Hi,

First off, let me say you have quite a unique radio station.  I was a closet progfan but didn't know it until I heard the musiclab channel on XM.  Some time after they killed it a friend turned me on to Stellar Attraction and I must say this is quite a bit deeper.  I'm loving it :)

Unfortunately I've been having some trouble connecting the past few days.

Short Version:
http://s1.viastreaming.net:7170/listen.pls -> Error: ICY-Server return 'Service Forbidden'

Long Version:
I listen with mplayer on linux but the useragent probably shows up as some old nsclient.  I had some kind of problem back in the beginning with the default useragent.  Usually I listen for a couple hours at a time but this weekend I accidentally left it playing when I went to sleep.  When I got back to the computer I continued listening but it cut out after a bit and now I can't reconnect.  I'm guessing somebody didn't like the long strech of time I was connected.  I've tried a few other useragents with no success so I'm guessing my (static) ip is banned.

Is the ban temporary?
Is there some usage policy I violated that I should be aware of? (I briefly tried to find an AUP on the website but came up with nothing)

Thanks for the hours of enjoyment and I hope this is just some sort of misunderstanding.

--Andy

Welcome to SA forum Andy!!
Well sorry, I can't help you.... I know this happens (banning of IP) when people try to record the stream. I don't know if you did that.

Personnaly, I use another player and did by mistake in the past let the station play for a whole week-end and came back and didn't have any problems reconnecting after.... Darran (the creator of SA and admin of the forum) will probably give you a good reason and help you out. Just be patient and live without SA a while (I know, it's hard...)

Max

Right Huntr_22!

Here is a similar question...

Hi there Andy and welcome to S.A.,

Indeed, your IP address has been blocked. There will be a (long awaited !!) FAQ on the website at some point in the not too distant future which will cover this subject (amongst many others) at length.

In the meantime, just a brief explanation :-

Copying ('ripping') the music played here at S.A. is a big 'no-no', as apart from anything else, it takes bandwidth away from genuine listeners, as opposed to those who simply would like to expand their personal mp3 library whilst they're off down the pub ...

The scripts essentially check the Media Player that the listener uses when connecting / has connected to the stream. If this is an 'aggressive client', the IP address will be blocked and subsequent connections won't be possible because of this. Also, if the listener has a 'floating' IP address, the same will occur - the only difference being that numerous IP addresses will be added to the 'banned list' apart from just one.

The length of time that a listener can tune-in for is not restricted in any way. One hour or one week - there are no 'rules' regarding this. Also, two users can tune-in using the same IP address without any problems - two (or more) people working for the same company and tuning-in using the same, company IP address is fine. The only criteria here is what application is being used to actually tune-in.

Anyway, I'm a little uncertain as to what has happened in your particular situation here as MPlayer ordinarily identifies itself as such when connecting to the stream and not as a legacy 'NetShow' Player. It appears as if you've been caught up in the 'Media Player ID spoofing' rules. ie. A listener attempting to 'mask' the true Media Player that they're using to tune-in.

In the meantime, I've manually removed your IP address from the 'banned list' so you can tune-in again without any problems. Although, please feel free to e-mail / PM me if you experience further issues.

Enjoy !!

D

ino_100 wrote on 5^th Jun, 2008 at 9:02pm:


Not at all, MPlayer is fine. I have to confess to knowing little about Linux Media Players though.

I'm guessing that MPlayer uses a large buffer when connected to a stream to be able to do this.

ino_100 wrote on 5^th Jun, 2008 at 9:08pm:


Both are fine, Max.

No problem quami.

Any further problems, feel free to start another thread or contact me directly.

In the meantime, enjoy the music !!