Guest, maybe all who read/post should be registered? Options

[Bleyseng]

With the activity of SS and others who are "guests" here and read all the posts maybe its time to have only registered members only on these forums?

The scams are getting old......


If "guests" want to read then they should register.

leave the info, news, etc crap open to anyone.

oh, 57 guests online when I posted this (IMG:style_emoticons/default/WTF.gif)

[TonyAKAVW]

regarding my idea....

Accounts for 'trusted' people would have to be protected by adding measures such as periodic password changes, more strict controls on password security, etc. If you want to be on the trusted list, you'd have to ensure a bit more security for your account. After all, a compromised 'trusted' account would be more powerful than a compromised account as things stand. (that is the major weakness of this idea really)

Hacking into the site will always be a vulnerability, but not much can be done about that.

The issue of having peoples' information stored is not a big deal really. It would be easy to keep a paper-only copy of their information for instance. There's no need to keep people's information in digital format. Once someone has been 'verified' all they need to do is have their name on a list on some seperate server. Your name gets on that list only if you've gone through the verification process. Then, the BBS software queries that list and puts a green check mark next to your name on your posts, etc.

So there's no big brother, or even a centralized collection of information. the only centralized part of it is that there's a list on a secured server (with no BBS software etc.) that provides a list of who's trusted.

Leaving the board open for all to read and all to participate is great, I think most people agree with that. The issue really is, is there some way to reduce the risk of getting scammed? Another thing that everone agrees on is that there is no way to stop it completely. Fine. But to discount adding security because of that is like saying there's no way to stop an eager crook from robbing your house, so why lock your doors?

Having a list of trusted club members is not at all a draconian or opressive method. Why? Because its totally voluntary. If you feel like you don't want to give someone your information, then don't. Participation in 914club would not change due to being trusted or not.


Another weakness... What if someone that is verified is a scammer? Well, at least there's a copy of his driver's license and stuff somewhere. It associates an identity with the user that can be tracked down in real life. Thats the incentive not to scam.

-Tony