[ SECRET POST #1959 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1959 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 085 secrets from Secret Submission Post #280.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I can't think of anywhere else to ask this because I feel really fucking stupid even saying it. But you all seem to be awesome about this kind of stuff, so...IDK.

Long story short is I informed someone on DevArt that they're breaking ToS because half their gallery is explicit porn. They responded with a comment that I would do well not to speak to them anymore because they're good with computers, I've been warned, etc. Then they posted the results of an IP trace of the comment page (which led to DevArt's servers in California, natch), and then a name, address, and phone number of some other person who shares my first initial and last name but isn't me, because I've never lived at that address (it's not even in the same city I live in now) or ever had that phone number. The comments are now "hidden by owner." I never messaged him again and I don't intend to.

I filed an abuse report with DevArt before he hid the comments. I'm 99% sure the dude is just being a creeper and posting this shit to intimidate me and get his jollies from it, but now I'm extremely creeped out and paranoid that he'll pull something in retaliation if/when DevArt gets around to banning him. My Facebook has always been locked down tighter than Fort Knox (literally nothing on my profile or wall is visible to the public, and I never filled out most of it anyway). I've removed my RL address/phone number/etc. from the white pages, and I used Pipl.com to track every online account I've ever had to try and scour it for any sensitive info (zip code, city, etc.).

So...uh...1) how worried should I be about his claim to be "good with computers", and 2) is there anything else I can do to protect myself?

[(Anonymous)]

Honestly I would worry more about the person he THINKS is you. He will probably harass them first.

[(Anonymous)]

lolol why do you give a fuck if their gallery is too explicit? you sound annoying

[(Anonymous)]

This..if you hate it so much, go elsewhere!

[(Anonymous)]

Except DevArt doesnt work that way and explicit porn is against the ToS there. I wonder why this is so difficult for you guys to understand.

[(Anonymous)]

Honestly, if he didn't get your real name/address/phone number right the first time, I wouldn't worry about his "computer skills". On top of that, he sounds really immature.

Right, so onto the next part.

is there anything else I can do to protect myself?

Honestly? Just make sure to clear your cache/cookies. If you're really worried about your Facebook account, stop using it.

[ascend.livejournal.com]

a lot of people try to pull this shit in order to intimidate others. a few years back on ljsecret someone got hella pressed over something i said and claimed they were a "certified microsoft employee" and could turn my entire journal into pictures of dicks. it doesn't take a genius to realise a microsoft employee has absolutely zero power over anything on livejournal and a microsoft employee is actually really easy to become (you take an expensive class that teaches you about microsoft products and how to use them [excel, word, etc.]). so long story short it was a pathetic attempt at intimidation and meant nothing re: my journal's integrity.

it sounds like the guy used a program or script that catches ip addresses of visitors. there are a ton of sites that will do this for you and usually only give out the ip address and the location the ip was caught from (normally a city name). sounds like the guy had something a little different, but i'm assuming he either 1) faked the irl address/phone number to scare you, or 2) the person whose information he had has said information public in whatever program he was using (for instance, they might have an account for the program, or otherwise have filled in their own details somewhere).

there is pretty much no other way he could have gotten that information from an ip search, and he won't have your info, so i wouldn't worry. so to answer your questions:
1) he's BSing, and
2) you've done everything you'd need to.

also the guy needs to get a fucking life because lol christ

[(Anonymous)]

To be fair, my first and last name is signed on some of the artwork I've posted (before I knew better, I've had a DA account for almost a decade), so I'm pretty sure that's what he ran the search from. And the "current residence" field on my DA profile has a city I lived in years ago but don't anymore, and it's a suburb of the city in the address he posted.

It's like I think he's more likely just pulling some empty intimidation shit, but my brain has a habit of cooking up the most WTF worst case scenarios even if they don't make any sense.

[kryss-labryn.livejournal.com]

As someone who IS reasonably competent with computers, and who has had a certain amount of experience with IPs (my husband and I used to run a small ISP), I honestly wouldn't worry about it too much. Honestly, tracking an IP down to a specific individual (unless they have a public IP, which most individuals haven't even heard of, let alone have, because they cost a ridiculous amount of money for Reasons) will usually involve at the minimum a search warrant and possibly the FBI (if American, especially if multiple states are involved). Looks like he simply did a search for your IP (which would only have told him who your service provider was, at best, and what town they operate out of-- and sometimes even that isn't correct for more Reasons) and then "confirmed" that he had the correct individual by finding "your" name in the same town on something like YellowPages.com. It's really very basic stuff, and obviously failed.

You did the right thing in reporting him to dA, but if you're that concerned you can also report him to the FBI. He WAS making threats against you, after all, and that kind of thing (especially when he demonstrates intent by taking the time to actually make some effort towards tracking you down, even if it was really lame) doesn't sit well with the Feds.

