As in the Brown Rat, or the amazing album by 'The Stranglers'? (It's Rattus, by the way, so points will be docked for that Sagegee)
An IP address for a home internet connection will change. With some ISPs it will happen regularly, others it will change on restart of a router and some may stay the same for quite a while. It isn't a very reliable way of identifying multi-posters though. The above is not actually accurate. 'most' ISP's will dynamically assign an IP address to the 'home router' but restarting that router invariably assigns the same IP from the group to that router. It is unlikely that the IP will change that often, in most cases never. If you have a static IP (most businesses) then several posters will have the same IP address. It is very easy to block or spoof your IP address so as not to be easily traced if traced at all and this can change regularly so again, almost impossible to block from this site. There are tools which can be used to trace the 'average user' and then easily block the IP but the problem of multi posters from the same IP which are legitimate will arise. For the few times there are idiots who are simply here for the wind up, there is a lot of issues and I doubt it would be worth it.....that said, it is a good point made by the originator of this article and should not be mocked. Regards Spartacus
Thanks for that info westandtiger. So basically identification is impossible. PS To everyone concerned this was my first thread so I'm Spartacus.
My IP addy never changes but that is because at my business here I have a server/main frame computer upstairs that hosts web sites and loads of other stuff and I have a special business high speed line that services the whole building. Without a static IP it would mess up the web sites as no one could find them. I have about 20 computers around here that anybody could use to create another user name but to be honest most of the people that work for me could'nt care less about "soccer" and it would be extremely unlikely that they would sign up to a Hull City forum
It's also very easy to manipulate by just using different accounts in different places. My IP address will vary between at least 3 because I use 3 different routers connected through 3 different ISPs on a fairly regular basis (mine at home, the one at my mum's, and the place I stay in Hull).
A mod can enter an IP address (can be partial) and that will bring up a list of users who've used that IP. Likewise you can type in a username and it brings up a list of IP addresses they've previously used. If you're interested OLM or DMD, it's accessed through the mod control panel here.
Cheers Mr F*ck. I'd actually forgotten about that bit. I rely on spotting reference to Leeds in their replies, it's a surefire WUM spotter.
I'm never sure what that means. If I stick my name in it brings up a few others that use one or more of the same IP's but none of them are me as far as I know.
Well if it is possible then that brings us back to the original question: How many people would like to see a list of users that share the same IP address?
It'd be meaningless. As I put earlier, some unconnected users share the same IP, yet other people have several IP's listed to their name. If someone's using several names does it really matter, surely the content's more important? If something's posted that deserves deleting it probably will be, but I reckon too much mod talk messes up a message board.
@DMD Personally I'm not bothered if City supporters use 100 names, but it would be annoying if a wum had several different usernames, because this gives an unbalanced debate on issues were people disagree and only plays into the hands of the wum.
