I'll be honest, I don't mind a free file host banning VPNs. Yes, VPNs have tons of legitimate uses, but they also have illegitimate uses that (what I understand to be) a one-man team is likely not prepared to deal with. They already have to deal with CSAM getting uploaded as it is.
Comment on [Important] Catbox Needs Your Help
hisao@ani.social 3 days ago
I hate catbox. I can’t see images posted via catbox because for some reason catbox is very actively and aggressively bans VPNs. Yeah, you heard that right: they ban VPNs, not only for posting, even for viewing! I managed to find one VPN server that worked well… for few weeks. Until it got banned as well. Someone once said catbox is a honeypot. Idk about that, but their VPN policy is definitely honeypot-tier.
Chozo@fedia.io 3 days ago
hisao@ani.social 2 days ago
but they also have illegitimate uses that (what I understand to be) a one-man team is likely not prepared to deal with
This would be somewhat believable excuse if they only blocked uploading/posting under VPNs. But they block viewing under VPNs as well, which you only do if your sole purpose is logging IP addresses of viewers. In this scenario catbox images posted to Lemmy for example, they don’t only reveal your IP the moment they are loaded when you scroll your feed, they also associate it with the site from where the request was initiated (your Lemmy instance).
Chozo@fedia.io 2 days ago
This would be somewhat believable excuse if they only blocked uploading/posting under VPNs.
With CSAM, you want to block uploading and downloading, because both are problematic for a host.
In this scenario catbox images posted to Lemmy for example, they don't only reveal your IP the moment they are loaded when you scroll your feed
I'm 99% sure it doesn't work that way. The Lemmy instance caches a preview image for posted links. But scrolling past without clicking a link will not expose your IP to Catbox.
hisao@ani.social 2 days ago
With CSAM, you want to block uploading and downloading, because both are problematic for a host.
At that point, if such content is already posted there and available for download, it doesn’t matter if it is only allowed to be downloaded via clearnet or VPNs as well. Blocking VPNs doesn’t make any difference here.
I’m 99% sure it doesn’t work that way. The Lemmy instance caches a preview image for posted links. But scrolling past without clicking a link will not expose your IP to Catbox unless you have an auto-preview setting enabled that opens/caches every link you scroll past automatically, which I don’t believe is enabled by default.
I’ve seen a debate regarding lemmynsfw with some people asking to turn off caching/proxying for images. I don’t know what’s their current status on this, but on my instance even thumbnails were not visible for catbox images. I’m not sure if it’s disabled or it’s the instance server itself having trouble accessing catbox.
SolacefromSilence@fedia.io 2 days ago
No VPN here and can never see catbox files, it's like they're gone already
TheOneAndOnly@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Do you use Verizon for Internet? It’s been my experience that the only way I can open catbox links is if I’m not connected solely to Verizon’s network.
SolacefromSilence@fedia.io 11 hours ago
Hmm, I'll have to try that... not Verizon directly but a MVNO that uses their network. Thank you for mentioning
TheOneAndOnly@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Let me know what you find out, would you?
Wildmimic@piefed.social 3 days ago
I don't know what VPN you use, but i have zero issues running Proton VPN and accessing catbot. Maybe some VPN nodes are used to attack Catbox and they are temp banned?
SatyrSack@quokk.au 2 days ago
Their FAQ lists multiple reasons that various countries, ISPs, etc. block CatBox, and using a VPN is often mentioned as the solution. Here is an archive of their FAQ that you should be able to read from any connection:
https://web.archive.org/web/20250822215754/https://catbox.moe/faq.php
hisao@ani.social 2 days ago
Thanks, this is surprising! I assumed my VPN wouldn’t ever block anything, because I’ve never seen that before, and thus the block was Catbox’s fault, but from what they write in their FAQ I start to question this. Maybe there is some large scale intermediary/middleware/mitm that make this happen. Idk, this is the first time I see anything like this. The server I’m currently using is in Switzerland, but I’ve also had those blocks with multiple VPN servers in other EU countries.