tor-webwml.git

@@ -239,18 +239,33 @@ them and explain about Tor and Tor's exit policies. </p>

 <a id="Bans"></a>

 <h3><a class="anchor" href="#Bans">I want to ban the Tor network from my service.</a></h3>

+<p>We're sorry to hear that. There are some situations where it makes

+sense to block anonymous users for an Internet service. But in many

+cases, there are easier solutions that can solve your problem while

+still allowing users to access your website securely.</p>

+

 <p>First, ask yourself if there's a way to do application-level decisions

 to separate the legitimate users from the jerks. For example, you might

 have certain areas of the site, or certain privileges like posting,

-available only to people who are registered. You could set up this

-distinction only for certain IP addresses such as Tor exit nodes. This

-way you can have multi-tiered access and not have to ban everything. </p>

-

-<p>Second, consider that thousands of people use Tor every day to protect

-against data-gathering corporations like Doubleclick while going about

-their normal activities. Others use Tor because it's their only

-way to get past the restrictive firewalls at their school or other

-organization. Some Tor users may be legitimately connecting

+available only to people who are registered. It's easy to build an

+up-to-date list of Tor IP addresses that allow connections to your

+service, so you could set up this distinction only for Tor users. This

+way you can have multi-tiered access and not have to ban every aspect

+of your service. </p>

+

+<p>For example, the <a

+href="http://freenode.net/policy.shtml#tor">Freenode IRC network</a>

+had a problem with a coordinated group of abusers joining channels and

+subtly taking over the conversation; but when they labelled all users

+coming from Tor nodes as "anonymous users," removing the ability of the

+abusers to blend in, the abusers moved back to using their open proxies

+and bot networks. </p>

+

+<p>Second, consider that thousands of people use Tor every day simply for

+good data hygiene — for example, to protect against data-gathering

+advertising companies while going about their normal activities. Others

+use Tor because it's their only way to get past restrictive local

+firewalls. Some Tor users may be legitimately connecting

 to your service right now to carry on normal activities. You need to

 decide whether banning the Tor network is worth losing the contributions

 of these users, as well as potential future legitimate users. </p>

@@ -259,10 +274,10 @@ of these users, as well as potential future legitimate users. </p>

 services that aggregate many users behind a few IP addresses. Tor is

 not so different from AOL in this respect.</p>

-<p>Lastly, please remember that Tor servers have individual exit

-policies. Many Tor servers do not allow exiting connections at

-all. Many of those that do allow some exit connections might already

-disallow connections to

+<p>Lastly, please remember that Tor servers have <a

+href="#ExitPolicies">individual exit policies</a>. Many Tor servers do

+not allow exiting connections at all. Many of those that do allow some

+exit connections might already disallow connections to

 your service. When you go about banning nodes, you should parse the

 exit policies and only block the ones that allow these connections;

 and you should keep in mind that exit policies can change (as well as