Juli
08-18-2005, 10:49 PM
I've been running a message board in one form or another for about ten years. The discussion is spirited, but for the most part, is respectful. I insist on the ideal of "attack ideas, not people," and on rare occasions when things get out of hand, a gentle reminder works well.
Three years ago, a guy showed up and he didn't like the positions of many of the board posters. He began to attack and got quite cruel with people. A number of posters are quite vulnerable (battling severe depression and bipolar) and he would go for the jugular on people he knew were in bad shape. The complaints began to roll in, and I decided he had been given enough warnings on the board.
At that time, I didn't require registration and if a person did register, I didn't require valid email addresses (because anonymity was important). My plan was to email him privately, set down some guidelines, and allow him to remain on the board if he would follow the guidelines. But he had given a fake email address and blocked private messages from me. I had no way to contact him, so I posted a message on the board that he was blocked from posting until he contacted me by email to discuss. I also deleted many of the offensive posts. He returned full force with a variety of new names and bombarded the board with Nazi messages, that we were all Nazis, Sieg Heil, and crap like that.
I quickly changed policy and required registration and my approval on new members. He quickly realized that he wasn't going to get new names approved using his DSL account, so he got himself a trial AOL account and signed up a boatload of names, over the course of a couple of weeks. Since I do get a good number of AOL folks, I didn't catch on until he began to post and he quickly gave himself away.
Three years later, and the guy is still at it. In fact, at one point he set up a hate page about me (and how I suck, LOL). I found this out because it turns out he's doing the same at another depression-related board. That owner emailed me and we compared notes and spoke on the phone. The hate page was for both of us. We both had made complaints to his ISP, with no results. I also had complained to AOL, and since I now require valid emails, I turned in those AOL screen names, and the AOL business stopped. (I suspected he had a friend with an AOL account, because the AOL thing went on for a year or so)
I get anywhere from one to five new registrations every day, and have to manually approve them. Of course I check IP addresses, and surprisingly, now and then he'll do one with his own ISP and I quickly approve, then put him in the banned category. He has about 30 names in banned. (He's the only person I've ever booted in ten years)
He's gotten smart, and uses a variety of ISPs. I don't know if he signs up for trial accounts, or has friends sign up, or goes to net cafes. He's also done things like anonymizer. But he'll slip a new reg in with a new ISP, then wait a few weeks to start posting. He gives himself away once he starts posting, because he can't seem to control himself. But by the time I find that one, there are usually three or four more names lying in wait. It's just an ongoing battle.
I use a complex log package, specifically to keep track of him. He is completely obsessed with the board, visiting at least five times a day, reading and re-reading. Then trying to post, or maybe posting. (and then I catch him and ban that name)
But he seems to have a large network of ways to sign up new accounts and I'm at my wits end.
I've tried every modification I can find, banning with cookies, etc. I thought about using the misery user mod, but it would just create work for me, and he would quickly figure it out. I've tried the old standard, ignore him and he'll get bored and give up. Ha! Three years later, and he's more obsessed than ever.
I'm afraid my only answer is to stay as vigilant as I can and just ban as I find him. But I'm wondering if anyone here has had a person like this, and if there's anything that can be done to put a stop to it once and for all.
Oh, and I should mention, this is not a 17-year-old on summer vacation. He's a retired businessman in his 60s.
Thanks for listening,
J
Three years ago, a guy showed up and he didn't like the positions of many of the board posters. He began to attack and got quite cruel with people. A number of posters are quite vulnerable (battling severe depression and bipolar) and he would go for the jugular on people he knew were in bad shape. The complaints began to roll in, and I decided he had been given enough warnings on the board.
At that time, I didn't require registration and if a person did register, I didn't require valid email addresses (because anonymity was important). My plan was to email him privately, set down some guidelines, and allow him to remain on the board if he would follow the guidelines. But he had given a fake email address and blocked private messages from me. I had no way to contact him, so I posted a message on the board that he was blocked from posting until he contacted me by email to discuss. I also deleted many of the offensive posts. He returned full force with a variety of new names and bombarded the board with Nazi messages, that we were all Nazis, Sieg Heil, and crap like that.
I quickly changed policy and required registration and my approval on new members. He quickly realized that he wasn't going to get new names approved using his DSL account, so he got himself a trial AOL account and signed up a boatload of names, over the course of a couple of weeks. Since I do get a good number of AOL folks, I didn't catch on until he began to post and he quickly gave himself away.
Three years later, and the guy is still at it. In fact, at one point he set up a hate page about me (and how I suck, LOL). I found this out because it turns out he's doing the same at another depression-related board. That owner emailed me and we compared notes and spoke on the phone. The hate page was for both of us. We both had made complaints to his ISP, with no results. I also had complained to AOL, and since I now require valid emails, I turned in those AOL screen names, and the AOL business stopped. (I suspected he had a friend with an AOL account, because the AOL thing went on for a year or so)
I get anywhere from one to five new registrations every day, and have to manually approve them. Of course I check IP addresses, and surprisingly, now and then he'll do one with his own ISP and I quickly approve, then put him in the banned category. He has about 30 names in banned. (He's the only person I've ever booted in ten years)
He's gotten smart, and uses a variety of ISPs. I don't know if he signs up for trial accounts, or has friends sign up, or goes to net cafes. He's also done things like anonymizer. But he'll slip a new reg in with a new ISP, then wait a few weeks to start posting. He gives himself away once he starts posting, because he can't seem to control himself. But by the time I find that one, there are usually three or four more names lying in wait. It's just an ongoing battle.
I use a complex log package, specifically to keep track of him. He is completely obsessed with the board, visiting at least five times a day, reading and re-reading. Then trying to post, or maybe posting. (and then I catch him and ban that name)
But he seems to have a large network of ways to sign up new accounts and I'm at my wits end.
I've tried every modification I can find, banning with cookies, etc. I thought about using the misery user mod, but it would just create work for me, and he would quickly figure it out. I've tried the old standard, ignore him and he'll get bored and give up. Ha! Three years later, and he's more obsessed than ever.
I'm afraid my only answer is to stay as vigilant as I can and just ban as I find him. But I'm wondering if anyone here has had a person like this, and if there's anything that can be done to put a stop to it once and for all.
Oh, and I should mention, this is not a 17-year-old on summer vacation. He's a retired businessman in his 60s.
Thanks for listening,
J