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SoundCloud has banned VPN access

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Re: SoundCloud has banned VPN access

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

same here. been a paying customer for 2 years, a soundcloud listener for 5+. this is where i switch back to downloading music off russian pirate websites.

> this is where i switch back to downloading music off russian pirate websites. As a bonus you may even get discount codes for your VPN! For real tho, fuck all those rent-seeking control freaks. Piracy was almost dead, we had a good deal. But no, it's never enough, so here we are. Also, some piracy boards are actually pretty steady, nice and cool communities, and listing to local files feels way more intentional.

well, life isn't all sunshines and rainbows after all :) i'm glad there are lots of people who think just like i do and are ready to sacrifice convenience for the sake of privacy

Re: SoundCloud has banned VPN access

#172

You can't just blanket block all VPN access, that's not how the internet works... they could pick some common/well-known providers of VPN services and block their IPs/ASN/etc., but you can't just flip a switch and make all forms of VPN/proxy stop working, as there's no way to tell with certainty that someone is using one.

Maybe its a trick and they are logging all the people on VPN's trying to see if they are blocked over the next 24 hr. Then they can take the data and start blocking it lol. Maybe not lol?

Re: SoundCloud has banned VPN access

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of VPN and proxy detection services, either as a service (API) or downloadable database, which are surprisingly comprehensive. Disclaimer: I’ve run one since 2017. Years on, our primary data source is literally holding dozens of subscriptions to every commercial provider we can find, and enumerating the exit node IP addresses they use. There are also other methods, like using zmap/zgrab to probe for…

Interesting. I assumed all VPNs switched to IPv6 by now, making detection much harder.

Much of the internet still does not support IPv6, so most providers will give you an IPv4 address. In fact only a few providers even support IPv6 at all.

Even with IPv6 it's not a huge problem. With a few samples we can know that a provider is operating in a given /64 or /48 or even /32 space, and can assign a confidence level that the range is used for VPNs.

Re: SoundCloud has banned VPN access

#174

I keep wishing “privacy” company, Apple, would release a VPN such that no business would be able to block it as they’d lose too many customers

They kinda do on Apple Private relay and most services don't block it. Funny thing if you put it in your router and point the tunnel to a certain country is a good way to source address launder since the endpoint will just think its an apple private relay user from local country.

Tradeoff is that it seems to be a browser only thing. Some tools like the default macOS curl seem to be integrated with it.

Re: SoundCloud has banned VPN access

#176
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of VPN and proxy detection services, either as a service (API) or downloadable database, which are surprisingly comprehensive. Disclaimer: I’ve run one since 2017. Years on, our primary data source is literally holding dozens of subscriptions to every commercial provider we can find, and enumerating the exit node IP addresses they use. There are also other methods, like using zmap/zgrab to probe for…

who's buying your service ?

Sounds like snitching as a service

Re: SoundCloud has banned VPN access

#178
post #53

Should be interesting to see how the internet blocks those of us who don't want to be fingerprinted, ID'd, or reveal our home IP addresses. YouTube already blocks embeds to login and prove I'm not a bot, funnily it doesn't work and embeds never play. Reddit will block me unless I'm signed in which I don't mind too much, but the daily beast and many others block me which is a shame because I'm a real human being using…

In the nicest way possible: who cares? So "they" know my vile pornographic proclivities, my daily commute, and probably what color my poop was this morning. Then what? I get embarassed? Snowden showed the NSA has taps upstream, so in my book: that's over. I'm fairly convinced if your company reaches a size where it could potentially be a national security threat, the government comes knocking (Facebook, Apple, Twitte…

You may believe yourself and your actions to be ignored by the watchers, but you might still want everyone in general to be free of watchers. Both since being constantly watched is detrimental to the human condition, but also since some people may actually dare to improve society if they are not watched.

For a longer argument, see The Eternal Value of Privacy, by Bruce Schneier in 2006: https://web.archive.org/web/20241203195026/https://www.wired...>.

Re: SoundCloud has banned VPN access

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't bother with these comments. I made a similar reply to yours a few days ago and while most found it useful, a surprising amount of whataboutism occurred - no, Apple TV hardware isn't common, or no, only old people have them, or no, why would you use an Apple TV when [X] can do it cheaper, or no, why not self-host and not be dependent on Apple and Tailscale? Entirely missing the point that setting up a VPN exit n…

Thanks. With people in their own independent bubbles it's hard to tell, but with a guess at 25 million Apple TVs out there in the wild, I didn't think it was that esoteric, but what do I know. Thanks again, devilbunny

I'd say that even the idea that you could VPN into your own network and forward all traffic through it is pretty far from the mainstream. Let alone how to actually do it. Most people think of VPN as a way to avoid porn blocks or getting tagged for piracy. But, as you and I both noted, the technical know-how for setting up Tailscale is not that high, and for using it is almost nil. Turn it on, pick an exit node, go. Combine that with a device that's intended as a consumer appliance that makes maintenance a non-issue, and you have a very good solution for the family geek.

You're very welcome.

Re: SoundCloud has banned VPN access

#180
post #53

Should be interesting to see how the internet blocks those of us who don't want to be fingerprinted, ID'd, or reveal our home IP addresses. YouTube already blocks embeds to login and prove I'm not a bot, funnily it doesn't work and embeds never play. Reddit will block me unless I'm signed in which I don't mind too much, but the daily beast and many others block me which is a shame because I'm a real human being using…

In the nicest way possible: who cares? So "they" know my vile pornographic proclivities, my daily commute, and probably what color my poop was this morning. Then what? I get embarassed? Snowden showed the NSA has taps upstream, so in my book: that's over. I'm fairly convinced if your company reaches a size where it could potentially be a national security threat, the government comes knocking (Facebook, Apple, Twitte…

These vpn believers don't understand how concentrating all of the traffic thru a single chokepoint (the vpn provider network), they're infinitely easier to network monitor.
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