1393 lines
60 KiB
Plaintext
1393 lines
60 KiB
Plaintext
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Archive-name: net-anonymity/part2
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Last-modified: 1994/5/9
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Version: 1.0
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ANONYMITY on the INTERNET
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=========================
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Compiled by L. Detweiler <ld231782@longs.lance.colostate.edu>.
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<3.1> What is the value or use of anonymity?
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<3.2> Does anonymity uphold or violate the Usenet status quo?
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<3.3> Is anonymity conducive or neutral to `abuse'?
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<3.4> Does anonymity require courage or cowardice?
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<3.5> Is anonymity associated with free speech?
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<3.6> Should anonymous postings be censored?
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<3.7> Can restrictions on anonymity be enforced? (How?)
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<3.8> What are the effects of anonymity?
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_____
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<3.1> What is the value or use of anonymity?
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David Clunie <dclunie@pax.tpa.com.au>:
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> Many seem to question the value of anonymity. But who are they to
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> say what risks another individual should take ? There is no
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> question that in this rather conservative society that we live
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> in, holding certain views, making certain statements, adopting a
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> certain lifestyle, are likely to result in public censure,
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> ridicule, loss of status, employment, or even legal action. Given
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> the heterogeneity of the legal jurisdictions from where the many
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> contributors to usenet post, who knows what is legal and what is
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> not ! Some say that anonymous posters are "cowards" and should
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> stand up and be counted. Perhaps that is one point of view but
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> what right do these detractors have to exercise such censorship ?
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Doug Sewell <doug@cc.ysu.edu>:
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> Why is it censorship to not expect someone to speak for
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> themselves, without the cloak of anonymity. This is at best a
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> lame argument.
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>
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> You tell me why what you have to say requires anonymity. And you
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> tell me why the wishes of a majority of non-anonymous users of a
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> newsgroup should be disregarded when they don't want anonymous
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> posts.
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>
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> Anonymous users have LESS rights than any others. They are not
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> legitimate usenet participants. I would not honor RFDs, CFVs,
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> control messages, or votes from one.
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Bill Bohrer <bohrer@maui.mcc.com>:
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> What really galls me is that you don't mention legitimate,
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> RESPONSIBLE uses of anonymity.
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Evan Leibovitch <evan@telly.on.ca>:
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> Yes. They exist. They compose of a small fraction of the Usenet
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> community, yet the moves so far to accomodate them have caused as
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> much grief and hurt as they have prevented.
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>
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> The need for a certain amount of discretion on some groups on
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> Usenet exists, just like with letters to the editor, you can
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> retain anonymity if you request but the *editors* must have your
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> name and address on file.
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Bob Longo <longo@sfpp.com>:
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> If someone does not have enough conviction in his beliefs to post
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> them without hiding behind an anonymous service, maybe he
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> shouldn't be making the post.
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>
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> Sorry, but it appears that people are uniting against anonymous
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> posting - not for it.
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Dave Hayes <dave@jato.jpl.nasa.gov>:
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> I beg to differ.
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>
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> Where have you been? We've been arguing this for weeks. There are
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> two sides that it boils down to:
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>
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> "The validity of concepts and ideas expressed are based upon the
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> poster's identity"
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>
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> "The validity of concepts and ideas expressed are not related to
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> the poster's identity"
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Ed Hall <edhall@rand.org>:
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> That's a false dichotomy. Ideas and concepts should be judged on
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> merit, but a component of that merit is just who it is who
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> presents those ideas and concepts.
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>
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> I personally don't see a gross threat to the net in anonymous
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> postings, but unless there is a clear reason for anonymity I
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> regard them with a great deal more suspicion than average.
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>
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> I think there is a reasonable middle-ground. Using anonymity to
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> protect oneself from actual harm resulting from social
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> intolerance is an example of an important and legitimate use.
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> But using it simply to put ones opponents at a disadvantage so
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> one can attack them with impunity is severely rude, at best.
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> Although I don't believe in outlawing rudeness, I see no reason
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> to come to its comfort, either.
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Karl Barrus <elee9sf@Menudo.UH.EDU>:
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> Some argue that the opinions of the people who hide behind a veil
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> of anonymity are worthless, and that people should own up to
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> their thoughts. I agree with the latter point - in an ideal
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> world we would all be sitting around engaging in Socratic
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> dialogues, freely exchanging our opinions in an effort to
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> learn. But in an ideal world nobody will threaten you for your
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> thoughts, or ridicule you.
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>
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> But we live in a world where the people who don't agree with you
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> may try to harm you. Let's face it, some people aren't going to
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> agree with your opinion no matter how logically you try to
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> present it, or how reasoned out it may be. This is sad since it
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> does restrict people from voicing their opinions.
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<00acearl@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu>:
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> Instead of making this a "free-er medium" by allowing posters to
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> "protect themselves" with anonymity, simply require that all
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> posters be prepared to discuss their sources of information and
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> take the heat for unsubstantiated dribble. This seems to be the
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> way things are currently done;
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Melinda Shore <shore@dinah.tc.cornell.edu>:
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> It seems obvious to me that anonymity is often a good thing,
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> especially in areas where people do have something valid to say
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> but have legitimate reasons to fear the consequences if their
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> identity is known (and yes, it does happen).
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David Toland <det@sw.stratus.com>:
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> If someone feels a need to post anonymously, I have no real
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> problem with that per se. I may take that fact into account when
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> reading some types of subject matter, but I do not make an a
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> priori judgement based on it.
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>
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> Some people will automatically discount an anon posting. Let
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> them. Others of us don't care who wrote it (usually), as long as
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> it is intelligently presented, or witty, or even amusingly
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> unusual.
