I'm working on a document that is a detailed and point by point comment on WMUK's submission to the charity commission, July and September 2011. Note this is not public yet, as 'dogbiscuit' got access to a copy privately via FOI. The document (which I strongly believe was written by our friend 'Fae') contains many misleading or downright inaccurate claims.

Section 13.3.8 of the submission says ""There is also “CheckUser” software that enables a small number of selected and vetted volunteers to establish, in many cases, whether two editors are from the same ISP, and often where that ISP is located. This information is mostly used to detect blocked editors who try to return under a different account name. "

My experience of checkuser is that it is almost completely ineffective as a control over determined, intelligent users, and that evaders are usually caught out by stupidity or carelessness, rather than by the software itself. Examples are the easily availability of dynamic IPs (such as my own service provider, who kindly change my IP daily), the availability of 'hot spots' (public wifi networks), internet cafes, use of proxies.

Any other ideas to contribute to this section? I would be particularly interested in narratives or stories from experienced evaders.

As always, my email is edward at logicmuseum.com.

This post has been edited by Peter Damian: