Grumpy Mark may finally breathe a sigh of relief

“Website operators are in principle liable as publishers for everything that appears on their sites, even though the content is often determined by users,” said Justice Secretary Ken Clarke.

“But most operators are not in a position to know whether the material posted is defamatory or not and very often – faced with a complaint – they will immediately remove material.

“Our proposed approach will mean that website operators have a defence against libel as long as they identify the authors of allegedly defamatory material when requested to do so by a complainant.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18404621

Sounds pretty reasonable. But help a luddite out here, if my IP address is dynamic, I assume that BT or somesuch keep a log somewhere that records what telephone number (Landline or Mobile) is using a given IP address at a given time yes?

And what about mobile phones with no account details – I havent bought pay as you go sim for many years, but does one give name details when you have a data package or can you still use a SIM as an anonymous “burner”?

I use an anonymous proxy a lot of the time – so they’d have absolutely no idea who posted something

Wasnt there an idea mooted of micro charging for something like facebook, just 10p say, so that you could use financial bona fides checks as a proxy for checking id yourself?

Not seeing the problem here TBH. Is not posting objectional content a difficult thing?

I use an anonymous proxy a lot of the time

surely the proxy server must ‘know’ the IP address you’re using even if it’s not transmitted to the site your visiting?

I use a poxy server quite a lot of the time.

to those using a proxy, why?

As a member of the Royal Family, I use a Proxy to keep the tabloids from tracing my true identity.

HRH Duke of Edinburgh

to those using a proxy, why?

They’ve run out of tinfoil.

I assume that BT or somesuch keep a log somewhere that records what telephone number (Landline or Mobile) is using a given IP address at a given time yes?

Yes. And they have teams who will, when presented with a court order or a police warrant under RIPA, release that information.

TBH, all it seems to be is the creation of a small safe harbour near the existing defamation defences.

to those using a proxy, why?

couple of reasons

Work blocks too many things through their servers
I’m away a good bit and it’s handy for iPlayer etc

surely the proxy server must ‘know’ the IP address you’re using even if it’s not transmitted to the site your visiting?

I have a choice of proxies from all over the world, I can’t imagine a lot of them giving up the details if the need ever arose TBH