IP question...I am a newbie, please be gentle

Seth

Beta member
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1
I don't know if this question has anything to do with security but it has a bit to do with privacy. Here is my story:

I was invited on a forum by some friends. I gave them all of my info and they sighned me up. Someone I know signed up as well, that was not invited but signed up via regular registration which was allowed.
We shared the same static IP address (I think it was static because it was a govt. computer), he posted, I did not but sometimes I would browse through the post.

During the holidays he lives close by and came over and used my personal computer. He logged onto the internet and posted on the forum. The remark he made was directed to a mutual friend of ours, he did not know that this person browsed through the forum. Anyway he posted something that was not that offensive but rather obnoxious and childish. It had something to do with a girl we had known in highschool and weight gain.
She read the post and became upset.
I figured that my friend would not get in trouble because he is anonymous.
I get a telephone call from one of the moderators asking if I was posting under two different names. I told the moderator "no" and told the moderator that it had been a while since I posted anything. The moderator which is a friend, said that someone knew for a fact that it was me because they could tell it was from my personal computer.
I have never posted on the forum from my PC.
I denied all charges and the moderator was obviously shaken because this poor girl's feelings were hurt. Needless to say, I was a bit upset too.
I figured they tracked this information by finding by IP address BUT
I think my service changes my IP address every 72 hours.
In addition, I read on one site that any complaints go through ISP before they can reach you and that getting personal information like the names via ip address is illegal.
I read on some other sites that it was possible to get the name, and address of the owner of the service (me)
If this is the case, than they have found my address and have found my last name even though an anonymous user was using my computer.
To make a long story short, I think I have made this a big mess and I think because I was so adament about it not being from my computer, I have made this into a big deal.
I think perhaps, they looked at my initial usage, saw a static ip address from both users, then saw my friends comment, pinged it to my ip, found out my last name and now know I was involved. This situation has been made worse for me denying everything over and over.

I would like to know, is it possible to get my last name from my IP? If so, then the moderators of this forum can do the same to me. Please let me know.
In addition, what are some of the ways I can 'get out of this' , if they bring the proof up to me (which I think they will do), is there a way to say (via computer language/explanation) that the 'wires' of the computer got mixed and that I am not to blame at all? I have exhausted myself :eek:

Sorry for the long post but this whole situation is difficult to explain in detail and I think it may have ruined some good friendships.
 
1. I wouldnt give my phone number to any forum
2. About the most detail you can get from an IP address without contating isp ect. is your nearest city.
 
Do you have a Domain name registered.If you do it is posible to get your phone through a WHOIS lookup.If not no I don't know of any ISP that will even listen to a complaint like that.Your friends are using that as an excuse no way they can get a phone from IP via ISP. You said you personaly know the forum editor of that site it is possible for him to get the IP of the poster from server logs. Maybe he matched it to yours, are you on BB or dial-up.As for hiding look into proxy sevrers!

good luck!!!!! be careful where watching you "kidding"
 
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