[BNM] .htaccess question / blocking IP range

[Jonathan Hirsch]

Hi all,

I've been trying to block a range of IPs using .htaccess. Anyone know  
why "Deny from a.b.c.d - w.x.y.z" would work sometimes but not other  
times?

Specifically, if I use a range that includes my own (client) IP  
address, the block works fine and I see the 403 Forbidden error  
message as expected. But if I include the range I actually want to  
block, it doesn't...

For reference, the range is 82.99.30.2 - 82.99.30.73, belonging to a  
company called Munax AB - allegedly a search engine, but a quick  
Google reveals a bit of a dubious reputation; anyway they've been  
hammering my server for the last few days.

"Deny from 82.99.30.2 - 82.99.30.73" doesn't work, yet if I  
individually write out all 72 IPs separately, each on a new line  
(i.e. Deny from 82.99.30.2 etc.), the block does work... Strange.

So the problem's sorted for now, but if they suddenly come back with  
a new / longer IP range, I don't really want to be having to list  
every address separately. My htaccess file's long enough as it is! ;-)

Any thoughts?

TIA,

Jon