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David Klein <davidh@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu>:
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> I have seen pieces of the anon thread for the last two weeks on
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> the net, and I do not understand what the big deal is. The pros:
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> a person can post to a group with a potentially sensitive subject
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> and not have to worry about personal contacts finding out. The
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> cons: someone could potentially harass someone.
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Mike Schenk <M.R.Schenk@research.ptt.nl>:
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> I think the anon server is a blessing to the net. It gives people
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> the oppurtunity to post anonymously in the sense that their name
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> is not known. However, it is still possible to send email to them
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> so you can tell if you dissaprove of a certain posting. So they
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> are anonymous but reachable.
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J. Kamens <jik@mit.edu>:
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> If someone REALLY needs to post a message anonymous in a newsgroup
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> in which this usually isn't done, they can usually find someone
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> on the net to do this for them. They don't need an automated
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> service to do it, and the automated service is by its nature
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> incapable of making the judgment call necessary to decide whether
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> a particular posting really needs to be anonymous.
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Karl Krueger<kkrueg@ukelele.GCR.COM>:
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> The existence and continued popularity of an anonymous server
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> shows that there is a demand for it. People wish to have the
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> ability to avoid getting fired, sued, or shot for expressing
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> their opinions.
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Bob Longo <longo@sfpp.com>:
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> the only person qualified to judge the validity of the anon
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> poster's reasons is the anon poster himself. You are very lucky
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> that you are secure enough in your social position and career
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> that you can say and write whatever you want to any time any
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> place without fear of ridicule or censure. Some people aren't.
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> Some people just don't wish to tell a few million people around
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> the world, or a few dozen at work, etc. details about their
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> private lives or some personal opinions or beliefs.
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Herbert M Petro <hmpetro@uncc.edu>:
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> Perhaps those people should undergo therapy in order to built
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> their self-esteem and come to recognize their own self-worth.
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> Such people should be pitied for their overwhelming need to be
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> approved of by others.
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Dr. Cat <cat@wixer.cactus.org>:
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> Sure, many people have no need for the useful roles of an anon
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> server, and may be subject to some of the harmful ones. But to
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> judge solely on the role something plays in one's own life, with
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> no consideration for others, seems extremely self-centered.
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Richard M. Hartman <hartman@ulogic.UUCP>:
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> Most of us have not been saying that anonymous posting should be
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> "banished from the net", merely that there should be some minimum
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> guaranteed set of controls and accountability. Plus agreement
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> (or at least discussion) on where they are appropriate.
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John Stanley <stanley@skyking.OCE.ORST.EDU>
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> Funny, but there were controls and accountability for
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> anon.penet.fi. The admin there had shut off abusive users.
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>
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> The only problem people had with that is that the accountability
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> wasn't under their control.
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Brian O'Donovan <not@inmos.co.uk>:
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> The benefit of having an anon service is that people are being
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> (shall we say) `openly anonymous', which I feel is far more
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> healthy than having to forge or abuse an identity. Closing anon
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> services will not prevent malicious use of the net.
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>
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> I'm afraid I cannot offer my services, or those of the company I
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> work for, but for what it's worth, you have my support.
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<barnhill@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>:
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> The legitimacy of anonymous posting has been presented in a
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> variety of ways for at least the last couple of years, debated
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> within the groups where such posting occours, and it certainly
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> appeared to me that a concensus had arisen that in cases where
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> employer retribution, student harrassment, potential
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> re-victimization or other considerations pertained, anonymous
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> posting was an acceptable way in which to conduct business.
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Wes Morgan <morgan@engr.uky.edu>:
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> And you say that if you feel strongly enough about it, put your
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> name on it. I say, "Until you have something real to lose [Your
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> career for life], you will never see the values of being
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> anonymous."
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E. Johnson <johnson@access.digex.com>:
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> Well, I have mixed feelings about this entire question. Of
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> course, everyone should have the right to anonymity; if someone
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> doesn't want to stand up for what they have said (and I can
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> understand that under some circumstances), that is their choice.
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> One the other hand, I think the USE of the anon service (not its
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> availability) is not a good idea (except maybe on the alt.sex
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> hierarchy and similar places) because it does reduce the
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> credibility of one's opinion. It seems to say that "I don't
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> really know what I'm talking about and I don't care" even if the
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> person does.
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Ingemar Hulthage <hulthage@morue.usc.edu>:
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> I think it would be a big mistake to prohibit anonymous posting
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> and email in general. There are some long-standing precedences
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> for anonymous publishing. Many authors use pen-names and there
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> are cases where the real identity of an author is still secret or
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> remained secret for a long time. Most newspapers publish
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> 'letters to the editor' and allow them to be anonymous or signed
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> by initials only. The responsibility of a journalist not to
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> reveal his sources is almost universally recognized. In the
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> academic world one can point to the custom of anonymous peer
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> reviews of articles, proposals etc.
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[unknown]
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> "Revolutions are not won by people sitting in a back room plotting
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> and scheming. They are won by those that are willing to take
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> personal risk and publicly speak out against what they deem
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> unjust."
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"somebody":
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> I am a firm believer in privacy, but that is not the same thing as
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> anonymity. Anonymity can be used to violate another's privacy.
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> For instance, in recent years, I have had harassing anonymous
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> notes and phone calls threatening XXX beause of things I have
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> said on the net ... I am in favor of defeating the reasons
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> people need anonymity, not giving the wrong-doers another
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> mechanism to use to harass others.
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>
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> ... any such service is a case of willingness to sacrifice some
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> amount of privacy of the recipients to support the privacy of the
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> posters.
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>
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> If the only people who would support the idea are those who might
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> use it, is it proper?
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John Stanley <stanley@skyking.OCE.ORST.EDU>:
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> I think you would be hard pressed to prove that the only people
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> who support anonymous posting are those who use it.
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Richard E. Depew <red@redpoll.neoucom.edu>:
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> Most of us have the best interests of the net in mind, agree that
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> anonymous postings have their place, and agree that cooperative
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> anarchy is a wonderful experiment.
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Jonathan Eifrig <eifrig@beanworld.cs.jhu.edu>:
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> Let's face it: we are _all_ anonymous to some degree on the Net.
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Matthew P Wiener <weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu>:
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> I've usually taken at least lurking interest in USENET-gone-stupid
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> flame wars, but this anonymity flap leaves me completely bored.
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> Is it just me, or is there something fundamentally boring going
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> on?
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_____
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<3.2> Does anonymity uphold or violate the Usenet status quo?
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Brad Templeton <brad@clarinet.com>:
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> I can think of no disadvantage caused by anon posting sites that
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> doesn't already exist, other than the fact that they do make more
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> naive net users who don't know how to post anonymously the old
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> way more prone to do it.
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<an8729@anon.penet.fi>:
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> Anonymity does hinder some methods of controlling other posters'
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> actions. People who seek such control will naturally oppose it.
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Dan Hoey <hoey@zogwarg.etl.army.mil>:
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> While there has never been any real security against anonymous or
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> forged postings on Usenet, the process has until now been
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> sufficiently inconvenient, error-prone, and undocumented to limit
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> its use by persons who have not learned the culture of the net.
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Alexander EICHENER <C96@vm.urz.uni-heidelberg.de>:
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> anonymous posting has not created major problems aside from
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> angering irate people (like you?) who would rather ban
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> anonymous/pseudonymous posting altogether because "real men can
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> stand up for what they said" or comparable puerile arguments as
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> others have brought up.
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Terry McGonigal <terry@geovision.gvc.com>:
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> <sigh>... Just how many anon services are needed? Will
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> *everybody* start running one soon? What's the purpose? Who
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> stands to benefit when there are N anon services, then 2*N, then
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> N^2, out there. Where *has* this sudden fasination with anon
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> services come from?
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>
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> For better or (IMHO) worse, it looks like we'er gonna get stuck
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> with these things, and as much as I don't like the idea (of
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> services like this becoming the norm) I don't really think
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> there's much to be done since it's obvious that anyone who wants
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> to can set one up with a bit of work.
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<an8785@anon.penet.fi>:
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> Is the problem that some are used to "punishing" posters who are
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> upsetting in some vague way by complaining to the (usually
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> acquiescent) sysadmin or organizations that the poster belongs
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> to? That surely is the most gutless approach to solving
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> problems, but my experience on the net shows that the same users
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> who vilify anonymous postings are the first to write obsessively
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> detailed grievances to the poster's supervisor when his or her
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> tranquility is disturbed by some "intrusive" or subversive post
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> or another.
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>
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> Anonymous postings prevent just this kind of intimidation.
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Steve Pope <spp@zabriskie.berkeley.edu>:
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> I am finding this bias against pseudonymity boring. Our friend
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> posting through penet has a point. The old guard would like to
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> keep their network the way it always has been... and this new
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> thing, these pseudonymous servers, cuts into their turf. So they
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> whine and bitch about it, and every time there's the slightest
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> abuse (such as somebody's .sig being too long), they try to
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> parlay that into an argument against pseudonymity.
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>
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> I'll go on record as saying: three cheers for the admins at anon
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> servers like penet, pax, and n7kbt... and for all the access
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> service providers who are willing to preserve their clients
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> privacy.
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>
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> And a pox on those who try to defeat and restrict pseudonymity.
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Bruce Umbaugh <BDU100F@ODUVM.BITNET>:
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> How is posting through anon.penet.fi *fundamentally* different
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> from posting through any other site?
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>
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> Please, do, help me see what I'm missing. Show me, if you can,
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> how a pseudonymous (for that is what this is) site merits such
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> hostility.
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John Stanley <stanley@skyking.OCE.ORST.EDU>
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> A better question is: why should YOU get to second guess the
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> results of a valid newsgroup vote (ones held years ago, in some
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> cases) to decide that certain people may not post even though the
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> groups decided when they were formed that anyone could post?
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>
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> This is amazing. All these poeple complaining about a change in
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> the status quo (that really isn't), and you want a blanket change
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> in the status quo (that really would be).
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J. Kamens <jik@mit.edu>:
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> It seems obvious to me that the default should be *not* to allow
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> anonymous postings in a newsgroup. The Usenet has always
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> operated on the principle that the status quo should be kept
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> unless there's a large number of people who want to change it.
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David Weingart <phydeaux@cumc.cornell.edu>:
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> People have said that anonymous posting netwide is something new.
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> This is garbage; such things have existed as long as I've been on
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> the Net (about 3 years). BBS systems and local dialin systems do
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> little verification. There are, as someone pointed out, several
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> freely accessible NNTP servers out there, and it takes very
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> little to hack your new program to fake everthing you want in the
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> headers (Good lord, look at the group list in alt sometimes!).
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> Having an1234@anon.penet.fi is no different than having
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> foo@bar.com, when bar.com is a dialin; all you can do is send
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> mail to the user and the site admin to bitch, and the odds are
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> the site admin won't do anything.
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>
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> So far, I've not seen a single convincing argument that the
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> "status quo" of the Net was changed by anon.penet.fi going up.
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> anon.penet.fi is just another site ...
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Michael Stoodt <stoodt@cis.umassd.edu>:
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> The status quo IS for sites to be able to add themselves to the
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> net at will; and for the site and its users to take
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> responsibility for their actions on the net. anon.penet.fi and
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> its users are not assuming the same level of responsibility that
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> local.bbs.com does.
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>
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> The status quo was that there was the PRESUMPTION of
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> accountability for users. Maybe some sites didn't enforce this
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> as much as some would have liked, but anon.penet.fi is
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> specifically designed to avoid any such accountability.
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John Stanley <stanley@skyking.OCE.ORST.EDU>:
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> Wrong. The site has an admin. He has responsibility for that site.
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> You simply don't like how he handles his site. Well, news flash:
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> it isn't your responsibility to handle his site. You don't get to
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> make the rules for him. You make your rules, you decide how to
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> handle your users. He makes his rules, he handles his users.
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>
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> What accountability? To their admin, perhaps. To YOU? Hardly. To
|
|
> Dick Depew? ROFL.
|
|
|
|
Richard M. Hartman <hartman@ulogic.UUCP>:
|
|
|
|
> At the time of the charters of most existing groups, global
|
|
> anonymous access was NOT available, and was NOT considered in the
|
|
> charter.
|
|
|
|
John Stanley <stanley@skyking.OCE.ORST.EDU>:
|
|
|
|
> I hate to bring facts into this discussion, but yes, indeed, for
|
|
> as long as the net has been around, anonymous posting has been
|
|
> available. Part of the process of creating a group is to decide
|
|
> whether the group is moderated or not, so yes, indeed, the
|
|
> question of who may post to the group is considered in the
|
|
> formation of every group.
|
|
>
|
|
> A change in the status quo "in the interest of preserving the
|
|
> status quo" is a lie.
|
|
|
|
Paul Flaherty <paulf@abercrombie.Stanford.EDU>:
|
|
|
|
> The author clearly states "global anonymous" as opposed to merely
|
|
> "anonymous"; the two differ significantly in ease of access.
|
|
>
|
|
> Aside from access, the new "global anonymous" services differ
|
|
> significantly by the degree of anonymity from the old forged
|
|
> postings; anyone with a good networking background could trace
|
|
> forged postings, while the new services are quite a bit more
|
|
> secure.
|
|
|
|
John Stanley <stanley@skyking.OCE.ORST.EDU>:
|
|
|
|
> Even with the limited "global", anonymous posting has been around
|
|
> for as long as the net has.
|
|
>
|
|
> The "new" services (which really aren't anything new) make the
|
|
> anonymous poster more "responsible" than many old methods of
|
|
> posting. At least this way you can send mail to the anonymous
|
|
> poster complaining about whatever you want.
|
|
|
|
ANDREW GREENSHIELDS <andy@apache.dtcc.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Those may be good reasons for posting anonymously. I don't think
|
|
> anyone has said that they want to ban *all* anonymous postings
|
|
> *forever*. The issue here, as far as I see it, is who is going
|
|
> to take responsibilty for articles whose sole intent is to
|
|
> injure?
|
|
|
|
Perry E. Metzger <pmetzger@snark.shearson.com>:
|
|
|
|
> No one will. No one needs to. The notion that an anonymous posting
|
|
> needs to be traceable to its source is a product of the
|
|
> unification of the old time conservative desire to squelch free
|
|
> speech with the new fangled politically correct liberal desire to
|
|
> squelch free speech.
|
|
|
|
Jay Maynard <jmaynard@nyx.cs.du.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Julf unilaterally imposed a change on those groups - that they
|
|
> accept anonymous postings - and did not inform the people who
|
|
> read those groups of that change, and did not ask them if they
|
|
> desired the change.
|
|
>
|
|
> Richard's default is the correct one: he would require a vote to
|
|
> change the pre-Julf status quo. Your default would impose a
|
|
> change on folks and then demand that they vote to restore the
|
|
> status quo.
|
|
|
|
Afzal Ballim <afzal@divsun.unige.ch>:
|
|
|
|
> Jay, by your reasoning why isn't it changing the status quo if a
|
|
> new node is added to the net and people start posting from it?
|
|
> Okay, you say that we don't KNOW who the people are behind
|
|
> postings from Julf's site. But so what? The charter of
|
|
> unmoderated groups says nothing about restricting postings from
|
|
> sites where the identity of users is not generally accessable
|
|
> from outside. If they did, then Julf would have changed the
|
|
> "status quo". As many have pointed out, what Richard had proposed
|
|
> means that sites downstream from a feed that cancelled a message
|
|
> would not got those messages. This seems far more radical a
|
|
> change to the status quo than posts from anonymous users turning
|
|
> up in a group.
|
|
|
|
Karl Kleinpaste <Karl_Kleinpaste@cs.cmu.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> You didn't find a anonymous userids throughout the Usenet until
|
|
> Johan came along.
|
|
|
|
<jcowling@ophelia.UVic.CA>:
|
|
|
|
> No, Julf has not imposed a change. Anonymous postings and
|
|
> anonymous posting sites have existed for many years before Julf's
|
|
> site went up. Julf is MAINTAINING the status quo with his site.
|
|
|
|
Daniel Veditz <daniel@borland.com>:
|
|
|
|
> You didn't find them with big red tags saying "Lookit me--I'm
|
|
> anonymous!" maybe, but they've always been there. I've seen tons
|
|
> of pseudonymous posters--people with cryptic assigned class IDs
|
|
> with no signature, people who have bought their own system and
|
|
> use cutsie names...
|
|
>
|
|
> The only differences are:
|
|
> - Julf made it easier to post pseudonymously and advertised
|
|
> - It's more obvious that these are pseudonymous
|
|
> - They all appear to be a single site and thus make a good target
|
|
|
|
Jay Maynard <jmaynard@nyx.cs.du.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Nope. Anonymous posting sites that existed were set up for a
|
|
> single, consenting newsgroup. Julf's is the first netwide
|
|
> anonymous site.
