Based on the information available to us, we feel comfortable banning at least the following profiles: StanleyB1, Herandu, and DC Lee. It is our opinion that there is enough in common with these profiles--and especially in conjunction with the post histories of these profiles--to ban them. Here is the information this decision was based on. Some of you may not be convinced enough by it still, and that's fine with me. It is my opinion, however, that most experienced forum administrators would agree with me that there is enough information to come to certain conclusions.
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The user profile at Head-Fi titled StanleyB1 is Stanley--this does not appear to be in dispute by anyone (Stanley included), and the e-mail information in that profile is consistent with this.
The profiles DC Lee and Herandu registered with the following e-mail addresses (parts of them obscured):
- Herandu: fxxxxxxxxn@trashmail.net
- DC Lee: Dxxxxe@trashmail.net
(For more information on trashmail, visit trashmail.net.)
The post histories of DC Lee and Herandu can be viewed by clicking on the links below:
- DC Lee
- Herandu
And, using an administrator tool for checking this, StanleyB1 and DC Lee show up as having at least one common cookie logged into Head-Fi. I have concluded from this that StanleyB1 and DC Lee have logged into Head-Fi with the same browser at least once.
Some might find it helpful to look at the post history of all three profiles to see if there is anything non-Beresford that at least two (if not all three) have discussed in common. I did that, and it was helpful for me in strengthening the resolve of my decision.
An IP cross-reference check on StanleyB1's profile reveals several IP addresses (which itself is normal). However, of the IP address information gathered over 92,248 user registrations, 339,894 threads and 4,496,686 posts, only two users shared common IP addresses with the username StanleyB1 (as you can see below): Herandu and DC Lee.
- 217.43.202.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 217.43.202.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 217.43.203.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 81.129.137.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 81.129.137.xx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 81.152.136.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 81.159.141.xx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 81.159.176.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- Herandu 81.159.176.xxx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- 81.159.238.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 82.28.192.xx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- DC Lee 82.28.192.xx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- Herandu 82.28.192.xx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- 82.28.66.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- Herandu 82.28.66.xxx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- 86.132.114.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 86.135.179.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 86.135.64.xx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- Herandu 86.135.64.xx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- 86.135.83.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 86.135.83.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- DC Lee 86.135.83.xxx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- Herandu 86.135.83.xxx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- 86.146.163.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 86.149.65.xx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 86.152.121.xx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 86.155.165.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- DC Lee 86.155.165.xxx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- Herandu 86.155.165.xxx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- 86.164.115.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- 86.2.32.xxx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- Herandu 86.2.32.xxx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- 86.2.36.xx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- DC Lee 86.2.36.xx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- Herandu 86.2.36.xx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
- 86.2.42.xx [Find More Users with this IP Address]
- Herandu 86.2.42.xx [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
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Again, even in the face of this information, you may still think it not enough information to ban the three profiles here. If so, then yes, we simply disagree on the persuasiveness of the collective information to make the decision.
As far as Stanley's assertion at another forum this action was taken to protect Head-Fi Sponsors from the success of Beresford's sales, I will only say that such an assertion is absurd, as any regular Head-Fi'er will tell you that (a) we have a very active DIY section that encourages users to make their own DACs, cables, amps, etc., which certainly doesn't benefit any Sponsor, except those selling DIY parts; and (b) of the nearly five million posts, countless of them are positive comments about products made by companies who have never advertised or sponsored Head-Fi, as well as negative comments about products made by companies who have.