nanog mailing list archives

Re: GeoIP database issues and the real world consequences


From: Wayne Bouchard <web () typo org>
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2016 23:42:32 -0700

On Mon, Apr 11, 2016 at 06:15:08PM -0000, John Levine wrote:

The problem with MaxMind (and other geoip databases I've seen that do Lat/Long as well as Country / State / Town) is 
that the
data doesn't include uncertainty, so it returns "38.0/-97.0" rather than "somewhere in a 3000 mile radius circle 
centered on
38.0/-97.0".

Someone should show them RFC 1876 as an example of better practice.

Oh, heck, you know better than that.  You can put in all the flags and
warnings you want, but if it returns an address, nitwits will show up
at the address with guns.

Bodies of water probably are the least bad alternative.  I wonder if
they're going to hydrolocate all of the unknown addresses, or only the
ones where they get publically shamed.

I personal favor setting the generic location as a certain set of
roundish holes in the ground up in the northern plains. Let the
government raid itself for once.

---
Wayne Bouchard
web () typo org
Network Dude
http://www.typo.org/~web/


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