re:Know your demographic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [Citation needed]

    6. Re:Know your demographic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Acquiring pirated content rather than going through official channels is hassling with a workaround.

      You sound like someone who hasn't pirated in about 15 years. Once you set up a "pirate TV" it is automatic and way less hassley than "official channels." I'm a pretty smart person and I quite simply don't know how to just get a Game of Thrones episode file through official channels. But [censored] just makes the episode show up as though I tivo'ed it.

      Piracy, when the networks are working, Just Works and is the path of least resistance. If it cost more than the official channels, it would still be worth it, because official channels are like some kind of mid-1990s geocities ghetto.

    7. Re:Know your demographic by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Acquiring pirated content rather than going through official channels is hassling with a workaround

      Official channels may not even be available, or be prohibitively expensive. The Pirate Bay is easy. Very easy, and I've found wrestling with online streaming (like when I wasn't allowed to stream HBO online from HBO using the HBO app on my PS3 because Comcast has a contract with HBO not to allow streaming through PS3s) that sometimes the pirated content is just easier. And of course, price is a big barrier for many -- lower the price to near zero, and people will watch a ton of stuff they wouldn't have bothered buying, or slapped money down to rent. The Pirate Bay is popular because there aren't a lot of barriers to entry. Sometimes fewer barriers than the legitimate channels.

    8. Re:Know your demographic by Bert64 · · Score: 1

      Only that assumes paying the asking price is all you need to do, which often isn't the case...

      Media is often available from different places (eg music streaming services having exclusive deals) which makes it inconvenient as you'd need multiple subscriptions...
      Media is often available only on certain devices, which you may not have or be able to easily obtain.
      Media availability often varies in different locations, with artificial barriers making it more difficult for you to buy it from an area where it's more readily available. There are various shows and movies i would like to watch but my choices are either flying halfway across the world or pirating.
      I may want to do something which is perfectly legal with the media, but which is made difficult by whatever ridiculous drm scheme they're using.

      The media companies add all those hoops themselves, the pirate version is often easier. And you're right, the more hoops the media companies keep adding the more people will choose to pirate instead.

      --
      http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
    9. Re:Know your demographic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  18. Million dollar question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why did they do this? What reason could they have to open themselves up to all the potential legal issues here? For example i would consider this a violation of their SLA and cancel their service if i peered with them.

  19. Oh look, Cogent is leaving tier 1 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If you can't reach the entire internet through Cogent anymore, then they're no longer a tier 1 carrier. Level 3 must be delighted.

  20. CloudFlare assisting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is interesting is that CloudFlare has so many BitTorrent related sites on these same IPs. It appears they have done this on purpose to make complying with various nations blocking orders easier, and less likely to result in CloudFlare itself being blocked.

    Cogent may be doing this because they needed to comply in some jurisdiction, but do not have their network segmented in a way to affect only that jurisdiction. There is then the problem that CloudFlare announces their IP ranges all over the world, as part of their CDN/anti-DDoS features.

  21. Obviously weren't around in the 1990s. Did more by raymorris · · Score: 3, Informative

    The backbones used to null-route and de-peer far more often. Frequently it was around spam. When one ISP had too much spam coming from their network, other backbones would cut them off.

    Cogent themselves didn't route Telia traffic for several weeks in 1999. (Telia is one of the world's largest ISPs).

    This stuff happened often enough at a MUCH larger scale than Pirate Bay, and the internet not only survived, it's even grown a bit since then.

    1. Re:Obviously weren't around in the 1990s. Did more by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      This stuff happened often enough at a MUCH larger scale than Pirate Bay, and the internet not only survived, it's even grown a bit since then.

      Doing it temporarily to preserve the quality of a network is a different beast from doing it on purpose most likely at the request of a third party and in a way that doesn't hand the traffic off to another party who may not have any legal issue accessing that location.

    2. Re:Obviously weren't around in the 1990s. Did more by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 0

      Spam is just nuisance, and therefore noise. Eliminating it in the broader sense gives you better signal-to-noise, which is always good. And, it's one thing to do it to preserve the network itself, which it sounds like this was, but it's a whole other thing to do it just because you disagree with the content being delivered.

  22. So ... go back to two years ago? by raymorris · · Score: 1

    > Cogent should loose its common carrier status

    So go back to two years ago? Internet carriers were classified as common carriers on February 26th, 2015.

