[In the message entitled "Re: Repeated Blacklisting / IP reputation" on Sep 8, 14:34, Joe Greco writes:]

...

there is a fundamental disconnect here. the IP space is neutral. it has no bias toward or against social behaviours. its a tool. the actual/real target here are the people who are using these tools to be antisocial. blacklisting IP space is always reactive and should only beused in emergency and as a -TEMPORARY- expedient.

IMHO of course., YMMV.

If people were given an option to "block this IP for 30 minutes, 24 hours, 30 days, 12 months, 5 years, or forever" - I wonder how many people would just shrug and click "forever."

This may lead to the discovery of another fundamental disconnect - or two.

IP address space is neutral, but the operators of the space either permit, or deny, the social behaviour which comes from these spaces. For what it's worth, I just completed a study of about 5 years of data on spam. I looked at 100,000,000 IP addresses which had sent me spam. The median duration of sending was 300 days. There was a pronounced peak at 2-3 years of about 30%. The vast majority was more than 30 days. "forever" is pretty close to right, based on current behaviour. --