What to do about Asian signups

[Muttle.com]

As you can probably tell from my username, I run Muttle.com, a service that allows webmasters to start their own freehost under their domain. What this means is that I effectively have lots of freehosts to help manage. Of course I have to deal with abuse, when it started off there wasn't an upload limit or anything to combat warez, mp3's, and other file distribution. After a few problems, security has tightened.

That's taken care of most of the serious problems, though some incidents still popup all the time. The interesting thing is, 95% of all problems tend to come from Asian webmasters, and of course the Asian surfers that download the content and slow the service down for others, as the "problems" I'm referring to are file distribution and other activity that doesn't produce any money to keep the service up.

Even if a legitimate site is made, most of the time it's in another language than English. It's not bad enough that advertisers don't want to advertise on non-English sites, but they don't pay for the traffic any of these sites bring. It's not as bad now, as I don't run a lot of advertising on Muttle, all of it is mostly going towards self-promotion to help the service grow, but when I have to target to a group that for the most part doesn't have too many credit cards or spare money to buy from advertisers, I'm going to be losing money.

I know there are some legitimate Asian webmasters that make English sites that have true content, but it seems these are few and far between. For that reason alone though, I hesitate to block signups from them all.

The freehosts in my network are essentially a partnership between me and the freehost. We both have incentives to help the other to succeed. It's a symbiotic relationship, so with this in mind I pose the question to the webmasters:

What do I do with Asian signups and traffic?

[the elf]

Originally posted by Muttle.com
As you can probably tell from my username, I run Muttle.com, a service that allows webmasters to start their own freehost under their domain. What this means is that I effectively have lots of freehosts to help manage. Of course I have to deal with abuse, when it started off there wasn't an upload limit or anything to combat warez, mp3's, and other file distribution. After a few problems, security has tightened.

That's taken care of most of the serious problems, though some incidents still popup all the time. The interesting thing is, 95% of all problems tend to come from Asian webmasters, and of course the Asian surfers that download the content and slow the service down for others, as the "problems" I'm referring to are file distribution and other activity that doesn't produce any money to keep the service up.

Even if a legitimate site is made, most of the time it's in another language than English. It's not bad enough that advertisers don't want to advertise on non-English sites, but they don't pay for the traffic any of these sites bring. It's not as bad now, as I don't run a lot of advertising on Muttle, all of it is mostly going towards self-promotion to help the service grow, but when I have to target to a group that for the most part doesn't have too many credit cards or spare money to buy from advertisers, I'm going to be losing money.

I know there are some legitimate Asian webmasters that make English sites that have true content, but it seems these are few and far between. For that reason alone though, I hesitate to block signups from them all.

The freehosts in my network are essentially a partnership between me and the freehost. We both have incentives to help the other to succeed. It's a symbiotic relationship, so with this in mind I pose the question to the webmasters:

What do I do with Asian signups and traffic?

Personally, I plan (by Monday morning I hope) to have all new signups filtered. I’ve just had it with all the people that can’t read and have no respect for any sort of terms. My terms are very simple, English sites only and no storage of files (plus all the other stuff every host covers). Even if nobody uses my service, I'll feel a lot better knowning I tried to do something. Out of the 35 or so users my little service has, only about 2 uploaded an *actual site* :), the rest are just "blanks" and a few non-English ones. :(

I guess the only want to fight fire is with fire. If they don’t want to follow the rules, and you have violation after violation. Just start banning access to the signup scripts. Start banning whole class C's, once you have enough class C's, then start with the B's etc. I would never ban “access” to the actual service, just the signup process. If the sites are large (the non-English ones), maybe have a "transfer limit" per month and list why you have such a limit.

[Muttle.com]

The thing is, I probably wouldn't have even considered deleting even the non-English sites if there weren't 50 fraudulent accounts for every legitimate non-English site. Those are only the blatantly abusive ones, because since I can't even read the other sites, I don't know if they are in some kind of violation also.

I could impose transfer limits on each account, but they tend to sign up for at least 5 accounts at a time, all with the same content. Would it be unethical to ban one fourth of the world from signing up because the small percentage of them that have encountered my site have tended to cause problems?

[the elf]

Originally posted by Muttle.com
The thing is, I probably wouldn't have even considered deleting even the non-English sites if there weren't 50 fraudulent accounts for every legitimate non-English site. Those are only the blatantly abusive ones, because since I can't even read the other sites, I don't know if they are in some kind of violation also.

I could impose transfer limits on each account, but they tend to sign up for at least 5 accounts at a time, all with the same content. Would it be unethical to ban one fourth of the world from signing up because the small percentage of them that have encountered my site have tended to cause problems?

