turbodisplay
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 05:09 PM |
|
|
Any lawyers here?
Quick question on behalf of a friend considering legal action.
A certain car forum user (not here) made a comment that would be considered incitement to murder/ violence + racial remarks.
My friend wants to make a civil and or criminal action, against the person involved. (those comments are the tip of the iceberg).
Does anyone know the exact law that this breaks, also is the forum owner liable for allowing this to be published?(might make them more willing to
co-operate).
Is there also an electronic law broken in the form of harassment?
Can`t say to much as it might harm the investigation.
Also does anyone know how long it is possible to track someone via ip addresses (how long isp`s store the data?)
Thanks
Darren
|
NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
|
|
|
PSpirine
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 05:13 PM |
|
|
Can't help regarding the first bit,
but IP tracking is fairly straightforward. Whilst in uni, *someone*  got contacted by Universal Studios once via the Cambridge University Computing
Service... needless to say that's a wrist-slapping taken a bit too far for my liking.
In that case the email came about a month or two after any suggested offence had *allegedly* occured, so I'd imagine they are able to keep
records of IPs for a reasonable time.
Pavs
|
|
|
suparuss
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 05:20 PM |
|
|
sounds like a matter for the police to me. any kind of threat against life and/or anti racial remarks are illegal. not sure of the exact law though.
definately not a matter for the small claims court unless he is a public figure/buisness owner and would suffer loss from any kind of remarks, which
is a civil matter.
|
|
|
ravingfool
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 05:23 PM |
|
|
Not my area and I wouldn't begin to advise but suspect any civil action would want to wait until conclusion of criminal investigations if such
are warranted and would probably cost a lot of money to pursue.
The only way someone will be able to advise you sensibly is if they're in possession of all the details. Try the Citizen's advice bureau
or arrange an initial fixed fee or even free hour with a specialist solicitor to get the best advice possible.
possible offences may be incitement of racial hatred, racial harassment, malicious communications, libel, slander etc etc!
The law re ISPs and their publishing of material is developing constantly but if you notify the owner of the forum they should agree to remove
anything that may be illegal/slanderous/libellous.
I believe ISPs will retain data 6 years +; like most data holders.
[Edited on 5/7/10 by ravingfool]
|
|
|
jossey
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 05:34 PM |
|
|
It's hard to take legal action against a treat on a web page due to ip masking and lack off proof of who wrote it. Not worth trying to be
honest. We analyse so many pc's for misuse and even when they prove the oragin of the "threat" there is still a issue of who posted
it from a none secure pc. Cps generally throw it out.
I hear posting on hackers sites saying hackers are di*ks and leaving there email and or ip address makes things fun. Can't reccommend that
who
dave j
|
|
|
oldtimer
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 05:44 PM |
|
|
Could they not take it to the police?
|
|
|
eznfrank
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 05:53 PM |
|
|
It depends exactly what was said but would likely come under:
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006
Public Order Act 1986
Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (much of which has now been repealed but may still cover this)
You can find out more on Statute Law Database but in reality as said above, report it to the Cozzers, they're more likely to get anywhere with
it than a private prosecution.
|
|
|
jossey
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 06:16 PM |
|
|
as my new found friend EZNfrank said. it does depend on what was said and also where the information is hosted. can it be edited by others and what
country hosts the information. where the threat originates from eg internet cafe or home pc and weather it could have been done by other people.
its such a mine field of grey areas that it generally doesnt get as far as court or prosecution.
If i remember rightly EZNFRANK works within digital forensic and im sure he knows how difficult a result is. how the data was collected. who has been
in access to the PC. Other users who may have had access.
even to the security of the password of the pc is an issue. if you leave your pc unlocked at lunch and someone posts on facebook. then its your
responsibility what has been posted but you cant be prosecuted for the stuff on there just the breachs of security or data protection leaving your pc
unlocked.
MINE FIELD.
dave j
|
|
|
turbodisplay
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 06:24 PM |
|
|
Thanks for the replys.
If the ip is traced to a computer it should be good enough, as the person has made comments which can only be made by the suspect (inside info).
My gf`s friend once made a complaint against someone stealing their property.
Said person got a caution, but were told a civil action could be taken as a caution requires an admission of guilt.
Quite a funny case as they did all the leg work, gave all their investigation to the police. More or less an open and shut case for the officer
involved. (one more prosecution for his monthly target).
Darren
|
NOTE:This user is registered as a LocostBuilders trader and may offer commercial services to other users
|
jossey
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 06:28 PM |
|
|
good luck to them what ever happens.
dave J
i met someone who downloaded application scanners for "free!" and constantly ran it against someones IP who had threatened them. there
internet hardly ever worked. them free apps are dangerous in the wrong hands.
|
|
|
A1
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 06:50 PM |
|
|
was it a joke?
|
|
|
eznfrank
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 06:52 PM |
|
|
quote:
Originally posted by jossey
as my new found friend EZNfrank said. it does depend on what was said and also where the information is hosted. can it be edited by others and what
country hosts the information. where the threat originates from eg internet cafe or home pc and weather it could have been done by other people.
its such a mine field of grey areas that it generally doesnt get as far as court or prosecution.
If i remember rightly EZNFRANK works within digital forensic and im sure he knows how difficult a result is. how the data was collected. who has been
in access to the PC. Other users who may have had access.
even to the security of the password of the pc is an issue. if you leave your pc unlocked at lunch and someone posts on facebook. then its your
responsibility what has been posted but you cant be prosecuted for the stuff on there just the breachs of security or data protection leaving your pc
unlocked.
MINE FIELD.
dave j
Yeah my day job does occasionally stray into the world of digital forensics but I'm more involved in the securing/collection of the evidence
than actual examination.
You're quite right though, the technicalities of digital forensics make it such that unless it's something exceptionally serious, getting
anywhere with it is a bit of a non-starter.
IP's can be a a pain in the case of internet cafes, big companies it's hard to pin down and in fact some companies use roaming IP's
so your PC has a different IP every time it connects - causes me a right headache!!
From a civil view point I wouldn't have thought you'd get anywhere but I'd personally send it to police anyway, they might not be
able to do owt with it but you never know, they might go "have a word" anyway.
|
|
|
BenB
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 06:58 PM |
|
|
You imagine the police would investigate it before deciding it's a dead end. After all the guilty party might say they're guilty in which
case it would be hard for it not to go to court.
|
|
|
Strontium Dog
|
| posted on 5/7/10 at 07:46 PM |
|
|
I got ripped off by a tosser client that we tried to help as he claimed to be in a desperate situation. I took him to court and lost ( his step dad is
a judge I found out). The scumbag then wrote a slanderous web site full of outright lies about me and several other honest tradespersons. He did it on
an American web site, Google I think it is, and there is nothing we can do about it. The lawyers say they could destroy him in court for what he has
said if it was a UK site as it is deformation and slander etc. Google are governed by US law and freedom of speech which allows for lying scum to say
what they like!
This is a well known loophole used by toe-rags all over the UK to ruin peoples lives and business. The best thing to do is to ignore the sites used so
that there are few hits, then search engines tend to find other things about you instead of the poison!
Apparently there is a movement amongst the legal profession to get something done about the inability to deal with these types from within the UK but
as it means getting the Yanks to do the right thing it could take some considerable time and effort
[Edited on 5/7/10 by Strontium Dog]
|
|
|