|
|
|
|
<jcowling@ophelia.UVic.CA>:
|
|
|
|
> I intend to statrt up my own Internet site by the end of
|
|
> September. I intend to allow anonymous posting. I will be
|
|
> maintaining the status quo.
|
|
>
|
|
> Julf does not have to ask anyone if they desire a change -- he
|
|
> isn't changing anything, and in any case he's not breaking any of
|
|
> the "rules" of Usenet, because there are no hard-and-fast rules
|
|
> on UseNet.
|
|
|
|
Jay Maynard <jmaynard@nyx.cs.du.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Sorry. I categorically reject this argument. Anonymous postings
|
|
> netwide are a significant change in the net culture. You will
|
|
> not convince me otherwise.
|
|
|
|
<sward+@cmu.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> The unmoderated groups already accepted ANY sort of posting -
|
|
> including anonymous postings - long before Julf started his
|
|
> server ...
|
|
|
|
Karl Kleinpaste <Karl_Kleinpaste@cs.cmu.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Such a claim ignores the fact that, in general, anonymous (or
|
|
> pseudonymous) postings didn't go anywhere but the lone newsgroup
|
|
> supported by the individual anonymous server in question. Yes,
|
|
> you always _could_ forge articles by suitable invocation of
|
|
> rnews, or assault on the nearest posting-permitted NNTP server.
|
|
> But people didn't, generally. Social habit prevented exercises
|
|
> in poor taste.
|
|
|
|
David Weingart <phydeaux@cumc.cornell.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> There have _always_, so far as I can tell, been innapropriate and
|
|
> offensive postings to newsgroups. (And, as I've pointed out from
|
|
> my particular experience, these postings are usually from
|
|
> non-anonymous users (non-anonymous in the sense that there is no
|
|
> instantly-obvious giveaway eddress like an.id@anon.server). They
|
|
> didn't start with anonymous servers, they'll continue without it.
|
|
>
|
|
> The best thing you can do to flamers is ignore them.
|
|
|
|
Richard Depew <red@redpoll.neoucom.edu:
|
|
|
|
> The issue of an irresponsible system administrator trying to
|
|
> impose his anonymous server on readers of thousands of newsgroups
|
|
> is not a trivial one. My proposal to restore the status quo in
|
|
> a hierarchy that has protested anonymous postings may not make me
|
|
> popular with anonymous posters, but I haven't seen a single
|
|
> message claiming that any sci newsgroup has invited anonymous
|
|
> postings.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
_____
|
|
<3.3> Is anonymity conducive or neutral to `abuse'?
|
|
|
|
<KONDARED@PURCCVM.BITNET>:
|
|
|
|
> I think anonymous posts do help in focusing our attention on the
|
|
> content of one's message. Sure lot of anonymous posts are abusive
|
|
> or frivolous but in most cases these are by users who find the
|
|
> anon facility novel. Once the novelty wears off they are stopping
|
|
> their pranks...
|
|
|
|
Wes Morgan <morgan@engr.uky.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> I've received *hundreds* of anonymous email messages over the last
|
|
> few years; fewer than 20 of them were "reasonable posts made with
|
|
> good motives." It's getting more and more difficult to remember
|
|
> why we need anonymity at all; the abusers are (once again)
|
|
> lousing things up for those who truly need the service (or those
|
|
> who would put it to good use).
|
|
|
|
Wes Morgan <morgan@engr.uky.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> I don't mind seeing the miscellaneous hatred/prejudice/racism;
|
|
> those things are part of our nature. However, the notion of
|
|
> providing anonymity's shield for these ideas repulses me. If
|
|
> they have such strong feelings, why can't they put their name(s)
|
|
> on their postings? ... Quite frankly, I loathe communication
|
|
> with people who refuse to use their names.
|
|
|
|
Jonathan I. Kamens <jik@athena.mit.edu>
|
|
|
|
> NNTP servers that allow posting from anyone are NOT "a service to
|
|
> the net." They do the net a disservice.
|
|
>
|
|
> Terminal servers have the same problems as open NNTP servers --
|
|
> they allow people who want to do illegal/immoral/unethical things
|
|
> on the Internet to do so without accountability.
|
|
>
|
|
> There are, by now, public access sites all over this country, if
|
|
> not all over the world, that allow very inexpensive access to the
|
|
> Usenet and the Internet. There is no reason for NNTP servers to
|
|
> allow anyone to post messages through them, and there is no
|
|
> reason for terminal servers to allow anyone to connect to them
|
|
> and then make outbound connections through them. Perhaps when it
|
|
> was harder to get to the Internet or the Usenet, open servers
|
|
> could be justified, but not now.
|
|
|
|
Michael Stoodt <stoodt@cis.umassd.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Open NNTP servers are bad, for they allow the same avoidance of
|
|
> accountability that anon.penet.fi does. Actually, they're worse,
|
|
> for it's rare for them to be able to filter Control headers and
|
|
> such; they're very useful for those cretins practicing sendsys
|
|
> terrorism and such.
|
|
|
|
Karl Krueger<kkrueg@ukelele.GCR.COM>:
|
|
|
|
> That idea (of "asbestos longjohns", the mythical protection form
|
|
> flamage) can be seen as an abstraction of what the anon service
|
|
> is. It is not as if anonymous posters are somehow "protected" -
|
|
> they still get their replies. All an anonymous poster is
|
|
> protected from is "real world" damage - the kind of thing that
|
|
> any USENETteer should be protected from anyway.
