Maybe the mods / IT IP bods can clarify - if someone posted something interesting, can they be traced via other browsers on this site or by the company they work for, assuming they kept a record of their browsing history? Is such a thing possible?

E.g. If a whistleblower from NRK a month ago said, 'we're fkd', could they potentially be identified?

Unless someone hacks the site, only moderators and admins can see your email and IP addresses. If someone were to hack the site and gain admin access, they would be able to see your email and IP addresses, but only the police could force your ISP to divulge you home/office address etc.

If you were to do something illegal, the police could obtain a court order forcing us to divulge your details to them.

I think that's correct.

Not really, anything is possible however with the right tools although it takes a lot of effort and probably not worth it....unless it's over photos of George Bush rogering TB

Alternatively use a wirless laptop, get in the car, jump on someone elses unsecure network, sign up to the site and post it.

No way no day would you be traced

Your MAC address would probably still be logged by the ISP, so if it was a police matter, they could probably still trace you.

Cheers Gel - makes good sense

Just go to an internet cafe and create a new ID. No way of tracing you at all.

If you were using someone else's wireless LAN you'd more than likely be using a soft/spoofed MAC address... so no worries there. And it wouldn't be logged by the ISP. It *might* be logged by the router but all an ISP sees is the router - not the individual machines on the LAN/WLAN.

Anyway, I think we're a little bit off-topic. The real answer is YES...

If someone who worked for Northern Rock posted inside information on this site and it was of significant interest for the FSA to engage the police to look into it then YES, the police could demand the admins of HPC.co.uk release the server logs to show the IP address(es) used to post comments. They could then be traced back to a (normal) user's broadband account or a company network. Wander round to that user's house and you'll probably find a cookie or two on the user's computer that would confirm this.

Simple rule - don't post anything you wouldn't be comfortable stating in a "real life" public forum.

Edited to say: Of course, these activities can only take place if something has occurred which is deemed potentially illegal. Northern Rock, for instance, would have no leg to stand on in demanding HPC.co.uk admins release data. Only law enforcement agencies (ie the police) can do that. So if someone had said "Northern Rock is fecked" they wouldn't have committed a crime, so would be fine.

However, if they were, perhaps, stupid/naive enough to use a Northern Rock corporate PC to post the comments then it would be a trivial matter for Northern Rock's IT folks to look in various local and/or proxy logs to track them down.

except for the CCTV

Potentially, but back on Planet Earth try persuading the authorities to take any interest in the millions of phishing emails, and other serious criminal activity going on all over the net.

It seems you'd have to be up to something pretty nasty to provoke any kind of reaction.

That is why I always wear a cap and fake beard when I use their services. I also speak to the owners in a fake Polish accent just in case they have any James Bond type voice recognition devices.

I also walk in with a limp.

You could always use an anonymous web proxy (your requests to housepricecrash go via their
server and they promise not to keep logs).

Tor is another option (google it).

Pent

What in Blue Buggery does that mean?

It means that you'd have good chance of getting away with it.

The simple answer is 'YES'.

Anything you do on a computer, anywhere, anytime, anyhow can be traced and is logged.

Thats why they ban hats and face coverings in internet cafes.

Try going into a large chain like Virgin (in Oxford st, London, for example) and surfing with your face covered/obsecured by a hat - the cops will arrive in minutes.

Are you trying to frame me for a crime I didn't commit?

That would surprise me TBH, but I am in town today, so may do just that & see what happens

Mother Mother ................Thank God your alive