Uh yeah basically a while back (maybe 3 years? 4 years?) it was discovered that old cd-keys were being reused to get old-schooler status.
Anyone who was using a duplicate key got ducked unless they could prove they bought it (some were assumed afaik eg ishi, I doubt he provided proof). I believe they also got a user title changed to something like "notorious member" or "hated member" or something like that.
Some people kept it.
Some people still haven't returned and thus are unknowingly ducked forever.
IIRC that's about what happened, someone will have a link to the exact thread. I know I posted in it.