|
|
|
|
Tom Bryce <tjbryce@unix.amherst.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> There'll always be abuse of the net with or without anonymous
|
|
> services, and tighter verification of ID, more sternly dealing
|
|
> with and locking out abusers of the services, limiting posts
|
|
> anonymously to a certain amount a day to keep people from
|
|
> flooding the network, and the like, the abuse can be cut down to
|
|
> a minimum, and the freedom it gives people to post on the
|
|
> newsgroups without inhibition or fear is well worth it.
|
|
|
|
Chuq Von Rospach <chuq@Apple.COM>:
|
|
|
|
> This debate is showing up exactly what's wrong with anonymous
|
|
> postings: for every legitimate use of them, there are dozens of
|
|
> cases where people use it to hide from the responsibility of
|
|
> their actions.
|
|
|
|
Richard E. Depew <red@redpoll.neoucom.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Anonymous servers have an important function in certain
|
|
> newsgroups, and most people who use them do so responsibly.
|
|
> However, these servers attract sociopaths who use them to avoid
|
|
> responsibility and accountability for their actions.
|
|
|
|
"somebody"
|
|
|
|
> I am, in general, against unrestricted anonymous service. There
|
|
> are too many abusive people on the net to make it work.
|
|
>
|
|
> I do not believe we have the appropriate technology to make an
|
|
> anonymous service work on the net. Furthermore, I remain
|
|
> completely unconvinced that there is a legitimate need, nor is
|
|
> the level of maturity in the user population sufficiently level
|
|
> where it can be effectively used. It may only be a small
|
|
> percentage of people who cause the problems, but that is true of
|
|
> nearly everything in history.
|
|
|
|
|
|
_____
|
|
<3.4> Does anonymity require courage or cowardice?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dave Ratcliffe <dave@frackit.UUCP>:
|
|
|
|
> Sure most adults are willing to post under their own names. Why
|
|
> would they want to hide behind an anonymous posting service?
|
|
> Ashamed of what they have to say or just trying to rile people
|
|
> without fear of being identified?
|
|
|
|
<an8785@anon.penet.fi>:
|
|
|
|
> I think it takes far more courage to post anonymously than to
|
|
> hide behind your affiliations.
|
|
|
|
Rich Kulawiec <rsk@gynko.circ.upenn.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> This is ludicrous. If you do not have the courage of your own
|
|
> convictions, and are not willing to back those convictions up by
|
|
> using your own name, why should anyone pay the slightest
|
|
> attention to you? (I certainly won't.) Either you have the guts
|
|
> to back up what you say, or you don't; and if you don't, then you
|
|
> should probably just be quiet.
|
|
|
|
Tom Mandel <mandel@netcom.com>
|
|
|
|
> I think you, sir or madam or whatever you are, are full of it.
|
|
> Anonymity is the veil behind which people too cowardly to
|
|
> identify themselves with their analyses or opinions hide.
|
|
|
|
Jim Thomas <jthomas@NETSYS.COM>:
|
|
|
|
> Although revelation is generally preferable to anonymity, there
|
|
> are numerous reasons that are sufficiently strong to discredit
|
|
> the "cowardice" thesis.
|
|
|
|
Karl Krueger <kkrueg@ukelele.GCR.COM>:
|
|
|
|
> "Hiding behing Julf's server"? No... For many, bouncing things
|
|
> off the anon server is routine protection, just like using PGP is
|
|
> for others. It's security.
|
|
>
|
|
> Is it "immature" to "hide behind" this server? Of course not, no
|
|
> more is it than it is to send the police an anonymous letter if
|
|
> one is informing on a Mafia don. People do get in realspace
|
|
> "trouble" for what they say in the USENET cyberspace, you know.
|
|
>
|
|
> Tell me, if you could get fired for posting something, say, a
|
|
> criticism of an illegality (or unethicality) perpetrated by your
|
|
> boss, wouldn't you want a way to make the action known to the
|
|
> public, anonymously? Anonymousness is not patently cowardice!
|
|
> If one believes that the "outside world" will attack one, one
|
|
> will use an anonymous method!
|
|
|
|
Shannon Atkins <satkins@midway.ecn.uoknor.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Like I said, if you don't have the balls to post it under your own
|
|
> name, it isn't worth posting. It simply isn't important enough
|
|
> to post about.
|
|
>
|
|
> I'm not really sorry if I have offended any of the nameless,
|
|
> faceless, spineless PC clone-zombies out there in netland by
|
|
> having an opinion.
|
|
|
|
Michael Miller <michael@umbc.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> There are some people with whom one should not publicly disagree
|
|
> under one's own name. When you want to disagree with such a
|
|
> person, cowardice is simply the intelligent way to do it.
|
|
>
|
|
> Of course, people will hide behind anonymity to post drivel, but
|
|
> many people already post drivel without anonymity. Some
|
|
> anonymous posters are stupid cowards and some are smart cowards.
|
|
> Do you really want to ignore all the smart cowards?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
_____
|
|
<3.5> Is anonymity associated with free speech?
|
|
|
|
|
|
David Sternlight <strnlght@netcom.com>:
|
|
|
|
> Note again that invoking civil rights or free speech is a big red
|
|
> herring on this issue--nothing in this prevents people from
|
|
> posting directly--only through an anonymous filter.
|
|
>
|
|
> This is not a matter of free speech since writers are free to post
|
|
> under their names.
|
|
|
|
Richard M. Hartman <hartman@ulogic.UUCP>:
|
|
|
|
> So many people (Americans) have used the "right" to free speech in
|
|
> defense of this anon server (which does not apply since it is a
|
|
> provision limiting the actions of the government, not
|
|
> individuals)
|
|
|
|
Daniel Veditz <daniel@borland.com>:
|
|
|
|
> Whoa, is freedom of conscience and of speech merely a privilege
|
|
> granted by some governments, or is it a true human right
|
|
> regardless of whether or not recognized by various governing
|
|
> bodies?
