Will players be able to use the new hardware hashes?

The idea of hardware-hashing so that banned people can't just make a new account is great... there are plenty of way around it, but it sould at least stop some of the griefing.

However SL bans are not quick, nor is there much chance of them actually happening (based on the police blotter). So will players be able to ban accounts based on this hardware hash? For example, if I ban Alice has three alts (called Bob, Carol, and Dave) is there going to be a way I can ban Alice from my land AND have all her alts banned to? Or do I need to ban Alice, then ban Bob when he shows up, then Carol, then Dave, file abuse reports for all four of them, and just... hope?

Hi Nepenthes, our internal identification won't be available to Residents--in part because it could also be turned around to expose the alts (and thus, personal privacy) of good, honest Residents. This is why it's in our judgment to make those calls.

We're going to focus on providing better, more effective anti-griefer tools. Some Residents have also been stepping up to the plate, like Travis Lambert and Mera Pixel's network ban list to facilitate banning a troublemaker from a collective of likeminded places. Thus, harnessing the social power of Second Life in an emergent, definitely welcome way. I'm eager to support their efforts.

Please also know that our tolerance for repeated griefers who use "revolving door" alts has been severely lessened, and we are dealing with them much quicker now, and much quicker to ban in cases of horrible griefer attrition that annoys and disturbs our valuable customers. Accounts created for the sole purpose of griefing are quickly put on hold, and as such, don't even appear on the Police Blotter most of the time.

If you catch a "revolving door" case live, please don't hesitate to let a Linden Liaison know immediately--they'll be able to determine this and kick 'em all out.