1. What IS PeerBlock?
The short version is: PeerBlock blocks "known bad" computers from accessing yours, and vice versa. Depending on the lists you have it set up to use, you can block governments, corporations, machines flagged for anti-p2p activites, even entire countries! Whether you're sharing files with Bittorrent or just surfing the web, PeerBlock can help protect you from the bad guys.
2. How does it do that?
An IP Address is like a telephone number, or a street address, for your computer - any time you connect to the Internet, your IP address is used to make that connection. If you go to "www.google.com", your computer first translates this to an IP address (e.g. 66.102.1.104), then sends a request to that address for a web-page; when the www.google.com computer receives this message, part of it contains your computer's IP address so that it knows how to send the web-page back to you.
PeerBlock is a type of program known as an "IP Filter". It lives way down deep inside the networking code on your computer - the stuff in Windows that actually makes/receives network connections for you - and inspects everything that flows past it. It looks at the IP address this network "packet" is coming from, and compares it against a list of "bad" ip-addresses; if it finds a match, it doesn't let that network packet make it through to the rest of your computer. It also looks at the IP address your network packets are going to, and does the same thing.
3. Where does it get these lists?
PeerBlock has a few default lists included, lists that are updated often so that they always contain the most up-to-date information. You can also specify other lists, for example many people enjoy using the lists provided by iblocklist.com. And you can create your own lists, too: either "known safe" ip addresses like websites you trust, your company's servers, or gaming servers to which you need to connect; or your own "bad" lists of people you want to block.
4. What lists should I use?
That depends on what you want to do with PeerBlock! Do you want to block Ads? Use the built-in "Ads" list. Are you in college and want to protect your doings from the campus Network Police? Use the built-in "Edu" list. Many more blocklists are available, we recommend those available at iblocklist.com.
5. What happened to the "Gov" list?
The old PG2 "Gov" list - which contained governmental IP addresses - was merged into the "P2P" (aka "Bluetack Level1") list a couple years ago and has been empty ever since. If you look at the old Gov list url with your browser, you can see it's contents . . . just one line saying that it's now empty. So by selecting the P2P list you'll still be just as safe as you were before.
Don't like it? Prefer to have the Gov list separate from the P2P list? You'll need to contact the folks who author the list, Bluetack. PeerBlock doesn't create or maintain any of these lists ourselves, we simply point you towards other peoples' creations.
6. Why is "Some Company or Site" Blocked?
The lists PeerBlock uses to determine what to block are not actually created by us . . . we simply block any IP addresses on the lists you tell PeerBlock to use. The most commonly used lists - including the P2P ("Bluetack Level1"), Advertising, Spyware, and Education lists we include as "default lists" - are authored by a group called Bluetack. So if you find that some website or company is being blocked by PeerBlock, we're not the ones to talk to about it.
Is the P2P list blocking Microsoft on you? Or the site you happen to host your personal website on? Well while we hate to pass the buck on things, we really have no control over this - you'll need to talk to whoever wrote that specific list, and ask them. The most common list authors include the following:
If you've installed other lists (from iblocklist.com, for example), a google search of the author group's name should lead you in the right direction.
7. Does this mean my P2P downloading is completely safe now?
Not necessarily. While many people do use IP Filtering software like PeerBlock to help "protect" themselves from being sued for copyright infringement, it is not 100% protection. In fact some people believe that using blocklists like this are completely useless. Others disagree, and believe that even if it's not 100% safe, it still lets them download files more safely. Sometimes they invoke the "Bear Principle": when running away from an angry bear you don't need to be faster than that bear . . . you only need to be faster than the guy next to you. However, as I seem to remember seeing on the old Peer Guardian site at one point:
The only way to be "safe" with P2P downloading is to not share copyrighted content!
PeerBlock is good at what it does - keeping your computer from "talking" with ip addresses on your configured blocklists. Everything else is up to those blocklists themselves. And heck, even if the blocklists provided 100% coverage of "bad" ip-addresses, and if blocklists were 100% proven to work, there could still be some bugs in the PeerBlock software that may prevent it from working correctly on your machine; we offer no guarantees that it works, and disclaim any and all responsibility for the consequences of your own actions online. If you're sharing copyrighted music/video files and get sued by the relevant organizations, it's not our fault. If you're stuck in a country with an oppressive government and are trying to get out your plans regarding the upcoming revolution, and those in power break down your door and haul you away, it's not our fault. If you're sharing some secret footage of Area 51 and the "Men in Black" come knocking on your door, it's not our fault!
If you choose to download copyrighted material from the Internet, be aware that you may be breaking the law.
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