IP addresses

[ProfessorKenpo]

I was wondering if it was possible to list the IP addresses of those that post here. It would certainly reduce the amount of trash talk by anonymous posters abit knowing others can trace the IP #. Just a thought.

Have a great Kenpo day

Clyde

 

[Michael Billings]

Have I just missed a thread Clyde? Is it getting worse here? I have no objection to my IP address being posted. I would be willing to bet that the majority of posters do not have a static IP. Most ISP's are dynamic and not sure if you can resolve that? I am not an IT professional, just a dabbler, but would be interested in the answers.

Thanks,
-Michael

 

[Zoran]

What anonymous posters? You need to register to this board with a valid email address and your real name. I've never liked IP address being visible to the public as it can cause security issues.

Besides, those that talk trash are eventually suspended or removed anyway. The mederators here seem to do a good job.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I'm in the middle of a small personal headache at the moment. Let me do a little digging and thinkin and I'll have an answer for ya. I know I hid em for a reason, but can't remember at the moment why.

Thanks!

 

[KenpoGirl]

There hasn't been any trash talk (that I've seen) since Kaith put on that new security.

It's gotten real quiet around here...... almost toooo quiet. Like somethin's gonna happen ...... Sumthin real big.

 

[Zoran]

Originally posted by KenpoGirl
It's gotten real quiet around here...... almost toooo quiet. Like somethin's gonna happen ...... Sumthin real big.

BOOM!

 

[Kope]

While it is quiet easy to find out the ip addresses of hte various posters, it would be a grave mistake to post them.

It's the electronic equivilant of giving out your street address to a bunch of strangers.

Quality boards do not publish ip addresses, and honest users have no use for them.

THe only people who NEED to know the ip addresses are those who are interested in engaging in malicious attacks against some user of the board.

Seriously.

 

[don bohrer]

Perhaps we could use digital certificates? I haven't played around with this but I believe you can do this just using explorer. Then email to each subscriber. I think you can create or modify all in IE6 (tools, internet options, content, certificates). I will do a little reserch and see what I can come up with if you guys want me to. If someone already knows how to do this feel free to jump in.

 

[Rich Parsons]

Originally posted by don bohrer
Perhaps we could use digital certificates? I haven't played around with this but I believe you can do this just using explorer. Then email to each subscriber. I think you can create or modify all in IE6 (tools, internet options, content, certificates). I will do a little reserch and see what I can come up with if you guys want me to. If someone already knows how to do this feel free to jump in.

This might work for those using this product, yet what about those running Linux and Mosiac or other browsers. Not a good thing to have a specific browser requirement. I avoided the whole MSN boards because it Required the latest IE for everything.

Good suggestion, just not feasible I believe.

:asian:

 

[Rich Parsons]

Originally posted by Kaith Rustaz
I'm in the middle of a small personal headache at the moment. Let me do a little digging and thinkin and I'll have an answer for ya. I know I hid em for a reason, but can't remember at the moment why.

Thanks!

Kaith,

I think the reason you hid them is for some of those posted here and for other reasons as well.

For those who know how to track IP's it could give away someone's location, and this make them vulnerable to physical interactions. i.e. someone breaking into there house when they are gone for a camp or etc, ... , . Also, if they do not have a good firewall, then they might be more vulnerable to attack from hackers. If membersonly could see them this would not solve the problem, for someone could create a legit account and then just not post, but browse for IP addresses.


As to te cause for this request, I think the Moderation and Adminsistration teams have been addressing the issues. It may be a slow process to some, yet it complete and everyone feels comfortable with the decisions.

:asian:

 

[Jill666]

Besides, there are new security measures in place- I feel that is sufficient.

We all know who is full of ***** anyway, don't we. :flushed:

Anything more agressive (threats etc) the mods can deal with....

Meanwhile I just tell myself that negative energy is ultimately self-defeating, and those who lie (constantly) just get snagged in their own webs. That helps me to keep my cool :rpo: -barely.

 

[satans.barber]

Don't have a great fear of people knowing your IP addresses, it really doesn't matter.

For a start, you're giving it away every time you visit a website, or send an e-mail etc., it gets propagated all over the place; so hiding it from the board isn't going to make much difference. You'd only be stopping a handful of people seeing it compared to hundreds that you have no control over.

Secondly, why would you think that knowing someone's IP can stop them posting rubbish to a newsgroup anyway? Unless you're explicitly going to add them into a denyed hosts list on the web server (which unless you actually own it isn't going to happen), and that's a bit drastic! Unless the person is paying for a static IP it's probably dynamic anyway, plus, anyone that determined to make a nucience of themselves would no doubt just use a shell account somewhere else, make a free dial-up account for the hell of it, use a friends computer to post, or one in a public library etc..

Thirdly, I really don't think anyone is going to find out your street address from your IP address, that would take an awful lot of cracking skill, and I honestly don't think that anyone would go about a burglary that way. The chances of someone noticing you leaving with a suitcase and driving off into the sunset are a lot higher I imagine!

With regards to people being 'hacked' because their IP address is visible, don't get too caught up in media frenzy. Most times, people end up installing trojans and that's how they get caught - so don't run .exe files from untrusted sources (or get a good virus scanner). Also, don't have file and print sharing on unless you need it, and absolutely don't have it on a gateway machine that you use to connect to the Internet with.

Alternatively, get a proper, free oporating system (www.mandrake.com)

Ian.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Ok. Heres the official 'poop' as it were.

I turned off the IP addresses (and IP resolution) to speed things up. After checking several other boards policies, and asking around, the standard is to not release em publically. Theres not too much you can do with them. Some people feel safer with out them being made public. For that reason, we are leaving them hidden.

MartialTalk collects your current IP address everytime you access the site. We do this in several places. Weblog is one, and the vB software is another.

In the past we have used them to block access, and identify duplicate accounts. While you can use them to locate someone, its not a precise science. Tracing my IP back for example does indicate I live in Buffalo NY. However, it doesn't give my street address. You would have to ferret that out of my ISP, usually with either a court order or large box of jelly donuts.

Another thing to remember is IP addresses can be faked, or re routed. Firewalls, and proxy servers are 2 reasons why.

If you are having a problem with a member, contact us and give us as much information as you can. We will seriously look into it. If you believe a problem has followed you from another board, be certain to tel us that too. We work cooperativly with other boards to weed out as many problems as we can.

Thank you.
:asian:

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Regarding the trash talk and annonymous posters:

We now require new sign ups to include their real name and location in admin-only viewable fields. We are not validating any accoutns without full information there. Unfortunately, we can't be 100% certain that they are being honest.

We are also considering the restriction of certain free email services from signing up. Many of our problem members have used disposible Yahoo or Hotmail accounts, so we are considering denying access to those email addresses. No decision has been made on that yet.

Our concern is to continue to strengthen and expand this board as a source of information. To that end, we are looking into ways to further enhance the quality of both its content and members, as well as its continued usefullness to the martial arts community as a whole, both inexperienced and master.