The IP thing sounds like a lot of work for the WebFlyer staff, basically them having to police these boards. That is an unreasonable burden to ask on them.

Moderators would't necessarily be a bad idea, but I don't see how they could help with the question of who people really are. That's not a moderator's job.

The best solution, which I will later sum up in one word, is for people here to just take a deep breath and relax. This is not a constitutional crisis.

I usually find views by everyone in this thread to be quite enlightened. However, this is definitely not the case here.

What is being proposed is, in essence, the first step into dangerous territory. How do you think the Salem witch hunts began?

Authoritarian rule starts with one little "plan" that takes away freedom in the name of making things better, or at least better for some. Would FlyerTalk be better if people didn't use fake IDs? I say yes, but not at the cost that is being suggested.

FlyerTalk already requires people to register. Fine, that's nice. "But people don't have to give an e-mail address!!" come the calls from the worriers. Well, we all know that e-mail addresses can be gotten in seconds.

But the fact is many new people may not want to make their e-mail address available. The Internet is a new thing to many people, and they may not be comfortable giving out personal information to strangers. And given that so many other discussion boards, etc., on the Net are far less civil than FT, even those with much Internet experience may choose not to reveal their e-mail address.

But none of that goes to the issue of fake FT IDs. Do I want to be carded every time I post? No, and I bet you don't either.

IP logging is really not a cure-all, anyway. As was mentioned, people can get around it. Or, given that this is a community of travelers, what if someone is posting from somewhere other than their normal place, say on a business trip?

And Randy's staff is going to be forced to sort through all this? IP logging is just not practical, and I'm glad it is not, because it's such a terrible idea.

What about newbies? If I'm signing up for FlyerTalk and I read over the terms and conditions and I see that FT will be logging my Internet address, I may be more than a little hesitant to go through with that.

This community is not only about the regulars, something that is all too often forgotten by many old-timers. FT does not exist solely for us regulars, and what we think is best for FT may not always be so.

Newbies already many times are treated like dirt around here, told to "do a search" or even just treated rudely. The way to make that better is also the solution to this current problem, of dealing with suspected fake IDs:

Grace.