Ask PG: Accessing HN via Tor
It seems that Hacker News is inaccessible via Tor. Is this because of manual blocking of exit nodes, and if so can this blocking be lifted (at least for read access)? Confirmed. The IP bans are mostly automated. If an exit node is blocked, it's because someone else ruined the fun for everyone. I hope that this doesn't also mean that running a Tor exit node puts you at risk of getting banned (from HN or elsewhere). I think the people running exit nodes are providing an essential community service, and I would hate to think this might be how they're thanked. Wikipedia bans your IP from editing if you run a Tor node. It definitely biases their content and discourages operation of Tor nodes. Wikipedia bans Tor editors because editors who use Tor are overwhelmingly doing so to avoid bans. I'm sure there are a subset of Tor editors who are good-faith contributors, but, just like with HN, a bad-faith majority has ruined it for them. Banned entirely or just from editing? Perhaps websites (especially ones that value intellectual freedom such as Wikipedia and Hacker news) could allow certain IP addresses that announce they run exit nodes the capability to have certain accounts (those of users who have direct access to the network) whitelisted. I just tried this myself to verify that I couldn't reach it through Tor and I couldn't either. I agree that there should be at least read access for people browsing with Tor. Also, I would be curious to hear from PG (or others) what went into the decision making process to make this site (or others) not accessible from Tor. Unfortunately easily accessible proxies, like Tor, are very frequently abused by spammers and other script kiddies. It's easy to write, or use, a bot that takes in a long list of proxies (or uses the Tor daemon API to frequently acquire a new circuit) and spams a website with hundreds or thousands of submissions per minute. I'd hesitate to use any of your existing regular-internet accounts over Tor. Start with a fresh browser. Part of HN's deal with the NSA ;-)