sharing bandwidth--legal question - Page 2

SamIAm · #11 05-03-2007, 06:02 PM

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LOL at MAC addresses.

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I've often thought about what I should change my MAC address to. (Since you can spoof whatever you want.) There's gotta be some funny phrase I can broadcast made-up of only ABCDEF015.

I'll think about it.

jumbojacks · #12 05-03-2007, 10:53 PM

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You do know that every wireless DHCP device keeps an active log of the MAC addresses that IP's have been given to. That MAC address can be traced to the store the card was sold at and if a credit card was used, then who the buyer was.

Additionally, you can easily track wireless signals in either direction with the right tools.

If they want to find you, they can and will.

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HAHAHAHHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH........ ...

HAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH AHAHA

But really, behind a NAT, nobody but you will know.

CORed · #13 05-03-2007, 11:11 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
LOL at MAC addresses.

[/ QUOTE ]
I've often thought about what I should change my MAC address to. (Since you can spoof whatever you want.) There's gotta be some funny phrase I can broadcast made-up of only ABCDEF015.

I'll think about it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have seen a Windows error message -- I don't remember what triggered it -- that included the hexadecimal value "DEADBEEF"

SamIAm · #14 05-03-2007, 11:47 PM

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"DEADBEEF"

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Awesome.

There's BABE and B00B and C0DE and F00D. None of these really jump-out at me.
-Sam

goldtoes · #15 05-04-2007, 08:44 AM

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[ QUOTE ]
"DEADBEEF"

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Awesome.

There's BABE and B00B and C0DE and F00D. None of these really jump-out at me.
-Sam

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almost sounds like a Dr. Seuss book :-P

nuclear500 · #16 05-04-2007, 08:53 AM

Not all hardware will let you spoof though. Oh sure you might convince Windows, but the device itself wouldn't work.

I'm not sure what the limitations are though and just what brands will let you spoof the MAC. Not all cards let you enter promiscuous mode either, so its probably a 1:1 correlation with that.

SamIAm · #17 05-04-2007, 01:04 PM

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That MAC address can be traced to the store the card was sold at and if a credit card was used, then who the buyer was.

If they want to find you, they can and will.

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I was thinking more about this, and it's totally bonkers. Even if they could track the NIC MAC to the brand & model, to the serial number, to the store, there's no way they can track from the store to me. In BestBuy I went to the stack of ethernet cards in the ethernet card section, a cashier scanned the UPC, and I paid with my credit card. How can they possibly know who bought which card in that stack?

I understand that we're talking 'desperately need to find you', not 'wish you'd stop sharing internet access', but I don't see how ANYBODY could do this. The wifi-tracking might happen if JackBauer thinks you're using kiddie porn to blow-up the president, but I don't think even Jack can track from NIC MAC to credit card receipt.

Bonkers.
-Sam

nuclear500 · #18 05-04-2007, 01:56 PM

http://archives.stupidquestion.net/sq32204.html

There is no "could" about being able to track the MAC to the store. They know where their products went. Unless it was "moved" outside of their normal shipping methods.

The UPC will tell them the product line and I'm sure they correlate the MAC to the UPC. Maybe not 1:1, but close enough that they will know when and where the product was shipped and what MAC address ranges were shipped.

You paid with your credit card...Best Buy has a database with what UPC you purchased. Once the store has been tracked, they just have to look up the UPC's to see who has purchased it and then do some footwork from there.

I made it sound like a movie where 5 seconds later they know exactly who bought it, where and when. Not the case and I did not mean it that way. It would still take some investigative work, but they would be able to track you down with RF sniffing equipment once they know where all the suspects live etc because they pulled the CC# from Best Buy, back to the CC company who gave them the peoples addresses.

Of course your local Hotel Security Rent-A-Cop isn't going to be able to do this, again I did not really mean to imply that. But if the offense is on a serious enough level, the FBI will become involved and do exactly what I just said.

SamIAm · #19 05-04-2007, 03:08 PM

I'm going to continue this hijack because it's interesting (and nobody's come-up with good funny NIC MACs for me.) I'm sorry I called you "bonkers". (twice)

As the link you gave pointed out, the UPC code is unique to the model, but it's not unique to the card itself, right? So to find my Al Quaeda meth labs, they're going to have to check-out every single Linksys router sold by that BestBuy. If they have some precise, precise inventory management, they might be able to limit my purchase to within a few months, but they're still going to have to check-out a whole big bunch of addresses.

I think my mailorder-bride money-laundering intellectual-piracy ring is safe.
-Sam

nuclear500 · #20 05-04-2007, 03:58 PM

I don't mind the bonkers thing.

I agree, it would still require a lot of footwork to check out people - but with the man power and hours, it could be done. Seems daunting if nigh impossible, but without knowing how they do UPC codes or MAC address assignments, can't really say. Random MAC assignments would be stupid IMO.