Can we display publically display the first two IP numbers of posters for all messages? For example, if my IP is currently 1.2.3.4, then my posts will be tagged with 1.2.x.x. If I logged in from another ISP tomorrow, my new posts will display 4.3.x.x.

What would be the advantage of this?

James

Yes, I don't follow either. Sounds a little "under the table" to me. :)

I can understand the need for admins/moderators to have this feature but as a standard member i see no benifit of this.

Revealing partial IP will make it easier for the general public to identify shady membership sign-ups (for shilling and other purposes) without involving the moderators. My thinking is, if they are easier to spot by the public, then it will discourage them from trying. Yes, I know one can still use proxy servers to post from different IP's, but that requires some effort and technical know-how. Revealing partial IP of poster will ultimately lighten moderators' workload since there would be less funny business to investigate. Just a thought...

We would still need to investigate it anyway ;) Also there may be 200+ members with 1.2.x.x, so in fact you would be creating extra workload for us.

I think if it was enabled, there would just be threads all over the place when someone is found out, hate threads and whatnot. I would not even bother.

Also a lot of people can be sitting behind proxies so loads of people will have the same IP address.

Originally posted by Yikes2000
Revealing partial IP will make it easier for the general public to identify shady membership sign-ups (for shilling and other purposes) without involving the moderators.

Why don't you want to involve the moderators? :o

I quote anon-e-mouse from another thread:

Originally posted by anon-e-mouse
These threads are hard to monitor when they grow at the speed of light...

I quote anon-e-mouse from this thread: ;)
Originally posted by anon-e-mouse
We would still need to investigate it anyway ;) Also there may be 200+ members with 1.2.x.x, so in fact you would be creating extra workload for us.

Yes, I read anon-e-mouse's posts in this thread!!! I was answering Alpha, who asked why I originally brought up this topic, i.e why I didn't want to involve the moderators. I have read and understand all points in this thread.

To some extent, I agree with Yikes2000 on sharing partial IP.

I think the main aim would be to know from what region a particular post is coming. For sure will also ensure some amount of transparency.

Originally posted by Yikes2000
Yes, I know one can still use proxy servers to post from different IP's, but that requires some effort and technical know-how.

Well that rules out 80% of web hosts straight away ;) :emlaugh:

Originally posted by Harsha
To some extent, I agree with Yikes2000 on sharing partial IP.

I think the main aim would be to know from what region a particular post is coming. For sure will also ensure some amount of transparency.

Again though, with the ability to hide your IP through any of a hundred different 'proxy' servers the discussion is moot. There's no reason to make IP's public. From my time as a mod you can rest assured things are properly recorded (such as they are).

Originally posted by akashik
Again though, with the ability to hide your IP through any of a hundred different 'proxy' servers the discussion is moot. There's no reason to make IP's public. From my time as a mod you can rest assured things are properly recorded (such as they are).

Yup,

Have full faith in Mods;)

Regards

Originally posted by anon-e-mouse
We would still need to investigate it anyway ;) Also there may be 200+ members with 1.2.x.x, so in fact you would be creating extra workload for us.
So it would give you mods something to do. :)









































*runs like heck* :buck:

:evilb:

Originally posted by Harsha
Yup,

Have full faith in Mods;)

Regards

What would you gain from seeing the IP?

Region? proxies would negate that and depending on ISP, may not be accurate.

Shills? proxies would negate that & IP is not the only method used to identify and ban shills.

Say you did find something suspicious with an IP...what could you do? Report it to the mods to look into. If users were to use the IP alone to confront shills...that could be a problem as we use more than just an IP to justify a ban or warning. Sometimes an IP issue is legitimate, such as multiple users in an office. Would it be fair to those to be confronted publically just because they share an IP with someone else from the same company?

The point we are trying to make is that showing the IP's would not help "lighten" the load on the mod team as was suggested earlier. We would still have to investigate through the backend to find out what the user is up to. The IP helps us investigate but in this day of the scammers hiding behind proxies, we have other methods we use to aid in finding out who is doing what.

Hiding the IP also prevents those shills from seeing what IP's they have used the past so they don't use them again.

These are just my thoughts on why the IP should not be visible to everyone.

(Edit: Bob:smash: )

Heh, not to mention the AOL users, there must be 2000 that share the exact same IP 1.2.3.4. :D

So in general, it is not an option we will be looking into anytime soon. Please be aware we do a lot of research and some associations may take days, even weeks, to get the necessary information we need to take action. If anyone suspects anything, report it and be assured we will look into it.

Personally, I don't see any logical reason that we, the users need to see the ip address, or partial address of any other users. I DO see that as a violation of privacy, though.

When it comes down to it, ip addresses mean nothing. Location? Judging by my address, I'm in CA, yet I'm here in IA. Validation? I could have up to 50 ip addresses, through individual proxy servers. Do you think that'd stop something? Identification? Yeah, right.

The only reason I can see ip addresses (or partials) being given out is information, and that is just way too much information, period.

Originally posted by Jamesc
I can understand the need for admins/moderators to have this feature but as a standard member i see no benifit of this.

They already have thjis feature :)

it would actually cause problems.
say two users had ip of 1.2.x.x.x
and they both acted in some sort of rude way..
you might think its the same person.. and flame..
Meanwhile you could be wrong..
i say we just leave it to the mods.

I am more than certain that our IP's are logged SOMEWHERE on the server associated with our posts. The forum is simply set up so it's not showing up for public viewing.

If you have problems with "shady" posters, relay your concerns to the moderator...

Upon first noticing this thread i thought it was a good idea, now, having read the other replies, it seems it wouldnt be a good idea to give any type of IP access to public posters.

If anyone has any concerns simply report them and as jan says we will investigate them.

Thanks for bringing this up though Yikes2000

T think it would be good for identity verification.

Didn't WHT at one point have completely public ip addresses?

Originally posted by ub3r
T think it would be good for identity verification.


What identity verification are you speaking of?