Multiple operators using mturk at same ip

Discussion in 'General' started by vazrakar, Jan 29, 2009.

  1. vazrakar

    vazrakar User

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    Can i know whether, different people with same ip address and different emails can work in mturk website or not. If yes can i have same billing address for the checks to receive . Email me at vazrakar@gmail.com
     
  2. dzdawg02

    dzdawg02 Member

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    That's a good question because my husband was thinking of turking, too.
     
  3. ergo

    ergo User

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    No, you can't. Since Amazon can't know whether multiple accounts at the same IP address are really different people or just the same person, they simply don't allow people to work from the same connection.
     
  4. Lsunny

    Lsunny Member

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    Nope if your ip addy is used at the same time to Turk , they will lock you out and ban you. I know this seems weird but I guess to may scammers and cheaters. Is a shame as my Daughter wanted to do it too. But a lot of the time her free time is time when I am on there between that and the pay , she gave up .
     
  5. justfight

    justfight User

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    I don't know about all countries, but if you're an Indian, you surely can as far as it's different people. I had the same question about some 2 months back and asked it to Mturk itself using the "Contact Us" form as usual and I got a positive reply. I haven't been banned as yet and have successfully withdrawn money too. However same person can't do it since to withdraw the money, you need to submit your ID proof which obviously can't be the same as that of an existing turker.

    BTW, my bro too works via the same IP address.
     
  6. ergo

    ergo User

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    Maybe it's different for Indians then. Here in the US, one could use multiple accounts to avoid owing taxes by making sure that no single account earned enough to be taxed, which is why the policy exists. Numerous people have been banned in the past for operating from the same IP, though maybe they were all US-based workers, I'm not sure.
     
  7. cheepskater

    cheepskater Member

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    I asked Mturk directly last month...

    and this is how they responded:

    "Greetings from Mechanical Turk.

    If someone else in your house wants to use mechanical turk using their own
    account that is fine. If more than one person is going to use mechanical turk we
    ask that you both have two separate accounts with different names and email
    addresses.

    Thank You for participating in Mechanical Turk."

    I've heard horror stories from people getting banned so try emailing them directly for clarificaton on the IP address issue.
     
  8. justfight

    justfight User

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    Oh!!! Please don't frighten me any more now......
     
  9. vazrakar

    vazrakar User

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    please clarify my doubt
     
  10. justfight

    justfight User

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    I feel that's already done well enough. If you don't wish to bother to go through all the posts, I'm putting it again here:


    Even better, read this:
    If you still feel something's not clarified, please clarify what you feel isn't clarified, okay? Hope this will help!!!
     
    #10 justfight, Feb 11, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 11, 2009
  11. vazrakar

    vazrakar User

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    i want to thank all the people here, for clarifying my doubt..

    Once again thank u
     
  12. vazrakar

    vazrakar User

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    please don't give wrong answer Mr.justfight. i have put up a request to mturk this is the reply i have got.

    "
    Greetings from Mechanical Turk.

    I'm sorry for any misunderstanding. If your brother would like to join Mechanical Turk, and use the same computer as you, he will need to have a different IP address. If you both sign up using the same IP address, your accounts would be likely closed due to multiple accounts under the same IP address.

    Thank You for participating in Mechanical Turk.

    Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:

    If yes, click here:
    http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-y?c=hxyqxudf3391758572
    If not, click here:
    http://www.amazon.com/rsvp-n?c=hxyqxudf3391758572

    Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.

    To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.

    Best regards,

    Jessi
    Amazon.com Mechanical Turk Program


    ---- Original message: ----

    Customer ID: A7N458V7QG5X6
    My brother also want to do the work of mturk in my system. Can i register him from same system i have registered. That is same ip address.
     
  13. justfight

    justfight User

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    I would have defended myself and given clarification too, but it seems to be useless at the moment. Not just that, I also don't want to be on the defensive. Finally, I'll just like to say:
     
    #13 justfight, Feb 13, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 14, 2009
  14. Shego

    Shego User

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    I never asked. I just assumed it was okay. My daughter has her own account. And when my son and his wife lived with me they both had their own accounts too. What difference would it make anyway? As long as the work gets done and people get paid? What should really be focused on is how badly some of the requestors pay...lol.
     
  15. ergo

    ergo User

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    What difference does it make? Well, besides trying to reduce tax fraud, there used to be a lot of individuals signing up for multiple accounts so that they could do the same HITs multiple times. Back in those days, there were many decent-paying survey HITs where one person could do one HIT, and people with multiple accounts would sign in under different names and get paid to do the same survey again, changing their answers to seem like a different individual. All surveys take into account that some people will lie and make up answers, but when you have it happening on a major scale, the data becomes utterly useless. Amazon quickly put its one-worker-per-location policy in place, but it was too late. MTurk had become known as a terrible place to do surveys and most of those requesters had already given up, warning others not to bother posting work here.

    They've been inconsistent in enforcing the policy, though, so a lot of people never get banned for it. I'm pretty sure Amazon understands that many people share an internet connection with others and that it's really not fair to penalize them for that, so they leave the policy in place to placate the requesters and the IRS, but only enforce it occasionally. They tend to do sweeps -- run a script once in a while to detect policy violators, and punish whoever gets caught in the dragnet. It'll catch a few cheaters and probably a number of good people as well, and then they put the script away for another day.
     
    #15 ergo, Feb 14, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 14, 2009
  16. justfight

    justfight User

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    I feel I was a fool to have replied in the first place. Being honest is not always helpful. On the contrary, it may get you into trouble and may even become a cause for the end of your career. So true this quote stands:
     
  17. ergo

    ergo User

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    Well, since they've said you can have multiple turkers in a home, just not signing in with the same IP address, you could see about changing your IP for the other people's work. What kind of internet connection do you use? I have DSL, and if I turn off my DSL modem and turn it back on, I get a new IP. I usually turn my modem off when I'm asleep to save electricity. Some internet providers may use static IPs, though, and give you the same one every time.
     
  18. justfight

    justfight User

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    I really have no clue about it since I lack the technical knowledge.
     
  19. Shego

    Shego User

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    Ergo,

    I guess my mind doesn't work that way. I would never have thought of any of those things. The price I pay for being honest, I guess. Thanks for enlightening me. :)
     
  20. ergo

    ergo User

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    They've said you can have multiple workers in a home and/or sharing the same computer as long as each person has a separate IP, so I don't see what would be dishonest or shady about resetting one's internet connection to get a new IP address.
     

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