This article was posted on the EMU board by one of our posters:

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/inde...cart_river

I think all posters should be familiar with this lawsuit and issues regarding public statements (posts) and possible legal repercussions...

Hot Damn.......

Deadspin has it.

http://deadspin.com/wmu-boosters-wife-su...1684191151

It's a wake up call for posters everywhere.

It is not hard to track someone via the IP address of their computing device and then identify the individual response for that ISP account.

No one should think that they can't be identified.

And in places like enterprise networks, an IT person can identify a device and who is logged onto that device in less than one minute. E.g., if malware is identified on a device (during a network scan) with a given IP address, xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, an IT person can execute a command with that IP address and boom the computer name on the network and logged on user are instantaneously known.

I'm not too stealthy haha. So I'm always careful.

Good points, Steve.

I think the bottom-line here is, people need to remember that spreading rumors has consequences, and those consequences can be stressful both personally and financially, to both yourself and the subjects of those rumors. Especially when they involve actual people's personal lives.

As for the lawsuit, and the rumors that led to it, I want to remind everyone that if you know more than was mentioned in the actual media, please keep the details to yourselves. You don't want dragged into this, if you are not already directly involved.

I have a 'rule of thumb':

If I have information which is sensitive or privileged I withhold it. I then search (Google) for it on the Internet to see if it is out there. If it is on the Internet somewhere I'll mention it using the Internet source as the source. E.g., if a school has a verbal commit, and I don't know if it is okay to post, I'll try to find it on the Internet.

Classic story how to deal with 'sourced' info (this is true): A White House staffer spoke off the record with someone from the AP. The AP put out the story that 'unnamed White House staffer said...". Then another White House staffer spoke to the press and quoted the AP: "AP reported..." Cleaver, I may say. :)

(02-06-2015 12:28 PM)emu steve Wrote:  It's a wake up call for posters everywhere.

Yep. I think there's a misperception that message boards are akin to private conversations at a bar, and using pseudonyms makes it especially so. If it didn't feel "real world" prior to this, it sure does now. The boards here aren't as 'obscure' and off the radar as many may think, and sometimes I don't fully appreciate that as well.

Been here 12 years and never seen anything like what's transpired with those guys, all three of whom have been here for a long time. It's just... bizarre.

BTW, I think this will be a wake-up call to the entire forum industry. Sometimes it just takes one instance to make changes. Gee, I remember forums which were not even moderated. Yikes!!

I remember, 2006, (I believe) where a laptop was stolen from the employee of a large cabinet department in D.C. The laptop had data with millions of data records containing not scrambled Social Security numbers.

After that a major push was made to encrypt laptops, thumb drives, etc. any device which could contain sensitive data and eventually any device not located within the confines of a secure government building.

It was front page news, congressional hearings, etc. etc.

Sometimes just takes one 'wake up' call to change processes and procedures (e.g., security in this case).

Maybe CD2 won't be plastering our board with exhortations to hate on CMU players.

(02-06-2015 04:29 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  Maybe CD2 won't be plastering our board with exhortations to hate on CMU players.

Yep, definitely a shot across his bow.

(02-06-2015 05:12 PM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

(02-06-2015 04:29 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  Maybe CD2 won't be plastering our board with exhortations to hate on CMU players.

Maybe it's CMU fans behind it all! (Insert dramatic music here)

You guys did a pretty good job of inserting feet in mouths all on your own.

And no, I doubt this will stop dip from spewing his hatred of all things CMU.

FWIW: I get all kinds of dumb*** legal threats and demands, practically weekly. 99.9% of it is meritless, bogus, and sometimes not even directed at the right site. The most humorous to date is a doctor who practiced at the University hospital for Cincinnati without license, was convicted of malpractice, and fled to Malaysia. She threated to sue me under United Nations law. YEA.

I usually demand contact from a barred attorney, or, if they are not legally represented, at least a copy of a government issued ID to know I am dealing with who they claim they are. 9 out of 10 times that alone is enough for them to never email me again. But this Fleck-gate thing was one of those 1 in 10. I am a hardcore libertarian, and a stickler for civil liberties. I actually demanded a subpoena before I turned over any private information about the posters in question. Once I was dutifully served that subpoena ... that was all she wrote. I then have to turn over poster's IP/email/etc or I go to jail.

