the risks of blocking IPs
ScottWhigham: I've done IP blocking for about 5 years on my site and will continue to do so. I put up a special page when the IP is blocked that has my phone number and I explain, "Hey - this sucks for both of us. Here's the problem and one of the possible reasons your IP might have been blocked. Those stupid spammers - it's all their fault. If you are a human, we apologize and here's our phone number." I get probably 2-3 calls a year.Is this ideal? Of course not - bluesmoon's solutions are far more elegant. But how much time will it take me to code/manage those solutions over the next five years? Lots. How much more money will I have made as a result? Probably none. So I made the choice to be more aggressive but to be humble on my "You're blocked!" page and the customers that do call get it; they understand.