Reregistering

Hi

I run a small site which contains educational resources, I let people access
10 articles per month for free, and then they have to upgrade to a paid
membership. Problem is that people have realised that they can just
register again to carry on using the site for free; any ideas how I can stop
people registering twice? I've tried logging their IP addresses, but this
keeps blocking first-time registers as well as reregisters (I work in a
school, and have problems with students using shared IPs on the school
network).

Sorry if this is a dumb question; I'm a sociologist by trade rather than a
programmer.

Thanks.
Mark
--------------
Mark Peace
www.LearnSomeStuff.com

I noticed that Message-ID: <dJ5Qd.1389$A55.627@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net>
from Mark Peace contained the following:

>Problem is that people have realised that they can just
>register again to carry on using the site for free; any ideas how I can stop
>people registering twice?

I'd say this was virtually impossible. Have you considered having some
content unrestricted and other content available on subscription?

Having said that, the content would have to be either highly specialised
or of very limited availability or have some killer feature. There is
always the difficulty that the user of the resource frequently does not
have access to funds. (I am a college lecturer)

--
Geoff Berrow (put thecat out to email)
It's only Usenet, no one dies.
My opinions, not the committee's, mine.
Simple RFDs http://www.ckdog.co.uk/rfdmaker/

Mark Peace wrote:
> Hi
>
> I run a small site which contains educational resources, I let people access
> 10 articles per month for free, and then they have to upgrade to a paid
> membership. Problem is that people have realised that they can just
> register again to carry on using the site for free; any ideas how I can stop
> people registering twice? I've tried logging their IP addresses, but this
> keeps blocking first-time registers as well as reregisters (I work in a
> school, and have problems with students using shared IPs on the school
> network).
>
> Sorry if this is a dumb question; I'm a sociologist by trade rather than a
> programmer.
>
> Thanks.
> Mark
> --------------
> Mark Peace
> www.LearnSomeStuff.com
>
>

Humm
1) UserId/Password ain't gonna work they re register
2) IP based blocking isn't gonna work for the reasons you've stated + IP
blocking doesn't take account of dynamically assigned IPs.
3) I reckon you are limited to restricting access to high value
documents that require a pay per view or subscription.

If its a subscription/pay per view then you need something like Paypal
set up unless you want to bite the bullet and go for a secure server and
credit card processing etc etc - which I suspect is way over the
top for what you are talking about.

Cheers

Chris

Mark Peace wrote:
> Hi
>
> I run a small site which contains educational resources, I let people access
> 10 articles per month for free, and then they have to upgrade to a paid
> membership. Problem is that people have realised that they can just
> register again to carry on using the site for free; any ideas how I can stop
> people registering twice? I've tried logging their IP addresses, but this
> keeps blocking first-time registers as well as reregisters (I work in a
> school, and have problems with students using shared IPs on the school
> network).
>
> Sorry if this is a dumb question; I'm a sociologist by trade rather than a
> programmer.
>
> Thanks.
> Mark
> --------------
> Mark Peace
> www.LearnSomeStuff.com
>
>

hey mark,

you should start from a different point of view. Your idea is basically
good but not feasable because you wont be able to identify a user for
the rest of his life. You could work with not-expiring cookies, but
everyone can reject/delete them so this is not your solution. Working
IP-based is also not the solution, you could reject thousands of users,
because one using the same gateway already enjoyed your content. I think
its really best showing everyone some free content, and making all the
rest to be paid.

best regards
deniz adrian

Reply to
message
from
noSpam
<garbage@
nowhere.
qwerty.
no.spam.
address.
com>
(Mon, 14
Feb 2005
16:31:38)
about
"Re:
Reregiste
ring":

give them
access to
1/2 the
atricle ;
-)

Bye
Jack
Giambanco
<customso
ftware200
3@yahoo.
com> Fri,
18 Feb
2005 19:
21:55 -
0500

===
Posted
with
Qusnetsof
t
NewsReade
r 3.1

-----
Original
Message -
----
From:
noSpam
<garbage@
nowhere.
qwerty.
no.spam.
address.
com>
Sent:
Mon, 14
Feb 2005
16:31:38
Subject:
Re:
Reregiste
ring

Mark
Peace
wrote:
> Hi

> I run
> a
> small
> site
> which
> contai
> ns
> educat
> ional
> resour
> ces, I
> let
> people
> access
> 10
> articl
> es per
> month
> for
> free,
> and
> then
> they
> have
> to
> upgrad
> e to a
> paid
> member
> ship.
> Proble
> m is
> that
> people
> have
> realis
> ed
> that
> they
> can
> just
> regist
> er
> again
> to
> carry
> on
> using
> the
> site
> for
> free;
> any
> ideas
> how I
> can
> stop
> people
> regist
> ering
> twice?
> I've
> tried
> loggin
> g
> their
> IP
> addres
> ses,
> but
> this
> keeps
> blocki
> ng
> first-
> time
> regist
> ers as
> well
> as
> reregi
> sters
> (I
> work
> in a
> school
> , and
> have
> proble
> ms
> with
> studen
> ts
> using
> shared
> IPs on
> the
> school
> networ
> k).

> Sorry
> if
> this
> is a
> dumb
> questi
> on;
> I'm a
> sociol
> ogist
> by
> trade
> rather
> than a
> progra
> mmer.

> Thanks
> .
> Mark
> ------
> ------
> --
> Mark
> Peace
> www.
> LearnS
> omeStu
> ff.com



Humm
1)
UserId/
Password
ain't
gonna
work they
re
register
2) IP
based
blocking
isn't
gonna
work for
the
reasons
you've
stated +
IP
blocking
doesn't
take
account
of
dynamical
ly
assigned
IPs.
3) I
reckon
you are
limited
to
restricti
ng access
to high
value
documents
that
require a
pay per
view or
subscript
ion.

If its a
subscript
ion/pay
per view
then you
need
something
like
Paypal
set up
unless
you want
to bite
the
bullet
and go
for a
secure
server
and
credit
card
processin
g etc
etc -
which I
suspect
is way
over the
top for
what you
are
talking
about.

Cheers

Chris