Question for the community

[ChrisCavalier]

Chris, I emailed you and Eric and others this morning with my suspicions on this person and I never heard back from either of you.

It is a shame that this couldn't have been shut down sooner.

Hello Andrew,

Thanks for your post. However, I'm not exactly sure how to interpret it. You emailed Eric and me this morning with "suspicions" about the member and by the afternoon the member was banned from the site. Given we are not going to take action without proper cause, I'm just trying to figure out where the shame is in the situation.

As it turned out, I think the situation was made pretty clear to all our members and in the process the reputation of a very credible entity in the hobby was further solidified. Am I missing something?

Sincerely,
Chris

[B1SON]

I collect such an exclusive group of players that when I finally find something I am pretty much at the mercy of the seller. It is not arrogance that keeps me from walking away, it is the fact that I have search for so long and there just is not much gu stuff of the people I collect out there.

[allstarsplus]

Hello Andrew,

Thanks for your post. However, I'm not exactly sure how to interpret it. You emailed Eric and me this morning with "suspicions" about the member and by the afternoon the member was banned from the site. Given we are not going to take action without proper cause, I'm just trying to figure out where the shame is in the situation.

As it turned out, I think the situation was made pretty clear to all our members and in the process the reputation of a very credible entity in the hobby was further solidified. Am I missing something?

Sincerely,
Chris

Chris - The shame in this lies solely on Marlins2003 who is responsible for his own actions. You are not the problem here. I am frustrated with how this person circumvented system controls to keep posting with an alias after being banned.

Offline, this person has become a big topic of discussion as many members expect him to reappear again. He has caused much disruption outside of the Forum too, and taken up countless hours of legitimate time from members as he has done with me also.

Given we are not going to take action without proper cause

Just for clarification, I thought proper cause to supspend would be utilizing another alias when you have already been banned which seemed fairly clear unless I am missing something.

Andrew

[metsbats]

Chris,

Does the Forum software allow checks at the time of registration for the IP address of a person attempting to register. The IP can be checked against a list of banned IP (if that information is tracked in the database).

This would not allow a "banned" person to re-register. Of course all bets are off if the person uses another PC but at least it will make the person work if they truly want to circumvent the checks.

-David

[allstarsplus]

Check out this Post. Look familiar?


http://www.beckett.com/beckettforum/...osts&t=1459644

[ChrisCavalier]

Chris,

Does the Forum software allow checks at the time of registration for the IP address of a person attempting to register. The IP can be checked against a list of banned IP (if that information is tracked in the database).

This would not allow a "banned" person to re-register. Of course all bets are off if the person uses another PC but at least it will make the person work if they truly want to circumvent the checks.

Hello David,

Thanks for the post. When a member is banned we automatically ban their IP address as well as their email address in the system. Both will automatically be flagged if they are attempted to be used again. Obviously, someone can use another IP address when attempting to re-enroll. However, I think the forum rules and objectives of the forum provide a second line of defense when banned members attempt to circumvent the system (which was the case here).

Among the 17 rules of the forum, which all posters are required to abide in, is the following:

It is expected that all posts are to be created with a sincere attempt to benefit the hobby. Any posts which the Administrator deems as a personal attack or an attempt to unnecessarily discredit others will be subject to the administrative rules of the forum.

I believe we have put a lot of sweat into showing the hobby that this site is expected to be run in a way that is sincerely attempting to benefit the hobby. In fact, I think that spirit is now the predominant one among our members and, while anyone is welcome to enroll on this site, I don't think posters will be around very long if they are not acting in accordance with our rules. Neither the rules nor the members would allow it.

Ironically, if everyone attempted to always act "with a sincere attempt to benefit the hobby" we wouldn't really need many rules if any at all. However, until we reach that place, I believe both the rules and the positive intentions of the vast majority of our members will protect the forum from those with less noble objectives.

Please let me know if that answers your questions.

Sincerely,
Chris

[allstarsplus]

When a member is banned we automatically ban their IP address as well as their email address in the system. Both will automatically be flagged if they are attempted to be used again. Obviously, someone can use another IP address when attempting to re-enroll. However, I think the forum rules and objectives of the forum provide a second line of defense when banned members attempt to circumvent the system (which was the case here).

Chris - Thanks for the followup. Andrew

[metsbats]

"Ironically, if everyone attempted to always act "with a sincere attempt to benefit the hobby" we wouldn't really need many rules if any at all. However, until we reach that place, I believe both the rules and the positive intentions of the vast majority of our members will protect the forum from those with less noble objectives."


There's no perfect world or perfect forum and we will never reach that place but it 's great to know we all are doing our part to do what we can to minimize these unfortunate disruptions

Thanks Chris.

-David