Based on increasing problems with destructive anon posters, we've added more security.
Previously, the system would just notify me when someone attempted to register another account using the same physical computer as was used to register or post from an additional account.
Now, the system will make it impossible to register the additional account, and will send me this message:
Quote:
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Ezze Other: Tiesto, Zhaktet Ezze is trying to register a new account. His/her other logins are: Tiesto , Zhaktet .
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And when I get this message, I'm no longer going to send private messages and ask for an explanation of why multiple people are attempting to register here from the same physical computer. I'm going to just make a post in this section, and post the question here instead.
I understand that there are valid situations where siblings, married people, and roomates may share a computer. That's none of my business, and I don't have a problem with it. But the legitimate cases of that happening on this board are less than 10, and closer to 6, out of all our users.
I'm having to delete up to 50 user accounts per month now solely for the reason of people disrespecting our Site Rules and attempting to register a second (or in one guy's case 12) additional accounts here. And this is now really, really starting to piss me off.
The real reason people try and register multiple accounts is one of these two things almost EVERY time:
1. A poster wants to flame someone in a particularly nasty way, but is too big of a pussy to do that under his own name. So Mr. Noballs decides to pose as a new user and flame the person anonymously instead.
2. Someone wants to get a user title the fast way, and registers 5 accounts using multiple hotmail or yahoo accounts, which all list his real user name as the referrer. These are more harmful to me than the first type, because they falsely inflate our user count and force me to do a lot of work to fix the problem.
I don't understand why some people think they are so slick, or I'm so stupid, that they can get away with this undetected. I was born at night, but it wasn't last night.
Everyone now registering a new account is emailed a copy of the Site Rules. They clearly, in easy to read language, say that registering multiple accounts is not allowed on this web site. And I now have a zero tolerance policy for this behavior.
The system we now use in the war against multiple account terrorists does more than just check IP numbers. It uses cookies, and looks for the same physical computer that was used to register a previous account, or to make a post. It does not include any form of identifying information, in terms of your RL identity or what you have on your computer, or anything similar. It is merely a number harmlessly installed as a cookie on every computer that logs on this site and registers an account or makes a post.
The only time the cookie is checked is when a new account is registered. And when the cookie (or IP) matches a previous user, the system sends me the message above to let me know the offending user names. And when I get that message, in the future, I'm just going to post it here and let the person explain, if they want to do that.
Again, I have no problem if actual different people want to use this site from the same physical computer (ex: spouses, siblings, whatever). I also really don't care about or want to know your personal situation. But if someone else in your household, or whatever you want to call it, wants to register an account here from the same physical computer you use, just send me an email in advance so I can disable this for your IP number. Otherwise, the above message will be posted about you in the Rate-a-Retard section. You can then make a reply post, or send me a PM, to resolve the issue, if you choose.
Thanks
Warning to people trying to register multiple accounts
