Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/TorNodeBot
Operator: Shirik (talk · contribs)
Automatic or Manually assisted: Automatic
Programming language(s): PHP
Source code available: http://toolserver.org/~mpdelbuono/torbot.txt
Function overview: Blocks unblocked TOR nodes as anonymous only, account creation blocked
Links to relevant discussions (where appropriate): No public discussions regarding the bot directly, but this is in response to a discussion on IRC regarding WP:Sockpuppet investigations/Zealking
Edit period(s): Continuous
Estimated number of pages affected: Initial estimates suggest about 100 IPs in the first hour, however this is likely to drop off after the initial spike. All depends on the TOR network status.
Exclusion compliant (Y/N): N (not applicable)
Already has a bot flag (Y/N): N
Function details:
The bot scans the current TOR network to get a list of potential IPs that are exit nodes. After establishing a list of possible IPs for exit nodes (which is approximately 1400 at last check), it checks each IP against the official TOR tracker via DNSEL. If DNSEL confirms that this is a TOR exit node which has access to Wikipedia, the bot will block the IP anonymous-only, account creation blocked for 3 months.
While this is supposed to be handled by the TOR extension in Wikipedia, some vandals have found a way to avoid this extension. As a result, this bot is necessary to deal with ongoing issues as indicated in the above WP:SPI link.