This is the first of a few 'new/modified' features we'll be discussing in the coming weeks so stay tuned as we value your input!

Note: !unban is provided as an extension to regular services. This is intended as a convenience command and we highly suggest all IRC users learn to add/remove bans using /mode #channel +b and -b as it's vital to being able to place your own, more secure bans and effectively manage your channel. /cs unban #channel is unaffected.

!unban will still work the majority of the time. This simply prevents it from working in the cases where doing so will reveal all/part of a users real IP or hostname when hidden by a vHost/Cloak.

Issue:
- Currently there is an 'exploit' in the version of Anope we use. Users could use it to gain a users real IP or Hostname. We've been aware of it for a while and we have been blocking/monitoring it for some time now.

- We are in the position to and will shortly be updating services and in doing so there may be a change to the !unban command. Before we do this though we want to get your input and your feedback so we can make sure it's the right decision for the network.

PLEASE NOTE: This only affects !unban. Using /mode #channel -b will still work as normal. It only affects the services !unban command.

Example:
- We want to ban the user "Jason". His real hostname (un cloacked) is Phate@res123456.resnet.wsu.edu. His vHost is Phate@Useless-Site.com.

Behaviour:
- If you ban a part of the [un]cloacked IP/Hostname, !unban won't remove that particular ban if it's different from their current host (i.e. if they're using a vHost). If you !ban a regular vHost !unban will work for removing it.



Result:
- Jason is still banned (due to the *!*@*resnet.wsu.edu) but as his vHost is on to prevent revealing his real host it won't remove that ban.

Conclusion:
- This is the only major change. If you ban someone with a vHost on, it'll still !unban them. This does not affect akicks, /cs unban, /mode +/- b etc. It ONLY affects the !unban command.

- This may cause some issues where you !ban someones real IP/Host and are unable to !unban it. In this case use /mode -b nick!ident@hostname as you normally would.

- We do want to push ahead with this update but would like you to provide some feedback first. If we get convincing or strong objections we'll look at another solution.

Un-banning a user the 'normal' way.

1. /whois NICKNAME - This shows your the users details and allows you to get their nick, ident & hostname.
2. /mode #channel +b - This prints a copy of the current ban list for #channel. Check the nick!ident@host.name against these.
3. /mode #channel -b nick!ident@host.name - Use this command to remove a ban listed from step 2.
4. Repeat step 3 until all bans on the particular user are removed.

If you have any issues un-banning user(s) from your channel /join #help and someone there will be able to sort you out!

Sounds good to me, can't think off anything to object

Is it really such a big deal to mask your IP address, some of the big networks dont even offer that feature, such as Efnet. Quakenet offers it, but only when you're registered and you have to set it yourself. It obviously hasn't been much of an issue for them as they havent done anything to fix it, and they are the biggest networks.

If you want to get rid of it however, remove the feature, guests will still be able to use the /mode #chan +/-b to unban/ban, or monitor it like you are now, and just g-line anyone you see doing it.

Just a few ideas.

MODE #channel +b
and
MODE #channel -b

Are standard commands most should know anyway. If we didn't load the module for !unban people would never have had it. But seeing we did and are now changing it, it's important people are aware of the change.

We provide the user cloaking (umode +x) that automatically masks your IP/Hostname when you connect because we believe users should have some level of privacy. This update helps protects that privacy.

I personally think removing all cloaking and implementing a generic set of optional vHost'ing is a good idea but that's another discussion all together

This is not a sucky server like quakenet or efnet .
This is seers the best you could get .

anyway !unban is not needed everybody with the basic of irc knows this .

really good,that anger to decrease more the ban evader's

Is there any reason we can't modify it to not unban a users IP but still unban their cloaked host?

Personally I think having a !Command for nearly everything you can do is rather pointless and teaches bad practices. Seers is the only network I know of that supports all of the !Commands and it makes it harder for users to switch from using this network to other networks for whatever reason they might have because they aren't used to having to use the /*Serv commands.

A thought for the future...
On larger networks BotServ or parts of it are disabled because of how processor intensive it is, even Anope recommends that BotServ be disabled on larger networks. So when/if Seers gets bigger you're going to have a hard time keeping all of the !Commands, It would probably be better if you considered getting rid all the !Commands now or at least started thinking about what you're going to do when Seers does get bigger.


lol... I'm quite sure the hundreds of thousands of users on Quakenet an Efnet would disagree with you and say Seers is quite 'sucky'.

i've never used the !unban command in my life . didnt know we had it lol. once ya type /mode #chan +b a few times its pretty simple

SwiftIRC had the exact problem not too long ago. They disabled the command for a period and then I think they updated Anope or patched it themselves.

!unban is useful to the less experienced of users who don't fully understand the raw method. It definitely has it's purpose.

Keep up the support there Shawn, we really appreciate your positive comments.

As for your comments about !commands. Very few are used apart from !kb and !unban. This one is already leaning people away from them and future updates will continue to do the same. !kb is part of the core, !unban is the only real command used in bs_fantasy_ext. It too was a core command until this issue popped up, the issue is now handled a lot better with 1.8 + the latest bs_fantasy_ext.

It's a first step to migrating people away from relying on !unban which yes as the OP said does have somewhat of a purpose. We have also taken steps to potentially look at providing a module with just the !unban facility and none of the other commands.

It is far easier to give something to someone than take it away so it must be a managed process to provide as little disruption as possible.

Sounds like something that would be useful ... thanks for caring about our input =]

Sorry, do you mean future updates will lead people away from !Unban, or from the !Commands in general?

I see a lot of people using !Access as well.

From !commands in general. Apart from the "regular" !commands it would be nice to remove the excess all together eventually (bs_fantasy_ext).

Feedback from this has helped re-enforce just how many channels only use them as convenience and not necessity which is good to see.