Online collusion discussion @ Paul Phillips' blog

[riverflush]

All these concerns are very legit, and strike right at the heart of what plagues online poker in general: a lack of transparency. You ultimately have no clue who you are playing, who's in the room, etc. In a casino, you get to stare at your opponent face-to-face and confront any situation openly. Even with complete strangers, an odd trust develops after a few hours of play, when you begin to feel out the table and can see everything happening. This can NEVER happen online. I've become more and more disgruntled with online play in the past few months. The lack of personal contact is really a hurdle I'm having a hard time getting over. It's a totally different game no matter how the cards are dealt.

Dave over at Big Slick has a great article about this exact scenario in his blog archives. I'm too lazy to go digging for it, however. It was right along the lines of P Phillips' discussion.