alt Hacker NewsSoundCloud has banned VPN access
Comments
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.
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
Over five years of paid SoundCloud here, I thought something was wrong with my setup. If this continues I'll have to cancel, basically. What a pain.
More will follow. I hope you collected what you need. For anything truly valuable, record the audio during playback and manually enter the metadata.
Ironic posting that on reddit who also blocks vpn access.
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 the internet as intended.
Instead of blocking or limiting features to whitelist users with approved behavioral patterns and limit / block those that don't -- such as loading a page and immediately commenting or doing things that normal humans don't do, they block IP addresses and ASNs.
I just close the browser tab and remind myself not to waste my time caring, there'll be other platforms.
My router is setup for WireGaurd and it'll never be disabled.
Shame on SoundCloud
Last night I was blocked from HBOMAX (or whatever brand they go by these days) for being on a VPN. That was the first time I've ever encountered something like that on HBOMAX. I wonder if there is some coordinating event here.
What's the motivation for blocking VPN read access for this and other services? Are AI scrapers using commercial VPNs to get around rate limiting?
The irony is that I tried to access the link here but reddit blocks VPN access aggressively.
Your mileage may vary. Logged in and listened to a couple of tracks DHCP VPN which exits in Denver using Surfshark at 64.44.x.x about 1600 miles away.
Even Russia and Iran has issues blocking VPN country wide…curious what SoundCloud is going to be able to do. I’m guessing it’s to block AI scrapers but ironically, they have way more resources than your customers. SoundCloud will end up pissing off their paying customers and AI bots will still be able to scrape.
Well, goodbye SoundCloud (and all services doing the same thing).
They blocked *some* vpns. I was able to get it working just by switching location with my vpn provider.
I tried creating a SoundCloud account recently for uploading DJ sets to and it just outright wouldn't let me. Didn't matter whether I was or wasn't on a VPN, or whether I had clean cookies. Crappy bot detection. You can be sure I'm never paying for such a hostile service.
I am so sick of these IP blocks. Same thing in Discord where a lot of servers deploy third-rate services like Double Counter that’s effectively a malware host. There’s nothing wrong with using VPN. I don’t want my IP exposed when my ISP doesn’t allow me to freely change it like they used to even a couple of years ago.
link for actual people https://www.reddit.com/r/SoundCloudMusic/comments/1pltd19/so...
Yarr… when this happens to ye, it’s time to sail the high seas!
i’ve watched this VPN arms race get weird over the years... as a user i feel like the license wars always spill over onto my connection.
rights holders keep demanding geo fences and identity checks... service providers comply because they don't want to get sued.
BUT... the blunt tool is to block whole swaths of IPs... then we all scramble.
i think the conversation around Apple or any single company saving us is missing the point.
ALSO... even if a big platform rolled out an anonymizing proxy... regulators would still push for carve outs... copyright exemptions... law enforcement taps.
the root is the business model... ad targeting... licensing... fraud detection... all of which depend on tying a real person to a real IP.
HOWEVER... if enough of us treat VPN use as normal... the calculus changes.
blocking a few percent of weirdos is easy... blocking half your paying users is not.
i don't know the answer... but i suspect it's going to get more fragmented before it gets better.
I think it's the thought that counts. Presumably they will get better at blocking all VPNs.
Not the first,
Patreon also banned VPN
YouTube, Reddit - locked out, requiring to log into account, on pretense of security and care concerns, yeah to identify and track VPN users.
Strange, it works here (Taipei based vpn and logged in)
irony is this is posted on reddit, who also blocks VPN’s
Financial times does as well for me on certain browsers but not others. Pretty annoying.
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If this is true, i will cancel my subscription. I'm using tailscale and certainly won't use a service that wants to dictate me how to use my device.