I think I get what you're after - a way to see if someone's credentials are being used by two different people at the same time as a means of checking if the person's credentials are being used in an unauthorized fashion. The mechanism used to accomplish that being to look for simultaneous requests from different IP addresses, under the assumption that if a hit comes in at 13:22:22 from 204.23.211.12 and a hit comes in at 13:25:10 from 180.12.222.21 then one of the two is an unauthorized use of the credentials and therefore needs to be terminated.
The main thrust of my question was if there are circumstances that could cause a false-positive (or a false-negative now that I really put some thought into it) in that kind of check, and if they are likely enough to warrant some consideration.
The example that I initially had in mind: I'm on my LTE-enabled tablet riding the bus in to work. If I cross enough cell nodes, will I change IP addresses? Will the change in IP addresses create the illusion that two different people are connecting?
The other example that came to mind as I was refining this post: I'm in a coffee shop with open WiFi and someone watching too many Hak5 episodes and not enough ethics classes nabs the cookie in transit (or uses some other means to duplicate my credentials), because they're behind the same router on the coffee shop's WiFi they're going to show as the same IP. The whole thing with FireSheep from a while back comes to mind.
I'm wondering if there may be other scenarios more likely than that that may warrant a re-think of how to address the core issue.
I'm also wondering about the likelihood that a different individual using the same credentials would be on at the same time as the original user.
Please don't hear what I'm not saying: I'm not saying the idea should be tossed out or that it's completely wrong. It certainly would cover the "I live in AU, but someone in CN is trying to log in as me" type scenario.
This was just an attempt to help a little by way of questions. There have been times I wish someone would have made me go through my assumptions and premises a little more thoroughly before I put in all that work... on the other hand I've been accused (sometimes with good reason) of over-thinking things.