|
|
>
|
|
> In any case I agree that "free speech" considerations are
|
|
> irrelevant to this anon server issue.
|
|
|
|
Knut Langsetmo <knut@iti.org>:
|
|
|
|
> It is interesting to see that so many champions of 'free speech'
|
|
> have opposed the anon server. I for one can testify that there
|
|
> have been severe reprecusions for things that I have said. In
|
|
> particular, I was fired for suggesting that communism was a good
|
|
> idea, "advocating communism". All the talk of having the 'guts'
|
|
> to stand behind what you say is just posturing by those who have
|
|
> never said anything that people who have power over their lives
|
|
> might object to.
|
|
|
|
David Clunie <dclunie@pax.tpa.com.au>:
|
|
|
|
> I am amazed that Julf hasn't had to put up with more flak at his
|
|
> end over his consumption of bandwidth. The Fins have always been
|
|
> awfully tolerant about this sort of thing. It is a sad day when
|
|
> the Europeans have to teach the rest of the Western world about
|
|
> freedom of speech ! It amazes me that there is not a single
|
|
> anonymous server of the type that Julf runs (ie. easy to use and
|
|
> universal posting) anywhere in the entire US. Pretty sad. I don't
|
|
> understand why. I would have thought some commercial site would
|
|
> have the guts to try. What do they fear ? Disconnection or legal
|
|
> liability for the posts and mail that they pass on ?
|
|
>
|
|
> I consider the demise of [my] service to have been rather
|
|
> unfortunate, and I wish the Finnish remailer luck ! It is a pity
|
|
> that there are very few if any similar services provided with in
|
|
> the US. I guess that's the benefit of having a constitution that
|
|
> guarantees one freedom of speech and a legal and political system
|
|
> that conspires to subvert it in the name of the public good.
|
|
|
|
Tim Burns <tim@osiris.usi.utah.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Recently, the anoymous network service at anon.penet.fi was closed
|
|
> down. I feel that act severely compromised the free speech rights
|
|
> of those who use the network. Acting to shut down such services
|
|
> which allow people to discuss sensitive issues is a grave abuse
|
|
> of power, and a threat to the internet community as a whole. I
|
|
> am very sad that this happened, and beg the internet community to
|
|
> unite in support of free network services such as anon.penet.fi.
|
|
|
|
David Barr <barr@pop.psu.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Exactly whose free speech rights were violated? I hate to see
|
|
> people throw around the word "free speech" with little thought as
|
|
> to what they are actually saying. Free speech applies only to
|
|
> the press, not to those who wish to say what they want on someone
|
|
> else's press. The shutting down of anon.penet.fi was a lot of
|
|
> things, but it did not violate anyone's free speech rights.
|
|
|
|
Bob Longo <longo@sfpp.com>:
|
|
|
|
> You have got to be kidding! Compromised free speech RIGHTS? No
|
|
> one is stopping anyone from stating their views or posting. Do
|
|
> you think it is a RIGHT to blast anonymous postings all over the
|
|
> net with no accountability? Somehow I don't think you will find
|
|
> that right in any legal definition of the freedom of speech.
|
|
|
|
Dave Hayes <dave@jato.jpl.nasa.gov>:
|
|
|
|
> I think the poster meant "the ideal of free speech" not "the
|
|
> restricted legal definition of free speech". With true free
|
|
> speech, it doesn't matter what you say you are free to say it. It
|
|
> doesn't look like people are stable enough to handle this
|
|
> concept, though.
|
|
|
|
Carl M Kadie <kadie@cs.uiuc.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> At least in the U.S., anonymity has been seen by the courts as
|
|
> related to freedom of expression and freedom of association ...
|
|
|
|
Rita Marie Rouvalis <rita@eff.org>:
|
|
|
|
> I've been watching this debate heat up over that past 3 or 4 years
|
|
> now as Usenet has exploded in size. The freedom of expression of
|
|
> many Usenet readers is actually being denied by abusive users
|
|
> because smaller sites are being forced to cut parts of their
|
|
> feeds due to volume.
|
|
>
|
|
> I think "freedom of expression" is a straw man in this case. No
|
|
> one has raised issue with the content of the message (at least in
|
|
> this thread) -- only the manner in which it was posted. It would
|
|
> be interesting to make an analogy to grafitti in this case.
|
|
|
|
Christopher Pilewski <cap@mb5000.anes.upmc.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> The internet is a medium of expression. It needs ideas in order
|
|
> to have any useful purpose. And, many people need anonymity to
|
|
> express their ideas freely. This is why any election (of any
|
|
> validity) is by secret ballot! Privacy is not just an aspect of
|
|
> freedom, it is a provider of freedom. Privacy is important. You
|
|
> do not have freedom of expression if (Your boss will fire you;
|
|
> Your co-workers will harass and humiliate you; Or, the government
|
|
> maintains files about you) for expressing your views. Sadly, all
|
|
> of the above can happen without privacy and anonymity.
|
|
|
|
Ze Julf <julf@penet.fi>:
|
|
|
|
> Due to the lawsuit-intensive climate in the US, many anonymous
|
|
> services have been short-lived. By setting up anon.penet.fi in
|
|
> Finland, I hoped to create a more stable service. Anon.penet.fi
|
|
> managed to stay in operation for almost five months. The service
|
|
> was protected from most of the usual problems that had forced
|
|
> other services to shut down. But there are always going to be
|
|
> ways to stop something as controversial as an anon service. In
|
|
> this case, a very well-known and extremely highly regarded net
|
|
> personality managed to contact exactly the right people to create
|
|
> a situation where it is politically impossible for me to continue
|
|
> running the service.
