“Over the past 10 years, more people in the US are using the internet, which has led to more legal issues like identity theft and copyright violations. Anonymous bloggers, like ‘John Doe’, can be difficult to track down because they can hide their identity using technology like proxy servers. This article will talk about the challenges lawyers face when trying to find these anonymous internet abusers, like IP addresses and hotspot technology.” The IP address system allows computers to connect and share information on the Internet. There are two systems, IPv4 and IPv6, with IPv6 having more addresses. Computers can have temporary (dynamic) or permanent (static) IP addresses. It should be easy to find the IP address of an anonymous blogger, but logs are often deleted, making it difficult. When someone logs onto the internet from a business, there are two IP addresses that can be tracked: the public one for the business and a private one for the employee’s office computer. Businesses don’t always keep detailed logs, so it can be hard to trace a specific message back to an individual employee. There are no rules about how long these logs have to be kept, so they’re often deleted regularly. This makes it difficult to track down who did what online from a business computer. Hotspots are places where you can access the internet using your laptop or phone. When you connect to a hotspot, the hotspot uses your device’s unique number (MAC address) to send and receive data. The hotspot also has its own unique address (IP address) to send your data over the internet. However, because there is a lot of internet traffic at hotspots, your device’s unique number may not be stored for long, so you can remain anonymous. To blog anonymously from a hotspot, a person can use a few techniques. They can buy a wireless network card with cash and use fake information to set it up. They can also change their computer’s MAC address, which is like a fingerprint for the internet. Another option is to use a proxy server, which hides their IP address. This makes it look like the message is coming from the proxy server instead of the person’s computer. It can be a bit complicated, but it helps keep their identity a secret. Even if an anonymous person uses proxy servers to hide their identity online, it’s still possible to track them down. Proxy servers might not keep records, making it hard to find them, but there are other ways to track them, like using encryption or mixing up messages. When a lawyer wants to find an anonymous person online, they can ask the website for their registration and IP address, and if the website refuses, they can use other online services to help find the person. If we need to track someone down using their IP address, it will lead to either a proxy server or an Internet service provider. If it’s a proxy server, it’s hard to find them. But if it’s an Internet service provider, we can get more information. It could lead to someone’s home computer, a business, or a hotspot. It’s easier to find someone if it’s their home computer. If it’s a business or hotspot, it’s harder. Hotspots are especially tricky because their logs are often erased. Time is important because IP address logs are deleted regularly. So if we want to find someone online, we have to act quickly. In trying to track down Internet abusers, attorneys can face many obstacles. Websites are unlikely to release personal data without a court order, and it can take a long time to get that order because website owners may challenge it. The longer it takes to track down an abuser, the more likely their tracks will be erased. Technology also makes it easy for abusers to remain anonymous. For example, if someone uses a wireless hotspot or a proxy server, it can be very difficult to trace them. Even if an attorney discovers the IP address of the abuser, their identity may still remain a mystery.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/tracking-down-anonymous-internet-abusers-who-is-john-doe/
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