Is rui safe... Prove it!

anonymuss said:

everything needs ID these days, thats why i dont get when people advocate for PO boxes.

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I'm thinking USPS boxes: Valid picture ID needed. HOWEVER, the local PRIVATE rent-a-box: the picture ID with Ben Franklin works great!
SEE, there's always a way! But then again, I actually never play the surreptitious game! I live in central CA, I have an 15/20 plant grow every year on my south facing patio. Buy my seeds from the Attitude with my good ol' Visa, they always show up, as ordered and FAST.
I have always felt that surreptitious is SUSPICIOUS and to be avoided.........Wha-Whats that??? Holy Sheep Shit!!!!!! HELICOPTERS?????
UH...Buh Bye......BB

You left out the part where you go and pick up the mail.

its as safe as you make it:

1. dont use real names
2. dont take pics of your face, license plate #'s, street addresses, etc
3. don't brag about things that could catch you a felony
4. don't talk about selling, distributing, etc. we're all here for personal use (mmj people might be ok depending on their local laws)
5. don't be stupid

i've seen people who have been on here for years. obviously this site isn't a DEA farce to get people to incriminate themselves.

The reality is that anyone who has ever posted on RIU is just one subpoena away from having the IP address of their postings turned over to a law enforcement agency. Pick one. State, federal, whoever.

The real question to ask is - For how long does RIU store the logs of IP address from posts?

Has every post ever had its IP address logged? That would be bad.
Do they purge them from the postings after 24/48/72 hours?

I am not suggesting anything about the owners/moderators of RIU, I just do not know how able or willing they are to fight a subpoena from a Federal or State agency. Also it may not even involve RIU, law enforcement could just go around RIU and go to the hosting provider where the machines running this site are physically located. Not sure, but after a brief investigation it appears there may be a link between the hosting provider and this site. Its not entirely clear.

The scenario would be:
1) Subpoena is served on either RIU or to southeastweb.com (this appears to be where this site is hosted) asking for all records and logs pertaining to user "BigGiantDopeGrower". If served to SouthEastWeb, they show up with warrants and subpoena and physically take the box/drives RIU is hosted on and leave.
2) They look in the logs and find the IP address(es) associated with "BigGiantDopeGrower"
3) They determine who supplies that IP space. This is done online in a matter of minutes.
4) They contact that provider and with warrant and subpoena get the name/billing address/payment method for that account. This is done over the phone, again, in a matter of minutes.
5) They go to that physical address looking for "BigGiantDopeGrower", or check CC/bank records for the payment info of the card holder.

So, if you post pictures of a grow op that is in your house, from a computer that is in the same house.....you are most definitely putting yourself at risk and if desired, law enforcement could do steps 2-4 from their desk with a phone in about an hour, most certainly within 24 hours and determine where the address is that you are posting from.

Suggestion -
1) Do not post photos/grow journals of your grow op from a computer in the same location as your grow op. Ever. Put the photos on USB drive, go to a common usage internet cafe and post from there, preferably a very high traffic terminal where there are lots and lots of people using it every day that does not require any kind of identifying credentials to log in. And one without cameras there or photo ID required to use a machine. A lot of other issues with this admittedly, but you are not leaving the IP address of your grow op in every post. A second laptop that you take to an internet cafe and use their wifi and never connect to RIU at home with is another option. Anything where the IP of your posts is not coming from the place where you grow.
2) Just don't post photos or do a grow journal.
3) Only post if you are a legal provider and are very confident in your ability to defend your grow in court if it came down to it, and you are willing and able to do that financially and legally.

I worked for a major tier 1 internet service that provided services (hosting,email, etc) and we received multiple subpoenas daily. We had a dedicated fax machine for them and a person whose full time job it was to file the paperwork and then go retrieve the records that were being asked for by whatever agency was asking for them and it was all of them, local sherriffs from around the US, FBI, DEA, Homeland Security, we got them from all of them. Believe me, law enforcement even at the local level does this kind of stuff every single day, everywhere in the US. Its 2010, they know how to do this.

