Using electronic/computer posts as evidence?

snowdog203

Well-Known Member
I am wondering how much of what is put on the net, pix of equip/grows, statements of posession, can be used in the court of law?
Do the posts on RIU come up in court as evidence, very often, at all?
Anyone have a 101 on this, kinda like the "don't talk to the police" video?

thnx

ps I'd give NORML an F for their last 35+ years of work, the laws have only gotten tougher!
Drug abuse is bad but the punishment and stigma from a conviction for pot is very wrong.
 

Hugo Phurst

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure what the Cops can/do use.

Just remember, don't post anything on the internet that you don't want the entire world seeing.
 

kentuckyboy

Well-Known Member
I don't think that the cops are patrolling RIU to find weed growers. There are people here on RIU from all over the world. I wouldn't tell anyone to much on here because you really have no idea who that person really is. I wouldn't meet anyone in person that you meet on here or give any info out that could help someone identify you. I do this to remain somewhat anonymous. Noone that I know in person knows that I am posting here on RIU. This is just a way for me to show off my shit w/o having to worry about someone I know having loose lips. Plus, if I was to get busted I would get a misdemeanor conviction at worst, and I could care less about that. I've been in enough trouble that my background checks for jobs won't make a difference with one more misdemeanor conviction on it. But thats just me. If you are doing big things and doing it illegally then I wouldn't recommend posting pics of it here or anywhere else on the net. This is just my opinion.
 

snew

Well-Known Member
I can't imagine the police taking the time to read through your computer thread, unless, its a major operation and additional evidence is needed to secure a conviction.
That said I don't post pictures. If one posts regularly it could be used to establish a timeline for your grow (generally). Pictures include to much embedded information on them.
 

cliffey501

Active Member
The cops definately could look at your posts on RIU anything in the public domain is fair game.They couldn't use it as evidence because you could be lying about everything you post.Just because I say I have a 12" dick on the internet doesn't really mean I have one(or do I).
 

snowdog203

Well-Known Member
I see that a few times folks post then as a sign-off signature say something like all this information here is all fictitious. What is up with that?
 

Grumpy'

Active Member
They can use any information they get against you. Yes including forum posts and pictures. I bet most people do like me and. Pick the remember me button. So when they seize your pc and launch browsers it will auto sign you in and they will have every statement you made. Always clear your cache, manual log in, hell use private browsing. First thing to do though is don't tell anyone our business. You won't have a reason to be under investigation unless you give them one , and the biggest reason is a big mouth. Lol.
 

forgetfulpenguin

Active Member
If they can link your name on RIU to your real name it's all fair game.

However linking your alias to you will probably happen after you've been busted and they have examined your computer.

If you are careful to maintain plausible deniability, and are willing to read all the documentation more then once then TrueCrypt should thwart local LEO. Going scorched earth with something like the amnesic incognito live system that leaves little if any trace on the host is an option. Nothing will help you if catch you while your data is unencrypted (ie being accessed by you) or you are running the CD. The FBI and DEA don't fuck around so just don't piss them off.

https://tails.boum.org/
http://www.truecrypt.org/

Truecrypt/TAILS can be defeated but it involves breaking into your house, tampering with your computer, and then waiting to bust you until you've booted into your hidden OS at least once after (ala evil maid attack.) The DEA broke into a house and planted a keylogger as well as "tapped" a DSL line to bust a supposed MDMA lab.

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/10/evil_maid_attac.html
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9741357-7.html

Not much more is known about the DEA's keylogger in the Forrester-Alba case. An affidavit prepared by DEA agent Coffey in July 2001 asks for permission to enter the Escondido office "by breaking and entering, if necessary, for the purpose of installing, maintaining, and removing software tools" that "will enable agents to capture and record all keyboard keystrokes."
...
The wiretap was done at PacBell's connection facility at 650 Robinson Rd. in San Diego. The DEA obtained what's known as a "mirror port," a feature that many network switches made by companies including Cisco Systems include for troubleshooting purposes.

A mirror port duplicates all the Internet traffic of one user to a second port on the same switch, without the suspect being alerted that electronic surveillance is under way. The scheme is probably easier to accomplish with a static Internet Protocol (IP) address, which is what the Escondido case involved.

According to the DEA, only IP addresses of Web sites (such as 216.239.122.200 instead of cnet.com) and e-mail headers are captured, and not the rest of the communication stream. That, they argue, makes it akin to existing precedent dealing with pen registers, which capture telephone numbers dialed and are permitted without any proof of probable cause of wrongdoing.
 

forgetfulpenguin

Active Member
I see that a few times folks post then as a sign-off signature say something like all this information here is all fictitious. What is up with that?
Some people can't afford a team of lawyers (like rich celebrities) and rely on lucky charms. Prayer is a viable option if your into that kind of thing. Personally I like denial, just cover your ass best you can and hope for the best.
 

snowdog203

Well-Known Member
Many thanks to you for that very informative post!!

