Safe Speed Forums

Posted on Pistonheads:

[ http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=196906 (registration may be required) ]



My Reply:

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

Works in North Wales does he?

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

If this is for real then it is very worrying.

For the police force to have obtained IP addresses and linked those back to an individual via their home ISP would require some kind of warrant wouldn't it? Unless the force are providing some kind of VPN link in which case it could be done completely internally.

I didn't think
Were criminal offences.

That is not strictly true Paul.
While using an anonymous proxy makes life difficult for a trace, it doesn't make it impossible to find whoever used it.

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

I don't think any IP tracing was necessary in this case, the bloke's profile gives his full name and county of residence, don't think it would take the trained sleuths from the police 'service' too long to track him down. I think the point really is more that it should have absolutely nothing to do with his superiors what or where he posts in his spare time, unless it's actually illegal.

That's news to me. What would you have to do to trace (say) a forum post made via an anonymous proxy?

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

The only way to make it virtually untraceable would be to use peer to peer proxies that spread your connection over various routes around the world. This would make reconstructing your original internet session pretty tricky as you could send individual packets along differing routes.

Most routers can be told to log requests so they could log all requests going to known anonymous proxy servers and then the isp could check back who was using the ip at the time. On private networks this would be even easier as they could get the edge routers to log inbound and outbound connections between ips inside and known anonymous proxies.

The only way to post more anonymously is to use an anonymous proxy while connected to a wireless network that has been unsecured using a lap top belonging to someone else. I think that would be impossible to trace back to you if you didn't log in as yourself onto whatever forum. As soon as you login as yourself then there are ways of tracking you back as most people have the same identity across multiple forums (fora?)

The first post says he is under investigation. I cannot be certain, but that might just mean that they are using other means to make life difficult for him, without any reference to specific postings on the particular forums.
It may well come back as nothing found, no case to answer. It would simply be a means of exerting pressure.

Whatever the circumstance, it is counter productive - bad publicity vis a vis big brother tactics, and in any case would merely drive those wishing to continue posting to do so anonomously, and possibly with a degree of vindictiveness.

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Time to take responsibility for our actions.. and don't be afraid of speaking out!

As Teabelly says, a simple check of system logs will reveal who was doing what, and when they were doing it (that's how the nonces get caught downloading their filth even though they think they are safe).

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What makes you think I'm drunk officer, have I got a fat bird with me?

And I'm a goat currently residing in Outer Mongolia.

I see the police are investigating heresay now are they?

and if our man had been concerned enough about the quality and agenda of his superiors to make his profile that 'accurate', then maybe they would have resorted to tracking his IP, I don't know, I merely know that in this instance his profile was actually correct and therefore no IP tracing was necessary.

Right to silence. GONE

Right to a fair trial. GONE

Now freedom of speech has gone the same way.

We may as well have let the Nazis win the bloody war.

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“For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.” - H. L. Mencken

Is this some kind of frigging joke, (obviously not, by this chaps words). Right in that case, I think we collectively need to up the ante. I think for too long we've been spending too much time talking and justifying our case to those who clearly don't want to listen and whilst the forum is a useful tool in its own right, I'd like to be more constructive . Like i've said before, there is more at stake here than just speed cameras and this endorses that fact.

I'm willing to spend a good proportion of my personal time (as Paul has done) in promoting the message to ensure a wider audience within the Safespeed context and with Safespeed approval. If we could form a council of loyal members whom have some ideas on how this may be achieved, then perphaps we could have another forum albeit closed for such activities whereby we can concentrate on upping the ante. We really need to market a wider message but Paul is only one man. If we collectively can help in a constructive and structured respect then the message will get through, this of course has to be with Pauls sayso as founding member. remember, people have made a difference in the past and we can continue to do so, collectively. I'm no letter writer however have skills in other areas, if we could use those skills to our advantage, whether it be for fundraising, merchandising etc, then these skills could be put to good use.

Paul, could this be achieved and if so, would you assume it to be a useful idea? If not, please feel free to delete as it is not my intention to step on any toes etc.

I'm very open to anything that positively extends the campaign. The greatest need (here at Safe Speed 'HQ') is for better funding. In fact any funding at all would be nice.

The Clubhouse (member's forum) would be a good place for the discussion, but you're not a member. I'll give you free temporary access.

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Paul Smith
Our scrap speed cameras petition got over 28,000 sigs
The Safe Speed campaign demands a return to intelligent road safety

No worries, I'll signup and pay my way Paul: Perhaps I may be so bold and ask that others do for the reasons given above. And yes, that statement's off of my own back.

Maximum over kill

Designd to combat terrorism, I wonder how often this will get abused....remember S172, it was never intended for SCP use

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Speed camera policy Kills

IIRC there's already means in the RIP act to bang you up for 2 years for witholding keys to encrypted data. The silly thing is that if the encrypted data was going to get you a much longer stretch, say certain types of photographs, most criminals will withold the key and take the two years. Perhaps Ian Blair is only calling for that oversight to be fixed. If so he might do the same for the various other RIP issues.

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Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler - Einstein

Not really, because that wouldn't be a 'mandatory ten-year sentence'.

Surely the point is that there is no freedom of speech, or anything else. Also it shows what we are all up against.
Believeable??? Absolutely. I spend a good proportion of my time 'researching' for conspiracy sites, and this is nothing compared to some things I hear and see.
The suggestion by Johno1066 is certainly worth looking into, and I for one will support it.

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belladonna
'Wisdom is knowing how little we know'
Socrates

So what happens if you have an encrypted file on your PC, and you've lost the keyfile? Or you've inadvertently downloaded, or been sent, an encrypted file which you haven't got the key for?
Even if you delete them, they can often still find them.

Cheers
Peter

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Only when ideology, prejudice and dogma are set aside does the truth emerge - Kepler