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

[Matt Meyer]

This is serious. "Eugene" has literally brought me out of the wood work. At this rate I'm going to double my several year post count in a week.

I appreciate this sentiment and understand where it is coming from. I also believe the community has the obligation to protect itself, so here are my thoughts:

My vote, unless Sir Andy the Uber Admin (IMHO) sees some great benefit otherwise is to leave it open to guests. And he has already spoken out against closing the forum to guests. Closing the forum to guests might make us feel more secure, but I think Sir Andy is saying it should not.

This assault on "non-club members" has put the club into perhaps its darkest days. But this latest, and worst, scam that I know of was perpetuated through a compromised account. People who have been scammed have been targeted because they want to sell something. Contact with others is a requirement for that. I really can not think of other scams that were perpetuated so exclusively through the club, and I am afraid we will find that this is not the case here either.

Sir pointed out guests can now as always, only read, not post. I assume they can not get member information either. No one has ever been able to scam a member through the club without registering. And with my anonymous screen name (IMG:style_emoticons/default/av-943.gif) I feel confident that without registering they couldn’t track me down outside of the club. (OK I may ask an admin to change my screen name because of all this.)

Come on guys one of the greatest things about this club is it’s lack of exclusivity.

Also guys remember, if registered users want to post something that non-registered users shouldn’t see there is always the Sandbox. I would suggest moving the “Eugene” thread there but I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts he has another account.

“Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security”- Benjamin Franklin

OK, members wouldn’t appear to have their liberty restricted but I think it still applies.

[Mike D.]

I think we might find that most of the guests are just members that are browsing and haven't logged on yet. Maybe from the work computer or someone elses. Maybe...

[nomore9one4]

I think all the female guests should be stripped searched. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Brad Roberts]

Demick pointed out who "we" are. We have always welcomed people with open arms.

He also pointed out something I personally HATE.. when people post links in another forum (or this one) that you cant get to because you are not a member of the forum being linked to.

We have full control over what the guests can and cannot do.

Are the guests really the problem though?



B

[Brad Roberts]

I think all the female guests should be stripped searched.

Who is this guy?? LOL (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)



B

[Engman]

Leave it open.

And create another Group - call it Verified members - to belong to this group you have to be verified - by some means that the admins develope. I know a bit of work - but may evolve the club to yet another level.

just my .02

M

[drewvw]

between Jeff's post whoring thread and this Eugene business its been an interesting week for the club....we're dealing with a lot of empirical questions (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

another option that is less invasive would be to look at collecting/auditing guest info (which I am pretty sure you guys already do) in terms of keeping a closer eye on IPs and such for use with the occasional occurance of foul play.

[brer]

well, if you had membership fee you would have a sort of verification right?

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/hide.gif)

[Always Looking]

You'll probably see more "guests" as the new microsoft explorer deletes cookies as part of it's clear browsing history function. I sometimes don't log in until I have something to post. More importantly, I was a guest for a few months until I was sure that the site was not a way to sell me stuff through my email account. I think "new membership" would drop if registration was required. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/flag.gif)

(I don't know about the "Eugene" scam though.)

my .02

Dan

[Jenny]

Yes, but if the club has access to all that schtuff for various club members, what protects us when we get hacked again?

Jen

[Matt Meyer]

Lurking is especially useful for this site because of the complex social fabric that exists here. Many of you guys and gals have been friends for years at this point, so integrating into the mix takes a little bit of tact if you want to be heard and respected.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) But some have gotten by with nothing but a set of brass ones. Britt what do you think? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)

Man, I do love this place.

[ptravnic]

Does anyone else see how closely this discussion parallel's the USA's immigration policy debate?

[Matt Meyer]

Guests......

If this thread moves one or several of you to register, please post your thoughts here. It would be totally appropiate.

Does anyone else see how closely this discussion parallel's the USA's immigration policy debate?

No, I don't see it at all. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/poke.gif) I didn't say anything because then it would be POLITICAL. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/chair.gif) I am not smart enough to come up with a quote of BF without some sort of context.

[turboman808]

I looked here for many months for a car before I finaly registered and gave you full access to all my insane thoughts. Why would I want to join if I am not sure I even want a 914. Also like everyone keeps saying those that are out to rip people off are more then likely registered. Is that really a deterent?

I do have a friend who doesn't allow people to register with certain email addresses. I can't register with my hotmail account, but I also only use my hotmail account so I just don't register. Maybe that might be something you guys want to do here and since I am already registered what do I care.

[GWN7]

I drop in from work, which means I do so from various computers and locations. Sometimes I log in, sometimes I don't. Some companys track employee computer usage and log ins.

Making people log in to read would what's going on is restrictive of another freedom (yes I know this place is a private entity).

What happened to welcome to my garage, come in and have a beverage and see what I'm working on concept?

Locking the doors now does no good and in fact hurts a newby by lessening their chances that they would not be able to read about what happened and fall prey to whom ever is responceable for the identity theft and the theft of the items sent and stollen.

[TonyAKAVW]

It seems like most of the real problems that caused this whole thing are related to the buying and selling of goods. There have been problems in the past with people posting bad stuff, but that seems to be well under control. The issue of verifying identity for the purposes of commerce is a valid concern. At this point you pretty much have to assume a risk when buying or selling things here. You have to assume that risk everywhere, but the risk here seems fairly high since security is so lax.

First of all, compromised passwords can be helped by having new rules about the types/complexity of passwords and how frequently they need to be changed.

Second, as Mark pointed out, having a seperate 'verified member' status would be a good way to improve trust and reduce the risk of dealing with a scammer.

The good part about having a verified member status is that it doesn't have to apply to everyone. If you sell something here you can choose to sell to only verified members or take the added risk and sell to everyone. How exactly the verified member status is achieved will determine the level of security, etc. Of course a high level of verification would be time consuming and costly for the club, but maybe a fee could be charged?

Given the number of times that the board has been infiltrated by hackers, it might be better to have a seperate system alltogether for this verification. Privacy and security of personal information is really important to the success of the verification system.

Requiring everyone to adhere to a new set of rules would really change the open atmosphere of this club. Having a verification process would help reduce the chance of scams. Nothing will ever eliminate it, but a good thorough (maybe require seeing the person and d/l or ID??) verification system will help to reduce it dramatically.

-Tony

[SLITS]

This assault on "non-club members" has put the club into perhaps its darkest days. But this latest, and worst, scam that I know of was perpetuated through a compromised account. People who have been scammed have been targeted because they want to sell something. Contact with others is a requirement for that. I really can not think of other scams that were perpetuated so exclusively through the club, and I am afraid we will find that this is not the case here either.

If and I say a big "IF" that it is true that Stromberg is behind the scam, he would be doing it as several of us non-club non-members totally destroyed his credibility. This destruction was totally justified by his business practices. His personal website is his business.

I didn't think he was smart enough to concieve a plan such as this, but.....

Secondly, he targeted people who had nothing to do with his demise here or on The Samba or Pelican Parts or etc, but I guess that would be getting back at the non-club in his eyes.

[Brad Roberts]

Second, as Mark pointed out, having a seperate 'verified member' status would be a good way to improve trust and reduce the risk of dealing with a scammer.

We have spoken in the admin area about doing this exact "thing"

Basically having a "members only" area that is not viewable by guests.

We wont be able to stop it all no matter what we come up with.



B

[brer]

a cone of silence? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[SLITS]

Thanks Maxwell .....