you can fool it.....

You can also use an anonymous proxy. Then the IP that the web site see's is that of the proxy server. There are tons of sneaky things that people use.

The only IP that anyone sees from me, is that of the NAT. Every system behind my NAT looks the same to the outside network. This is true both at home and at work.

But again, what difference does it make if someone knows your IP? If you take the steps that you should, to protect your system, it shouldn't matter.

I get the distinct image of a certain individual reading this thread and spinning around in abject apoplexy, gasping for breath and turning red.

Being an adult I will resist the urge to smile.......[I am trying, really]....

Essencay rushes to find a dictionary....looks up apoplexy....most excellent word

Rocky Nimda does know how to pronounce apoplexy, but like Essencay, I need to find out the meaning...

I am having a hard time not smiling even if I don't know what apoplexy means yet.

Hey, That's my ISP ...are you stalking me, Rocky? http://olypen.com/

I see DavidK reading this post and turning livid red because he distinctly told everyone to not start such threads only 4 or 5 days ago

But yeah, there is that visage of one grabbing ones chest and reaching for the sky with the other hand while screaming in an upward direction "Ethel! I coming Ethel!!"

Considering your IP Address is the means with which all ethernet packets are tagged so communications are routed correctly, not having your ip address known on the net would tend to be a pretty boring time.

Known unless your coming through secure tunnel, firewall/gateway/router or spoofing...

apoplexy n. to cripple by a stroke

loss of movement, feeling, stroke, heart failure

Thanks Essencay, you saved me the trouble.

hmmmm, well I guess prOn.com has a bunch of users with some serious heart conditions!

Anyone who IS paranoid enough to worry about people knowing their IP could investigate the use of anonymous proxies, and software like JAP which can bounce each packet off a different proxy, thus making tracking traffic to/from a site very difficult. Or, you could go further and use something like Stealthier http://www.photono-software.de/Stealther/main.php3?language=eng&reseller=

Yes, people can still track you if they REALLY wanted to, and if they have the time and skills, but it can certainly make things pretty tricky.

And, if you wanted to obfuscate which browser you're using, try Proximotron, which can filter all packets to/from HTTP sources and change the header info such that the site can be fooled into thinking your using any browser you like - even non-existent ones.

Cookies can be stopped/controlled using the tools in IE or again using the Proxomotron to "spoof" cookies if sites refuse to work without them...

And you thought tracking people on the net was simple?

Oops...I missed page 2 where people had already mentioned proxies...never mind...

Yes, your IP is your return address on the internet so that the websites you visit can actually send you content.

And not all anonymous proxies are really anonymous.

Anyway, some people do freak out when they see such things but if you want to show what info websites can see when you visit them this is a better example: http://www.gemal.dk/browserspy/