simpler way of banning whole world?

[ko_tish]

simpler way of banning whole world?
ok dont laugh,but as im using a huge htaccess file to ban full countries by range i was just wondering if there's an easier way doing this then adding tons of deny from to my htaccess.
for example,what if only want visitors from the u.s on my site..?

[BLiZZaRD]

Why would you want to do this? There isn't a good reason for anyone to provide an online market or site to a select group of people. If this is the case then you need a members area or similar where each group can have its own space.

[djr33]

Hmmm. Umm... just use an if statement based on IP location technology. But it isn't foolproof.
Doesn't seem like that good an idea to me either.

[BLiZZaRD]

one thing with the IP trick (as djr pointed out it is NOT foolproof) I have one test IP for example that starts in California, gets routed to Texas, then Argentina and from their either to it's destination on the Western Hemisphere, or to Spain, then to the Eastern Hemisphere.

I am in Washington, but I would be blocked from your site based on my IP.

Things to think about.

[djr33]

Yep. And AOL users are just kinda random, it seems, according to what I've read.

[BLiZZaRD]

now THAT would be a worth while ban.. blocking AOL. ROTF.. I have more complaints from users about accesability and errors only to find out it was AOL to start with.

[djr33]

Hehe. True. Just reroute to a page that says "please change ISPs. AOL sucks."

As for the original question, let me note that you should definitly say if ($iplocation != "US") as opposed to checking for the whole world. Perhaps that'll solve the whole issue.

[Arctic Fox]

There isn't a good reason for anyone to provide an online market or site to a select group of people.

Scenario;

1) Selling ethanol from central Missouri, pump/truck/train. No reason to advertise to Ukraine.
2) Selling fireworks. Even some states won't allow to import.
3) Selling weapons (Maddi Griffin). No sense in attracting Taliban sales.

[djr33]

That's completely ridiculous.
Don't sell to anyone who has a shipping address in an illegal area. Not your problem if someone views your site where it's illegal to buy your merchandise. What if someone is on a trip and wants to buy something when they get back?

I doubt the Taliban is stupid enough to buy from a small website selling weapons. And in any case, that's a joke... obviously all firearms are monitored by the government and that wouldn't do much good to the Taliban.... that is operating out of... er... Afghanistan. Not... y'know... the US....

Who's selling weapons from a website anyway?

[BLiZZaRD]

Scenario;

1) Selling ethanol from central Missouri, pump/truck/train. No reason to advertise to Ukraine.
2) Selling fireworks. Even some states won't allow to import.
3) Selling weapons (Maddi Griffin). No sense in attracting Taliban sales.

1) There are pumps/trucks/trains all over the world, not just in Missery. Import and Export of non food items from the US is the second highest gross earning profit maker in the world today. (Electronics TO the US is first, btw). It takes nothing more than a bank account and a letter head to become a world wide shipper of non food item goods. I know, I was going to do it, before I started getting serious intrest in my screenplays.

2) Again, some counties in some states don't allow it. Some cities in some counties in some states don't allow it. How are you going to block certain cities? It's called CYA (Cover Your Ass) a tiny little disclaimer on the main page and on the shopping cart page saying the buyer is responsible for items shipped to/from their area. See This Link (http://budk.com/black-lightning-spikes/p/BE101/c/2500/) and click on the "why is shipping restricted" link for a GREAT example.

3) Understand something about terrorism. One, I do applaud your sense of patriotism, it is heroic and noble. However, IF Taliban, Al Quida, or any other facist group want to buy weapons from you they are going to do so. Yes, for most guns there is a form, a wait, and a back ground check. But understand that these terrorists LIVE in the US, and have for MANY years. They are actual citizens like you and me, they are NOT some dirty, stinky towel on the head crouched in a cave that just so happens to be on your site from a satellite link up from the desert. Allowing ONLY US IPs will NOT stop them from gaining access. And it is those type of sites that they actually seek out to buy from because the first person that is looked at is YOU. It gives them more time, and puts more heat on you because you have just become a source for "certain marketing" unlike a large scale, high profile weapons smith.


