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Pat, The IP address is only unique to a given computer at a given time. When you log into the ISP you are automatically given an IP address. This is known as a dynamic IP address since it can be different everytime you log on. Once you log off, someone else can log into the same system and get your old IP address. Logging IP addresses is helpfull but it's not a fingerprint sort of thing. Your ISP is assigned a block of IP addresses that they can assign as needed. Looking at the IP address from one of these posts will eventually give you the name of the ISP but you would have to look at login records at that ISP to see who had that address at a given time. Some people are lucky enough to have a cable modem or DSL. These systems will assign an IP address that you may end up keeping for weeks at a time, but it's not a guaranteed thing. On systems like the one I'm using here at work, the IP address is fixed or "static". We are assigned a small block of IP addresses from our provider, and generally speaking these are dedicated. This is one good reason to never pull any pranks from your computer at work. The company can get pretty nasty about abuses that originate from your computer at work, and rightfully so since the company has some liability in that case. As far as the imposter goes... I don't see the humor in what they are doing. Its not particulary clever and it's being carried too far. Unfortunately if the IP address in question is dynamically assigned, blocking it won't solve the problem. Even if it's from a cable modem, its not hard to be assigned a new IP address. John
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