More on Internet Anonymity, or Lack Thereof

Some “anonymous” commenters using an O’Melveny & Myers IP address have registered opinions at a Houston Chronicle blog about the Skilling “Enron” trial, without disclosing any affiliation with the firm itself, which is representing Skilling as defense counsel! Sheesh. Professional ethics much? Via Orin Kerr, where commenter A. Rickey astutely observes:

It’s worth noting the commentor on Chron who suggests that the IP addresses might be spoofed. I agree with him that the idea is somewhat farfetched–that’s a lot of work to go to in order to implicate OMM–but the case against them isn’t 100%.

That said, I’ve had some pretty intemperate comments left on my blog, and their IP addresses did track back to some major law firms. That’s one reason I advise people not to blog anonymously: if you use your real name, you never suffer from any sense of false security.