I have a niave question... Why is it that people on the internet are often shy to make public the entire serial number of their guns? What is the "at risk" factor here?
To give a rather anal answer to your question, it is very possible to track an internet conversation (connection) back to a subscriber of an internet provider. Any government agency operating under the auspices of the Patriot act, such as DHS, can track a posted picture (or any web conversation) back to a gateway provider, and back to a user of the service. This is almost a trivial task and is performed daily by many different branches of law enforcement. The conversation between the user and the target web site logs a sender and a receiver. Just as an FYI, the protocol typically used for web conversations is HTTP over IP (TCP/IP) and requires the identification of both the sender and the receiver's IP address. The request(s) and respons(es) are routed directly between the two parties, not sent all over the Internet, hoping there is a receiver at either end. From a single contact between a web server and a browser, one can get the visitor's IP address, the browser type, the operating system, the page the request came from ("referrer") and a whole lot of other information. The service provider can be compelled to provide who was registered to the IP address at that time. Viola, a link is made between the posted picture with serial number to an actual persion!
Now, the question becomes, "does the average Joe who posts his picture remove the serial number because he is aware of this tactic?" Probably not. If this is something that bothers you, then consider it when you post pictures, offer opinions, or otherwise contribute. Just be aware that this isn't something that you have a whole lot of control over anyway, plus I would hate to see this site without the pictures of all the cool guns!
If you really want to get "freaked out", go to
Google maps and be sure to click on the satellite link on the top right portion of the page. You can enter a street address and actually see a satellite picture. I found my own backyard!
TW - As to your question in an earlier post, I have not heard of a registry before. But I do agree with you and others on several points that were made:
1) It could be a very valuable source of information, particularly to the afficionados of the R9.
2) I'm sure the Rohrbaugh brothers have much better/more important things to do with their time (i.e. produce R9s!)
3) Ownership should be anonymous. For sure, I wouldn't want to see "R9S, blue grips, serial number xxxx purchased by Wayne on xx/xx/xx" posted all over the place. But if I were buying another or (heaven forbid) selling one, I would like to be able to offer proof as to it's lineage.
If you speak with Eric and he indicates that there may be some way for him to provide this information, I will go ahead and throw my hat in as a volunteer. I can be PM'd for details.
