Banned from the board - VPN usage?

[Cugel]

Use of this forum is a privilege and certainly not a right. If the moderation and admin team need to introduce particular measures to keep this place ‘safe’ then so be it - either comply or cease using this place. Unfortunately there always has been and always will be dishonest and disruptive people, such people have no place here.

We’re fortunate with the moderation and admin team here and we should support them in constructive ways.

Agreed - but moderation itself requires moderation, as no moderator is omniscient concerning every operation, condition, procedure and protection of a forum. The only way to do this effectively is for moderators to be questioned or tested in some circumstances, with a willingness to learn lessons as well as to resist malign intents.

Given the relatively low instance of complaints about moderation here, it does seem that the mods take notice and then amend or reinforce their moderation rule schemas and responses. But they are humans, after all.

[axel_knutt]

no moderator is omniscient

They are over on CycleChat. Questioning them is verboten.

[richardfm]

no moderator is omniscient

They are over on CycleChat. Questioning them is verboten.

The same on a caravanning forum I'm on. They issue warnings and bans if you dare to question them.

[Bice]

It is not a blanket ban. Only VPN servers that are used by those attempting to post spam etc. are blocked: they are banned on a reactive and targeted basis. Today there have been two attempts using VPNs to post spam on the forum, and consequently they have been blocked.

I think it is most unwise to access the internet without a VPN, and Cycling UK forum should not be telling people to switch them off and use their own, identifiable IP address instead:

viewtopic.php?t=163662

Were a commercial organisation to do so, it would almost certainly result in action by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

I use my VPN (Mozilla / Firefox) to access the internet to pay bills, make purchases, bank accounts, investments, tax returns etc ... but I cannot make a comment on Cycling UK Forum - or even view the site - using a VPN.

This is not consistent, thankfully.

So I was "permanently banned etc" a few minutes ago, swapped the VPN to Paris and back to London and now have access (via Chrome not Firefox) and can log in and make a comment.

I am astonished that targetting VPNs is the approach here, or blocking IPs that are obviously used by legitimate users (millions of people use the VPN of Mozilla, a charity, and it is my way of contributing to this organisation that campaigns for a non-nobbled, free expression internet).

I run three websites with WordPress, with well used comment sections, and the spam filters are very effective. Only very occasionally does someone make contact because their comment has not been published. It is usually because of email address formulation or content (usually links), and never because of a VPN.

(I have blocked and moderate about a dozen IP addresses, but they do belong to specific people - unfortunately, they have a habit of making malicious or defamatory comments about people or organisations in the public policy sector that I am engaged with.)

No one, of course, should think that their comments on the internet are anonymous, and courts have repeatedly issued "Norwich pharmacal orders" to indentify IP addresses of allegedly malicious commentors.

This law firm offers an explanation: https://www.mills-reeve.com/publication ... orders-go/

I do not wish to leave a trail of my home IP address around the internet, and certainly do not want it known by some commercial practitioners in the sector I am engaged in.

I think Cycling UK Forum needs to think this through.

[admin]

It is not a blanket ban. Only VPN servers that are used by those attempting to post spam etc. are blocked: they are banned on a reactive and targeted basis. Today there have been two attempts using VPNs to post spam on the forum, and consequently they have been blocked.

I think it is most unwise to access the internet without a VPN, and Cycling UK forum should not be telling people to switch them off and use their own, identifiable IP address instead:

viewtopic.php?t=163662

That's not quite what the Forum is doing. We're blocking IP addresses of VPNs that have been recorded as being sources of spam, in order to reduce the workload on our volunteer moderators. Just as we block non-VPN spammer IPs. We're not blanket banning the use of VPNs (or TOR, for that matter).

The advice for people who are blocked is to either switch off their VPN to make a comment here or use the contact form to let us know (people could also use a different VPN, a TOR browser, or just reconnect to get a new VPN exit IP address, but those are more complicated to explain).

In any case, Forum usernames and their email addresses, and what people post, are much more useful for identifying individual people (should anyone want to) than IP addresses are. VPNs don't protect those identifiers.

Were a commercial organisation to do so, it would almost certainly result in action by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

What makes you think that (genuine question)?

I use my VPN (Mozilla / Firefox) to access the internet to pay bills, make purchases, bank accounts, investments, tax returns etc ... but I cannot make a comment on Cycling UK Forum - or even view the site - using a VPN.

That's not quite correct, as you've noticed. We're not banning "VPNs", we're blocking some IP addresses that have consistently been used to spam the Forum, some of which happen to be VPN exit points.

I am astonished that targetting VPNs is the approach here, or blocking IPs that are obviously used by legitimate users (millions of people use the VPN of Mozilla, a charity, and it is my way of contributing to this organisation that campaigns for a non-nobbled, free expression internet).

Unfortunately blocking IP addresses is a blunt tool, and sometimes genuine Forum visitors get blocked because they happen to be using an IP address that has been used by spammers in the past.

I run three websites with WordPress, with well used comment sections, and the spam filters are very effective.

This Forum also has excellent spam protection, but perhaps a slightly larger number of visitors?

(I have blocked and moderate about a dozen IP addresses, but they do belong to specific people - unfortunately, they have a habit of making malicious or defamatory comments about people or organisations in the public policy sector that I am engaged with.)

This is exactly what the Forum does. Unfortunately IP addresses don't identify people, they identify computers. So sometimes the wrong people get blocked.

I think Cycling UK Forum needs to think this through.

We do, all the time! Spam fighting is an ongoing battle.

Sadly there is no simple answer: it's a balancing act between protecting the Forum and its members from unwanted content, and occasionally blocking bona-fide visitors. [Aside: The availability of AI-generated highly-plausible-but-fake comments is not helping... ]

[Sweep]

As a recent beginner in the world of VPNs have only just discovered this "oddity". No great problem to switch VPN off (only use intermittently anyway) when accessing this nice place.
Thanks mods.

[Morzedec]

All rather beyond me, I'm afraid - too old, probably, to understand a word.

I've asked for a new pencil sharpener in my Christmas Wishlist, so here's hoping .....

Happy Days.

[axel_knutt]

As a recent beginner in the world of VPNs have only just discovered this "oddity".

Thus far, I've had:

CTC forum 'ban'.
Login blocked on my router set up page
Laptop system clock in the wrong time zone
Tesco account refused a change of email address
Lloyds banking login refused, followed shortly after by:
A letter from Lloyds asking me to complete a tax form declaring that I'm not banking offshore

Fun, VPNs, aren't they.

No great problem to switch VPN off

After which, it just stays off.

[Sweep]

As a recent beginner in the world of VPNs have only just discovered this "oddity".

Thus far, I've had:

CTC forum 'ban'.
Login blocked on my router set up page
Laptop system clock in the wrong time zone
Tesco account refused a change of email address
Lloyds banking login refused, followed shortly after by:
A letter from Lloyds asking me to complete a tax form declaring that I'm not banking offshore

Fun, VPNs, aren't they.

No great problem to switch VPN off

After which, it just stays off.

you can pause NordVPN - after which it comes back on automatically.

Had to do this to reply to you after i got an email notification of your post.

[axel_knutt]

you can pause NordVPN - after which it comes back on automatically.

What I meant is that I leave it off. It's a PITA tearing your hair out trying to find out why something doesn't work, then discovering it's just the damned VPN.