It's not "unethical" to ban problem users. It's just sad that people that want to use the service can't because the abusers got there first. If your not willing to ban them, then you can't really do anything since most ISP's issue dynamic IP's. Any other form of protection (other then banning) can/will be cracked.

This is why a strict English only policy should be used. I'm sure you have some form of scanning software which looks for certain files (or the size of files etc), why not have an application do the same, however, look at a few random .html files and scan them for non-English text??

If the problem is sooo big with a co-brand, maybe drop that host?? Or tell the host "hey, what's up?".

Another solution would be to approve each host rather then the "auto signup". Make sure the hosts site is in English. And, if you need to, ban a block of IP's only for that host. If your not getting paid for the traffic, you can't pay for the traffic, so really.. there is no need for the traffic on your network (unless your rich and like to lose money :mad: )

You could also offer a "un-branded" co-brand solution, so the problem users have no idea who the host is. Right now, I guess you do the 50/50 ad setup, 50% you (your banner) and %50 the hosts banner. If you were to remove your banner, and use an actual banner (even a valueclick or whatever), people (the abusers) won't know where to go again. So the bad people can't go to uni.cc or dhs.org and get a free domain, signup with your service as a host, and then again as a user and start the whole process over again.

[Canuckkev]

Yea, I think I'll stop using your cobrand service. It's not the service, it's the abuse. I think out of about 200 sites now, 1, ONE, has followed my TOS.

It's pathetic. Maybe add part of the signup so only english speaking people will be able to sign up.

Something simple, like "A poplar is a kind of:" and the user has to fill in "tree". Hehe, it's sad, but it's needed. Have a small list of questions like that.

[Muttle.com]

I remember on this board people posting how to beat a questionnaire that 99% of the people here can't read :).

So the concensus seems to be: ban blocks of possible problem IPs as a help to both me as well as my hosts?

I think I'll ban by country, anyone care to post the countries they think are most problematic other than China?

[conkermaniac]

My opinion is that you should ban sign-ups from China (but not visitors) unless they are willing to e-mail you with why they want your hosting (in which case, most won't, considering that most can't write in decent English, not to mention that they can't make up a legitimate reason for why they would need to host files). I live in China, and though I hate this policy, I can accept it. I understand all the abuse that comes from here, and it flat out sucks! But most Chinese people are smart enough to use proxies. You're not going to stop abuse by blocking IPs.


Something simple, like "A poplar is a kind of:" and the user has to fill in "tree". Hehe, it's sad, but it's needed. Have a small list of questions like that.

An even sadder fact: many Americans don't know that. And plus, a trip to Google should do the trick. :confused2

[conkermaniac]

Oh...and this is really important, so I made a new post.

I recommend that you disallow ALL non-English sites, unless they are willing to provide a 100% translated English version of their site.. Not just Asian, but all French/Spanish/German/Dutch/Arabic/Russian/etc. sites.

[doofynz]

I like that idea it is good and muttle when will domain hosting be avaliable

[conkermaniac]

Originally posted by doofynz
I like that idea it is good and muttle when will domain hosting be avaliable

Which idea do you think is good? :)

[the elf]

Originally posted by conkermaniac
My opinion is that you should ban sign-ups from China (but not visitors) unless they are willing to e-mail you with why they want your hosting (in which case, most won't, considering that most can't write in decent English, not to mention that they can't make up a legitimate reason for why they would need to host files). I live in China, and though I hate this policy, I can accept it. I understand all the abuse that comes from here, and it flat out sucks! But most Chinese people are smart enough to use proxies. You're not going to stop abuse by blocking IPs.



An even sadder fact: many Americans don't know that. And plus, a trip to Google should do the trick. :confused2

Sure he/we can! Just keep a list of IP addresses people used to signup with. When there is lots of abuse coming from the same IP, block it too. You won't get blocked right away, but sooner or later your "proxy" will.

Now now, I think Canuckkev's post was more about making the users input English text then seeing how smart people are. And I bet the Americans could figure it out faster then a Asian user. If you can't input the text in English, you can't get an account.

Again, when they go to google, they'll still have to input the text to get "passed", so their right back to the start again. If they are able to enter the text, the host should also block non-English versions of browsers, small things like that.

I would keep a signup database of all new signups, and also set a "signup" cookie that lasts forever (or until deleted). I'd then use this to allow the user to process the signup as normal, however, the actual activation never gets done.

So, you can see.. A host could do the above, and lots more. Sure you can avoid it, but you can't avoid it forever. So don’t think because your going to use a proxy your going to bypass all the above. Even if the proxy is located next door, or in the states.

[conkermaniac]

Originally posted by the elf


Again, when they go to google, they'll still have to input the text to get "passed", so their right back to the start again. If they are able to enter the text, the host should also block non-English versions of browsers, small things like that.