    The companies vigorously fought that decision. Common carrier regulation isn't something you "loose" (or lose), it's something inflicted upon a company. Companies don't like being classified as common carriers.

    > loose its common carrier status ... Let them be liable for all copyright infringement they happen to route.

    Oh I see, you think common carrier classification has something to do with their copyright safe harbor. The copyright safe harbor in under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998, which says they are not liable for user's infringement if the carrier follows certain procedures in handling complaints.

    if you have an interest in this topic, I'd certainly recommend doing some reading about it. It's an interesting topic and with just an hour or so of reading you get some understanding - at least enough to know the vocabulary so you can post on Slashdot without saying the exact opposite of what you intended to say.

    1. Re:So ... go back to two years ago? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This isn't reddit. We have

      quote

      tags here.

  23. Doesn't affect me nut ... by CaptainDork · · Score: 1

    ... when I posted a successful tracert in Facebook, the post had a warning at the bottom:

    Direct IP Address Not Allowed | CloudFare
    You've requested an IP address that is part of the CloudFlare network. A valid Host header must be supplied to reach the desired website.

    If I post "https://thepiratebay.org/" in Facebook, the link survives and Facebook provides the usual thumbnail and stuff.

    I posted some random (and valid) direct IP addresses and the link simply posted without comment.

    Maybe Facebook is at CloudFlare?

    --
    It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
  24. Breach of contract? Tortious interference? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Isn't this a breach of contract with their peers?

    Even if it's not, it has the appearance of tortious interference between customers who want ot access TPB and thier own ISPs, not to mention between TPB and its ISP.

    Absent a court order or similar government order, I can't see how this is legal.

    Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and I don't play one on TV.

  25. .onion will fix that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ThePirateBay's .onion routing solves this. You can't selectively block IP addresses if you don't know the IP addresses.

  26. Not affecting us? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Snipped the first few hops before we route through Cogent - but, doesn't seem blocked for us. Going right through their network...

    4 te0-0-2-0.nr11.b049629-0.aus02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.24.24.162) 1.314 ms 1.335 ms 1.203 ms
      5 te0-0-2-0.nr11.b005733-0.aus02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.24.49.82) 1.333 ms 1.337 ms 1.144 ms
      6 te0-0-1-1.rcr12.aus02.atlas.cogentco.com (154.24.14.25) 1.241 ms 1.262 ms 1.542 ms
      7 be2874.ccr22.iah01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.6.53) 4.489 ms 4.461 ms 4.386 ms
      8 be2443.ccr22.dfw01.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.44.230) 9.341 ms 9.463 ms 9.455 ms
      9 be2764.ccr41.dfw03.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.47.214) 9.590 ms 9.846 ms 9.347 ms
    10 tata.dfw03.atlas.cogentco.com (154.54.12.106) 9.351 ms 9.261 ms 9.287 ms
    11 66.110.56.158 (66.110.56.158) 24.589 ms 9.115 ms 9.226 ms
    12 104.31.18.31 (104.31.18.31) 9.136 ms 9.115 ms 9.762 ms

    1. Re:Not affecting us? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was mistaken and copied the wrong IP Address. Totally blocked through Cogent.

      traceroute to 104.31.19.30 (104.31.19.30), 64 hops max, 52 byte packets
      [Snip]
        4 * * *
        5 * * *

  27. BOOO Cogent. Not Cool. BOOOOOO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    LMAO. This coming from the same company that only a few years ago was desperate for Tier II ISPs to be reclassified to preserve an 'open internet'.

    http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cogent-offers-to-pay-capital-costs-incurred-by-major-telephone-and-cable-companies-necessary-to-ensure-adequate-capacity-251454731.html

  28. Make it worth their while to be nicer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Every time they do a dick move like this, increase your network usage to more than it was before. Script it on all the servers you admin and all the friends you help. Download and serve / torrent every popular Linux DVD. Wget -r all their web sites. Run network bandwidth tests constantly. Have youtube running in HD in the other room even when not watching / listening. They block some of that? Find other ways to waste data and bandwidth up to your cap. Script it all up to make sure it stays that way _and is encrypted_.

    When they do something RIGHT, like move copyrights back to reasonable levels (and stop jacking them up each time the previous law threatens to let something out), ensure internet neutrality, stop spying on backbones, etc. then you can reduce your wastage.

  29. Time to route outside the US by zedaroca · · Score: 1

    The Internet needs a way to select preferred routes that avoid trouble states/companies. Yes, the US and China are the trouble states.

