I just read an article about changing IP addresses, and it is has been decided by a judge that changing your IP address to access a website you've been banned from is illegal under US law.

What does everyone think about that?

What about changing your IP for other purposes?

Understandable. I haven't had to bypass any servers yet(JK) so this seems understandable to me.

blueservine wrote:

What about changing your IP for other purposes?

I think that's ok, as the decision was about accessing websites that you are not allowed to, and changing it to avoid tracking and the like isn't accessing a website without authorization.

If it's illegal under US law, would that apply world-wide?

ProdigyZeta7 wrote:

If it's illegal under US law, would that apply world-wide?

I don't think so…

suuuuuure it is

I think you're fine. I don't recommend it, but it would be hard to gather enough evidence.

GameHutSoftware wrote:

I think you're fine. I don't recommend it, but it would be hard to gather enough evidence.

So you think it's fine to do something illegal as long as nobody finds out?

Glad I don't live in USA. Btw guys, if you don't live in the US, Tor is an excellent way to bypass IP bans on websites. It's also great for anonymous browsing of any sort.

Thank god for Britain.

What legal implications does it have since the website is based in the USA?
How about since most of the users here are minors?

I'm staying in Canada.

NeilWest wrote:

Thank god for Britain.

Except GCHQ is worse with spying than the NSA, yet the media isn't allowed to go on about it, because they've been forced to destroy the computers [/cynicism]

how illegal? as in, what sort of punishments would theoretically be handed out to people doing it?

RedRocker227 wrote:

how illegal? as in, what sort of punishments would theoretically be handed out to people doing it?

I'm not sure. According to Wikipedia, it looks like it is a criminal offense, so probably a prison sentence or fine.

jvvg wrote:

RedRocker227 wrote:

how illegal? as in, what sort of punishments would theoretically be handed out to people doing it?

I'm not sure. According to Wikipedia, it looks like it is a criminal offense, so probably a prison sentence or fine.

this is untrue

generosity wrote:

jvvg wrote:

RedRocker227 wrote:

how illegal? as in, what sort of punishments would theoretically be handed out to people doing it?

I'm not sure. According to Wikipedia, it looks like it is a criminal offense, so probably a prison sentence or fine.

this is untrue

And you would know this how…?

mitchboy wrote:

generosity wrote:

jvvg wrote:

RedRocker227 wrote:

how illegal? as in, what sort of punishments would theoretically be handed out to people doing it?

I'm not sure. According to Wikipedia, it looks like it is a criminal offense, so probably a prison sentence or fine.

this is untrue

And you would know this how…?

you have to ask yourself a question
1) is wikipedia a reliable source at all?
and then take into consideration occam's razor to ascertain the truth
have fun!

generosity wrote:

mitchboy wrote:

generosity wrote:

jvvg wrote:

RedRocker227 wrote:

how illegal? as in, what sort of punishments would theoretically be handed out to people doing it?

I'm not sure. According to Wikipedia, it looks like it is a criminal offense, so probably a prison sentence or fine.

this is untrue

And you would know this how…?

you have to ask yourself a question
1) is wikipedia a reliable source at all?
and then take into consideration occam's razor to ascertain the truth
have fun!

You're right, Wikipedia isn't the best source.

However (most of the time) they list their sources, and from said source I found this out; "A ruling by Northern District of California Judge Breyer suggests that such activity constitutes ‘unauthorised access’ as enshrined in the CFAA, and leaves the perpetrator open to potential legal action.“

I was kinda confused by that, so I googled ”Legal Action“.

”A judicial proceeding brought by one party against another; one party prosecutes another for a wrong done or for protection of a right or for prevention of a wrong"

So, this implies that people could indeed be sentenced to jail and/or fined? Maybe, I'm not sure. I want to be 100% sure on this, and I'm about 90% at the moment lol.

You guys made me do research! What the heck! lol ^_^