i participate on another internet board that has just realized it has had someone perpetrating a hoax by posting stories under various names.

no real harm was done and the enormous brouhaha has ranged from comical to sad. there is no registration procedure on this board and you can post under any name you choose at any time.

this whole fracas has folks wondering if perhaps there's a 'safer' board format to use. my question is this: when we register here or at macinforum, does that lock in our IP so that we cannot also register and post under another name?

Nope, you can register as many names as you want. Your IP will be logged and moderators can see what your IP is. On a non-registartion forum, I would suggest that you display part of the IP address in each post, like dealmac was before it required registration. That way you can tell if a single IP address is using a bunch of names.

darn! i guess that would have been too easy.

a while ago this board did post IP addresses in a easily viewable way and folks got their unmentionables in a twist over privacy concerns.

IP addresses are viewable on the board if you use 'View Source' which is how the hoaxing finally came to light. someone got suspicious and knew how to check.

They can't have it both ways. They either get their privacy or everyone gets to see everyones IP(or partial IP).

The best way, from a privacy standpoint, is to have moderators that can see IP addresses. If there is some problem, they can check IPs and report back. Everyone else just sees IP Logged, just like this forum.

Dumbness.

If you're sophisticated enought to ask the question, you know how to be protective.

Raising unwarrented fears for other posters is just a way of drawing attention to yourself.

If a problem exists; identify it!

Then offer a solution.

---

"Who's more foolish - the fool or the fool that follows him?" - Obi Wan Kenobi

RgrF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Dumbness.
>
> If you're sophisticated enought to ask the
> question, you know how to be protective.
>
> Raising unwarrented fears for other posters is
> just a way of drawing attention to yourself.
>
> If a problem exists; identify it!
>
> Then offer a solution.

RgrF-

the only dumbness here is your assumption. i really am NOT talking about this forum or any other forum folks on this board frequent. it's a board for homeschoolers that i frequent.

C(-)ris Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> They can't have it both ways. They either get
> their privacy or everyone gets to see everyones
> IP(or partial IP).
>
> The best way, from a privacy standpoint, is to
> have moderators that can see IP addresses. If
> there is some problem, they can check IPs and
> report back. Everyone else just sees IP Logged,
> just like this forum.

The best way, from a privacy standpoint, is to present a hash of the poster's IP address. This would be a number computed from the IP address which cannot be used to determine the original IP address, but it would be sufficiently distinct to make it clear that more than one poster used the same IP address when posting.

For example, instead of displaying 192.168.8.12, you might display 3096576 which computed by 192 * 168 * 8 * 12. This product can be displayed as hexidecimal for a more compact presentation if desired.

C(-)ris Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> The best way, from a privacy standpoint, is to
> have moderators that can see IP addresses. If
> there is some problem, they can check IPs and
> report back. Everyone else just sees IP Logged,
> just like this forum.

this board's set up doesn't say IP logged but you can see the IP as i described. few of us knew that until this thing imploded last night.

the webmaster does seem to be able to pull posts by IP number or so some folks claimed. but it was late when this all unfolded and the webmaster was probably off having a life.

TheTominator Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> The best way, from a privacy standpoint, is to
> present a hash of the poster's IP address. This
> would be a number computed from the IP address
> which cannot be used to determine the original IP
> address, but it would be sufficiently distinct to
> make it clear that more than one poster used the
> same IP address when posting.
>
> For example, instead of displaying 192.168.8.12,
> you might display 3096576 which computed by 192 *
> 168 * 8 * 12. This product can be displayed as
> hexidecimal for a more compact presentation if
> desired.

that seems like a useful idea. i will pass this on to the site's webmaster. thanks.

It's a human problem, and so technology won't provide the solution. There will never be a technological way to prevent people from lying and taking advantage of others.

My wife is on a board where something similar happened. 18 months later there are still wounds from the fallout. While the mods had access to IPs, getting them to look into them, and then concede there was a problem that had to be dealt with, was the biggest hurdle. And here it is, a year and a half later, and some people still feel like the liar didn't get a fair shake, should maybe be asked back.

A feature allowing no more than one nick per IP is not a bad idea, but there are plenty of situations where two or more people share an IP. And there are plenty of situations where one person has more than one IP, and that can both present a hurdle to legitimate use and provide an opportunity for exploitation.