  30. Working fine here in Thailand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No problems with TPB here.

  31. Re:The internet was our last, best hope for the sh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's a shari?

  32. Agreed & I did something about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Prevention = best medicine (& what you can't touch can't hurt you) via NEW APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-7 32/64-bit https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22APK+Hosts+File+Engine%22+and+%22start64%22&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1/

    Ads & malware rob speed/security/privacy

    Hosts add speed (via hardcodes/adblocks), security (vs. bad sites/malware/poisoned dns), reliability (vs. dns down), & anonymity (vs. dns requestlogs/trackers).

    Less power/cpu/ram + IO use vs. DNS/routers/addons/antivirus + less security bugs/complexity & faster vs. addons/routers/remote dns!

    Avoids DNSChangers in routers/IP settings & dns redirects (99.999% of ISP DNS != patched vs. it) + lightens DNS load & resolves faster from local system RAM!

    * Via what you NATIVELY have built into the TCP/IP stack in FASTER kernelmode!

    APK

    P.S. - Safe https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/e01211ca36aa02e923f20adee0a3c4f5d5187dc65bdf1c997b3da3c2b0745425/analysis/1433430542/

    1. Re: Agreed & I did something about it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or just use Pi-Hole and fix your entire network in one go with an even better UI.

  33. Central point of fail & far more... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I just went thru a debate w/ EvilSS on this & proved router/firewalls are a central point of fail that resolve FAR slowerexternal DNS does for them!

    Routers = Full of security bugs like Kaminsky redirect poisoning &99++ of ISP dns != patched vs. it & DNSChangers.

    (Routers 1st vector thru their blocklists & THEN do a roundtrip resolution to whatever DNS you point 'em @ & have firewall software layered drivers overheads hosts do NOT have (hosts are part of the IP stack itself, not a filtering layered driver after it)).

    It's far slower on resolution vs. hosts in kernelmode resolving from local SYSTEM RAM.

    You take that router out or exploit it & it's all she wrote & they have TONS of holes https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=9995967&cid=53488785/ from that VERY PARTIAL LIST!

    APK

    P.S.=> Migrating hosts to ALL PC & Server endpoints is cake for a domainwide admin via llogon/startup scripts, timed chronjob/windows scheduled tasks etc. ... apk

  34. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yeah I saw that thread and EvilSS was totally right.

    If my router fails then it's not just DNS I have to worry about so a moot point about single point of failure.

    I've tried copying hosts from my Pi-Hole box to my local machine and there is absolutely no discernible performance difference between that and having it resolve on its own box, either subjectively through using the machine or using the browser dev tools to measure load times.

    It's true hosts files are in theory faster due to them being pretty close to the metal so to speak, but in reality the round trip time on my LAN adds a few milliseconds at most for each lookup, after which time the OS caches the result for a while anyway making it even faster than a massive hosts file due to the need for a smaller lookup table in memory.

    So in reality a local host file doesn't actually provide any practical or noticeable (to the user) speed improvement, so doing it at the router is better. It all only takes 15 minutes to set up, and covers all platforms, so why would anyone ever actually bother with HFE?

    Captcha: oddity

  35. Why'd EvilSS agree w/ me IF he's "right" then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See the post before this one (where I thank him for his admission of defeat on MANY points vs. me) https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10172213&cid=53820595/

    APK

    P.S.=> Hosts are faster, lighter, native, no cost & no CENTRAL SINGLE POINT of failure that is slower + costs more $ & complexity above what you natively have in hosts... apk

    1. Re:Why'd EvilSS agree w/ me IF he's "right" then? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All I see is you trumping hollow success. Nobody disagrees that a local hosts file lookup is faster than resolving from an external DNS server, but that's not the point.

      What actually matters in the real world, and what you consistently fail to provide as an answer to him or anyone, is whether the speed difference is actually of any practical benefit whatsoever.

      I'll start: it takes less than 3ms for my computer to resolve names from my LAN DNS, and that's using WiFi (higher latency than Ethernet). That's 100 times faster than a human can blink (typically 300-400ms). After that my OS caches it anyway.

      So tell me what actual and noticeable speed benefit I will experience using a local hosts file instead of having my router do the same work instead? Remembering that the router will do it for everything, not just Windows which is a minority OS on my LAN.

