IP Address Plus the Shadow
In United States v. Broadhurst, a police detective found evidence of child pornographic images being shared on a peer to peer (P2P) network by ten IP addresses. The ISPs serving these IP addresses were subpoenaed for the subscribers’ details. The information revealed that the exchanges were taking place in a specific neighborhood, between six IP addresses using an unsecured wireless network. To limit the number of actual criminal suspects, the detective used an e-device called “The Shadow” which allows the user to observe and locate wireless access points and station devices. By observing the signal strength, the Shadow operator can know if the specific computers involved in the child pornographic exchange are nearby. When the police located the unsecured network router, they found no trace of criminal activity. So the detectives used the Shadow while walking in the vicinity of the other addresses of interest. One house address had a high signal spike that indicated the suspect was there. A search warrant was obtained based on the information gathered using the Shadow, which led to the arrest and conviction of the defendant due to the incriminating evidence found in his computer.
IP Address and Circumstantial Evidence
In United States v. Encarnacion-LaFontaine, the defendant who was charged with several counts of conspiracies involving extortion, witness tampering, marijuana and cocaine distribution, challenged, among others, the admissibility of the threatening messages he left in his Facebook accounts. The court deemed these were properly admitted because the Government introduced evidence, among others that, (1) the Facebook accounts used to send the messages were accessed from IP addresses connected to computers near Encarnacion’s apartment; (2) patterns of access to the accounts show that they were controlled by the same person; and (3) in addition to the … threats, the accounts were used to send messages to other individuals connected to Encarnación.
The court concluded that all these pieces of evidence made it reasonably likely that, as the Government contended at trial, the letters and Facebook messages were written by Encarnación, and it was not error to admit them.
Philippine Law Bytes: TheCyberLawyer Issues by Dr. Attorney Noel Guivani Ramiscal 