So I don't want anybody to get the impression I sit around giving away poster's info in my spare time. I actually go (and went) well out of my way to demand that I be legally compelled to turn over any private info. But once that high hurdle is cleared (happened only once in 12 years now) I have to turn it over.

Thanks, for the post.

For all who troll out there in cyber-land, folks are not as anonymous as they think.

An IP address, which is a little like DNA, is out there. An IT person can easily associate a MAC address (the hard burned unique address of the network card, NIC, in the PC) with an IP address. The MAC is like the VIN in an automobile. It is used to identify the physical device, e.g., NIC, to an IP address. A network switch knows the IP address/MAC relationship and routes data packs for that IP address to the device having the given MAC address in a table. (I think I got this approximately correct).

At work, this stuff sits on your computing device. I've seen IGs (Inspector Generals) at a federal agency do forensics on a PC's hard drive looking for nefarious stuff (e.g., child porn, etc.). Folks think they cover their tracks but they really don't... It happens that a member of the IG staff comes up to the IT folks and ask that they remove an employee's hard drive... An employee has ZERO seconds to cover their tracks.

Bottom line: Use common sense. Do not think one can do whatever they want and not get caught.

(02-06-2015 07:40 PM)georgia_tech_swagger Wrote:  FWIW: I get all kinds of dumb*** legal threats and demands, practically weekly. 99.9% of it is meritless, bogus, and sometimes not even directed at the right site. The most humorous to date is a doctor who practiced at the University hospital for Cincinnati without license, was convicted of malpractice, and fled to Malaysia. She threated to sue me under United Nations law. YEA.

I usually demand contact from a barred attorney, or, if they are not legally represented, at least a copy of a government issued ID to know I am dealing with who they claim they are. 9 out of 10 times that alone is enough for them to never email me again. But this Fleck-gate thing was one of those 1 in 10. I am a hardcore libertarian, and a stickler for civil liberties. I actually demanded a subpoena before I turned over any private information about the posters in question. Once I was dutifully served that subpoena ... that was all she wrote. I then have to turn over poster's IP/email/etc or I go to jail.

So I don't want anybody to get the impression I sit around giving away poster's info in my spare time. I actually go (and went) well out of my way to demand that I be legally compelled to turn over any private info. But once that high hurdle is cleared (happened only once in 12 years now) I have to turn it over.

Yep, nobody around here can reasonably expect you to defy the legal system.

I wish somebody would defame me. I could use the money. The only catch is it might be difficult to find something defamatory that isn't true.

(02-07-2015 07:39 PM)RocketJeff Wrote:  I wish somebody would defame me. I could use the money. The only catch is it might be difficult to find something defamatory that isn't true.

How's your wife and my kids?

(02-06-2015 04:29 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  Maybe CD2 won't be plastering our board with exhortations to hate on CMU players.

The fact we've been on the same page so much recently is scaring me.

Also, I don't think this is a wake up call for anybody. You shouldn't need a wake up call to tell you not to spread bogus rumors about people.

(02-09-2015 09:50 AM)7 Wrote:  

(02-06-2015 04:29 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  Maybe CD2 won't be plastering our board with exhortations to hate on CMU players.

The fact we've been on the same page so much recently is scaring me.

Also, I don't think this is a wake up call for anybody. You shouldn't need a wake up call to tell you not to spread bogus rumors about people.

Maybe you're finally growing up, 7. Or maybe (gulp) I am.....Nah, it's you. ;-)

(02-09-2015 09:50 AM)7 Wrote:  

(02-06-2015 04:29 PM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote:  Maybe CD2 won't be plastering our board with exhortations to hate on CMU players.

The fact we've been on the same page so much recently is scaring me.

Also, I don't think this is a wake up call for anybody. You shouldn't need a wake up call to tell you not to spread bogus rumors about people.

Especially people who you know are loaded and have the $$ to proceed with a lawsuit like this.