xerxes - 5:37 pm on Feb 16, 2003 (gmt 0)

OK, here is an explanation for your boss of how to find out who is coming onto your website: you go to: [cello.cs.uiuc.edu...] and enter the IP address and hit your enter button. In my boss's situation, it gives his domain name as the owner of the particular IP address. Because I recommended to him that he obtain his own Dedicated IP number so that spammers would not be able to affect him by his being in a randomly assigned IP range. No one can affect my boss's website by their spam or porn. However, and this is the big however, most of the time the result given is a RANGE (a very large Range of millions) of IP numbers controlled by a service provider. For example, we know that AOL has a range of IP numbers for its users. Now, when a user logs onto AOL, he receives a RANDOM (Try to get your boss to understand the concept RANDOM) IP number. There is NO way at present, to know who was at the machine using a RANDOMLY assigned AOL number. No way at the present state of internet technology. I emailed a researcher to see what advances are being foreseen in this area. When (and if) he answers, I will post the info. The Arin service is not as good as the one I provided for you. Arin only gives the range. The one I gave you will give you the domain name IF the IP# belongs to a domain name as my boss's does. Now tell your boss to try to find out the e-mail address of a website visitor. He can only do it if I visit his website or someone else savvy enough to have their own dedicated IP number. My boss struggles to understand what I am explaining to his poor non-initiated brain. I feel sorry for these jerks. You should too, they will never be able to do what we do, and you know what? I think they know that. Ha ha. Good one.