  36. What matters is hosts is faster & lower cost by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    EvilBS said there's NOTHING his router can't do hosts can? BS & proof https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10172213&cid=53828857/ &

    My success w/ my program = more than an UNIDENTIFIABLE troll in yourself has & /.ers disagree #1 https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10172213&cid=53775597/ & #2 https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10172213&cid=53775689/ by dozens w/ Malwarebytes (highly esteemed) both HOSTING/RECOMMENDING my work (many 1,000's worldwide like it like quoted /.ers do).

    APK

    P.S.=> You're slower not resolving from LOCAL system RAM hopping to router over a LAN/WAN, vectoring a huge blocklist 1st & on resolution fail a remote DNS roundtrips on resolution (w/ a layered filtering driver overhead in firewallware on router hosts doesn't (part of the IP stack)) & more moving parts complexity for exploit (tons https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=9995967&cid=53488785/ ) + costs of router + powerbills going UP running it... apk

  37. Re: What matters is hosts is faster & lower co by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My DNS server cost $35, took 15 mins to set up and draws less power running than most appliances do on standby. It contains it's own hosts file - a single one that covers my entire LAN (any platform) thats easily managed (and monitored!) by a slick UI, and it responds to name lookups over 100 times faster than I can blink.

    Once again, explain in real numbers what actual real and *measurable* benefit I will see by using your tool over this setup.

  38. Only an idiot would access torrent sites directly by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone that knows their shit connects to a VPN in another country combined with a proxy server so the request never originates domestically.

  39. Hosts are cheaper & faster no matter what by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See my subject? It's fact. No amount of bs from you changes it. Hosts are cheaper & faster!

    APK

    P.S.=> That is truly that & you know it - thanks for admitting it... apk

    1. Re: Hosts are cheaper & faster no matter what by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody doubts it's faster, but what you consistently fail to do to me and others is explain what noticeable benefit such an incremental speed boost actually provides. So we all call you out on it and still we wait.

      I think you are still stuck in the 1990s where most folks had one computer running only Windows. Your product would have been useful then. Unfortunately for you the world moved on long ago.

  40. Why? You admit hosts are faster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See my subject: The times I provide would vary due to DNS loads & network congestion but hosts ARE faster no matter what variance occurs.

    APK

    P.S.=> Do what you like, including being less efficient & slower with higher costs - it's YOUR "illogic logic" life, not mine (mine's logical using hosts over other "so-called 'solutions'" (or combined w/ them for layered security defense in depth) that are slower, riddled w/ security issues (that includes routers https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=9995967&cid=53488785/ , antivirus & DNS))

    1. Re: Why? You admit hosts are faster by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There we go - avoiding the question with 'it varies'. Manging DNS filtering for all my devices from one place is *more* efficient and it takes so little effort to look after, and only adds at most a couple of ms per lookup before the OS efficiently caches it anyway. There is no variance in speed as it's loaded from a static list on the DNS filter.

      Using your method I'd have the hassle of keeping a Windows box running (much more burden and power draw than an RPi), then jailbreak all my mobile devices, reducing their security, then write a complex set of scripts to sync the hosts files on all my kit from the Windows box running your app.

      If that's a better option to you then you really are completely delusional. But I think we already established that long ago. :)

  41. I avoid nothing: I stated facts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See my subject: DNS traffic & network congestion make it vary (worse 4 you vs. hosts locally in fact) + u admit hosts = faster.

    APK

    P.S.=> FACT: Depending on DNS solely = a FOOL's game: DNS is LOADED w/ security & inefficiency issues galore (by the 100's & only a SMALL PARTIAL LIST I put out here as proof of that over time) https://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=9007355&threshold=-1&commentsort=0&mode=thread&pid=51969075/ ) & thus, DNS is a CENTRAL SINGLE POINT OF FAIL/EXPLOIT/BREAKDOWN as well as excessive complexity, inefficiency & security issue galore vs. hosts files (easily migrated to PC/Server endpoints by admin scripts manually, logon/startup scripts, or scheduled tasks/chronjobs) as proven in the link... apk

    1. Re: I avoid nothing: I stated facts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But it still is a hosts file, I've just moved it to the edge of my network instead of managing it per device. Sure clients use DNS to look it up, but it's consistently fast because requests resolved via the hosts file never get forwarded.

      So we are all doing the same thing, just using a central point for the hosts file instead of manging it per host, which can't be easily done using your app because not everything runs Windows.