So the worst thing you could possible be doing on a risk scale is -
1) Be living in the US
2) Grow in a non-medical state or not be licensed to grow in a medical state
3) Grow at your billing address
3) Post photos and journals from a computer that is located at that same billing address

I agree that the likely hood of a small personal use grower EVER being tracked down this way is slim, the amount of effort (even though it is really simple) for someone growing 3-4 plants would be hardly worth it. But...if you have a 5000W grow room and are cranking out lbs a month....but then, if you do that, you already know this stuff and are being safe anyway.

Just some thoughts.

Thank you magic...

Im not really worried about the PO boxes or the pics of face... All that stuff... DONE!

Only worry I have is this mystical information bank the feds have that earmarks me everytime i type WEED in my computer...

Yeah i know... Im crazy... no i just have such a lack of information about how computers work...

I used to work for the District Attorney's office as a software engineer. I got to see a lot of stuff and data in the system that was sensitive...

What I can tell you is: if you are a dumbass, you will get busted.

Me thinks you are one since you posted this question, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt...maybe.

Posting pics of weed will probably be the least of your worries when they access your financial records. They will see every transaction you've ever done. If you are growing weed, selling it and then get busted and they can and will try to link things you've posted online to you. When I say link, I don't mean an IP, but more like an artifact or picture of you. Anything that would show a link you to the photos. It's called building a case with evidence.

A case could always be made that you were just lying and they were photos from a friend; however, if there's a picture that clearly identifies you and your property and you don't have the proper security settings...enjoy the can dumbass.

me thinks you are being a little harsh... thanks for the good stuf though

Marlowe said:

me thinks you are being a little harsh... thanks for the good stuf though

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Don't think of it as being harsh, think of it as straight, no chaser.

Peace bro...may the grow be with you.

Okay... any info on computer privacy settings would be helpful...

Theres alot of shit im great at... you should join me in my journal...

this computer stuff is just new to me...

northeastern lights said:

You left out the part where you go and pick up the mail.

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Oh yeah..........The licensed Caregiver picks that up for me. See, she's got this "215" ticket that allows her to posses "Medical Cannabis Seeds". And that's the end of the chain for any law enforcement that might be having such an incredibly slow day, that they would go to these lengths to bring down the "MASTERMIND" that dared to import $20 worth of seeds from London!
Actually, if my seeds had been intercepted by Home Land Security/Customs, I would receive my package, with contraband removed, and a nasty little note telling me, "You've been warned! Don't do this AGAIN!". In my world, this is just a little bump in the road.
Here's 2 rules I like: 1. Don't sweat the small shit! 2. EVERYTHING is small shit!
So everyone have a great day.....BB

so, even with the patriot act here to stay, your saying they STILL need to have a picture of you physically plating weed? doesnt sound right when they can literally bust u for anything with no warrants or real evidence. Seems static IP activity would be more than enough.

anonymuss said:

so, even with the patriot act here to stay, your saying they STILL need to have a picture of you physically plating weed? doesnt sound right when they can literally bust u for anything with no warrants or real evidence. Seems static IP activity would be more than enough.

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If by "static IP activity" you mean viewing the content of a "growing forum", or seed banks, then I would disagree. This is protected by the US constitution.........BB

If it were me and I wanted to posts pics and other self-incriminating material, I'd prolly setup a proxy if I were a dealer. If it's just personal, which is my situation, then I'm all about saying fuck you to the feds and I'll gladly use my IP. Here in Texas, where I live, they just passed a law a couple of years ago that say you have 2 ounces, they don't have to arrest you. They can just ticket you (it might less, but 2 ounces was just an example). So I don't feel like busting people for growing personal stashes is a priority with the law enforcement here. Dealers, are a different story.

Now, if I were on probation, or parole, then I might think twice. Or even if I had issues with CPS...because those people have the power to nail your ass to the wall. I would for sure use a proxy.

