Our little friend has been active over the last few days, so I will again publish his IP numbers so that, if you wanted, you could help me out by writing to some of the following addresses:

His or her IP numbers are: 195.10.103.xxx and 195.10.104.xxx

% This is the RIPE Whois server.
% The objects are in RPSL format.
% Please visit http://www.ripe.net/rpsl for more information.
% Rights restricted by copyright.
% See http://www.ripe.net/ripencc/pub-services/db/copyright.html

inetnum:     195.10.103.0 - 195.10.103.255
netname:     MANX-TELECOM
descr:       Licensed Provider
descr:       Telecoms Services in the Isle of Man
country:     GB
admin-c:     MR743-RIPE
admin-c:     BH1183-RIPE
admin-c:     JM2352-RIPE
tech-c:      MR743-RIPE
tech-c:      BH1183-RIPE
tech-c:      JM2352-RIPE
rev-srv:     ns0.manx.net
rev-srv:     ns1.manx.net
status:      ASSIGNED PA
notify:      mreadshaw@manx-telecom.com
notify:      billh@manx.agw.bt.co.uk
notify:      jasonma@manx.agw.bt.co.uk
mnt-by:      RIPE-NCC-NONE-MNT
changed:     billh@manx.agw.bt.co.uk 20010430
source:      RIPE

route:        195.10.96.0/20
descr:        Manx Telecom
origin:       AS13122
remarks:      Please send abuse notification to abuse@manx.net
mnt-by:       AS2856-MNT
changed:      jason.malone@manx-telecom.com 20011008
source:       RIPE

person:       Mike Readshaw
address:      Manx Telecom Ltd
address:      Douglas Telephone Exchange
address:      Dalton St.
address:      Isle of Man
address:      GBR 826
phone:        +44 1624 634700
fax-no:       +44 1624 634626
e-mail:       mreadshaw@manx-telecom.com
nic-hdl:      MR743-RIPE
notify:       mreadshaw@manx-telecom.com
changed:      jasonma@manx.agw.bt.co.uk 19990203
source:       RIPE

person:       Bill Hogg
address:      Manx Telecom Ltd
address:      PO Box 100
address:      DOUGLAS, Isle of Man
phone:        +44 1624 634047
fax-no:       +44 1624 634288
e-mail:       bill.hogg@manx-telecom.com
nic-hdl:      BH1183-RIPE
changed:      bill.hogg@manx-telecom.com 20011030
source:       RIPE

person:       Jason Malone
address:      Manx Telecom Ltd
address:      Douglas Telephone Exchange
address:      Dalton St.
address:      Isle of Man
address:      GBR 826
phone:        +44 1624 634046
fax-no:       +44 1624 634288
e-mail:       jasonma@manx.agw.bt.co.uk
nic-hdl:      JM2352-RIPE
notify:       jasonma@manx.agw.bt.co.uk
changed:      jasonma@manx.agw.bt.co.uk 20010405
source:       RIPE

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@alaska.net), May 06, 2002

Answers

And tell them what?

-- Phil Kneen (philkneen@manx.net), May 06, 2002.

Tony - I wrote to abuse@manx.net a ten days ago but clearly nothing happened. :?(

Looks like it's time we all started writing lots of notes to all the addresses in the IP listing...

-- Andrew Nemeth (azn@nemeng.com), May 06, 2002.

this is getting really sad. can't postings from particular IPs be blocked?? maybe it's time to go to a password system a la photo.net.

-- roger michel (michel@tcn.org), May 06, 2002.

And we are to complain about what? That some people find Phill annoying? Then maybe it's time to post IP addresses and abuse contacts for everyone on this forum, just to be sure. I find Allen Herbert annoying. Should I complain to his ISP? I don't get it.

-- George L. T. (davecasman@yahoo.com), May 06, 2002.

