diff --git a/fail2ban/server/filter.py b/fail2ban/server/filter.py
index d561b507..00df2348 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/filter.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/filter.py
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ class Filter(JailThread):
 				logSys.debug("Ignore line since time %s < %s - %s"
 							 % (unixTime, MyTime.time(), self.getFindTime()))
 				break
-			if self.inIgnoreIPList(ip, log_ignore=True):
+			if self.inIgnoreIPList(ip.ntoa(), log_ignore=True):
 				continue
 			logSys.info("[%s] Found %s" % (self.jail.name, ip))
 			## print "D: Adding a ticket for %s" % ((ip, unixTime, [line]),)
@@ -524,7 +524,8 @@ class Filter(JailThread):
 					try:
 						host = failRegex.getHost()
 						if returnRawHost:
-							failList.append([failRegexIndex, host, date,
+							ipaddr = IPAddr(host)
+							failList.append([failRegexIndex, ipaddr, date,
 								 failRegex.getMatchedLines()])
 							if not checkAllRegex:
 								break
@@ -532,8 +533,9 @@ class Filter(JailThread):
 							ipMatch = DNSUtils.textToIp(host, self.__useDns)
 							if ipMatch:
 								for ip in ipMatch:
-									failList.append([failRegexIndex, ip, date,
-										 failRegex.getMatchedLines()])
+									ipaddr = IPAddr(ip)
+									failList.append([failRegexIndex, ipaddr, 
+										 date, failRegex.getMatchedLines()])
 								if not checkAllRegex:
 									break
 					except RegexException, e: # pragma: no cover - unsure if reachable
@@ -936,3 +938,236 @@ class DNSUtils:
 		""" Convert a binary IPv4 address into string n.n.n.n form.
 		"""
 		return socket.inet_ntoa(struct.pack("!L", ipbin))
+
+
+
+##
+# Class for IP address handling.
+#
+# This class contains methods for handling IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
+
+class IPAddr:
+	""" provide functions to handle IPv4 and IPv6 addresses 
+	"""
+
+	IP_CRE = re.compile("^(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}$")
+	IP6_CRE = re.compile("^[0-9a-fA-F]{4}[0-9a-fA-F:]+:[0-9a-fA-F]{1,4}|::1$")
+
+	# object attributes
+	addr = 0
+	family = socket.AF_UNSPEC
+	plen = 0
+	valid = False
+	raw = ""
+
+	# object methods
+	def __init__(self, ipstring, cidr=-1):
+		""" initialize IP object by converting IP address string
+			to binary to integer
+		"""
+		for family in [socket.AF_INET, socket.AF_INET6]:
+			try:
+				binary = socket.inet_pton(family, ipstring)
+			except socket.error:
+				continue
+			else: 
+				self.valid = True
+				break
+
+		if self.valid and family == socket.AF_INET:
+			# convert host to network byte order
+			self.addr, = struct.unpack("!L", binary)
+			self.family = family
+			self.plen = 32
+
+			# mask out host portion if prefix length is supplied
+			if cidr != None and cidr >= 0:
+				mask = ~(0xFFFFFFFFL >> cidr)
+				self.addr = self.addr & mask
+				self.plen = cidr
+
+		elif self.valid and family == socket.AF_INET6:
+			# convert host to network byte order
+			hi, lo = struct.unpack("!QQ", binary)
+			self.addr = (hi << 64) | lo
+			self.family = family
+			self.plen = 128
+
+			# mask out host portion if prefix length is supplied
+			if cidr != None and cidr >= 0:
+				mask = ~(0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFL >> cidr)
+				self.addr = self.addr & mask
+				self.plen = cidr
+
+			# if IPv6 address is a IPv4-compatible, make instance a IPv4
+			elif self.isInNet(IPAddr("::ffff:0:0", 96)):
+				self.addr = lo & 0xFFFFFFFFL
+				self.family = socket.AF_INET
+				self.plen = 32
+		else:
+			# string couldn't be converted neither to a IPv4 nor
+			# to a IPv6 address - retain raw input for later use
+			# (e.g. DNS resolution)
+			self.raw = ipstring
+
+	def __repr__(self):
+		return self.ntoa()
+
+	def __str__(self):
+		return self.ntoa()
+
+	def __eq__(self, other):
+		other = other if isinstance(other, IPAddr) else IPAddr(other)
+		if not self.valid and not other.valid: return self.raw == other.raw
+		if not self.valid or not other.valid: return False
+		if self.addr != other.addr: return False
