preforward: i'm not trying to be a smart-ass, seriously... especially on here... now... i just wanted to provide the possible insight as to why it might seem like "cam site X doesn't care!"
so just so i am clear on your proposal... so you're thinking chaturbate should hire someone to study the traffic that's connecting to the live stream and... downloading the data from the live stream... and you're proposing that a ban be placed on these IPs? or just hosts who connect to multiple streams at the same time?
or are you just talking about the certain hosts that connect only when certain cammers are on? .. or maybe the ones that seem to be on all the time? or just the hosts that become stubborn and change IPs if they're having trouble connecting?
earlier when i mentioned i didn't look at the software, it's because i really don't care what it does. you do not need super special software to connect to the stream and grab it at the lowest possible level.... and that's all this software is doing, while seemingly filling it with fluff that drives home an important message - "this product is worth it!" - so much like any other "media player", this software is able to connect to the stream after grabbing the unique token that i also mentioned earlier... kind of like any one of us do.. well our browser handles all that stuff for us, but big difference with them is they don't need a screen or even a monitor.. just access to the CLI and storage.
i understand what you are saying, for sure, but... if the people controlling this network of servers, "botnet" they control in some form since for all we know, yes, it could be centrally based, but my doubts are high on that.. in my mind it's either a slew of cheap but legit VPS or, if they're "lucky" and/or dedicated to the cause.. they could have a random array of 1000s of compromised hosts across every type of network..aka "botnet". either scenario, if they aren't wise to the logic behind the bans you suggest they'll soon receive, then i guarantee they'll wisen up and it won't take them long to create a work-around and get a whole new slew of different machines up and running... it all boils down to how lucrative the business is, how smart they are, and how bad they want what they get from it.
i would also be of mind to believe that by doing all this studying and banning, there will be some inadvertent bans placed on legit users, too.
further more i seriously doubt the same people who are running the big sites are using this program, let alone supplying it... however.. now that i think about it... maybe they *are* selling it.... in an attempt to further obfuscate the data by adding 100s to 1000s of more random IPs to the mix, making it harder to pinpoint... that's actually kinda clever!
so.. could they ban IPs to stop this action, of course! so you spend the time and find them...and that would be a stretch but sure, it's possible, if the people running the bots aren't careful and cycling... then what.. block entire sub-nets? how far do you wanna go? VPS, VPNs... dime a dozen.. you start banning entire Class Cs? Bs?As? i guess blocking x.x.x.x will work. that's just IPv4... how about IPv6? ban all those too? technically i guess you could still chat and/or bate, everyone would just be staring at a blank screen..
(or jpegs, for real tho.. nothing wrong with a good ol' fashion jpeg! )
the fact i was attempting to convey was that... it's basically connecting to the stream, just like any 1000s of users do every second... so you can't block the ports, or easily pinpoint what's going on... .because everyone's doing the SAME thing.... everyone is "downloading" the stream... and if you have the ability to blend in, which is not hard... then... heh.
-l
on another note - wasn't aware CB used CF, i had the question in mind to ask but you implied they are so i will take your word for it. my strong opinion = i don't believe it's such a magical catch-all tool, personally... it's just a service, albeit one with a huge backbone... but there are still ways around even that, as well as inherently *BAD* things about having a service that big to begin with... something something single point of failure.. . anyways, now i'm super curious as to the possible telemetry stemming from the program you linked...