A warning

[CatonaPC©]

As I have always believed. You can never hide. Read this.

[mikepologti]

scary but true. no one is untraceable. no matter how many proxies no matter how many spoofs, someone can always (if given time) track you down.

[Mk6 Golf]

As I have always believed. You can never hide. Read this.

An interesting read as this would applies to most forums, including this one. Well spotted.

scary but true. no one is untraceable. no matter how many proxies no matter how many spoofs, someone can always (if given time) track you down.

That said, fortunately this would not (or less likely to) apply to this VW forum as most (from what I’ve heard) are very respectable to others. Plus, I think this site is well controlled to ensure bad mouthing (etc) does not go on.

Still. Makes one think!!

[Tim]

I find it comical that people are complaining about free speech in relation to that matter.

Too many people are caught up with their rights instead of diverting a little bit of attention to their responsibilities

[Golf Houso]

I find it comical that people are complaining about free speech in relation to that matter.

Too many people are caught up with their rights instead of diverting a little bit of attention to their responsibilities

Completely agree, there were obviously grounds for the individual to complain about the business in the first place, they should be adressing that rather than chasing people who complain about them online. I also can't see how complaining on the internet is any different to word-of-mouth, which although defamation exists is nowhere near as schooled as online...

[The_Hawk]

Being the site owner I have asked more than a few questions around this topic.

From what I understand, to sue for deffamation you need to prove some sort of actual loss caused by the comments, something that is near impossible for an individual to do, but possible (although still difficult) for a business to do.

But to the main point, people are encouraged to share their experiences and opinions openly but need to understand they need to act responsibly. Unfounded criticism or open slander will not be tollerated, if anyone ever thinks something has fallen through the cracks please use the report post button. This doesn't mean that all negative posts will be taken down, after all people do have negative experiences, but there is a fine line between reporting bad service and attacking an individual. I don't want to support a Nanny State and as long as people keep it above board all will be well.

[Mk6 Golf]

Being the site owner... ...I don't want to support a Nanny State and as long as people keep it above board all will be well.

Well said! btw - this is a good site, very informative and semi-social as well..

[Timbo]

Anyone who thinks they can 'hide' on the internet is a fool. If you've been around network security people at all, you'll know just how little "anonymity" there really is, once someone decides to find out who you are.

For that reason, I always find the reaction surprising when I've reminded people on forums about defamation laws. What's more, Google trawls these forums and indexes everything. It's actually easy to find a libellous statement here than if it is published in the Dubbo Daily News

[team_v]

The funny thing is that Australia doesn't have a bill or declaration of rights which means we don't actually have the free speach that everyone claims.

This is becasue of too many american movies influencing our "knowledge"

See here:

http://libertus.net/censor/fspeechlaw.html

[Timbo]

Well, even the right to "free speech" set out in the UN Declaration on Human Rights and also in US law does not give anyone the right to defame another person.

[gregozedobe]

scary but true. no one is untraceable. no matter how many proxies no matter how many spoofs, someone can always (if given time) track you down.

It may be possible to track down the computer you used, but if that computer is a public access one that doesn't have any of your actual personal details recorded (name, address, email connected to you) then the trail would simply end there (not condoning doing things that way, just pointing out that you can be truly anonymous if you want to badly enough).

[mikepologti]

true though most internet cafe's that ive used , have cams (that record people whom want to upload viruses onto there boxs via storage media). so in essence finding an ip address , you can find the physical address , that actively records the persons using the specific computers . sure they only have a face , but it probably wont take the cops long to find you regardless if they really wanted too. useing the computers in shopping malls that dont have that coverage is another thing all together