Using IP addresses to identify malcontent members
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In beta@ message 6229: Brenda wrote:
I learned to read the IP addresses to know and identify them./g/beta/message/6229 IP addresses have two shortcomings: the same person may use multiple IP addresses, and multiple people may use the same IP address.[1] The first can come about from the person connecting using different computers (home, work, library), or with a mobile device using different WiFi locations (Starbucks, grocery store, library, home, work). It is also possible, in most cases, for a person with a home internet connection to break that connection and be assigned a different IP address. That used to be very common with dial-up connections, but now connections (and their IP address) tend to last longer (weeks, months) and ISPs often try to give you the same one back after a disconnection, rather than drawing a fresh number from the pool. The second can come about when multiple users are behind the same router/NAT. This can be as small as a home network, or larger such a dormitory, an office, a campus, or in some parts of the world even a whole city. So using an IP address for identification isn't foolproof. But, as long as you're aware of the limitations, it isn't necessarily worthless either if you can combine it with other forms of evidence. Shal 1: At least, for the IPv4 addresses that have been most used to date (usually written as a string of four small numbers combined with decimal points). In the future, as IPv6 gains usage it isn't clear to me what will happen. Instead of somewhat less than 4 billion unique addresses, the new system has something on the order of 16 quintillion (billion billion) unique addresses (speaking in U.S. terminology, where billion = 1,000,000,000). In IPv6 every computing device could be given a permanent unique address and we wouldn't even come close to running out. |
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Shal,
Interestingly enough, My e-mail, Stephanie's E-mail, & Fizzpop's E-mail all have a double IP Address. They have the one that is from Mark's site, (I'm presuming), and then they have their own below that. However, you don't have two IP addresses viewable in the header in that manner. Are you able to hide your IP address? Learning something new every day... Brenda |
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Brenda,
Interestingly enough, My e-mail, Stephanie's E-mail, & Fizzpop's E-mailI'm not sure what you're looking at. I see a single field in each of those. X-Originating-IP: 255.255.255.255(number altered for no particularly good reason) Is the other one you're looking at in a Received: field? However, you don't have two IP addresses viewable in the header in thatA difference is that I almost always post by email, not from the site. Your three examples were all posted on site. Are you able to hide your IP address?Yes and no. As a Gmail user, were I to post from Gmail's web interface then my home IP address would not be revealed by Gmail. All the IP addresses in the inbound portion of the header would belong to Google. That's another limitation of using IP addresses to track malcontent members: not all email services will reveal the user's IP address to you. And another is that the malcontent can use a proxy server, if they're concerned about it and a bit technical. However, posting from Eudora on my PC, my home IP address is shown in the bottommost Received: field, on a line that shows my computer's name as well as my ISP. If you're looking in your email, the incoming Received: fields were re-written as X-Received: Shal |
Shal Farley
Nightowl >8#