Internet troll is jailed - good. But....not caught via his IP address but by his neighbours????

[Doodlez]

Story here

I don't get this.

Internet troll gets caught and sent to jail for sending "malicious communications" (posted on forums etc). He wasn't caught because his IP address was traced though - he was caught because he posted pics of himself to his neighbours, who passed them on to the police.

So, does anyone know - can trolls be traced and prosecuted through IP addresses and IP providers or not? If they can, why don't IP providers do more?

IP addresses aren't necessarily static, so you may not always have the same IP address, and (I think, but am tired, so don't take my word for it) sometimes IP addresses can be used by different people at different times.

Plus you can obviously post online from different locations etc.

You are correct Maim. IP addresses change and can be used for more than one person via the ISP. Also, if you change computers, your IP address changes.

It is possible to trace an IP address, but it is not 100% reliable as a way to find someone.

Despite what they do in the movies! [hgrin]

Different ISPs offer static or dynamic IP allocations. Some offer fixed IP as an option on some accounts, and it is possible with some ISPs to be allocated 1, 2, or 8 IPs.

Where ISPs provide dynamic IP (ie that IP can be used at random by any customer) a portion of them are 'sticky' where the user is likely to get the same IP next time anyway.

Of course, whereas dial-up users will likely not stay connected for days or weeks at a time, with broadband, it is far more common to have a router connected (even if PCs are switched on and off) for days/ weeks/ months at a time thus 'keeping' the same IP anyway.

However, just the IP is not enough to guarantee one particular computer or household (for example, if someone has an insecure wireless router someone else can connect and transmit/receive via that wireless network), and if someone is being crafty and wants to avoid identification, using some other person's net connection is second-nature (though of course someone wanting to be that crafty would probably not send anything from within a mile of their own home).

you can change your iP address, or so DH tells me :)

An individual PC on a LAN can change address (and that's fine unless the address has already been used/allocated for another PC/device).

You may get different addresses from your ISP, or you may have a static IP, or a small number of addresses (1 to 16, more for an internet business), but if provided with a static IP by your ISP, you cannot 'change' that address (or data will no longer reach you via the ISP).

You may use a proxy service, web-cache, or other service, where an alternative IP address is used when requesting data/sending data, but some will still pass on your ISP-chosen address.

I suspect your DH is considering one of the above situations (ISP-chosen or via another network service) and if not, I would appreciate more info - e-mail can be sent to root @ web-hints.info if necessary.

I believe this is one of the reason we should not feed the trolls, they know they can get the attention they want and come back with different IPS/account details.