George, for the most part I agree with you but Phil is an exception. Sure Allen can be annoying. So can I - maybe you can too. But I don't have to censor Allen's postings before my kids see it. Anyone new to the forum, who may have something useful to contribute would probably go elsewhere. Our loss. I too at time find Phils posting quite funny - if only he'd leave the sewer mouth at home.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), May 06, 2002.

All this makes me miss Alfie

-- Brooks (bvonarx@comcast.net), May 06, 2002.

Tony: before the lynch mob forms: have you been able to rule out identity theft, specifically that an unkown person is using "Philkneen@manx.net" as a proxy?.....

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), May 06, 2002.

George L.T., where have you been? You're out of touch with our forum's problem. I'm not referring to a few silly and/or annoying posts. The amount of trash-talk I've deleted from this poor kid is astounding.

David, email addresses in this forum software are meaningless. While IP address tracking isn't full proof, IP numbers are many times more significant than email addresses, especially when typical users are involved. The network portion of the address, e.g. the first 3, 6 or in some cases 9 digits, is the clue to who the ISP is. Not only do we not know what this person's email address really is, we don't even know for sure that his name is Phil.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@mail.com), May 06, 2002.

Roger, the LUSENET folks have, on occasion, been able to block users by IP address (at least the network segment), but they do it infrequently. I have not complained too loudly because sometimes our little friend makes posts that are actually OK.

At this time, they're working on assimilating our forum into photo.net. When this happens, of course, we won't have the problem any longer. The question is, when. When! WHEN?!?!?!?!? :-) I'm just concerned that the fun-n-games will continue to cause us to lose participation from the serious users.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@mail.com), May 06, 2002.

I'd say that he has been tracked down. Last week I recieved a couple of emails from Phil complaining about the 'abusive' phone calls he had recieved from someone here. Oddly enough (the pot calling the kettle black) he was quite incensed that someone would have the nerve to do this.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), May 06, 2002.

One problem with blocking IP address is that you'd have to literally block the entire local POP or more to eliminate one address from a group. Since he is more than likely dialup, his IP will change slightly every time he gets online - hence having to block a range of IP addresses to get the job done, and thus, eliminating others from that range from using the group (probably not a huge problem, if one at all, but worth considering).

On the other hand... people like me, with a fixed IP address... aak! I'd be easy to block, since I'm connected to the same IP all the time.

Just some food for thought, thats all.

-- Charles (cbarcellona@telocity.com), May 06, 2002.

Bob: How do you know your complainer wasn't one of the four or so real PhilKneens who really do live on the isle of Man but are not our guy? Who may just be the victim of a teenage hacker proxying through his IP? The home heating contractor and well known motorcycle racer (with a wife and two kids), or the legitimate freelance photographer? I'd say we have tracked nobody down. I'd say we are rushing off half cocked to pester innocent bystanders...............

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), May 06, 2002.

First off David, don't hang the messenger. I wasn't the one who called Phil - I imagine he responded to me because I had at one time expressed how easy it was to find his phone # through Manxnet - after all there are only 4 or 5 Phil Kneen's it would be easy. But he admitted in his 2 emails that he was indeed 'our' Phil Kneen, saying that just because he wanted to add a little spice to our forum was not reason to hassel him via phone. I just find it odd how he figures it is okay to sit behind the anonymity of his computer and spew his sometimes foul language, but heaven forbid anyone make it 'personal'. It tells what kind of person he is IMO. He gets offended when we make it personal, meaning he is probably this way on- line only. If he handed out the crap he does here (and other forums) in person he'd get his clock cleaned. One of the bad things about the 'net. On a positive note check out the last few days on the Leica Forum at leica.com - half the postings are based on racial slurs and how superior certain peoples are. Greenspun is still the best there is.

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), May 06, 2002.

It doesn't even matter to us who it is; it should ultimately matter to the ISP. Afterall, it should be the responsibility of the ISP to make a reasonable attempt to ensure their customers play nicely with services that they buy. It's pretty darned sure that at least one of their customers is abusing this forum. Name? I have no idea, and I don't care. Email address? I have no idea and I don't care. IP address? They can track that down to the actual account being used, even with DHCP (that's the service that assigns different IP addresses each time you connect to the internet through the ISP) if given the full IP address (which I have a record of) and the date and time.