      Plus we get an even better GUI, monitoring and graphs of requests that have been made, daily automatic patches and updates, and we are doing it on a device that in most cases would still exist otherwise. Efficient and elegant.

      I can't believe you don't understand this concept that myself and countless others have explained to you. Read up on dnsmasq some time.

      It wouldn't be the first time I've seen someone smart get completely crushed by the weight of their own ego. I sort of even feel sorry for you.

  42. Not same: U = eggshell security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    U admit hosts = faster/more efficient & less costly via what's native vs. illogically less efficient, does less & uses more complexity/resources "Bolting on 'MoAr'" !

    As a network admin domainwide & software engineer I migrate hosts to pc/server endpoints for "layered-security"/"defense-in-depth" via chronjobs/windows scheduled tasks + startup/logon scripts.

    * U miss security DOWN TO ENDPOINTS via a SINGLE CENTRAL POINTS OF FAIL 'eggshell perimeter security' apparently.

    APK

    P.S.=> Others speak for me: Malwarebytes (highly esteemed) hosts/recommends me & VERIFIED CODE = SAFE w/ 57++ antivirus programs https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/e01211ca36aa02e923f20adee0a3c4f5d5187dc65bdf1c997b3da3c2b0745425/analysis/1433430542/ ) & 8 security experts say hosts = good security https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10221475&cid=53831639/ & /.ers like/use my ware per https://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10205115&cid=53815959/ ... apk

    1. Re: Not same: U = eggshell security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh I have plenty of other security mitigations in place, but we are only discussing methods for DNS filtering here.

      As a network/sysadmin, how do you provide DNS filtering to the non-Windows hosts with your tool? Like Macs, iOS, Android, any other *nix, plus network-connected embedded systems and appliances? You consistently fail to answer that question.

      For me it's all covered, and any new or guest devices on the network are covered without having to lay a finger on them.

    2. Re: Not same: U = eggshell security by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And yes I admit a local hosts file is a *millisecond* faster, but it's not less costly because time has value, and your tool would cost me a lot of that. Remember, I spent 15 minutes total getting set up. I never have to touch it again no matter what devices come and go (but it's damn easy to monitor is status and every request that that got filtered via a pretty GUI if I want to). And it updates and patches itself so I don't have to.

  43. Yes, local hosts in local PC ram = fastest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: Glad u admit it. My prog gets hosts best protection (vs. malware) + speed (hardcodes + adblocking) 2 ways - worth 5 minutes of time.

    * You're not updating your hosts file & it sounds like you don't w/ you saying "I never have to touch it again no matter what"?

    Do so!

    (Or protective data gets stale & hardcoded favs may change IP addresses)

    Lastly A router costs MONEY for it & higher bills in power that hosts don't!

    APK

    P.S.=> Nothing updates hosts better vs. APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-7 32/64-bit https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22APK+Hosts+File+Engine%22+and+%22start64%22&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1/ ... apk

    1. Re:Yes, local hosts in local PC ram = fastest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I never have to touch it because it updates itself from the latest blacklist sources every day. You aren't the only one compiling DNS filter lists. Plus I get a nice interface to tell me what it has blocked, to which network hosts and when - handy for troubleshooting should the need arise. So I spend 15 minutes setting up and that's it. Like I said, this whole thing is completely lost on you.

      And yes, routers draw power (a trivial 5W), but without them I don't get on the internet in the first place so there's effectively extra draw. Even if that weren't the case, having a 5W device running all the time costs very little, and is worth much less to me than my time pissing around with hosts files each day. Once again, it's all completely lost on you.

  44. Easily & this IS how by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A "speedup favorites" tab in my prog does DNS resolution LOCALLY (why it's better vs. hostsman).

    It reverse dns resolves favs I spend MOST TIME ONLINE @ (~96++%) placing 'em @ TOP of hosts cached 4 fastest possible resolves!

    (I miss a lookup OpenDNS to rescue sub 4% of time! It filters vs. threats & proofed vs. kaminsky redirect & 99++% of ISP dns aren't).

    ~6 MINUTES to intake, process & output hosts w/ imported blocking data sorted & deduplicated on Intel Core I7 4790k 8gb DDR-4 RAM via APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-7 32/64-bit https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22APK+Hosts+File+Engine%22+and+%22start64%22&btnG=Google+Search&gbv=1/

    ADB droid via PULL & SSH a "GodMode' iPhone can (rooted).

