As the OP in question I was finding the VPN discussion somewhat useful in that we were looking at ways to limit the scope of IP repression to the range within which the troll seemed to be operating, and it was helpful getting a sense of the extent to which that might be effective. But I agree that it was starting to become more theoretical than practical.
Yes, and we’ve implemented all of those on our forum, along with Akismet for catching out and out spammers, and they are all effective for 98% of the stuff we run into. My OP was prompted by what you can do when you’ve got someone who’s on a whole higher level of determination, up to and including making threats of violence over the messaging system. I think the thread has been pretty helpful to me in laying out the possibilities beyond those standard ones, so thanks to everyone for that, as well as the message that there are ultimately no magic bullets on the technical side. I feel pretty confident that we’re not missing something we should know about, and that’s helpful too.
My own philosophy is that engagement is better than high-tech warfare if it can be achieved with someone like this, who is manifestly dealing with demons of a neurochemical nature. We have one member who has been in touch with the guy on a personal level in the past and established herself as something of an ally, so she’s been reaching out to him through side channels. In spite of my rather exasperated comment about incarceration upthread, there’s a real concern for the guy. The site is for Type 1 diabetics, and we’re very worried he may not be getting access to insulin while he’s in this state, so we’re hoping we can find a way to help head off that bad outcome if we possibly can. Even though he’s been such a pain!