XMPP Service Operators - 2023-05-06

Hello there. Is this "rtbl" thing people are submitting JIDs for here this? https://xmppbl.org/ So now there is a centralized real-time blocklist for server operatos who want to use it? Or did I just not pay attention and it has already been available for a long time?

me9, yes, that's what people are referring to

MattJ: Cool!

It's not centralized, as in... anyone can host an RTBL, and all the servers allow you to choose what RTBL you subscribe to. However that is currently the only instance I'm aware of.

It sounds like a great idea for blocking more effectively. Does anyone have an idea if it has been successful at preventing spam across many servers? Has it made a change? Or is it not used by many server operators? And is this the right MUC to talk about it or is there a different MUC or another way to communicate with the team behind it (the trusted operators the website mentions)?

I'd say it's used on the majority of servers hosting public channels right now

If it's relevant discussion to all operators, here is a fine place to discuss it. If you have any non-public questions you can PM me.

> It's not centralized, as in... anyone can host an RTBL, and all the servers allow you to choose what RTBL you subscribe to. However that is currently the only instance I'm aware of. Yeah, that's what I meant with centralized. Everyone has the same source for it (right now).

I'm working on a Prosody module that will allow people to set up mirrors, for example (so there isn't a single point of failure). And you can host an RTBL on practically any server (that supports XEP-0060, which is most).

But of course there is benefit to having some "soft" centralization to ensure everyone gets updates quickly

and I can say it has been very effective in recent weeks

Or an extend to the module to allow more then one blocklist simultaneously?

Menel, yeah, I have a patch for that too

> I'd say it's used on the majority of servers hosting public channels right now Okay, great! > If it's relevant discussion to all operators, here is a fine place to discuss it. If you have any non-public questions you can PM me. Okay, thanks. So you are one of the people behind it?

Just need to finish and test it (it gets complicated....)

me9, depends who's asking :)

My feeling about its efficiencyx is also that it was very effective the last spam waves..

> I'm working on a Prosody module that will allow people to set up mirrors, for example (so there isn't a single point of failure). And you can host an RTBL on practically any server (that supports XEP-0060, which is most). Good idea. > and I can say it has been very effective in recent weeks Well that sounds amazing!

> me9, depends who's asking :) Uhm, sorry, I don't understand what you mean with that.

Based on previous experience, people running these kinds of projects can become targets of abuse and harrassment themselves, so it's a deliberate choice not to publicise the operators of the service

Very true, I understand what you mean. Thank you for the explanation.

But it's quite obvious that I've had a part in it (I wrote the initial Prosody module, for example)

It's existed since 2021, but people have only become particularly interested in it recently

and it didn't have a website for a long time, that's new

Okay, so I haven't been asleep the whole time. ^^

Well, thanks for making it work, MattJ and everyone else working on it!

👍

Are other "official" blocklists planned too? Ones that would be on xmppbl.org.

Is your question :"would xmppbl.org allow other nodes that's administrated by other groups?"

Menel: If you mean that people would submit their lists to the website, then I didn't mean that. People can host their own lists themselves then. I meant if the team behind the first and only blocklist right now plan to create another one of their own.

Or is spam the only thing which should be blocked right now, so there's not the "solving human problems with tech" problem? I mean like blocking trolls. That's different than with spammers.

me9, other lists are planned, for example a mirror of https://github.com/JabberSPAM/blacklist

But that one changes far less often, so it's not a priority to serve it over XMPP instead of HTTP

I see.

I have one last question for now. Do you know if the bots which can be used as an alternative to enforcing the blocklist server-wide work well? Or do they break things in the MUCs where they're used?

I'm asking this because in the past, I sometimes had problems with server admins not wanting to block spammers or trolls on their servers where I moderated a MUC. And if they wouldn't want to implement the spammer blocklist or other possible blocklists, using such a bot as a MUC admin could be useful.

They seem to work. You can see these bots in some mucs

Menel: Yes? That's great news. :) Thanks.