What's so hard about inputting text? Chinese keyboards are the exact same as American ones, or so I think. They use a method of typing out the words using English letters according to the sound and the accent.

I still think that all non-English countries should be blocked. You can't just put the blame on China because no matter what, that's stereotyping and it's racist. Would it be fair if black people could not vote in the US anymore? Of course not! If you make a rule, make it apply to all situations.

[Muttle.com]

Originally posted by conkermaniac

I still think that all non-English countries should be blocked. You can't just put the blame on China because no matter what, that's stereotyping and it's racist. Would it be fair if black people could not vote in the US anymore? Of course not! If you make a rule, make it apply to all situations.

You're absolutely right, it's unfair to target one group of people while ignoring another. The reason this happens though is simply the sheer volume of residents of China opposed to other countries. I don't think anyone is going to hunt down every single non-English country. I know many countries already teach English as a second language, and many people are fluent speakers. I'm not sure if China falls into that category but that is something we'd all have to consider.

I don't like filtering by browser language simply because of the enormous amount of people able to speak multiple languages. I wouldn't mind using them to target specific countries, though, to say root out those using proxies.

[Muttle.com]

Originally posted by doofynz
I like that idea it is good and muttle when will domain hosting be avaliable

As soon as I connect the domain hosting up to the control panel so that I no longer have to sync databases.

<edit>For non techies: whenever I get it coded right</edit>

[conkermaniac]

Originally posted by Muttle.com


You're absolutely right, it's unfair to target one group of people while ignoring another. The reason this happens though is simply the sheer volume of residents of China opposed to other countries. I don't think anyone is going to hunt down every single non-English country. I know many countries already teach English as a second language, and many people are fluent speakers. I'm not sure if China falls into that category but that is something we'd all have to consider.

I don't like filtering by browser language simply because of the enormous amount of people able to speak multiple languages. I wouldn't mind using them to target specific countries, though, to say root out those using proxies.

If you block Chinese sign-ups, I am more than happy to comply with that. In fact, I recommend it, since I understand what you are going through. However, you shouldn't restrict Chinese people from accessing sites hosted on the Muttle server. There are many expats living here, and all of them can speak English, I can assure you. :biggrin2:

China does teach English as a second language, and yes, many people are already fluent speakers. However, most of them are going to get better jobs as a translator and not as webmasters of English sites. ;) Anyway, if you look up all the people from China on these boards, I think you'll find that the overall English ability isn't impressive (no offense, anyone). However, you'll also find that in many European countries, where English has become a second-language which the people speak well, even those people will be reluctant to build their site in English as opposed to their native language. :)

[Muttle.com]

Truly I had no intentions of blocking Chinese traffic. It's one thing to recieve an error upon signup of a free website. It's another thing to visit a site a friend sends you and not be able to see it because you are blocked. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to market to fluent English-speaking Chinese if they were on an English site. If they can read the content they can read the ads.

[Niklas]

i love muttle.com, i had a large community back a time, (wheni had my domain) but now i dont have it anymore... :p
Is there a possibility of offering the muttle.com services without a domain or a a redirection thing like --------?

[Matt8]

I know this is really off the subject but while we are speaking of muttle.com if someone can help me set up the service please email me at matt8 AT hotpop.com (replace at with @). I am just having problems with wild card and domain.

Anyway, I think that you should block asian signups unless an email is sent explaining why they want it. 2)Make sites be in english and 3)Make your co-brand owner MONITER sites. That might help less illegal crap showing up on free hosts.

[uglykid]

I need help with it too. If I signed up as something.com, when I make a testing account, which should be testing.something.com (something.com is just a substitution) , it displays a page 404 error. If I make a page called the_page.htm, how do I access it? Is it from testing.something.com/the_page.htm ?

Please help.

If you can help, please P.M. me, or email me!

[HostUltra]

Originally posted by Muttle.com
I think I'll ban by country, anyone care to post the countries they think are most problematic other than China?

this will ban most problem ip ranges
put it in a .htaccess
you need mod rewrite for it to work (its usually installed with apache)


RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^139\.175\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^168\.95\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^61\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^218\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^202\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^203\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^210\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^211\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.60\.132\.55$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.0\.[0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.0\.[1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.0\.1[0-1][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.0\.12[0-7]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.4[8-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.5[0-5]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.[7-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.1[0-1]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.2[3-4]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^211\.2[5-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^211\.31\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.[1-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.[1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.1[0-1][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.134.[0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.134.[1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.134.1[1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.134.2[1-4][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.134.25[0-1]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.[0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.10\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.20\.[0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.20\.[1-7][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.20\.8[0-1]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.21\.[8-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.21\.[1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.21\.[1-9][1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.22\.[0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.27\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.129\.6[4-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.129\.[7-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.129\.1[0-8][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.129\.19[0-1]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.161\.(.*)$
RewriteRule /*(.*) http://www.muttle.com/banned.html [NC,L,R]

[Muttle.com]

HostUltra: I already have the means to ban by IP. My problem is going to be the users who use proxies to bypass the system. Thank you for the code though, it may still be of use for a failsafe for my methods.

