Reality check, the only things “special” about a system to trully identify it are changable. The ethernet cards MAC address (don’t get all shocked, its been a requirement that this be software settable for years since Xerox no longer controls the MAC addresses and it is now possible to have a MAC address collision. That and crap like PLIP, SLIP, ect don’t even have a hardware MAC, it all comes from software, as do a few USB etherner devices), and CPU serial number (easy enough to turn off reporting at the BIOS level, even easier to write some piece of crap software to report garbage/random ones). You can argue this point all you want, but you will find that other larger companies have been fighting this sort of issue for years. aka Microsoft, IBM, Intel, ect..ect.. Or are we to suddenly believe that Linden Labs achieved something at the application level that was not feasible to do at the hardware or OS level to properly identify exacly who was using what system?

As has been pointed out in other venues, people can just jump through an anonimizing VPN, or go drive around using random wireless hotspots. And for web access, there are thousands of anonymizers willing to let you use them as a proxy to access any old web page. IP tracking here is only useful in catching those who pose no threat to begin with. Unless you start physically tracking hotspots with groups of suite and tie guys with sun glasses and special radio gear trying to track down the people, you are pretty much up crap creek. Oh, but lets not take the rest of the worlds actions and lessons as any sort of indicator, lets listen to the all mighty wisdom of Prok instead.