Response
The imposter Babelina has been terminated. The account has been shut down and their posts removed.
Apologies to the real Bebelina for any trouble caused.
As for the identity of the imposter, I have suspicions but no firm evidence. The IP of the imposter did not match any other user, but then again the IP was from a large internet provider (AOL).
As for the more general concern of single persons masquerading under multiple accounts, here is the current situation. At the moment there is nothing preventing this. The board used to have an 'email verification' step wherein users would have to prove their email is valid (and, of course, only one account per email address would be accepted). Now, I disabled this a while back after realizing that a good percentage (~20%) of new registrants were never verifying their email (probably out of laziness). I determined it was healthier for the site to take the risk that people may forge their emails than it was to lose the 'lazy or confused internet surfer' demographic (a large one). I figured it was easier to pick out the bad seeds one by one when needed.
I don't think there's any need to modify this policy after today.
To those (few) who are using multiple accounts, realize that your internet address is logged with every post. Thus, I know who you are. You are not anonymous. While I have no particular problem with the use of multiple personalities (largely because it is not very common), impersonating another member is simply not allowed. And if I have sufficient evidence, I will terminate all your accounts.
The imposter Babelina has been terminated. The account has been shut down and their posts removed.
Apologies to the real Bebelina for any trouble caused.
As for the identity of the imposter, I have suspicions but no firm evidence. The IP of the imposter did not match any other user, but then again the IP was from a large internet provider (AOL).
As for the more general concern of single persons masquerading under multiple accounts, here is the current situation. At the moment there is nothing preventing this. The board used to have an 'email verification' step wherein users would have to prove their email is valid (and, of course, only one account per email address would be accepted). Now, I disabled this a while back after realizing that a good percentage (~20%) of new registrants were never verifying their email (probably out of laziness). I determined it was healthier for the site to take the risk that people may forge their emails than it was to lose the 'lazy or confused internet surfer' demographic (a large one). I figured it was easier to pick out the bad seeds one by one when needed.
I don't think there's any need to modify this policy after today.
To those (few) who are using multiple accounts, realize that your internet address is logged with every post. Thus, I know who you are. You are not anonymous. While I have no particular problem with the use of multiple personalities (largely because it is not very common), impersonating another member is simply not allowed. And if I have sufficient evidence, I will terminate all your accounts.
