Ip Address and legal issues

[kbrand4]

Someone created a myspace account in my daughters name. I have requested myspace to take down the account and for the IP Address of the computer that was used to create the account. Can myspace legally give me that info and if they can, what can I do to locate the physical location of the IP address?

[morganlefay]

IP addresses are usually given out by the ISP used to connect to the internet...

so even if you get the IP...it will point to the ISP...and then you will have to get the info from the ISP....and I think you would need the law to do that for you.

depending on where you live...they live and where the ISP is.....will determine what laws

MLF

[kbrand4]

So would myspace even have the ip address of the computer used to create the account? And could you tell the general locale of the computer by using the IP address?

[morganlefay]

Yeap...they may have the IP....

But if its a national ISP like AOL...I think maybe narrowed down to NA.....or if the user is using a proxy.....I think you are SOL


The best thing to do is report it to Myspace.....and if myspace has an issue with it ...or the activity is deemed against thier policy...they can report it to the ISP as abuse.

If the activity is abusive or illegal.....you can report it to the police orl local law agency.

But illegal on the internet is a very grey area.....

What are they doing.....that you find so disturbing???

Your daughter probably knows this person....??? no...

MLF

[Negative]

MySpace will more than likely have the IP address, but they'll never give it to you (you'd probably need a warrant). Your best best is filing a police report, and or contacting your local FBI office.

[kbrand4]

They haven't done anything yet but use her name, birthday, school, and added someone she know to their friend list. Does anyone know what the policy for websites giving out information on the person that was on the site. Is it illegal for websites to just hand out that type of information?

[liquid62]

If the person is truly posing as her, then it would be considered identity theft. I would report it to the police.

Myspace will most likely disable the account, but you won't get much else out of them without law enforcement involved.

So, are you SURE your daughter isn't just trying to hide her MySpace account from you?

[kbrand4]

The only thing that is on the account is her birthday, name, and school. There is no picture posted and the only activity on the account is a few messages to someone. The main thing I want to know is if myspace (or any website) can legally divulge the ip address of a computer just by request of a regular person?

[Negative]

The main thing I want to know is if myspace (or any website) can legally divulge the ip address of a computer just by request of a regular person?

Can they? Yes
Can they legally? Probably
Will they? Not a chance

[brokencrow]

MySpace is not going to divulge the ip address or any other account info without a warrant of some kind, civil or criminal. And then once you have the ip address from MySpace, you'll need a warrant for the internet service provider (ISP) to compel them to turn over who exactly had the lease on that ip address at the given time. And there'll probably be a series of ip addresses, even if it was the same user. So you'll need two warrants.

As liquid62 puts it so aptly, this could be a case of identity theft, it could be a case of your daughter sneaking around on the web. You need to be sure if you're going to file a police complaint or pursue civil action against MySpace.

I wouldn't get my hopes too high. I've seen similar cases involving ISP's who divulge nothing without a warrant.

On the humorous (ironic, maybe) side, my friends who own an ISP say they are typically served warrant by fax. No kidding.