> I've been constantly networked since '76. I'm a former system
> programmer. I know the difference between static and dynamic IP
> addresses and I also know all about DHCP leases. Dick's cable modem has
> a static IP address that hasn't changed since last year. You can easily
> check that claim for yourself. When I see the same IP address appear in
> another person's post, I don't have to think too hard about what's going
> on. Dick quibbles with my claim that it's Mindspring since he's an
> Earthlink customer and "Audrey" claims to be a Mindspring customer in
> Atlanta. (Earthlink bought Mindspring 5-6 years ago and never bothered
> to change the DNS records.) Whois searching on 24.148.225.120 will show
> you that the IP block is owned by Earthlink and geolocation will show
> that it's near Raleigh, NC which is where Dick lives.

It's no surprise the IP assignments didn't change - a simple change in
ownership doesn't necessitate that all IPs be relinquished and renewed.
It is a cost-prohibitive procedure to arbitrarily reassign blocks for
any reason -- I take this from personal experience as we just migrated
some 250 domains grouped under 50 different IPs to a new block earlier
this year (my daytime job as owner of an Oregon hosting company).

My prior note about AOL - sorry for any confusion, as I realized the
first half of the sentence was accidentally deleted before I posted -
is that AOL's IPs for years have gone through their primary core
routers in MacLean, Virginia. I know, as well as you do, that AOL has a
global audience. And yet, if you check traffic logs, for ages and ages,
*all* AOL traffic could be traced back to a few select core routers in
MacLean.

Whatever the case... any huge national ISP is going to have their own
means as to how they designate subscribers to this or that IP block, be
it permanent or statick -- or in the case of AOL and Earthlink, whether
a large group of subscribers flow through a single group of
firewalls/routers --- and hence, all members therein can be traced back
to the same core routers (so they all share the same IP) but not any
further.

It's starting to be a bit McCarthyistic here, don't you think? -- that
now suspicion is falling upon long-time members? Come on, Mark -- let's
move on and get back to the real reason we're here -- drinking great
wines -- and not hash over details that can ensue when we've all had a
bit *too* much of those same great wines, and then chosen to email.

Cheers,

David