Does anyone know of lists of proxies to block? Would blocking proxies adversely affect other individuals who, for whatever reason, use a proxy?

uglykid: I have no idea why, but files with _ in them don't seem to come up. I'm working on it.

Matt8: If you don't mind, you could post your question here in case others have the same question.

niklasvh: I'll see if I can get ahold of some contacts with unused 3 character domains that I could possibly put to use as free subdomain providers.

[bobdoom]

one more thing since u are running cobranded service make sure the ip range dun affect ur cobranding users.... just a note

by the way ...who needs help in dns settings for muttle.com email me beyond AT postmaster.co.uk

[bobdoom]

Originally posted by HostUltra


this will ban most problem ip ranges
put it in a .htaccess
you need mod rewrite for it to work (its usually installed with apache)


RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^139\.175\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^168\.95\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^61\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^218\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^202\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^203\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^210\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^211\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.60\.132\.55$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.0\.[0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.0\.[1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.0\.1[0-1][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.0\.12[0-7]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.4[8-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.5[0-5]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.[7-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.1[0-1]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^210\.2[3-4]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^211\.2[5-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^211\.31\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.[1-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.[1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.1[0-1][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.134.[0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.134.[1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.134.1[1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.134.2[1-4][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^203\.134.25[0-1]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.[0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.10\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.20\.[0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.20\.[1-7][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.20\.8[0-1]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.21\.[8-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.21\.[1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.21\.[1-9][1-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.22\.[0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.27\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.129\.6[4-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.129\.[7-9][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.129\.1[0-8][0-9]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.129\.19[0-1]\.(.*)$
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^202\.161\.(.*)$
RewriteRule /*(.*) http://www.muttle.com/banned.html [NC,L,R]


i think u should take out singapore from ur banned list....bcos most netsurfers are english educated

[the elf]

Originally posted by bobdoom


i think u should take out singapore from ur banned list....bcos most netsurfers are english educated

If the IP is on the list, they did something bad and thus should not be removed. :D

We're not talking about people that can read English, we're talking about people that abuse.

[Muttle.com]

Originally posted by bobdoom
one more thing since u are running cobranded service make sure the ip range dun affect ur cobranding users.... just a note


Which users are you referring to? The ones making hosts, or the ones making sites?

HostUltra: I haven't had any problems with residents of Singapore, have you had serious issues with that area? I don't want to begin blindly banning countries if it was only a small issue.

I really need to put dns servers up to make the whole process simpler :).

[bobdoom]

Originally posted by Muttle.com


Which users are you referring to? The ones making hosts, or the ones making sites?

HostUltra: I haven't had any problems with residents of Singapore, have you had serious issues with that area? I don't want to begin blindly banning countries if it was only a small issue.

I really need to put dns servers up to make the whole process simpler :).

the ones making the host//// oh i fergot ....anyway i noe wat u can do....sorry... im kinda stupid...lololol

muttle.com i think there isn't a need for dns servers as most dotcoms are provided a dns server when they register for a domain name.....yup...

[Muttle.com]

The ones making the host would not be affected, as even if they make the host, they could only attract webmasters from other countries. That, and, a TOS breaking freehost is a lot easier to spot than hundreds of TOS breaking accounts under many different domains.

You'd be surprised how many people want to point their dns servers to my IP address. I think it'd just be easier to give an option.

[HostUltra]

ok let me explain better

RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^139\.175\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^168\.95\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^61\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^218\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^202\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^203\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^210\.(.*)$ [OR]
RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} ^211\.(.*)$

thats obvious what it does
bans all ips starting with 61. and 218. etc...
now all the other lines after that are EXCEPTIONS
so it only blocks asia and not other countries on those ip blocks


Muttle it is easy to block proxies without needing ips
simply use

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP:VIA} !^$
RewriteRule /*(.*) /no_proxy.html [NC,L]

[Muttle.com]

Originally posted by HostUltra
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP:VIA} !^$
RewriteRule /*(.*) /no_proxy.html [NC,L]

Now there's something I didn't know you could do :).

Would this affect other legitimate users?

[HostUltra]

Originally posted by Muttle.com


Now there's something I didn't know you could do :).

Would this affect other legitimate users?

it could because some isps use transparant proxies so it wouldnt allow that
but you could check if there is a value in HTTP:X_FORWARED_FOR to check if its a transparant proxy (you dont need to block those)