What does InPrivate Browsing do for me, is it any help, or perhaps a false sense of security?

I imagine any IT hacker/agency if they wanted to could read 99% of the RIU posts and retrieve volumes of the most intimate details of each posters; is this a misconception?
I figure less than 1% of the posters are using encryption or tails.
 

born2killspam

Well-Known Member
I use a program that can wipe the hdd's free space securely (It's called restore.exe).. And I use Opera because of its straight-forward history storage within its own directory space.. Basically if you are savvy enough to know how to get everything deleted that you want deleted (Apps like filemon.exe/regmon.exe can help find what's being written..) not even a low level disk editor like WinHex can find any traces.. Privacy software packages that claim to wipe data don't work as well as you may think..If you want, get the programs I mentioned, and play around.. Do some substantial surfing on a topic that isn't already on your disk somewhere, then try to wipe it all and use Winhex's disk search to see how well you did..
 

overgrowem

Well-Known Member
I am wondering how much of what is put on the net, pix of equip/grows, statements of posession, can be used in the court of law?
Do the posts on RIU come up in court as evidence, very often, at all?
Anyone have a 101 on this, kinda like the "don't talk to the police" video?........................................................................................................................... Posting on RIU.won't get U busted but will get charges stacked like chordwood against U.Once the Man has a case against U,anything on your computer is fair game.Early on stings and traps were used on sites like this, but the courts blunted that aproach,now the man simply cites some guy for jaywalking then turns his life upside down thru his computer,phone,credit card etc...to conjur up a felony.....Be careful on line there are several peeps posting here that if I were a detec. I bet I could come prety close to identifying.
 

Tiberium

Member
I browse this site and anything else marijuana related using the TOR network AKA "Vidalia" it is truly the safest way to browse, it became notorious when the whistle blowers were using it for a while to submit info to Wiki leaks while being damn near untraceable, my IP address and computer info are constantly being masked and changed so fast that I can only login to this website for about 8 minutes before I have to login again because the site auto logs off when it detects the IP address I signed in with is no longer being used.
 

dbkick

Well-Known Member
They can look all they want, it takes a judge to sign a warrant and a judge isn't gonna sign a warrant with evidence submitted online to a forum. And then there's the fact they gotta prove it was actual who they are charging that was sitting at the keyboard.Although I may have taken the original message wrong, I have been sitting here for awhile doing hash rips. can it be proven in court? who gives a fuck?
 

DreamTime

Member
Many thanks to you for that very informative post!!

What does InPrivate Browsing do for me, is it any help, or perhaps a false sense of security?

I imagine any IT hacker/agency if they wanted to could read 99% of the RIU posts and retrieve volumes of the most intimate details of each posters; is this a misconception?
I figure less than 1% of the posters are using encryption or tails.
In Private browsing in Internet Explorer is more about not leaving any evidence on your local computer, not so much about being anonymous on the net. It's pretty good at making it so your wife or SO won't find any evidence of the pr0n sites you visit, but it won't protect you from LE figuring out where you've surfed. In Private browsing is not anonymous surfing. You will still be surfing off the IP address that your ISP assigned to you, and that will subsequently be logged at every website you visit, and potentially tracked by your ISP and anyone else monitoring the pipes that you use.

If your goal is to not provide an easy trail for LEO to follow, you'll need a lot more than In Private browsing.
For instance, I'm running Firefox inside a virtual machine that is connecting to the internet via an anonymous VPN connection. I also run DNT+ and AdBlock+ addons for FireFox to further reduce my footprint. If I was hard core, I'd be daisy chaining VPN connections, and using a hardened OS like openBSD.
 

FilthyFletch

Mr I Can Do That For Half
Yes the cops do watch these threads and yes they can use them in cases against you. Since this sites servers are onS territory they can demand ip and owner info to track the original poster which is why we all know of course to use many proxies before coming to the site and to not upload images directly to the site image manager but through proxied third party sites. Since I have been a member who joined first week site came up I think i can recall of maybe 3 people who had their accounts and posts used against them. Use your own security as the site offers little to none.
 

JJFOURTWENTY

Well-Known Member
ps I'd give NORML an F for their last 35+ years of work, the laws have only gotten tougher!
That's not NORML's fault. It's the lazy ass motherfuckers who whine and bitch all day about everything yet can't seem to set aside just a half hour of their precious time, on a single day, every other year to go out and vote!
 

snowdog203

Well-Known Member
That's not NORML's fault. It's the lazy ass motherfuckers who whine and bitch all day about everything yet can't seem to set aside just a half hour of their precious time, on a single day, every other year to go out and vote!
Well I don't see NORML bangin that drum.
You are right though get out the pot vote!!
 

snowdog203

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info. I really am a basic user of the net and don't get that deep into the security aspect. I was curious about the legal aspect and the type of security that should be used to remain anonymous. I got plenty of info from your responses.
 
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