    APK

    P.S.=> Spending $ 4 "Bolt on 'MoAr'" != smart - FREE hosts do it FASTER (u admit it https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10230847&cid=53870803/ ) & CO$T 0... apk

    1. Re:Easily & this IS how by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you seriously suggesting I root the mobile devices? That is a serious security vulnerability - talk about robbing Peter to pay Paul! I'm not compromising security like that, so my way gets the benefit of your system (blacklisting ad//malware servers) without any other compromises. Layered security. Imagine that!

      Spending $35 and spending less time managing my kit is much smarter compared to all the hoops you must jump though. I can't believe people pay you for advice lol. I think we are done here - I'm not getting any of this time back wasted here.

      Oh, plus a few lines of shell script (awk, sort, uniq) will happily normalise a text file that large in similar time. Just sayin...

  45. U show another way ur slower now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    U 1st go thru ur DNS filter blocklist THEN u check other sites on a resolve miss (DNS router points @ does it not hosts).

    After all - You called it a DNS filter list.

    So then obviously It's DNS doing it then so just like EvilSS you're slower there too (hosts do resolves immediately where I spend most time online, from the TOP of host file content, cached in local system memory).

    Your powerbill is higher & so is spending on the router @ all period. Hosts = 100% free.

    APK

    P.S.=> I have a REALLY nice interface that I built myself (did you make yours) for hosts that let's me do ANYTHING to the data in them easily... apk

    1. Re: U show another way ur slower now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No I didn't design the interface, that's completely beside the point. FWiW it's miles better than yours though: https://i0.wp.com/pi-hole.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/dashboard212.png

  46. Keep spending ur $ & going slower, lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See my subject: I do it better, FREE & FASTER (why which you don't deny https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10230847&cid=53872161/ & even ADMITTED, no less)

    I've seen fools TRY to do what I do in my program (good luck on false positives filters too) & FAIL badly on /. MANY times, here's an example thereof

    http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=2265388&cid=36604424

    * That was only SOME of them too, lol - there were MANY more & it's not what folks use which is GUI. You fail again.

    Lastly: I never suggested you do it, just that it's doable on phones since you asked about how it'd be done. Many people do!

    APK

    P.S.=> Keep spending YOUR "$" going slower while I do it all for FREE + FASTER & built it MYSELF (many people happen to like & use MY WORK too)... apk

  47. When YOU yourself manage to... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See my subject: Design a BETTER program (which the likes of highly esteemed malwarebytes hosts & recommends) & when you stop going SLOWER than I do (which you admit you do https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10230847&cid=53857911/ ) SPENDING YOUR "$" TO GO SLOWER than I do?? Then, talk.

    * Until then, STFU please - All you ARE, is talk & "illogic logic" going slower, costing yourself money in routers + power to run them!

    I use what I have natively doing FAR more for FAR less vs. other "so-called 'solutions'", even custom hardware ones, via a tool of MY OWN creation... & users like + use it here + 1,000's worldwide too!

    APK

    P.S.=> Going to quote Linus Torvalds on this to you "Shut up and get the work done" â" says Linus Torvalds (I do, & "the likes of you" UNIDENTIFIABLE TROLLING WORM, don't) http://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/15/think_different_shut_up_and_work_harder_says_linus_torvalds/ ... apk

    1. Re:When YOU yourself manage to... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't need to design a better program - why should I when others already exist like the example I showed? That would be a wast of my time. I think you are forgetting I'm an end user, you know, the type of folk you are trying to pitch your wares to. I'm simply comparing two of many offerings (Pi-Hole versus HFE) that are available to me. Pi-Hole is a better option for me - yours might have been 15 years ago. And the authors of software like Pi-Hole spend their energy constructively by both building upon and contributing to a wider community, rather than waste time ego-tripping, promoting outdated shareware and insulting their target audience. Not very good at this are you?

  48. When u stop going slower & spend $ to do so? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See my subject: Then talk. U admit you're slower & can't resolve as fast + spent money to go slower to top it off!

    * Illogic logic abounds...

    APK

    P.S.=> At least I have an EGO to trip out on based on a great creation that gets GREAT REVIEWS like https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10255867&cid=53886247/ & https://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10255867&cid=53886281/ from our /. peers + the BEST ANTIMALWARE ON THE PLANET both HOSTS & RECOMMENDS MY WORK too - you can't get the better of me technically either so why try? As I said, w/ you? "ILLOGIC-LOGIC" abounds (lol)... apk