I believe all the confusion comes from the statements in the regs (as far as I know they all say about the same thing, but there are some slight differences) is that the regs mostly say IF is to be logged when flying by reference to instruments, not external references.
And those who 'take advantage' of this, tend to think that means navigation by instruments.
I believe, however, that most regulatory agencies have made it clear that if you're keeping the shiny side up by instruments alone, then you should be logging IF, but if you're keeping the shiny side up by looking outside, then you shouldn't be logging IF. So cloud layer above and below - IF, cloud layer below, blue sky above - NOT IF. See the ground - NOT IF.