Once a long time ago, a Sr. Moderator banned an IP for a guy who had tons of accounts and kept coming back to screw around. Hacking and Abuse, obviously wrong, and he had a bone to pick with the staff (probably because he didn't like facing consequences to his own actions). Over the next three days, about five or six other players came forward, all reporting that they'd been banned for a reason they were innocent of, and had the records to prove it. We were stumped why they were banned until we realized they were all on the same IP. They explained that they lived in a large apartment complex and that they were leaching off an open WiFi spot; all of it was proven to us before the ban was removed. Ultimately we ended up dealing with the trouble-maker exactly as we do now: persistently banning them, no matter where they come from.
And the type of ban doesn't seem to discourage hackers and trolls either. Hackers don't think with long-term prospects in mind when it involves permanent removal.
~ Col_Star