|
|
|
|
_____
|
|
<3.6> Should anonymous postings be censored?
|
|
|
|
Merth Eric <emerth@muskwa.ucs.ualberta.ca>
|
|
|
|
> Seems to me that the issue is not really about accountability but
|
|
> whether some people like how other people choose to communicate.
|
|
> This service was the first real move toward an open forum that I
|
|
> had seen. It is unfortunate that some people could not tolerate
|
|
> its existance.
|
|
|
|
<jcowling@ophelia.UVic.CA>:
|
|
|
|
> Whatever your opinion of anonymous posting, you MUST agree that no
|
|
> individual has the right to determine what someone else can or
|
|
> can not read.
|
|
|
|
Karl Krueger <kkrueg@ukelele.GCR.COM>:
|
|
|
|
> What can be done to defend the freedom that USENET has enjoyed
|
|
> from itself? Since USENET is, by definition, anarchic, existing
|
|
> as a whole only because of mutual cooperation from all users,
|
|
> everyone must be involved. The state of USENET is very similar
|
|
> to the state of the USA - people need to get involved on the most
|
|
> basic levels. Individual citizens of cyberspace must become
|
|
> knowledgeable about what is actually going on. Threats to USENET
|
|
> freedom should not merely be flamed and then passed by, but must
|
|
> be actively prevented. When threats like the recent ARMM threat
|
|
> emerge, normal users must react.
|
|
>
|
|
> While ARMM was opposed 3:1 in news.admin.policy, it is scary that
|
|
> as many as 1/4 of the voting population (which was, admittedly,
|
|
> small) were pro-censorship. There may come a time when such
|
|
> efforts as M. Depew's will be greeted with open arms. This is
|
|
> scary.
|
|
|
|
<barnhill@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> The use of the issues of anonymity and potential copyright
|
|
> violation has been at best spurious to the clear agenda of those
|
|
> who in their infinite wisdom have chosen to become the moral
|
|
> arbiters of society, which is to disrupt any and all
|
|
> communication which they percieve as threatening.
|
|
|
|
Perry E. Metzger <pmetzger@snark.shearson.com>:
|
|
|
|
> Unfortuntately, there are lots of people out there who think that
|
|
> they should be regulating what sort of thing other people are
|
|
> permitted to read, and they seem to be alive and well and
|
|
> operating on Usenet. Horror of horrors! People might post
|
|
> offensive things anonymously and get away with it! We must stop
|
|
> this plague, the PC censors tell us.
|
|
>
|
|
> I know that the notion of freedom of speech is a radical notion to
|
|
> some people. I understand that the idea that words are not knives
|
|
> and cannot physically injure people is a mere three hundred years
|
|
> old or so and thus still difficult for some people to grasp.
|
|
> However, understand this -- this Usenet site administrator will
|
|
> not sit idly by and allow fools decide for me what I can and
|
|
> cannot read.
|
|
|
|
Felix Gallo <felixg@coop.com>:
|
|
|
|
> "deeply offensive" is in the eye of the beholder, and *THAT* is
|
|
> what the entire problem is. I reserve the right to choose for
|
|
> myself what I consider deeply offensive, and consider myself
|
|
> quite competent at pressing the appropriate keys to ensure that I
|
|
> don't have to look at things I no longer want to see.
|
|
|
|
Dave Hayes <dave@jato.jpl.nasa.gov>:
|
|
|
|
> The real threat of anonymity is the expressing of ideas which the
|
|
> consensus does not wish to be expressed.
|
|
>
|
|
> Those who will not express those ideas (i.e. some of those who
|
|
> cite "responsible" posting practives) are threatened by their
|
|
> very existence...especially if they agree with "non-approved"
|
|
> ideas. This would expose them to the loss of external validation
|
|
> from the operating consensus.
|
|
|
|
Steve Summit <scs@adam.mit.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> The saddest thing, in a way, is that the paranoid control freaks
|
|
> I'm now shuddering at the complicity of are pretty much
|
|
> "justified:" the legal climate in the United States is getting so
|
|
> obscenely perverted that they practically do have to be this
|
|
> paranoid and repressive lest they get their sites and their
|
|
> livelihoods shut down by equally paranoid control freaks who have
|
|
> managed to work themselves up into a froth of righteous
|
|
> indignation about something allegedly wrong but allegedly
|
|
> preventable which some worthless nonentity might be able to
|
|
> perpetrate with the apparent aid of some harmless, idealistic,
|
|
> but defenseless Finn.
|
|
|
|
Brad Templeton <brad@clarinet.com>:
|
|
|
|
> If somebody abuses the service of such a person to disrupt the net
|
|
> and hide, they will get their name revealed and their access cut
|
|
> off. This is moderation in a post-sense, which has a lot of
|
|
> merit.
|
|
>
|
|
> (Indeed, I have recommended post-moderation as a superior scheme
|
|
> for many moderated newsgroups. It is how all online services,
|
|
> except Prodigy, work.)
|
|
|
|
[anonymous]
|
|
|
|
>It is not moderation and it is not filtering. It is censorship,
|
|
>and it is based on ignorance and bigotry.
|
|
|
|
Brad Templeton <brad@clarinet.com>:
|
|
|
|
> Read your USENET history before you accuse me, of all people, of
|
|
> even suggesting censorship. If you'll recall, when this debate
|
|
> started, I said that anon servers were no big shakes and
|
|
> supported their right to exist and their importance. What an
|
|
> odd line to find used on me after that.
|
|
|
|
Richard E. