I see a motion is posted as passed on name changes, specifically to add the following to the TOS:
Can I change my Flyer Talk handle?
The short answer is NO. In general the handle you registered with is the one you are known by during your time in this Community. However, if for instance you started 2 years back as FargoFlyer and are now based in Tampa, we will allow you as a ONE TIME courtesy to re-register your handle. Once you have registered under that new name, you must email a FT admin to cancel the duplicate handle. Failure to do so is a violation of the Flyertalk Terms of Service as each member may only have one handle. Be warned your post count then re-starts at zero, and your "join date" will reflect the date of the new handle. And this is a strictly ONE TIME offer to members, so please think carefully before asking!
Forgive me, but this seems a slightly odd policy. There was recently a one time offer to
change handles, as in renaming an existing account (no resetting of post count etc.), subject to certain restrictions. This was a nice offer to make and I appreciate it was over and above the minimum level of service.
This new wording effectively states that it's OK to simply cancel your registration and get a new one, but you can only do that
once. The implication of this is that it appears to make it a TOS violation to have more than two FT accounts over the course of your lifetime. For example, say you were active a few years ago but changed job, forgot about FT, lost your details, changed PC etc. Would it be a TOS violation if you simply sign up for a new account and start afresh? What if you did that a second time?
Similarly, what if your first time on FT was a little embarrassing to you? Say you wrote stuff that you might no longer wish to be associated with. I would assume that it would be acceptable to throw away your old account and start again -
as long as you never use your old account again. I don't see why it would be so wrong to do this multiple times, so long as you were not doing it merely to evade suspensions or for other nefarious purposes. It would also be rather hard to police - sure, you can tell if someone is simultaneously using multiple accounts, but it's harder to prove if someone has simply thrown away an old one and started again (particularly if some time elapses in between)
The rules seem to be quite specific on the subject of multiple handles:
Originally Posted by http://flyertalk.com/help/rules.php
Using Multiple FlyerTalk Accounts to Mislead Posters
Members are allowed one FlyerTalk account. In the past some members used multiple handles to harass other members. Multiple accounts will be closed and involved members will be subject to the disciplinary process.
This treats multiple handles as a problem if they are being used maliciously (and quite rightly too), but does not cover the case of simply wanting to start again.
It also raises the interesting (to me, anyway) question of whether a user has the right to cancel their account. We all know the forum operator may cancel your account, but does a user, once they have signed up, have the
right to do so? No idea of the answer on that one, IANAL.
I'm not trying to be difficult here. I have no axe to grind - I have no desire to change my handle, and none of the hypothetical situations above apply to me - but I thought the wording was odd, and it implies a strangely restrictive and hard to enforce rule. The "one-time only" bit would make more sense if attached to an offer to modify your existing account.