Identifying Alts on SL

Hi fellow residents .

Any one know if Linden have every looked into identifying and tracking ava's from the same IP address/subnet ? . It would be fairly easy to implement and could take the form of a tag on the users profile listing ppl online at this address. Duplicity using alt's is the major cause of harrassment & discord on SL, this woud put an end to it instantly.

Rgds

Thom.

While your point that identification could help cut down on griefing is somewhat valid, there are at least four fundamental flaws with it. I'll explain.


First, it's a bit draconian. Civilized people do have a right to anonymity when they want it. Just because a few bad apples have abused it, doesn't mean it should be taken away from the rest of us.

As much as I hate to pull from the much overused yet VERY under-appreciated RL argument about how to deal with terrorism, I have to point out that the moment we start surrendering our own legitimate freedoms in the hope of making it harder for the maliciously inclined to operate is the moment we let them win. Don't let your enemies dictate your actions or your thinking. Remember, their goal is to disrupt the normal enjoyment of the world. Anonymity via alts is a huge part of that enjoyment for a lot of people, and the vast majority never cause any trouble for anyone.


Second, just because two or more avatars might be controlled from the same computer doesn't necessarily mean they're the same person. Some computers are shared by roommates, or by couples, or even by entire families. While one person in the house might be a griefer, the others might not be. Quite obviously, it wouldn't be fair to ban them all, just because one breaks the rules.

Or how about situations in which a friend comes over and uses another friend's machine for a while? For example, I've got a couple of friends/colleagues in the area who work with me on projects from time to time. Every so often I'll get together with one or the other of them, and we'll work (or play) side by side, physically in the same room. If I'm at one of their houses, sometimes I'll use one of their machines, rather than my own laptop. And when they come over here, same thing. I've got two SL-capable desktops here, so there's often no point in a visitor using his or her own.

Under your system, my avatar would read as not me, but my friend when I'm at his house. And his avatar would read as not him, but me, when he's here. Obviously, neither of those labels would ever be true. I'm always me, and my friend is always himself, no matter what the IP address of the machine either of us happens to be using at any given moment.

Or what about computers usable by the general public, such as those in libraries, student unions, copy shops, coffee houses, etc.? If I go over to Kinkos and use one of their machines for an hour, right after some random griefer happens to have done the same, does that make me him? Obviously not. But we'd still both have the same IP address.


Third, IP addresses can be changed or spoofed. Even if you ignore all of the above, and lump an entire group of suspected alts together into one assumed person because they all have the same IP address today, a clever anonymity enthusiast could make each one appear to be coming from a different IP address tomorrow.


Fourth, it's conceivable that such access to this "who's who of SL" of SL information make griefing even worse instead of better. Remember, whatever information you can get on them, they can also get on you. Let's say a griefer decides to make you a target, for whatever reason. Suppose their daily harassment gets so bad that you decide it's no longer worth it to keep your original avatar name, so you make a new alt, in the hope of making a fresh start, away from all your previous troubles. Ordinarily, that would work, but dang it, that new IP monitoring system you proposed was just implemented yesterday. Now your old pal the griefer knows your new alt is actually you. You've got nowhere to run, you can't get away. That griefer is on you like glue, and that's that.

But wait, it's gets worse. Like any self respecting griefer, this guy doesn't want your system to slow him down. So he either spoofs his IP address, or he only does his griefing from public computers. Either way, your system is useless for keeping tabs on him. He can show up as anyone at any time, just to piss you off. Meanwhile, you, as the rule-abiding good citizen that you are, do not spoof your IP, and you do the majority of your computing from home. You're now trapped by the very system you proposed, while the badguy you were hoping to catch can operate with near total impunity, just like he did before your system was implemented.


I'm sure I could probably come up with a fifth, sixth, and hundredth potential drawback as well, if I wanted to spend all day on this. But I think you get the idea. The point is a person is not his IP address. A person is his behavior, his words, his actions. If someone misbehaves, ban them from your property, and file an abuse report. If they come back as an alt, band the alt, and file another report. Don't overreact. Sooner or alter they'll get bored, and move on.

Griefing is a just an unfortunate fact of life. It happens. All we can do is live with it, respond appropriately when it happens, and try not to let it get under our skin. What we absolutely should not and cannot ever allow ourselves to do is join them just because we can't beat them. Taking away innocent people's anonymity would in itself be a form of griefing. Let's not go down that path.

Yes, they deliberately don't do it.
It's not, and it wouldn't.

Did you get your heart broken by someone using an alt, Thomas?

With probably 1/2 the US using either comcast or verizon as their ISP, I'm not sure that tracking by IP address/subnet would be productive.

What Chosen said ;P

good idea but I agree what makes second life great is that if you run into drama or too much trouble you can always start over. Keeping track of peoples ips and alts really wouldn't be fair. usually if your worried about the person you just met is an alt of someone you know or not. the big rule of thumb

if someone out of the blue comes up and says hi to you and is brand new and all chances are they may be an alt trying to get info or something. always be weary!

Aren't alts, secondary avatars, and the like ALLOWED so long as you're paying for a premium account status?

You don't need a premium account to have alts.

Well if you ever want to make a quick account and not have it link to any of your other accounts or even have to activate a e-mail address or anything else

http://www.pnewell.com/Dublin/Regapi.aspx


enjoy

Even if you only have one avatar, it is still an alt. Mine is NOT ME!!!

Speak for yourself.