Looking back at the people who have caused trouble (and been banned) at this message board, one thing they all have in common is they register with a free email address.
It is possible that in the forseeable future we may ban people from using free email addresses such as yahoo.com and hotmail.com to register at this community. Doing so, however, will lock out anyone who currently has one of those email addresses listed on file.
I would like to ask any of you who registered with a yahoo.com or hotmail.com (or a localized version i.e. yahoo.co.uk) to change your email address on file to your ISP provided email address. You can still list your yahoo or hotmail address as the display email address, so people wont see your real email.
If you have questions, comments, or concerns please post here and I'll do my best to address them.
I may also send a mass mailing out to everyone asking them to do this.
To change your email address on file, click the 'MyPop' link in the top right area, then click the 'Profile' tab.
quote:Originally posted by Steve: I would like to ask any of you who registered with a yahoo.com or hotmail.com (or a localized version i.e. yahoo.co.uk) to change your email address on file to your ISP provided email address. You can still list your yahoo or hotmail address as the display email address, so people wont see your real email.
I don't like giving out my "proper" email address because POP mail accounts dont have anywhere near the spam protection that Hotmail and Yahoo have. All it takes is for one spammer to get a hold of your address and thats it - game over.
I can understand your concerns over idiots posting dodgy messages on the board but making everyone use a personal email address isn't really going to make that much of a difference.
If you ban somebody who uses a major ISP such as aol, they can just go away and use one of the other aol.com mailboxes that they get for free. These are to allow for multiple family members. All major ISP do the same, some give away up to 12 email addresses per account. You can't start banning entire domains such as aol.
I know that something has to be done but I would prefer if you threaten people with extreme levels of violence.
Posts: 53 | Location: Scotland | Registered: July 25, 2002
You obviously didn't read my message very closely. For starters, you are correct in that I cannot ban every free email service, and we don't plan to do that. The people who have caused problems here in the past used yahoo.com and hotmail.com email addresses.
Also, as I pointed out in my first message. There are two email fields stored in the database. E-Mail and Display E-Mail. I am only asking people to change the E-Mail which is used if you have to request your password, or an admin needs to contact you regarding something.
You can still list your free email account under the display email (or you can list nothing at all). That is the only of the two fields that is visable to other users. Make sense?
The point I was making is that there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop idiots posting nasty messages.
Your proposed course of action is a possible step in the right direction but wont stop (the tiny minority) of random crazy people from posting dodgy rants.
PS: I look forward to your usual abrasive retort
Posts: 53 | Location: Scotland | Registered: July 25, 2002
quote:Originally posted by soma: Your proposed course of action is a possible step in the right direction but wont stop (the tiny minority) of random crazy people from posting dodgy rants.
If they are that determined, we will worry about it then. Most people wouldn't fuss to that level. It is an extreme minority that will always be a problem no matter what precautions are taken so we will have to deal with that as (and if) it comes along.
-TR
Posts: 4295 | Location: Somewhere in the USA. | Registered: November 24, 2000
For starters, you are correct in that I cannot ban every free email service, and we don't plan to do that. The people who have caused problems here in the past used yahoo.com and hotmail.com email addresses.