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@mail.com), May 06, 2002.

can we move on? this has not and will not deter her. she is laughing out loud reading this, no?

just proves the addage: money (leica) cannot buy you brains.

i've yet to see a photo posted by the girl.

ignore and delete.

-- steve (leitz_not_leica@hotmail.com), May 06, 2002.

Remember in the old "Star Trek" when the spirit of Jack the Ripper got inside the Enterprise computer and made continual smartass, inane comments that no one could shut down?

Despite Capt. Kirk's injunctions that the crew not listen to the rantings, the problem wasn't solved until the entity was beamed into space.

-- Preston Merchant (merchant@speakeasy.org), May 06, 2002.

Er, Preston, we are all in space, so to speak. We're trying to beam Phil back to terra firma.

Besides, Phil's latest postings are merely quirky, sometimes funny, and easily ignored if you still find them as annoying as the earlier rants.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), May 06, 2002.

Stages of Basic Intelligence:

Idiot = Birth to 2 years Imbecile = 2-8 years Moron = 8-12 years

Phil flits from stage to stage. It's always interesting to guess which one he'll occupy on his next post < very big grin>.

-- George C. Berger (gberger@his.com), May 06, 2002.

Hello Tony: I just received a particularly offensive private e-mail from our little friend. It is too repulsive to even cut and paste. I warned him NEVER to e-mail me again. I think we have two options: one, we can just "beam" Phil out of our forum by either ignoring him or having Tony yank his threads as soon as they are posted or two, we should all complain to his ISP. He is an annoynace but a sick one.

-- Albert Knapp MD (albertknappmd@mac.com), May 06, 2002.

IMHO most of the time Phil brings some sanity and humor to otherwise fairly DEEEP & STUPID threads. If you don't like it ignore it.

-- sait (akkirman@clear.net.nz), May 06, 2002.

Albert (and Tony also) - yeah, my emails from Phil were pretty offensive too. I think I cured the problem when I a)blocked his email address from my server (quite easy to do), and b) told him that if Manxnet didn't do anything I was sure the police in his area would when I sent him copies of all his email postings which I have filed, along with his IP numbers.

-- Bob Todrick (bobttodrick@yahoo.com), May 06, 2002.

I do not like most of what this "phil" poster posts, but I like even less the lynching mobs. Internet fora have always been hide and seek games: one is allowed through the media itself to post anonymously or under a fake ID. This is play. This is not professional life. Being (a little) rude or crazy is part of the game. If you want a private club and tight access control, use other media !

Publishing to the community the hidden ID elements (IP addresses) allowing zeroing in on one real world individual, and then encouraging mobbing of same individual, is not my idea of deontological group management. If the owners of this list want a defined poster out of the group, they should organise that exclusion through their own software management and access control tools, not through lynching.

-- Jacques (jacquesbalthazar@hotmail.com), May 06, 2002.

Maybe if you emailed the Prez he could nuke the Isle of Man. It would just be a stopover on the way to some other small defenseless country.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), May 07, 2002.

Yeh, come and nuke us? We have most of your money here so I don't think that is ever going to happen.

-- Philled with cash (philkneen@manx.net), May 07, 2002.

Bob: my apologies, didn't realize you'd gotten him to'fess up........

-- david kelly (dmkedit@aol.com), May 07, 2002.

Yes well, I was so frightened by Bobs email that I actually pissed in my pants.......'fessed up!!!! To what for gods sake!!????

You lot seem to forget that I have a pile of abusive, offensive and down right obnoxious emails and post from this site (including Bob telling everyone to phone me then posting my private phonenumber under my false name, you havn't got a leg to stand on!!!!)

-- Philled with fear (philkneen@manx.net), May 07, 2002.