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[quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele][quote=Anonymous]Can you clarify what qualifies as "misuse of website"?  I am trying to get a handle on how much expectation of anonymity anyone has on the board.  If the rule of thumb is "a judgment call," and not established, identifiable circumstances, then in reality we can have no such expectation--unless, of course I misunderstand--although I suppose that holds true for most forums.[/quote]

What I believe you are misunderstanding is the disconnect between IP addresses and anonymity. An IP address does not identify a user. It may narrow it down, but it is networking information, not personally identifiable information. It is easier to define "misuse of the website" by explaining what appropriate use is. The discussion forums are meant for users to ask questions, respond to questions, and engage in general conversation. As long as you are simply doing those things, you have nothing to worry about. If you are spamming, sock puppetting, trolling, attempting to spread malware, committing libel, or committing any number of other activities that can be deemed as malicious, I may share your IP address. However, generally, I can deal with any of these things myself and don't have to share your IP address. But, there have been a small number of cases over the years when a user's behavior was such that I found it appropriate to share IP addresses with other organizations.
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Why would the misuse of conduct on this site have to do with other organizations? What's the gain on your part?
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I don't know that there is any gain on my part. It's not like I would be selling the information. But, as I said, IP addresses are networking information. DCUM is one end of the network connection and the IP address represents the other end. Investigation and/or confirmation of whatever misbehavior is at issue often requires working with those in control of the other end. BTW, the privacy policy is new, but our treatment of IP addresses has been documented in our Frequently Asked Questions document since March 2009:

[b]What is an IP address and is it private?[/b]

An Internet Protocol, or IP, address is a numerical address that shows the source of connections to a website (this is a vast over-simplification, but close enough for this discussion). Hostnames, such as "www.dcurbanmom.com", are translated to numeric IP addresses. Similarly, a numeric address can often be translated to a hostname. This "reverse translation" can reveal information concerning the source of a post, such as the poster's employer (if the poster is accessing DCUM from work), ISP, or the country in which the poster is present. DCUM Administrators reserve the right to reveal both IP addresses and details learned from them either publicly or privately in connection with abuse or misuse of the DCUM website. Abuse and misuse include, but are not limited to, trolling (posting inflammatory messages in order to elicit a response), sock puppeting (posting multiple messages as if you were a different poster in each case), spamming, and chronic rudeness.

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