Reader E-Mail to the Crapper....

"Hey Crapper,

What is going on with the legaleze on the top of the website and the comment section? I'm kinda worried about posting a comment on here..."

Crapper responses in blue

By WicBury Crapper Board Member "SilentButDeadly"...

To answer your question reader, there are several questions that we will try to answer. We do not track IP addresses. IP addresses are numbers that your server assigns to your computer when you log on to a network. These numbers are reassignable through your server and are automatically assigned to your computer. In order for someone to identify who you are through your IP address several things have to happen first.

IP addresses can be resolved by running the IP address through internet trace however, this only give a very, very rough estimate of where the computer is located (within a 60 square mile area or to the closest hub) so, this tool is totally inaccurate for providing information.

In order to identify someone through their IP address in a criminal process the States Attorney of the jurisdiction where the offense occurred or a federal judge would have to issue a warrant for the information from the internet provider company OR in a civil case the court could issue a subpoena for the records. It's not as easy as tracking a cell phone call. Most of the time civil suits occur because someone KNOWS who posted the information because that person LET IT BE KNOWN that it was them.

Our legalize is just to let you know that if someone was very, very, very bent on suing someone else for comments, it could theoretically happen but it would take a lot of money and time. It has happened several times recently in some other states, cases are pending.

Having said this, first and foremost, don't break the law by posting comments that break the law. Comments such as threatening the president of the United States of America or taking a criminal action against a public official ARE ACTIONABLE and you may be charged criminally.

Comments that are opinion, for instance "Stacy is a whore" is not a crime, it's freedom of speech. However, if those comments create a serious financial loss or an attack on a persons character people can sue you for libel is these statements ARE NOT TRUE but the burden of proof would be on the defending party to prove that Stacy is in fact a whore. Typically public officials are exempt from suing for opinion comments, which is why the Chief of Police and the Former Mayor lost their suits against Joe Albero.

So here's our advice on commenting...

1. Feel comfortable commenting on blogs. Normally, it's very, very rare that anyone sues anyone civilly for their comments if they have no idea who those people writing the comments are. Don't take credit for your comments publicly. Having said this some people could consider this being a "pussy" but hey that's their opinion and you as the writer have to weigh the option for yourself if you are in fact a pussy.
2. If you feel uncomfortable commenting, use an IP jamming program such as "Hide My Ass!". You can even use this online free at www.hidemyass.com. These programs randomly reassign your IP address all over the world. If you pay for the program you can even set it to randomly reassign your IP address every 5 min.
3. Don't make violent threats against public officials. This is a crime and can be investigated by the police. You may be subject to arrest.
4. Be careful about what you publish or post from work or about work to the Internet. Normally this is not an issue if you do it from your personal computer as an anonymous poster.... where people get into problems is when they either post negative comments on facebook about their work (stupid) OR write negative comments from their work about their work.

Bottom line is, don't be stupid. The internet does provide a degree of anonymity but, bear in mind that information is discoverable IF you provide people with information to discover you. An IP address along is little more than just a bunch of numbers. You can, very easily, resolve it to an internet provider but thats where it stops. For instance we can see that people post comments using comcast or verizon but that's about it. To match the numbers to someone civilly a long process has to occur in order to obtain the resolving address to someone's residence and even then the burden of proof is on the plaintiff of who in that residence made those comments on that system.

In a criminal matter it is easier. We are not going to discuss what process needs to occur or how to circumvent the process in order to protect the integrity of CAC investigations. But, in order for a criminal investigation to occur a judge must sign a warrant which would not occur for posting comments that are opinion, that falls under freedom of speech.

We hope that we answered your questions. We put those warnings on our site just for your FYI and to cover our own asses that rest upon our personal crappers. However, if we are not worried then you really shouldn't be worried.