I honestly doubt he'd ever bother doing anything more than this (frankly, really pathetic and half-assed) attempt at intimidation, but if you honestly are that concerned then a call from the Feds investigating threats he made against you ought to smarten him up pretty quick. ;-) DeviantArt can give them his contact info if you can provide them with his account name there.

--I do have to agree with some others here, though. Who cares if it IS explicit porn? There's one person on there who posts the most terrifying art in one of my fandoms of both characters AND the actor portraying them, and me and my circle of friends have learned to simply not EVER look at her stuff unless we're in the mood for being traumatized, ha ha. Not going to bother reporting her, though, because in the end, who cares? Someone posted naughty pictures on teh Internets, OH NOES. ;D

[(Anonymous)]

Still I wonder why it's so hard for people to understand the ToS thing. Explicit porn isnt allowed on that site.

OP wasn't even initially reporting the guy for the porn.

[kryss-labryn.livejournal.com]

True, but "explicit" seems to have varying meanings there. :/ No depictions of actual penetration, as I understand it, but then, dicks are allowed all over the place; yet Pika la Cinique's lovely and tasteful "Poison Peach Redux (http://s3.roosterteeth.com/images/CovertLady8348a78d5d14fc6.jpg)" which didn't bloody well show anything explicit at all got taken down from dA (http://pika-la-cynique.deviantart.com/journal/Huh-253291092) after a complaint of it being too "explicit". And not only was it not explicit, it was very beautifully done.

So my feelings on the matter are pretty much that so far as "explicit" goes there, unless it's something like kiddie porn I would just roll my eyes and hit the back button.

OP wasn't even initially reporting the guy for the porn.

Long story short is I informed someone on DevArt that they're breaking ToS because half their gallery is explicit porn. They responded with a comment that I would do well not to speak to them anymore because they're good with computers, I've been warned, etc. (Link (http://fandomsecrets.livejournal.com/889666.html?thread=546234434#t546234434))

Okay, yeah, it's against the ToS but then so are songfics on ff.net, lol. And poems. And I still see a tonne of them. But while I follow the ToS myself, I'm really not going to bother telling the host about it unless it's actually illegal: i.e. hateful (anti-Semetic/homophobic etc) or unless someone's work is being plagarized, stuff like that.

--Mind you, if your gallery IS full of ToS-violating explicit porn, and dA has reason to look at your gallery/account, expect them to deal with it. One of the main reasons I do follow ToS's (besides trying to not be a jerk) is so that my stuff/account doesn't get deleted.

But what bothers me may not bother others, and what bothers others I may not blink an eye at. It's all relative (see for example (http://www.stamfordmercury.co.uk/news/local/stamford-couple-forced-to-hide-michelangelo-s-david-behind-bush-after-complaints-1-2805476) some people who got a small replica of Michelangelo's David moved off their neighbour's lawn because they found ot offensive *eyeroll*). So unless something actually illegal is going on I just don't care, myself, if someone else is posting it. I'm not the ToS police. ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

I'm not sure what you're getting at when you quoted me and then the OP directly under it. They did not initially report the guy for the porn. They INFORMED the person that it was ToS breaking. They didn't report until the guy tried to harass and track them. You see, sometimes people actually inform others that they're breaking the ToS as a means to prevent them getting into trouble before an admin spots it.

And yes, DA flip-flops on this stuff a lot, but you're right. Actually showing penetration is reason for something to get removed. When OP refers to explicit porn, it's generally taken to refer to that sort of thing. Actual porn.

Are you seriously trying to compare DA and FF.net? Clearly FF.net has very shoddy moderation, everyone knows that. DA is different. Things work differently there and the mods/admins actually do do their jobs (sometimes not to everyones liking, but that's a different complaint).

"ToS police", oh wow. You realize DA kind of depends on its own users to look out for these things because it's so huge and they have a relatively small team to deal with it right?

[childings.livejournal.com]

He's full of shit. Real hackers don't make threats, they just retaliate against people they dislike, and most of them wouldn't do it over something so stupid as being reported on DA

[anonlulz.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be the only grandfather who says: Well done on reporting them!

[(Anonymous)]

OP

Thanks for all the responses, guys. I get really paranoid about stuff like this because I've been online-to-offline stalked before, and while I was pretty sure this is some stupid lame-ass intimidation-trolling, it's nice to have second-and-third opinions from people who know the technology behind better than me.

[(Anonymous)]

If he's 'good with computers', then he should have noticed he had DeviantArt's IP. I do question why you were poking the crazy bag in the first place. What's it to you if someone has porn on their gallery?

[(Anonymous)]

Because it's against the ToS there? That should have been pretty clear from OP's story.