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

Hi Andy ! Welcome to SA !

Just a thought ... you didn't try to record the stream ?

This would result in a blocking of access.

I'm sure Progmaster will give the true reason !

Jim

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

If you search for *Service Forbidden* on the forum I think this will answer your question.


Maybe best to ask Dee.





8-)

Right Huntr_22!

Here is a similar question...

Thanks for the replies guys.

ino_100,
I did stumble across that thread (and the one linked from there) last night.  I'm guessing I got smacked with the automated ban-script but I've got no idea why if it's not the long connection.

I'll admit that I did try to download the songs way back when I first started listening.  It quickly became apparent that there really wasn't much point.  Most of the magic of internet radio (and "real" radio) is the anticipation and discovery.  If I wanted to hear the same top 5 songs over and over again I'd listen to Clear Channel.

I'll just hang tight and wait for word from the ProgMaster.  There's worse things in life than breaking out the FM receiver and tuning into the local jazz station

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

I know that when you listen to a web radio with RealPlayer, you can rewind to the beginning of the listen. Is that a kinda of "ripping" Dee?

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

I know that when you listen to a web radio with Mplayer, you can rewind to the the first second of listenning. Is that a kinda of "ripping" Dee?

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.

Sorry I changed Mplayer for RealPlayer, my mistake...

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

Sorry I changed Mplayer for RealPlayer, my mistake...

Both are fine, Max. 8-)

ProgMaster wrote on 5^th Jun, 2008 at 8:45pm:

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 ...

Noted.  I apologize for my old violation of this.


ProgMaster wrote on 5^th Jun, 2008 at 8:45pm:

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.

Yeah, I added a line in the config a long time ago to spoof the useragent because it resolved some issue (can't remember what).  Who knows it might have been for some other internet radio station (I checked out a bunch before settling here).  You say in another post that there isn't a problem with using mplayer to tune in, so I'll just comment that line out and go back to the default useragent.


ProgMaster wrote on 5^th Jun, 2008 at 8:45pm:

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 !!

Thanks for your assistance, and for the great station!

--Andy

No problem quami.

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

In the meantime, enjoy the music !! 8-)