Guys,

The exchange pasted below from "Susan" the moderator is self explanatory. It seems our forum moderators feel it is their responsibility to actively monitor which computers I and members of my family are using. Having thought it over, I have decided that this invasion of privacy on a health-related issue is an unwarranted. My daughter, MineFine, can do what she wants, but I am out of here. Sorry to go. You have been a very supportive group.

CirrusPilot

Good Afternoon,

My name is Susan and I am a moderator here. We have noticed that you have signed in with two different ID's from the same computer. It is against LBT rules to have more than one ID. Would you like us to delete one for you, or merge them? Or, do you have two people in your household that are LBT members?

Thank you.

I am happy to explain: Two people, same household. One is me (CirrusPilot). The other is my daughter (MineFine). My wife may join soon as she is also considering being banded.

Although I understand (I think) the reason for the underlying rule, I do NOT understand the use of source codes to track usage back to a single computer. What else are you doing to monitor LBT forum members? At least the Bush administration had a strong public safety justification to monitor computer usage by suspected terrorists. It seems membership in the forum is sufficient reason for you to do much the shame. How snoopy! Shame on you, Susan! I need to reconsider my membership on this forum.

I can understand your frustration, but at the same time I would say you are punishing yourself more than the moderators by no longer participating on the forum.

I don't like a lot of the privacy related stuff that occurs on these boards, but I guess I have just gotten used to it since it happens almost everywhere now days.

I think the physical and mental help that I receive by visiting the forum far outweigh my privacy concerns. Besides I would love to go for a ride in your Cirrus once we both get down to size. (hows that for pitching for a free ride)

:Banane37:

I think you´re being a bit harsh on the moderator. She asked you if there were other members of your family using the same computer.

The reason that most forums don´t allow various user names for the same person posting is that these type of users are normally just trouble makers and create all sorts of havoc on forum boards. '

As it was mentioned earlier and by yourself too, the support and advise you receive here is invaluable.

I understand your annoyance. I too was annoyed when I received a similar message from a different monitor. However, once I explained that both my wife and I are members of the forum there were no more issues.

Bottom line is it is your choice if you want to leave, however, you are giving up a support group that cannot be replaced. Yes, you can come back and read the forum at anytime from any computer but you will not be able to ask your specific questions and get advice concerning the issues you that affect you. Plus, we will all miss you.

Forum trolls like to sign in with several different ID's to stir things up and cause general havoc. While I understand you are feeling like you are being pursued by Big Brother, there really is a reason the moderators check on multiple ID's from the same computer. We have had problems here with some surgeon's patient coordinators impersonating several different people to pile on endorsements for their employers, as well as just general trolls trying to insult people and cause trouble. I'm no moderator and wouldn't want the job, but I did just want to say there's a reason for their concern.

Cirrus,

I think that the fact that they sent you a PRIVATE message, offered to help you get what may have been wrong fixed and left the impression (at least with my reading skills) that if there were indeed two people in the household using the same computer it might be OK, all say to me that it was no big deal.

Almost every forum (even job-related ones) that I belong to has a rule like this. No big deal, man. Stay and chitchat!

What the forum is doing is the same as any other internet site does. When you make a connection, your IP address is logged. The host site creates a cookie (small file that LBT gives to your browser to store on your machine). The host site remembers certain things pertaining to that cookie (user names, IP addresses, etc) so it can do things like monitor use, remember your log in credentials when you return, etc. LBT does this. Yahoo does this. Amazon.com does this.

If you don't like it, disable Cookies on your browser.

Learn more here: http://windowsxp-privacy.net/?id=198760092