1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE NORTHERN DIVISION, AT KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 United States of America, Government, Vs. David C. Kernell, Defendant, 9 10 11 : : : : : CR : 3-08-142 : : : Transcript of Chris Poole before the Honorable Thomas W. Phillips on April 22, 2010. 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 APPEARANCES: ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT: D. Gregory Weddle Mark Krotoski Assistants U.S. Attorney ON BEHALF OF THE DEFENDANT: Wade V. Davies Ann E. Passino Attorneys at Law Jolene Owen, R.P.R. 800 Market Street, Suite 131 P.O. Box 2201 Knoxville, Tennessee, 37901 (865) 384-6585 1 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 THE COURT: 2 MR. WEDDLE: 3 4 7 8 9 11:10:22 10 11 12 was first duly sworn and testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. KROTOSKI: Q. Good morning. Can you please state and spell your full name for the record. A. Christopher Poole, C-h-r-i-s-t-o-p-h-e-r P-o-o-l-e. Q. And it's important that everyone hear you. A. I am sorry. 14 Q. Are you associated with the Internet site known as 4chan.org? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Who is the founder of that site? 18 A. I am. 19 Q. Approximately when was it founded? 20 A. October 1st, 2003. 21 Q. And what is your role with that site? 22 A. I am the founder and administrator. 23 Q. Can you tell the jury, are you also known by 24 25 If you can move the microphone a little bit closer to you. 13 15 11:10:44 Chris Poole. CHRIS POOLE 5 6 Your next witness, Mr. Weddle. other names on the site? A. Yes, my moniker is Moot, M-o-o-t. 2 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 Q. 2 you by e-mail, what is one of the e-mails they might do 3 that? 4 A. moot@4chan.org. 5 Q. Please tell the jury what is 4chan.org? 6 A. 4chan is a forum. it's just kind of a forum that the primary focus is the 8 posting of images. Q. So you say an image forum. Is there a 10 requirement that participants, when they submit an 11 original post, include an image? 12 13 A. Yes, all threads, all new threads require an image to be posted. 14 THE COURT: Mr. Poole, you need to move a 15 little closer to the microphone so the jurors can hear 16 your testimony. 17 BY MR. KROTOSKI: 18 Q. Is there a fee charged for users of the 4chan 20 A. No. 21 Q. Does 4chan have advertisements? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. And are they on nearly every page? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Is 4chan considered a popular site? 19 11:12:00 It's an image board, so 7 9 11:11:34 And if a user of your site wanted to contact site? 3 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. And can you describe that briefly, please. 3 What sort of matrix or measurements suggest that it 4 might be a popular site? 5 11:12:36 As of now in the past 30 days the site 6 received approximately hits from nine and a half million 7 unique visitors. 8 Q. And that is during a 30 day cycle? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. And for visitor users of the 4chan site, are 11 12 13 14 15 there certain rules that must be followed? A. Yes, there is a codified set of rules on the rule page. Q. And is there a page known as the /b/ board or Random /b/ board? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. And sometimes it is said that there is very 18 11:13:02 A. little rules on the /b/ board? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. However, do certain rules apply? 21 A. Yes, there is a note that all /b/ global or a 22 23 24 25 handful of /b/ global rules apply to the /b/ board. Q. And what is the first rule for the /b/ board and all boards? A. Do not post any material that violates local 4 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 2 3 Now, are there moderators that assist the 4chan site? A. Yes. 5 Q. What is their role? 6 A. Moderators are tasked with the deletion of 7 rule infringing content and banishment of users who 8 break these rules. 10 11 12 13 11:14:16 Q. 4 9 11:13:44 or United States law. Q. And what ability do the moderators have to remove content from the site? A. They can delete it. They can delete offending posts and they can block users from using the website. Q. In front of you in one of the books there, if 14 you can please turn to what has been marked as 15 Government Exhibit 125. 