Use Project Honey Pot HTTP Blacklist for Spam Prevention

[thorfinn]

Title:
Use Project Honey Pot HTTP Blacklist for Spam Prevention

Area:
spam prevention

Summary:
Project Honey Pot at http://www.projecthoneypot.org/ has a Blacklist available for catching comment spammers, link harvesters, and the like by IP.

It could be used by DW to block and/or better identify spammers.

Description:
First refer to the contents of:

http://www.projecthoneypot.org/services_overview.php
http://www.projecthoneypot.org/faq.php

The HTTP Blacklist could be included for either or both of:

1. realtime use on the Dreamwidth servers
2. Informational use by the spam prevention team when they need to look up an IP address

In addition it could be possible for dreamwidth to help out project honeypot also.

Poll #5118 Use Project Honey Pot HTTP Blacklist for Spam Prevention

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 40

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
7 (17.5%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
1 (2.5%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
3 (7.5%)

(I have no opinion)
28 (70.0%)

(Other: please comment)
1 (2.5%)

Comments

[thorfinn]

*nod* I think including it for use informational lookup by humans is still useful though.

Actual blocking is certainly more controversial and potentially issue filled, yes.

Not sure if DW uses any automated measures to detect spam and flag it for human review, but if it does, it could form part of that heuristic too.

[azurelunatic]

I would be all over a tool that gave previously-reported IPs a CAPTCHA before commenting anonymously, with the understanding that CAPTCHAs do pose accessibility problems, and if a user who has problems with CAPTCHAs is faced with them in places they did not expect to be faced with them, that they should contact us with their IP at the time of facing them, so we can review & maybe take them off our copy of that list.

Using an external blacklist as a full block list is something I'm not comfortable with unless things get amazingly dire and all other options are exhausted.

[cesy]

I like this tool idea.