Ever since the "Web" went public and stopped being DARPANET, there has been an ongoing debate over the assumption of anonymity that is implicit in the web. The structure and standards of the web promote anonymity, which as lead to an explosion of creativity, free speech, and free thought on the Net which is nearly unimaginable in the real world. The Web is where you can badmouth your employer without being fired, give an honest critique of a book or movie without fear of being personally attacked by the author, and where you can leak documents critical to public safety without fear of your identity being immediately known.
But the Web has also become a place where sex predators can stalk children without fear of being caught, where a 50-year-old man can pretend to be a teenage boy and ruin the life of a teenage girl, or where anonymous bullies can drive a teenager to suicide.
Kentucky Representative Tim Couch thinks it is time to end internet anonymity in order to bring back responsibility and protect minors. But such an action would also effectively end many of the advantages of the Web as seen in whistleblowers being free to tell us what we need to know. Is Rep. Couch right, or are we throwing out the baby with the bathwater?
Honestly, I think this would be a revealing issue to raise in the new debate in the Presidential campaign.
This really is a double edged sword for the reasons Nomad outlined. I tend to think that we'd be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but we have to admit that the bathwater has gotten pretty dirty. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I'm pretty sure that the congressman is not on the right path.
YanıtlaSilI'd like to see someone (Google?) manage a central hub for authenticated IDs. Google gathers the info and confirms it is you, then lets other sites use their username/password as your authentication mechanism. If there is no problem, the host you are on only knows you as Nomad@Google and your anonymity is preserved. But with a court order, Google can be persuaded to to release the authenticating info which shows your real name. Then, law enforcement can reach you if there is a real problem, without your boss being able to easily find you if they are trying to find out who leaked a private - but not NDA-covered - document.
YanıtlaSilCouple of problems with a central repository.
YanıtlaSil1. Been tried before and now there are multiple "single authentication systems" on the web. passport.net (Microsoft), Yahoo ID, Google ID.
2. Google (or whoever) would know where I am going. That'd be quite the marketing cash cow. Would basically put the others out of business with the government monopoly.
3. Would be a prime target for hackers with potentially big payoff.
wow, wedge, great points.
YanıtlaSil