+		if self.family != other.family: return False
+		if self.plen != other.plen: return False
+		return True
+
+	def __ne__(self, other):
+		other = other if isinstance(other, IPAddr) else IPAddr(other)
+		if not self.valid and not other.valid: return self.raw != other.raw
+		if self.addr != other.addr: return True
+		if self.family != other.family: return True
+		if self.plen != other.plen: return True
+		return False
+
+	def __lt__(self, other):
+		other = other if isinstance(other, IPAddr) else IPAddr(other)
+		return self.family < other.family or self.addr < other.addr
+
+	def __add__(self, other):
+		return "%s%s" % (self, other)
+
+	def __radd__(self, other):
+		return "%s%s" % (other, self)
+
+	def __hash__(self):
+		return hash(self.addr)^hash((self.plen<<16)|self.family)
+
+	def hexdump(self):
+		""" dump the ip address in as a hex sequence in
+			network byte order - for debug purpose
+		"""
+		if self.family == socket.AF_INET:
+			return "%08x" % self.addr
+		elif self.family == socket.AF_INET6:
+			return "%032x" % self.addr
+		else:
+			return ""
+	
+	def ntoa(self):
+		""" represent IP object as text like the depricated 
+			C pendant inet_ntoa() but address family independent
+		"""
+		if self.family == socket.AF_INET:
+			# convert network to host byte order
+			binary = struct.pack("!L", self.addr)
+		elif self.family == socket.AF_INET6:
+			# convert network to host byte order
+			hi = self.addr >> 64
+			lo = self.addr & 0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFL
+			binary = struct.pack("!QQ", hi, lo)
+		else:
+			return self.getRaw()
+
+		return socket.inet_ntop(self.family, binary)
+
+	def getPTR(self, suffix=""):
+		""" generates the DNS PTR string of the provided IP address object
+			if "suffix" is provided it will be appended as the second and top
+			level reverse domain.
+			if omitted it is implicitely set to the second and top level reverse
+			domain of the according IP address family
+		"""
+		if self.family == socket.AF_INET:
+			reversed_ip = ".".join(reversed(self.ntoa().split(".")))
+			if not suffix:
+				suffix = "in-addr.arpa."
+
+			return "%s.%s" % (reversed_ip, suffix)
+
+		elif self.family == socket.AF_INET6:
+			reversed_ip = ".".join(reversed(self.hexdump()))
+			if not suffix:
+				suffix =  "ip6.arpa."
+
+			return "%s.%s" % (reversed_ip, suffix)
+			
+		else:
+			return ""
+
+	def isIPv4(self):
+		""" return true if the IP object is of address family AF_INET
+		"""
+		return True if self.family == socket.AF_INET else False
+
+	def isIPv6(self):
+		""" return true if the IP object is of address family AF_INET6
+		"""
+		return True if self.family == socket.AF_INET6 else False
+
+	def getRaw(self):
+		""" returns the raw attribute - should only be set
+			to a non-empty string if prior address conversion
+			wasn't possible
+		"""
+		return self.raw
+
+	def isValidIP(self):
+		""" returns true if the IP object has been created
+			from a valid IP address or false if not
+		"""
+		return self.valid
+
+	
+	def isInNet(self, net):
+		""" returns true if the IP object is in the provided
+			network (object)
+		"""
+		if self.family != net.family:
+			return False
+
+		if self.family == socket.AF_INET:
+			mask = ~(0xFFFFFFFFL >> net.plen)
+
+		elif self.family == socket.AF_INET6:
+			mask = ~(0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFL >> net.plen)
+		else:
+			return False
+		
+		if self.addr & mask == net.addr:
+			return True
+
+		return False
+
+		
+	@staticmethod
+	def masktoplen(maskstr):
+		""" converts mask string to prefix length
+			only used for IPv4 masks
+		"""
+		mask = IPAddr(maskstr)
+		plen = 0
+		while mask.addr:
+			mask.addr = (mask.addr << 1) & 0xFFFFFFFFL
+			plen += 1
+		return plen
+
+
+	@staticmethod
+	def searchIP(text):
+		""" Search if an IP address if directly available and return
+			it.
+		"""
+		match = IPAddr.IP_CRE.match(text)
+		if match:
+			return match
+		else:
+			match = IPAddr.IP6_CRE.match(text)
+			if match:
+				return match
+			else:
+				return None
+