The only thing you stand to gain from this is less visitors, and not just the wrong ones. ;)

[blueflowers]

I actually signed up just to respond to this thread

I think you both heavily missed the point of the initial question...

this has nothing to do with Terrorism or Gas Sales (btw, you spelled Missouri wrong, BLiZZaRD)

To the poster:

There are several 'already made' scripts available that will handle 'proper' geo-locating, the 2 people in this thread have no clue what they are talking about (imo) and should (again, imho) never have responded. I mean, Google and Yahoo do it, so I guess it's not 'impossible' (nothing is IMPOSSIBLE, what a pessimistic way to look at solving problems :P)

A good geo-locating script will actually find the original location of the user *unless they have installed software to bypass this, in which case you can do very little)

Check out the PEAR library, good article on usage here:

http://builder.com.com/5100-6371_14-6103179.html

Another different method:

http://www.ip2country.net/geo-targeting/target-country-faq.html

and of course, Google is your best friend (they'll even geo-locate your results and search ;) )

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=php%2Bgeo+location&btnG=Search&meta=

Now, why on earth would anyone do this?

Good examples of REAL WORLD usage on geo-locating

- Betting sites that are for US only, almost all online sports betting sites are ONLY available to people visiting from a US location

- Banner scripts that ONLY show relevent info from your area (many sites have geo location in their banner scripts)

- American only television stations (why would you want to waste precious, expensive bandwidth on people that CANNOT be customers of yours?)

Hope that helps

[djr33]

And if someone is on a trip? If someone's IP maps the wrong place? If someone decides to get around the system and use a US based proxy? If someone wants to watch a US TV site, and we can assume the TV station isn't entirely short on the money for bandwidth. Silly claim.


NOT some dirty, stinky towel on the head crouched in a caveBlizzard, be very careful about saying something along these lines. I assume you are referring to them not fitting the stereotype, but it sounds insulting.

As for the issue of terrorism, it's just stupid. For so many reasons, it's not worth considering. They could fake their identity, but moreso, they won't be going through you. Many layers of contacts create a terrorist system, so they don't just randomly find websites to purchase things.

And, agreed... not related to the original post.


The most important info for this is that you need to allow a group, not ban everyone. Have a whitelist, not a blacklist, meaning you allow X, Y, and Z, not that you block A, B, ...... W.

[BLiZZaRD]

this has nothing to do with Terrorism or Gas Sales (btw, you spelled Missouri wrong, BLiZZaRD)

Err.. no I didn't... Has anyone ever been to Missery? On purpose?



Blizzard, be very careful about saying something along these lines. I assume you are referring to them not fitting the stereotype, but it sounds insulting.


Noted, but it wasn't a stereotype, and it was meant to be insulting. When I hear terrorist I think Osama. And what is he? (see above quoted reference to him :) )

I didn't mean to offend anyone who might be offended (except those explicitly named herein) and if I have done so I apologize.

[djr33]

Stereotyping terrorists as a certain group is stupid.
Yes, some may look like ___ or dress like ___, but there is plenty of variation. Lots of Americans (yes, including white Americans) have done terrorist type things.

To those in Iraq, even innocent civilians, we surely look like terrorists. And I hope they don't hate us (meaning white americans, or americans in general) as much as people have decided to unanomously hate the muslim/arabic community.

What is a terrorist? Someone who attacks innocent people? To whom are they seen as a terrorist? You? Them? Me? It's all relative, and there are many more of any certain type of people that are not terrorists than are. In fact, those groups of people have explicitly said that they do not support the action of EXTREMISTS. Extremists are operating out of the norm for such a group.

Stereotyping those who believe it's a good idea to die bombing a building is one thing. But falsely expanding that to relate to anyone who looks like them is just causing more problems.

[tech_support]

Easy. If you want to sell products to Australia for example, use .com.au Add a message as well, 'We don't sell products internationally' or something like that. Refuse orders from overseas.