16 marked Government Exhibit 125? Do you recognize that exhibit 17 (Exhibit No. G-125 was marked for 18 identification.) 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Does it fairly and accurately show some of the 21 pages of the 4chan site, as they were used in September 22 of 2008? 23 24 25 A. Yes. MR. KROTOSKI: The government moves into evidence Government Exhibit 125. 5 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 THE COURT: 2 (Exhibit No. 3 in evidence.) 4 5 11:14:52 G-125 was received BY MR. KROTOSKI: Q. I would like to see if we can display that on 6 the terminal next to you. 7 depicted here, 4chan, is this the home page? Now, this page that is 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. And can you describe the various sections of 10 the page, and if you would like you can circle it on the 11 screen or designate which portion you are talking about. 12 A. The top of the page has an introduction that 13 displays the first time when you visit the page. 14 that are the links to the individual boards. 15 bottom area is all dynamic content. 16 the page, it will show you recent images and recent 17 posts that have been made. 18 navigation for other pages contained on www.4chan.org. 19 11:15:40 It will be received. Q. Pretty good. 20 where the boards are. 21 Random /b/ board? Under This When you refresh At the bottom there is You indicated this portion is Within that portion, where is the 22 A. It's under the misc.(18+) right there. 23 Q. And so the portion that you have underlined 24 25 says "Random"? A. I believe so. It's kind of small. 6 It's where April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 it should be. 2 Q. 3 A. Yes. 5 Q. Thank you. 7 Turning to the next slide. Can you describe what that page is and what its purpose is? A. That is what the boards look like. The top 8 area is what you see, you know, in your browser when you 9 load the page. This is the submission box to create a 10 new thread. 11 select a file. 12 is what a post looks like, or a thread, rather. 13 a thread with two replies. 14 there are links to the other boards and a page switcher 15 and a box where you can delete your posts. 16 17 11:17:02 that where it would be? 4 6 11:16:24 Based on your familiarity with the site, is Q. That's where you would input the fields and Okay. Below that is, this is where the, this This is In the footer area here And then the next slide is a portion of the previous slide, is that correct? 18 A. Yes, correct. 19 Q. Is this where a poster on the 4chan site might 20 submit their posts? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. Can you explain how this submission box works 23 and how anyone may post an image and other material to 24 the 4chan site? 25 A. The first field that you can enter is the name 7 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 field. 2 that is actually required here to post is the file 3 field. 4 Otherwise, you can just populate the fields you choose 5 to. 6 the site. 7 8 10 If the user did not put in a name in the name A. If you do not enter a name into the name field, it displays as anonymous. Q. Are many of the posts on the 4chan site using that default option as anonymous? 13 A. Yes. 14 Q. Is there anything stopping any user from using 15 a nickname for their real name? 16 A. No, you can enter anything you like into that 18 Q. Whose election is it? 19 A. The user's. 20 Q. And since the image board requires an original 17 11:18:08 You have to select an image to upload. field, what is the default option? 11 12 The only field You can click "Submit" and that would then go on Q. 9 11:17:46 A name is not required to post. box. 21 post with an image, where would that image be uploaded 22 in this diagram? 23 A. The file box right there (indicating). 24 Q. How does that work? 25 Briefly explain, if a user is at their laptop and they go to his file button, 8 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 what is the mechanics and how do they get that image to 2 the 4chan site. 3 That would bring up a file browser on your computer. 5 would select the image file. 6 location of that file would be populated right here. 7 Then you would go ahead and click the "Submit" button. 9 Q. You You would hit "Ok" and the Now, as the user connects to their own computer and selects an image that is going to be 10 uploaded, what is the naming convention to enter this 11 file field? 12 how does that work? 13 11:19:32 You would click the "Browse" button. 4 8 11:19:10 A. A. Does it adopt the name from the computer or The name that would be displayed in this field 14 would be the original file name. When it's uploaded to 15 the site, it's renamed and it's renamed using a Unix 16 time stamp. 17 Q. Is that a sequence of numbers? 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. Turning to the next page. This is from the 20 slide two slides ago, a larger example. 21 what is depicted here? 22 A. Can you explain This is what a thread would look like on the 23 boards page. You have got, this line contains the name 24 right here, the anonymous, the date and the time as well 25 as the number of the post. The numbers are all 9 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 sequential. 2 post is made. 3 thread. 4 this is the first post and these are all replies. 5 6 11:20:22 These would be replies here to this This entire thing is a thread. This thing is, What requirement is there for the replies to have an image? 7 A. An image is not required for replies. 8 Q. Only for the original post? 9 A. Correct. 10 Q. And in this portion would be the image? 11 A. That's the image for the original post. 12 That is the thread's image. 13 Q. Great. 14 A. That is the Unix number assigned to every post 15 on the site. What is that number? Again it auto increments. 16 Q. Would that be the thread number? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. And so a particular thread can go on for how A. It depends based on the popularity of the 19 11:20:50 Q. They auto increment plus one every time a 20 long? 21 board, but generally speaking, you know, from minutes to 22 hours to a few days at maximum. 23 Q. And if it went on for hours, all of those 24 replies and communications would be grouped under one 25 umbrella, that one thread number? 10 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 2 3 4 11:21:38 Correct. If these replies were made to that thread, then, yes. Q. Now, you mentioned popularity. How popular is the Random /b/ board? 5 A. It is the most popular board on the site. 6 Q. Now, is there a limit to the number of posts 7 that can be displayed under a particular thread for 8 someone viewing 4chan? 9 A. No. 10 Q. Is there a limit in terms of -- what happens 11 to the posts, if you have a hundred posts and then 160 12 posts and 161 posts. 13 everyone who visits 4chan, or what happens to those 14 posts? 15 16 11:22:10 A. A. Do they remain viewable for The posts are, you know, remain in the thread until the thread is pruned. 17 Q. Pruned by whom? 18 A. Automatically by the board software. 19 Q. And then how would the board automatically 20 21 prune the thread? A. Yeah. Does it have a capacity limit? Every board has a maximum number of 22 threads, say a hundred. Every time a new thread is 23 posted, something has to be removed. 24 the threads are cycled off and then pruned that way. 25 It's time based and on some of the boards it's 11 Eventually all of April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 popularity based. 2 gets bumped off. 3 off. 4 5 When the thread has been bumped off or removed, does 4chan keep copies of these threads? A. No, we do not. 7 Q. Is there a certain language that is commonly used for users of 4chan? 9 A. In what sense? 10 Q. Certain terms, have a meaning unique to 4chan? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Like "OP," what is "OP"? 13 A. OP means original poster. 14 Q. Are you familiar these terms, having been the 15 founder and administrator of the 4chan site? 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. What would "lurker" mean? 18 A. Somebody who browses but does not post, does 19 11:23:22 Inactive threads basically get bumped 6 8 11:22:56 Q. The oldest least replied to thread not contribute. 20 Q. What do the words "caps" mean? 21 A. Screenshots. 22 Q. And is there any significance to "new fags"? 23 A. That is the term used to describe new users to 24 25 the site. Q. What about "b tard"? 12 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 2 board use for themselves. Q. What about "troll"? 4 A. Troublemaker. 5 Q. "404"? 6 A. 404 is the status code for not found. It means essentially gone or not found. 8 Q. Not found on where, the 4chan site? 9 A. 404 is the http status code for not found, a 10 page not found by the Web server. 11 Q. In what about "peeps"? 12 A. People. 13 Q. "Rickroll"? 14 A. Rickroll is a mean or Internet kind of trend 15 that started on 4chan where users -- it basically a bait 16 and switch. 17 performing Never Gonna Give You Up. 18 19 11:24:42 It's a term that users of the /b/- Random 3 7 11:24:10 A. 20 21 22 23 Q. Users link you to a video of Rick Astley What about "white night"? Does that have a unique meaning on 4chan? A. On 4chan I am not sure. White night in general, I guess, would mean a do gooder. Q. Have you seen that word used on the 4chan boards? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. Now, you said that 4chan does not keep the 13 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 contents of these posts. 2 records of web logs, also audit logs and sometimes 3 banned entries as well, if a particular user has been 4 banned? 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. Before you is a copy of Government Exhibits 7 8 129, 130, 131 -A. I don't have anything under 131. 9 11:25:50 MR. KROTOSKI: 10 11 12 13 THE COURT: May I approach, Your Honor? You may. BY MR. KROTOSKI: Q. -- 132 and 133. Do you recognize each of those exhibits? 14 THE WITNESS: 15 (Exhibit Nos. G-129, 130, 131, 16 132, 133 were marked for 17 identification.) 18 11:26:38 Does 4chan maintain business I do. BY MR. KROTOSKI: 19 Q. Government Exhibit 129, what is that, please? 20 A. An e-mail I sent to Special Agent Scott Wenger 21 and I think it is the CD that he burned of the records I 22 sent him. 23 24 25 Q. And the e-mail, does it include the attachments for 130, 131, 132 and 133? A. Yes. 14 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 Q. That is FBI Agent Scott Wenger? 2 A. Yes, sir. 3 Q. You were responding to a law enforcement 4 5 A. Yes. 6 Q. And with regard to Government Exhibit 130, 7 8 9 11:27:26 10 11 12 13 what is that, please? A. These are the deletion records by moderators for the request that was made. Q. And then what about 131 and 133, what are those, please? A. 131 are the Web server logs and what was requested in the search warrant. 14 Q. Or 133. 15 A. I am sorry. 16 11:28:10 request for records concerning this case? And 132 -- 133 are also the Web server logs that were requested. 17 Q. And finally 132, please. 18 A. 132 are records from the banned log. 19 Q. And those records, are they created at or near 20 the time of the event that is being recorded? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. And is it the regular practice of 4chan to 23 make those records? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. And is it the regular practice of 4chan to 15 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 keep and also maintain those records? 2 3 4 5 yes. Certain records, the bans and the deletions, The access logs are pruned regularly. Q. And when you say pruned, are you saying that they are retained for a limited period? 6 A. Yes. 7 Q. And so after that passage of time they may no 8 11:28:42 A. longer be available? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. In this instance in response to a law 11 12 enforcement request were they available? A. The records that are provided here, yes. 13 14 The government moves into evidence Government Exhibits 129, 130, 131, 132, 133. 15 THE COURT: 16 (Exhibit Nos. G-129, 130, 131, 17 132, 133 were received in 18 evidence.) 19 11:29:06 MR. KROTOSKI: 20 21 They'll be received. BY MR. KROTOSKI: Q. I would like to show you what has been marked as Government Exhibit 126 in the book first, please. 22 (Exhibit No. G-126 was marked for 23 identification.) 24 Q. Do you recognize that exhibit? 25 A. Yes. It's a summary. 16 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 2 Q. 130, 131, 133? 3 A. Yes. 4 Q. And does it fairly and accurately show the 5 4chan records concerning September 16th, 17th, for 6 Internet protocol 66.253.190.21? 7 A. 8 9 11:29:48 Yes. MR. KROTOSKI: The government moves into evidence Government Exhibit 126. 10 THE COURT: 11 (Exhibit No. 12 in evidence.) 13 MR. KROTOSKI: It will be received. G-126 was received Your Honor, it's a little 14 hard to read on the PowerPoint version. 15 switch to view, please. 16 17 THE COURT: I would like to You may. BY MR. KROTOSKI: 18 11:30:34 Is that a summary based on Government Exhibits Q. All right. Now, these records, does it show 19 that this user IP address 66.253.190.21 when did this 20 user first connect to the 4chan site on September 16, 21 2008? 22 23 24 25 A. Well, these records don't show when they connected, but they do show when posts were made. Q. Thank you. When did this user first make a post on that date, according to these records, on the 17 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 2 A. 1:00:53 on September 16th. 3 Q. If you can explain the first entry. 4 5 11:31:32 What activity is recorded in the 4chan records there? A. The first column is the time. The second 6 column is the request that is made. 7 that is the, you know, the user submitted something and 8 that is the file that they submitted it through. 9 this case it's the /b/- Random board. 10 When it says "POST" In The "Referrer" shows the page they were 11 submitting from. 12 "imgboard.html" it means they were posting a new thread. 13 When it has a series of numbers before the .html, it's 14 because they were replying to a thread. In this case when it says 15 The last column is a user agent string which 16 identifies the user's Web browser and operating system 17 version. 18 11:32:02 4chan site? Q. The last column, the user agent string, does 19 that show which browser operating system and other 20 information that this particular user at that date and 21 time had on their computer? 22 A. Yes. 23 Q. Now, you mentioned that this user was 24 initiating a post. On the next line do you see this 25 thread number you referenced earlier? 18 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. What is the thread number for this initiated 4 A. 85525276. 5 Q. Now, do these records on this page and 3 11:33:02 11:33:54 post? 6 continuing to the next page show that this user was on 7 the site through 2:01:03 on September 16th, 2008? 8 A. I am sorry, can you repeat the question. 9 Q. Absolutely. Do the 4chan records show that 10 this particular user at that IP address was on the 4chan 11 site starting with this post at 1:00:53 and then 12 continuing through to about 2:01:03 on the second page? 13 A. Yes. There is an entry below that. 14 Q. Yes, there is another entry as well. During 15 that continuous period of time this user was making 16 posts and engaging in activity with 4chan? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. Turning back, please, to the first page. 19 mentioned 1:04. 20 records, continue on with this particular thread? Does this user, as reflected in these 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. If you can briefly explain what is the 23 activity that is going on with this user. 24 down through some of these entries, please. 25 A. You Just walk us The entries -- the user is responding to the 19 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 thread 85525276 from, you know, 1:04 to all of the way 2 down the page. 3 11:34:58 Now, going down the page to 1:21:47 and 4 1:21:51, what do the 4chan records show was going on at 5 that time? 6 A. I'm sorry. Can you repeat that again. 7 Q. Certainly. Directing your attention to 8 1:21:47 and 1:21:51, what do the 4chan records show this 9 user was doing on the 4chan site at this time? 10 A. A new post was made. 11 Q. Do the records show whether an image was being 12 13 11:36:04 Q. submitted with this new post? A. Well, the line after the post, the request 14 shows that the user's browser downloaded that thumbnail, 15 the 122154 number right there ending in .jpg. 16 number is the timestamp, the Unix timestamp where the 17 files are renamed to that number. 18 with the 1:21:43 which correlates with the post, the 19 entry proceeding it with the arrow pointing to it. 20 Q. That 12 Accordingly, it's So an image is referenced in this post. It 21 has an original name and 4chan renames that image, is 22 that correct? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. And what image name did 4chan assign to that 25 image reflected in this record? 20 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 A. 1221542503664s.jpg. 2 Q. What is the significance to .jpg? 3 A. .jpg is the file format for the image file. 4 Q. Turning to the second page at 1:30 and 1:31, 5 is there another image that is being posted at that 6 time? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. Is the file name that 4chan assigned to that 9 11:37:06 12215543021404s.jpg? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Similarly, at 1:34:20 and 1:34:11 do the 4chan 12 records show that an image was posted and it was 13 assigned the name 1221543251305s? 14 11:37:52 A. Yes. One thing, the "s" that trails the 15 number, but prior to the file name, see the thumb, the 16 proceeding thumb. 17 itself would be renamed that number, but without the 18 "s." Only the thumbnails get the "s" in the file path. 19 The thumbnails, the images are served out of a different 20 directory from the thumbnails. 21 same. 22 23 That's the thumb file name. The file The number would be the It wouldn't have the "s." Q. Thank you. That number, again, is assigned by the 4chan site? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. And then the same thing, another image at 1:48 21 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 and 1:47 and 1:53 and at 1:54 and 1:53 further images 2 were being uploaded and assigned those 4chan names, as 3 reflected in the records? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. Turn to the last page, please. 6 4chan records show that this user at this IP address was 7 engaged in on September 17th, 2008, at approximately 8 12:57 Eastern time? 9 11:38:52 10 11 12 A. The user posted a new thread and then responded twice to a thread. Q. Now, in this exhibit in the Referrer area, what is the significance of the number 85782652? 13 A. That's the thread number. 14 Q. And how come there is one at 12:58 and another 15 11:39:40 What do the one at 13:00 or one o'clock? 16 A. There were two separate posts made. 17 Q. All right. Showing you what has previously 18 been admitted as Government Exhibit 1, were you able to 19 make a comparison of this exhibit with those entries 20 that you just referenced? 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. So for the first time and thread number in 23 Government Exhibit 1 starting with "hello, /b/, as many 24 of you might already know" and continuing, is that 25 reflected on the 12:57:23 entry and the next one on the 22 April 22, 2010/Poole/Direct 1 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. Now, there is a slight couple of seconds 4 5 11:40:50 variance in time. A. Yeah. Can you explain that? The server that has this image board, 6 the .php file, that is the application, that server has 7 a time that is different from the database server. 8 there is -- these logs came from the Apache Web server 9 vis-à-vis the logs from the web server. So That was using 10 the time of the application server. 11 printed on I believe it's Exhibit 1, that timestamp is 12 set by the database server. 13 variance of a few seconds because the server times were 14 a few seconds out of sync. 15 16 11:41:30 summary chart? Q. What you see So there is a slight Notwithstanding that discrepancy just by a couple of seconds they are the same thread numbers? 17 A. Correct. 18 Q. Showing you the bottom portion of Government 19 Exhibit 1, were you able to make a comparison of this 20 submission on the 4chan post with the last entry on the 21 summary exhibit? 22 A. I am sorry. 23 Q. Sure. 24 25 Can you show me exhibit 1 again? It's in the book there as well, if you prefer to see it in that format. A. You are referring the post made at -- that 23 April 22, 2010/Poole/Cross 1 one, yeah, the second line on exhibit 126, the last 2 page. 3 Q. 4 at 12:58 and 13:00 Eastern time, what does the 4chan 5 record show that IP user, 66.253.190.21, was doing? 6 7 A. 9 He responded to the thread you are showing right now twice. 8 11:42:36 So the summary chart on September 17th, 2008, Q. And at 12:58:06 and 12:57, does it show who initiated that thread? 10 A. I am sorry, I don't understand the question. 11 Q. Certainly. 12 that thread starting at about 12:57? 13 A. Yes, the IP printed at the top of the page. 14 15 MR. KROTOSKI: THE COURT: 17 No further Cross-examination, Mr. Davies? CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. DAVIES: 19 11:43:26 Thank you. questions. 16 18 Do the records show who initiated Q. Mr. Poole, you founded this 4chan site back in 21 A. Yes. 22 Q. So you have been doing it for about not quite 20 23 2003? seven years? 24 A. Yes. 25 Q. How old are you? 24 April 22, 2010/Poole/Cross 11:44:14 1 A. I am 22. 2 Q. We have seen some of the information that the 3 site collects. 4 really, you don't really have any data on the ages of 5 the users of 4chan, do you? 6 A. No. 7 Q. I am going to ask you a couple of questions 8 about Government Exhibit 125 that you were shown. 9 the beginning when you sign on to 4chan it gives you a At 10 choice of a bunch of different kinds of boards to go to, 11 is that right? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. Those are boards that reflect different types 14 of interests? 15 A. Yes. 16 Q. People have like just, for example, the first 17 11:44:36 Since people post anonymously there is one is "Japanese culture." 18 A. Yes. 19 Q. And the second one is "Anime." 20 A. Anime is a Japanese animation, cartoons. 21 Q. Is that what some of the examples in this 22 What is that? exhibit represent? 23 A. Yes, this was taken from the Anime board. 24 Q. It is called Animu & Mango? 25 A. That is a misspelling, actually. 25 It's Anime & April 22, 2010/Poole/Cross 1 Mango. 2 there. 3 11:45:32 Q. And you went over this, but when you sign in 4 to post something it has the name and on /b/ most people 5 just leave that blank, right? 6 A. Correct. 7 Q. So it just pops up as anonymous? 8 A. Correct. 9 Q. Right. Isn't that one of the main I guess 10 characteristics of that /b/ Board is that most people 11 post as anonymous? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. I want to ask you just a little bit of a 14 follow-up on that term that you were asked about, 15 "lurker." 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. Now, a lurker is somebody who just kind of 18 11:46:18 That's an intentional misspelling on the board just looks at the site and doesn't actively participate? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. Is that right? So there are a bunch of people 21 I guess you can tell who view entries on 4chan, but are 22 not making posts? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. So and that is what a lurker is, somebody who 25 just checks out what is going on, but isn't one of the 26 April 22, 2010/Poole/Cross 1 11:47:00 11:48:00 people real active in putting things up on the board? 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. And the term "rickroll" you said it tries to 4 make people go to a site where they think it is going to 5 be one thing, but it is a video of Rick Astley, is that 6 right? 7 A. Yes. 8 Q. He was some kind of singer? 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. It's a joke? 11 A. Yes. 12 Q. Now, the documents that you have provided in 13 response to law enforcement requests, I think I believe 14 the date, one of the dates of the response was February 15 13th, 2009. That is exhibit 129. 16 A. Yes. 17 Q. And at that time you were able to provide a 18 good deal of information with regard to what happened on 19 your site September 16th, 17th, 2008, right? 20 A. Yes. 21 Q. As reflected in these, for example, these IP 22 23 addresses and Vtunnel proxy addresses, Exhibit 131? A. I didn't provide that IP address. 24 given to me in the search warrant. 25 you know, pulled based on that IP address. 27 That was The records were, April 22, 2010/Poole/Cross 1 11:49:08 Once you were given the IP address, you were 2 able to do a search of your files and provide the 3 government with the information that is in this exhibit? 4 A. Yes. 5 Q. And so when the postings that were obviously 6 to go through this -- to summarize, the postings that 7 were made on 4chan, you were able to provide IP 8 addresses on activity from that certain IP address, 9 right? 10 A. Yes. I mean, these records are the web server 11 logs. 12 activity from the IP address that was provided. 13 11:50:16 Q. They are not all postings, but they are just Q. Okay. And then in the government 26, if you 14 were given someone else's IP address and asked to figure 15 out what postings they made on 4chan either in this 16 thread or another at the same time, you could have gone 17 through that same exercise, right? 18 A. Yes, correct. 19 Q. One of the reasons then that I guess that 20 4chan collects IP addresses and the user activity is 21 because you do ban people from the site for violating 22 your terms, right? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. And that way you can tell from the IP 25 addresses and their activity who it is that you need to 28 April 22, 2010/Poole/Cross 1 2 A. Yes. 3 Q. And you ban them by IP address? 4 A. Yes. 5 MR. DAVIES: 6 THE COURT: 7 11:51:26 ban? No further, Your Honor. Anything further, Mr. Krotoski? 8 MR. KROTOSKI: 9 THE COURT: No further, Your Honor. May this witness be excused? 10 MR. KROTOSKI: 11 (End of witness) 12 13 14 15 Yes. I CERTIFY THAT THE FOREGOING IS AN ACCURATE TRANSCRIPT OF THE RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS IN THE ABOVE-ENTITLED MATTER, THIS THE 6th DAY OF August, 2010. S/ J . Owen JOLENE OWEN. Registered Professional Reporter 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 29