50 yuan "crossed" to the United States! IS THE IP territory actually a door business?

Recently, Jia Yueting, who "returned to China next week", has aroused heated discussion in Beijing for his IP ownership. For a time, netizens expressed surprise: Jia Zong returned? The reporter found that behind the "IP territory" function, there are some false proxy IP territory gray production transactions.

In order to reduce malicious rumors and other bad behavior

The "IP Territory" function is online

In March this year, the Cyberspace Administration of China announced the 2022 "Qinglang" series of special action tasks, proposing to comprehensively clean up rumors and information involving political economy, cultural history and people's livelihood science, consolidate the main responsibility of website platforms, strengthen the identification of various information generated by sensitive areas and sensitive events; timely verify the information of non-authoritative sources with large impact and wide dissemination; and seriously investigate relevant responsibilities for platforms and accounts that are first launched, frequent, and seriously.

Previously, because the user's IP address was not displayed, individual black-hearted merchants would do tricks in the background to deceive the messager. Some online stores actually buy only 5-6 customers, but merchants can create an illusion to consumers by purchasing online water army, showing hundreds of people, or even thousands of people buying.

It is reported that all Internet access devices will be assigned an IP address, and each IP address has a home, that is, AN territory. Simply put, if you are in Jiangsu, any information that happens to you will show that you are in Jiangsu, not in Beijing.

But this situation has ushered in a turning point in recent days. On April 15, today's six major Internet content platforms, Toutiao, Douyin, Baijia, Kuaishou, Zhihu and Xiaohongshu, announced the "open account IP territory" at the same time on this day. Then, on April 28, Sina Weibo issued an announcement saying that in order to reduce bad behaviors such as impersonating parties to hot events, malicious rumors, and rubbing traffic, and to ensure the authenticity and transparency of the disseminated content, the site launched the "IP territory" function of users online in March this year. On the basis of the previous upgrade, the site upgraded the product and launched new features, specifically: full open comments to display the IP territorial functions, and the online personal homepage level page to display IP territorial functions. At the same time, Weibo said that the function cannot be actively turned on or off by users.

On April 29, the WeChat Coral Safety Public Account issued an announcement: In order to maintain the order of network communication and further crack down on counterfeiting and handling, rumor-mongering and rumor-mongering, the WeChat public platform will display the IP territory of users when they publish content.

WeChat will test the IP territorial function. Image source: "WeChat Coral Safety" public account.

On the morning of April 30, the official account of Zhihu issued an announcement that it was fully online to show the user's IP territory. Zhihu said that in response to the answers to some of the previous questions in the station to display and comment on the IP territory, this time will further upgrade the function of displaying IP address territoriality. Zhihu said that the IP address territorial information display problem of the "comment reply" in the comment area has been improved, and the comment area will fully display the IP address territorial information.

As a result, the online IP territorial function on many Internet platforms is seen as a response to the CAC's "clear and clear" action.

Internet celebrity bloggers "roll over": some change their names busily, and some spend money to change "IP territory"

The IP territorial function was launched, resulting in many Internet celebrity bloggers "flipping over". Related topics #显示 IP agent deformity industry explosion after IP territory # on the Weibo hot search list...

On Weibo, there are many overseas information bloggers whose IP addresses are displayed in a certain place in a certain province in China, which makes netizens call "overturning". For example, @American Obstetrician and Gynecologist, @American Ivy Spice Girl, @American Bunny Mama, their IP territories are in Shanghai, Hong Kong SAR and Jiangsu Province in the mainland. In the information filled in by the above three bloggers on Weibo, the addresses are basically "overseas" and "overseas in the United States".

After the IP ownership was made public, some network big Vs began to change their names and introductions. Real-time display of user IP territory, so that those false information, suddenly there is no soil for survival.

However, the reporter found that there are still people who try to use technical means to "disguise" the IP ownership and make profits, and related gray industries have also surfaced.

According to the Beiqing Daily, the reporter can buy such a business of changing the IP territory on a second-hand trading website.

On May 6, the Beiqing Daily reporter searched for keywords such as "IP" on a website, and immediately appeared related content, through consulting with the seller, it was found that on changing the home of domestic vibrato as an example, it takes 15 yuan to change once, but it can not be published and commented on vibrato content, and it only takes 50 yuan to publish content and comments indefinitely every month, and the price of changing the foreign IP attribution is higher.

However, on May 7, a day later, the seller had cancelled his account. Through communication, the Beiqing Daily reporter added another IP agency business WeChat, the other party said that modifying a "Sina Weibo" IP address only 13 yuan, but only Android mobile phones in the country to modify, Apple mobile phone want to modify also need to download software through foreign ID accounts to modify, the operation is more complicated, the price is higher.

On May 8, Upstream News used "modify IP address" as the keyword, using a search engine to search on an e-commerce platform, and was able to search for many modification methods.

On some e-commerce platforms and second-hand platforms, searching for keywords such as "IP territory" and "dynamic IP", the results have been blocked.

Keyword search results on a second-hand platform

Illegally changing your IP address or being held criminally responsible

In this regard, a number of lawyers said that modifying the IP territory to help others bypass network supervision has certain legal risks.

Zhu Yongping, the chief lawyer of Guangdong Datong Law Firm and president of the Lawyers Research Association of the Provincial Law Society, believes that there are legal risks in helping others modify the territory of IP for illegal purposes. If it is illegal to help others modify the territory of the IP, the service provider may constitute a joint crime. Zhu Yongping reminded that illegal IP agents are black and gray industries, and there is a risk of leaking user information such as browsing records and account passwords, and it is more likely to be used by criminals, resulting in irreparable losses.

"IP addresses belong to computer network data, protected by law, without the permission of the information network company to change the IP address without the permission of the information network company violates the provisions of article 8 of the Data Security Law, causing losses to others or network service companies, need to bear civil compensation liability in accordance with the law, the public security organs can also give public security administrative penalties in accordance with the law, if the circumstances are serious, you can even pursue criminal liability." According to the analysis of lawyer Chai Xin of Beijing Dacheng (Wuhan) Law Firm, if netizens know that the behavior of the IP agency company is illegal, know that they may infringe, damage or destroy other people's computer information systems, and deliberately purchase IP address tampering services, they are suspected of joint crimes, and if the circumstances are serious, they will be investigated for criminal liability for the crime of damaging computer information systems.

Therefore, for the majority of netizens, spending money to buy a fake IP address does not mean that personal privacy is protected, and it may also leak personal information such as browsing records, account passwords, account information, transaction information, payment information, etc., which will lay greater hidden dangers for their property security. Moreover, users who frequently change IP territories are also difficult to gain trust.

Upstream news synthesis