Prologue: For the Members reading this and having an opinion.
We've been discussing IP numbers in the Sensitive Info forum and the discussion has moved on to the general topic of what to do if we discover multiple screen names. Rangers are not in complete agreement whether this requires a thread in the Business Forum or not, so I'm posting my recommendation here where the members can see it. If Members have comments, please make them in the "Need to Talk to a Ranger" thread in the Business Room, and if that turns into a full-blown discussion I'll split it off into its own topic.
_____________________________________
As of last week, phpbb allows us to see how many posters are posting from a particular IP with the touch of a button. This means that we no longer have to maintain IP lists, and that's good news for us and all future rangers.
Although we have not had any confirmed problems with multiple screen names so far, while we were on this topic I offered to the other Rangers a recommendation as to what we should do if the problem does arise.
The Charter allows one screen name per poster, but does not say anything about what to do if a poster registers more than once. Rather than waiting until this happens and debating what to do, or having one batch of Rangers handle it leisurely while another batch handles it harshly, I thought it would be a good idea to decide on a policy now while the topic is neutral and write it into the Ranger Handbook.
My recommendation is that we make it as little a deal as possible. If Rangers discover a second screen name they would contact the poster by PM or email, confirm that this is really a second screen name and not a friend or family member using the same computer, inform the poster that only one screen name is allowed and ask them which one they want.
Whichever one they don't want would have its permissions disabled but would not be deleted so that the identity of any posts would not be altered.
I don't think this requires us to do anything Charterward. If a rash of multiple screen names breaks out in the future we can reconsider the procedure at that time. But for now I would like to (1) have a policy, and (2) have it be as mild as possible.
Comments are welcome from other Rangers and from members. Thanks!
Jn