well, i know a lot of you guys live in fantasy video game message board land, but let me break it down for you reality-style
say a dyack or some other figure on that level sees something on gaf they feel they can spark a lawsuit with, like a mod or admin posting an ip address (or whatever really), and decides to pursue it for as long as the courts will allow
who would win such a case? who's in the right? doesn't matter. i doubt even with donations the owner of gaf could afford to keep paying for a lawyer as long as someone like a dyack, someone with a burning grudge and a blank check
and if they can't afford to keep paying a lawyer, they can't afford to keep paying for hosting
not to mention a hosting company just not wanting to even deal with the hassle of being dragged into a stupid court case, in which case they'd handle it by just dropping the problem forum's service altogether
i've been posting on the internet for a long time, and i've seen forums disappear over a single complaint or threat towards the hosting service, whether the complaint was valid or not
it would probably be best to refrain from doing things like posting addresses or private messages if you're a mod or admin to avoid the appearance of impropriety, but i know that's not going to happen because internet serious business lulz and all that
still, all the eyeroll icons and meme gifs in the world won't mean shit when someone with money and a single-minded obsession comes after you