Comments on: Consumers to be Charged in Obscenity Case?

By: jeff

jeff — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 07:06:30 +0000

i wonder if it really takes a court order to trace your IP these days…there was a story a couple months ago that Sprint just had gone over 8 million requests on their special website for law enforcement to get people’s GPS tracking data from their cell phones…that’s just one cell provider and in less than 2 years’ time iirc…

By: qihob

qihob — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:51:29 +0000

@deadip: you can buy the gift cards with cash.

By: mhbox41

mhbox41 — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:23:39 +0000

Remember the UPS slogan ‘What can brown do for you?’? Well, one answer is keep your ass out of jail! The US Postal Service is where they got Max Hardcore. Not the porn, the mailing of it. Just some postal inspector who was never loved or something. So stop using USPS if you love pron!
(At least, never use it for getting porn delivered to you, unless you WANT to go to prison.)

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:56:57 +0000

This is most troubling and must be opposed in the strongest possible way. Justice Thurogood Marshall’s explannation of how he reached his decision on the right of people to enjoy pornography in the privacy of their own home has to be viewed as being the right decision.

By: stlguy76

stlguy76 — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:44:55 +0000

I’ve read all of this with much interest, and have learned a lot. Thanks to Allison for bringing it to our attention, and to all those who have weighed in. My disclaimer, too: I am not a lawyer, but as I understand the law in these cases, courts would be very hesitant to order such a list turned over to prosecutors. If the government had specific knowledge about an individual or several individuals engaged in something illegal (child porn, or anything deemed “obscene”–a much too general and almost meaningless category anyway), it would have to apply for a warrant directed specifically at that individual or individuals. Otherwise, this would open the door to widespread abuses of most of the Bill of Rights. Even as far to the scary religious right the courts might be turning (especially the Supreme Court), I can’t imagine there is sufficient judicial insanity yet to allow such a thing to happen. But I’m an optimist by nature, so I might be fooling myself.

By: deadip

deadip — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:37:34 +0000

My hope is that Company X doesn’t give up the fight and keeps the Customer’s Info safe. I’m totally against these Obscenity Laws, except for the cases involving CP.

By: deadip

deadip — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 12:31:02 +0000

@ Kenny and qihob
A Debit Card is much more easier to trace, because a Debit Card takes the Money right out of a Bank Account either (Checking or Savings). Also even some (NOT all) Debit Cards have a Credit Card Company’s Logo on it (Visa, Mastercard, etc.) and the 16 Digit Number like a Credit Card does along with the 3 Digit Number on the back called the CCV (Credit Card Verification Number).

I did NOT say a person could NOT remain anonymous buying a Gift Card….but even a Gift Card will be traced to the Person that bought it and if that Person is going to be facing some serious Prison Time, what do you think that Person is going to do??? In most cases, I’d say that Person is going to give up the Identity of the person said Gift Card was purchased for.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:51:15 +0000

@qihob: Yes, I think you can, because my friend does that. If it is a VISA Gift Card, then the only thing that will be verified will be the Gift card itself. NOT the owner’s regular credit card. ALSO, you can’t buy VISA gift cards with another credit card. Has to be a debit card.

By: qihob

qihob — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 05:14:05 +0000

@deadip: Actually, Visa now sells Gift Cards that function exactly like credit cards from the merchant’s point of view. And you just give them an address to use as a billing address when you buy it — I don’t think there’s any verification. So, if someone really wanted to remain anonymous, they could do it.

By: Strangepork

Strangepork — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:13:39 +0000

@deadip: I was simplifying a bit to avoid typing forever and getting overly technical, but I still rambled on a bit more than I intended. That is about to happen again. When I said “network hardware” I was speaking in general terms. If you are connected directly to the Internet, that hardware is the network interface in your computer, which you could certainly simplify to just say Your Computer. I have one IP address that is assigned to my networking equipment by my ISP. I have half a dozen devices using the network connection from my router, and they are assigned internal IP addresses by that router. The Internet doesn’t know or care about those internal addresses: If I download a scene from Videobox on my primary machine, or check my email on my netbook, or stream a Netflix movie on my Xbox 360, all of those services are going to log the same IP address. That IP address mostly stays the same, since my connection is always on, but my ISP might assign me a new one any time I disconnect and reconnect, or if they just feel like it. (Or if they are trying to discourage me from running a public server.) I have never paid for a static IP either, but I’ve never had the need for one. I’ve only had one provider just give me a static IP, but your experience may vary. But yes, if the Government wants to, they are going to get me, and they will tell the world that I really like women with big natural boobies. And I will be ruined and disgraced, or something.