Posted by: JAMJTX
... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal
Posted by: Kimo2007
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/10/08 01:35 PM
Umm Big Brother wants your name and address so he can monitor you and track you down.
Isn't our personal info over exposed as it is? Internet bullying seems like a flimsy excuse to surrender privacy, yet again.
Isn't our personal info over exposed as it is? Internet bullying seems like a flimsy excuse to surrender privacy, yet again.
Posted by: Cord
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/10/08 03:35 PM
You know, even if this bill was passed, it has no jurisdiction outside of the US, so the world wide web would be largely unchanged.
Anyway, for every razwell, there is a me, who values his privacy for non trollish reasons.
This bill is the equivalent of making everyone in a bar wear big badges with their name and address on them, just in case they offend someone else in the public place and they want to take action.
Anyway, for every razwell, there is a me, who values his privacy for non trollish reasons.
This bill is the equivalent of making everyone in a bar wear big badges with their name and address on them, just in case they offend someone else in the public place and they want to take action.
Posted by: fileboy2002
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/10/08 04:35 PM
I agree making anonymous posting illegal is a bad idea. However, I hope it becomes the policy on many, many more sites in the future. There are some legitimate reasons for posting anonymously; registering political dissent under authoritarian governments comes to mind.
However, let's face it: for the most part, anonymous posting is a curse. It has done more to debase the quality of internet discourse than anything else I can think of. I have seen interesting sites destroyed in weeks by flame wars. I saw one site devoted to immigration issues hijacked by screeching xenophobes who eventualy drove everyone else away. The quality of too much discussion on the net is on a level with talk radio, and for the same reason. Every ticked-off, self-rigtious, loudmouth ignoramous on planet earth can spew venom without taking any responsibility of authorship.
However, let's face it: for the most part, anonymous posting is a curse. It has done more to debase the quality of internet discourse than anything else I can think of. I have seen interesting sites destroyed in weeks by flame wars. I saw one site devoted to immigration issues hijacked by screeching xenophobes who eventualy drove everyone else away. The quality of too much discussion on the net is on a level with talk radio, and for the same reason. Every ticked-off, self-rigtious, loudmouth ignoramous on planet earth can spew venom without taking any responsibility of authorship.
Posted by: cxt
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/10/08 05:03 PM
fileboy
Good point!
The only problem I see is that the such people really don't care whom knows who they are and what they think.
Such idiots take considrable pride in being "screehing xenophobes".....mores the pity.
Good point!
The only problem I see is that the such people really don't care whom knows who they are and what they think.
Such idiots take considrable pride in being "screehing xenophobes".....mores the pity.
Posted by: Kimo2007
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/10/08 05:07 PM
Quote:
The quality of too much discussion on the net is on a level with talk radio
While I agree with your post, this is a case where the cure can be worse then the disease. This is a case where the internet community needs to self regulate.
This website is a great example of how people can maintain their privacy and the integrity of the forum remains intact.
Many forums out there do not have the community self policing or the sites moderating out the trolls.
Bottom line, I think the internet community will evolve on it's own without any goverment action. AND we should be quite concerned whenever any goverment body decides to get involved. I'd rather fight trolls myself, then get Big Brother in here to do it for me.
Posted by: Leo_E_49
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/10/08 05:16 PM
Quote:
I agree making anonymous posting illegal is a bad
idea.
...
The quality of too much discussion on the net is on a level with talk radio, and for the same reason. Every ticked-off, self-rigtious, loudmouth ignoramous on planet earth can spew venom without taking any responsibility of authorship.
I'd argue that this is still not a good enough reason to make it illegal.
In any case, banning anonymous internet use would result in an increase in the risks of identity theft. The only people who would remain anonymous would be hackers who would use other peoples' online identities to do their dirty work.
There is no such thing as complete surveillance of a population, only surveillance of the majority. Any hacker will tell you that no system is invulnerable. In this case, the various delinquents the system is designed to restrict will be the only people who escape its reach.
Posted by: grumbleweed
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/10/08 05:42 PM
<<Kentucky Representative Tim Couch filed a bill this week to make anonymous posting online illegal.>>
does kentucky actually have the internet
does kentucky actually have the internet
Posted by: ThomsonsPier
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/11/08 08:18 AM
Good luck with that, say I. Even if it does pass, which I doubt, it will be virtually unenforceable.
Posted by: Cord
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/11/08 10:05 AM
Quote:
I agree making anonymous posting illegal is a bad idea. However, I hope it becomes the policy on many, many more sites in the future. There are some legitimate reasons for posting anonymously; registering political dissent under authoritarian governments comes to mind.
However, let's face it: for the most part, anonymous posting is a curse. It has done more to debase the quality of internet discourse than anything else I can think of. I have seen interesting sites destroyed in weeks by flame wars. I saw one site devoted to immigration issues hijacked by screeching xenophobes who eventualy drove everyone else away. The quality of too much discussion on the net is on a level with talk radio, and for the same reason. Every ticked-off, self-rigtious, loudmouth ignoramous on planet earth can spew venom without taking any responsibility of authorship.
And yet, when given the chance to use any identity you wished on here, you chose to use the name fileboy, not divulge your given name.
There is nothing wrong with that whatsoever, and the cautious instinct that drove that choice is prudent, and the right to that judgement should not be removed.
Posted by: fileboy2002
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/13/08 11:18 AM
I said, clearly, at the beginning of my post I did NOT want to see anonymous posting made illegal. Yet several subsequent posters suggested I did support making it illegal. Why is that?
I think we've stumbled on another problem with posting boards as a medium of communication: people don't read very carefully. However, I suspect this is not because they are lazy or careless. I think the problme is in the stucture of posting boards themselves.
Posts accumulate so fast it becomes cumbersome to read through them all. As a result, people scan quickly, get a general idea of what is being said, then voice their own opinion. This leads to a lot of repetition and misreading.
I think we've stumbled on another problem with posting boards as a medium of communication: people don't read very carefully. However, I suspect this is not because they are lazy or careless. I think the problme is in the stucture of posting boards themselves.
Posts accumulate so fast it becomes cumbersome to read through them all. As a result, people scan quickly, get a general idea of what is being said, then voice their own opinion. This leads to a lot of repetition and misreading.
Posted by: fileboy2002
Re: ... Make Anonymous InternetPosting Illegal - 03/13/08 11:23 AM
Cord, we may have different definitions of "anonymous."
I would never suggest posters should, for example, be required to give out real names, addresses or phone numbers. However, sites should have some way of identifying users within the context of that particular on-line community.
If fileboy2002 makes threats, posts spam, or otherwise abuses the site, he can be banned.
I would never suggest posters should, for example, be required to give out real names, addresses or phone numbers. However, sites should have some way of identifying users within the context of that particular on-line community.
If fileboy2002 makes threats, posts spam, or otherwise abuses the site, he can be banned.