Is it possible to pinpoint my exact address and identity from an IP address?

I want to upload and test this website that might violate some intellectual properties and I don't want to get sued and all. So before testing it, I want to know if companies or even governments can pinpoint my exact identity and location from my computer's IP address. Is it possible for them to know these things if I upload the stuff from my home computer? Thanks a lot.

Public Comments

1. I know you can find out someones rough address from an IP address..
2. Your exact location can't be pinpointed from your IP address alone - all that leads to is your internet service provider, which may or may not be in the same town/city. At best all it gives is a vague location whose accuracy cannot be guaranteed. However, if you are using that IP address to violate intellectual property rights, the owner of those rights is perfectly entitled to subpoena your ISP or your web host for your details so that legal action can be taken against you.
3. As far as finding out who you are based solely on your IP address, they can get a vague location of where you are located. Most of the time Traces end at the point where your ISP actually connects to the internet. But....most companies keep logs of who uploads what on their servers. A court order can release your identity from your ISP. And since they have your IP address which was probably logged when you uploaded your files, it is a fairly simple process to find who your ISP is.
4. The IP address alone is not enough to provide your exact location only the location of your ISP (which may or may not be in the same city/state or country as an example AOL registers most of their IP's to a location in the US even addresses issued to customers in Europe). However one can preform a whois on the IP address and this will reveal the identity and contact details for your ISP, if the party requiring the information has a valid legal claim on you then they are entitled to get a court order which will force your ISP to disclose the subscribers name and contact information (including the billing address on file for the account) which they can then use to file a civil suit, or even criminal charges (depending of course on what law you violate). The same can also apply to the hosting provider which hosts the website for you, they can be forced to reveal information on who the account subscriber is their contact information along with server logs showing who uploaded (or downloaded) what information and when which can then be used to get orders on ISP's for more information. Having said all that more often than not these days where Intellectual Property violations are found on websites the rights holders usually simply issue a takedown notice at least initially to either the registered contact for the domain name (possibly you if you have one) or the registered contact for the IP address of the server (usually your webhost). However if the notice is sent to the webhost expect your entire site to be taken offline without notice this is generally a clause in your agreement that you will not host legally restricted materials.