nanog mailing list archives

Re: Increasing problems with geolocation/IPv4 access


From: Jared Mauch <jared () puck nether net>
Date: Fri, 20 Jan 2023 20:08:35 -0500



On Jan 20, 2023, at 8:02 PM, Owen DeLong <owen () delong com> wrote:

I will repeat what I have been saying since the first discussions of the concept of ip geo-location some decades ago…

An IP address is not tied to any of the following:
      Location
      Person

An IP address may be transiently tied to a host. The definition of transient in this case can vary widely from a few 
seconds to multiple years.
IP Addresses may be tied to an organization (though this is also usually some level of transient).

Trying to pretend otherwise in any useful way is fraught.


I think sadly the counterbalance item is that there is some insurance underwriter or similar that wants a checkbox 
saying “yes there is a firewall” or “you do X,Y,Z”.

Or: Sure, I agree with you, and when I’m in Europe or similar and can’t access my (home) government stuff because they 
just have off-continent blocked is also an issue.

Also: water wet.

What I’m actually looking for isn’t so much a soapbox but to find where the [bad] data is coming from so it can be 
updated as appropriate.  I’m also fine with telling the customer to phone the service/bank/whatnot (which is what I did 
in other cases and as much as I also personally dislike the centralization of the internet etc) - my customers do seem 
to really have good experience with a modern service like YoutubeTV (for example) - oh and it does IPv6 too.

If you see this and go back to the original post, I am interested if you have seen that prefix or any IP space within 
it, and if it comes from a feed or set of aggregated feeds etc, even the name of the company or source/resources there 
so I can try knocking on the door.

- Jared

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