public boolean isIpMuted(final String ip){
  final long muteTill=getIpUnmuteTime(ip);
  return muteTill > System.currentTimeMillis();
}

public boolean isIpMuted ( final String ip ) { final long muteTill = getIpUnmuteTime ( ip ) ; return muteTill > System . currentTimeMillis ( ) ; }
is the given ip muted ? this may have the side effect of removing from the database any ip ' s whose mute has expired