I'd search sourceforge.net for proxy software that would suit your needs:

http://sourceforge.net/search/?type_of_search=soft&words=proxy (I just did a search on the key word proxy).

I also recommend using sourceforge.net for any open source software needs. It's a badass site.

Law Enforcement likes low hanging fruit. Be careful is all.
I grow for my own use only.

this gets discussed in various forms from time to time
lets think this though a bit, who do you think is watching the site, DEA?
not an irrational fear, but from what i've seen of DEA busts, unless you're at 100+ plants, you're not worth their trouble
so the next step down is state and local LE
again, they have better things to do than scope out a pot head site which may or may not have anyone from their jurisdiction
unless you start advertising your name and address, which would probably be bogus anyways
like most others have observed here, no smell, no tell, no sell, and you're pretty safe

growone said:

this gets discussed in various forms from time to time
lets think this though a bit, who do you think is watching the site, DEA?
not an irrational fear, but from what i've seen of DEA busts, unless you're at 100+ plants, you're not worth their trouble
so the next step down is state and local LE
again, they have better things to do than scope out a pot head site which may or may not have anyone from their jurisdiction
unless you start advertising your name and address, which would probably be bogus anyways
like most others have observed here, no smell, no tell, no sell, and you're pretty safe

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Hey growone, right on the money and well said, thank you. Most likely, in some parts of the USA, one must still be very stealthy in their cannabis quests. Small towns with beer-bellied cops that swill 3/4 six packs daily and rant about the "fucking lazy assed potheads"; would not be a great area to start a grow.
I'm in a mobile home park in CA. Been growing on my patio for 6 years now. Cursed with a "neighbor from hell" who always smells my grow and calls the cops. At least 7 times that I know of in the last 4 years. So far, nothing, zip, nada. They obviously have better use for the hour or more of an officers time, that would be wasted on something so NOTHING. At least thats the mindset in my community.
Good luck & good grow.......BB

Unfortunately, all activity on a computer CAN be traced. It is very rare they will trace it. And if theres all these people on here, not getting busted what makes you think you will? Paranoid son?

i think all smokers get the paranoia and rightly so! unless you are being so blatant and obvious they really dont have the bandwitdth to go after every little grow op. a new policeman on the beat or one of those community officers are likely to be a bigger pain in your arse then the DEA, FBI yadda yadda yadda as quite simply they have far bigger fish to fry and not enough time to chase all the small leads with all the red tape and paper work they have to do their end....
no doubt there is analysts mining data on this site for the DEA, that im very sure of, but reality is there must be 10K active growers on here, there is just no way they can chase them all, so profiling is what they will do. If you stick up photos of a 50 - 100 + plant room expect your handle to be followed with interest by the analysts.

the folks who were saying about PO box and it being a bit of a moot point. i have personally opened one " in a friends name with their ID" . The place i selected gave you 24 / 7 access. getting mail in the late hours meant i didnt have to see anyone and could be very vigilant about my surroundings. if you collected mail during the day you had to walk into a shop that had CCTV cameras. after hours, the main shop was sealed off but you could still access the PO boxes with a key to the outer door and presto, you picked up mail without having to face anyone or be on CCTV that was in the shop. it seemed pretty fullproof from where i was sat. im not using it anymore but the shop still has the same PO boxes and operates the same way so i know its possible

edit: one of the things i think RIU should do is allow people to edit their posts long after they have been made. i know RIU want to protect the data on their site as if everyone deletes everything it removes good info that brings more users - more advertisers and therefore more money....but i still think we should be allowed indefinate ability to edit and delete posts made for our own safety

phyzix said:

If you are paranoid, get a PO box and only buy things online with prepaid cards that you bought with cash. Have your items delivered to the PO box.

Nearly completely anonymous.

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word, put that shit in your girls name. have her pick up the mail

thanks schmoker... right...

...kbroaster... now your speaking my language... I needed someone to tell me about not posting from home and proxy software...