I’m participating in a discussion forum that displays the IP of every contributor, which I find disquieting. How can I conceal my IP, or at least display a bogus IP? I know it is possible, I just couldn’t find any relevant information.
Also, are the rumours true that this practice is going to be illegal in the US in the future?
Your IP changes every time you log on, so the address doesn’t necessarily lead anyone to you.
If you still think you need a bogus IP, you can use a proxy site like http://www.anonymizer.com. Your IP will appear to come from the proxy, not your computer’s IP.
Not if you have a static IP it doesn’t. Mine hasn’t changed for 3 years. And most workplaces have static IPs as well.
Of course if the message board also has one of those ‘on-line’ indicators then you’re advertising your IP along with a big ‘Hey I’m here’.
For what it’s worth most message boards frown on IP hiding because the moderators want to be able to track IPs. Perhaps contact the people running the board and get 'em to flip the switch to hide the IP.
SD
Of course, if you use an anonymous proxy, the proxy still has your IP address. If you think about it, you’ll see why it’s impossible to completely conceal your IP address. When you click on a hyperlink, your computer sends a message to the webserver that hosts the link to send you the contents of the page. If your computer doesn’t send your IP along with that request, it’s kind of like mailing a letter asking for information and not including a return address-you aren’t going to get what you asked for 'cause they don’t know where to send it. (Extending the analogy-using a proxy, you send the proxy your request, who you’re requesting it from, and where to send it to, and the proxy makes the request of the webserver & forwards the response back to you.)
A lot of message boards maintain a list of the popular anonymous proxies, and don’t allow access through them for just this very reason.
If you wanna be anonymous, best you can probably do is go to a large pubic computer lab, like what you would find at a school or library.
