Again, I sincerely regret what I have done and I apologize for doing it. The small sum of bitcoins I gained from this (until I pay the auction bidders back) was certainly not worth the tarnished reputation. Never again will I allow myself to do something so crooked.
Sincerely,
Garrett
Am I just being an ass thinking that he needs to say the exact words "I will never falsely bid on another auction using another bitcointalk.org forum account"… Seems like a very regretful apology for this situation, but the only mention of never doing it again in the future seems to happen in one line on the last paragraph… and only mentions the 'something' that he did and will never do again.
I assume, later on, since things seem to be so technical with wording around here - he could just say… "I was saying I would never allow myself to do something so crooked as getting caught bidding on my own auctions and tarnishing my reputation… what an idiot I was."… and Theymos would just have to accept it?
Maybe just one of the "smart" greedy people that do not typically get caught?
I like to think of myself as having morals and ethics... yes, I have made mistakes, as we all have. Unfortunately, real life mistakes and internet-based mistakes are different. Especially in the anonymous world of bitcoins. One persons mistakes, IRL, typically stick with that one person. One forum account's mistakes can easily be wiped with a new account and some time to build up reputation. I completely understand that EVEN if the forum 'banned' for sockpuppet accounts, people could still create multiple accounts. But to openly say 'its ok'... that just seems to send a bad message,
EDIT: and makes it much easier and worry-free for people to start creating sockpuppet accounts.
There is a need for trust here, IMO. This type of activity causes distrust, which in my mind is enough to try and stop the activity. I personally would hope the mods are trying to create a trustworthy environment... why add the 'trust' feature and all of this other nonsense when you just turn your eye to activity like this? The trust feature, if combined with the permitted use of sockpuppets, seems like it doesn't really do anything? ... seems like sockpuppets can just come in and start trusting their 'master' account.
People can't trust their governments/banks/corporations/etc... which seems to be why a good chunk of people end up in bitcoins... only to find out that the bitcoin world appears to be filled with even more untrustworthy people... but not only is it filled with them, the forum mods on the largest forum that exists for bitcoins ignore shady/untrustworthy activity. Personally, this doesn't provide me with much hope.
EDIT: IMO - Having any sockpuppet account is 'crooked'