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  #1  
Old 07-18-2009, 06:30 PM
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Public display of an IP address in a forum

Is it legal in the USA (website owner living in SC) to display forum member's IP address to everyone in public forum along with their avatar user ID?

South Carolina.
  #2  
Old 07-18-2009, 07:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by australianus View Post
Is it legal in the USA (website owner living in SC) to display forum member's IP address to everyone in public forum along with their avatar user ID?
Simple answer... yes.
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There are at least 17 lawsuits (!!) pending in various courts, including the US Supreme Court, asking if Obama is a natural born citizen (as req'd by Art II, Sec 1 of the US Constitution).

Why has he spent over $1.35M in legal fees to block disclosure... rather than spend $12 for a VALID birth cert to settle the matter? The 'certificate' he has presented doesn't qualify to get a drivers license, wouldn't allow a child to qualify for Little League, or for a real citizen to get a US passport!
  #3  
Old 07-18-2009, 11:32 PM
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Wikipedia shows users' IP addresses all the time.
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  #4  
Old 07-20-2009, 06:39 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by australianus View Post
Is it legal in the USA (website owner living in SC) to display forum member's IP address to everyone in public forum along with their avatar user ID?

South Carolina.
It's also legal to publicly display names, phone numbers, and addresses.
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  #5  
Old 07-20-2009, 02:11 PM
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It is not always legal to publish names, addresses and phone numbers.

State privacy laws can prohibit the publishing of certain home addresses and phone numbers of elected or appointed officials (California's Government Code §6254.21, as an example) and state privacy laws can prohibit the publishing of names, addresses and phone numbers of certain crime victims (see South Dakota's and Minnesota's privacy laws, for example) and there are other limits and restrictions placed on the publishing of addresses and phone numbers that are addressed in other states' privacy statutes.

It is, in other words, not wise to publish someone else's personal information without permission or without checking laws that can prohibit such publishing.

An IP address can show the general geographic location of a computer, sometimes, depending on how large the ISP is (some large ones, like AOL, have an address that has no relation to the state where the computer is located), and an ISP can show what computer was using an IP address on a certain date and time, but will not do so without a court ordering the release of this information. Basically, an IP address on its own reveals very little about the computer user.
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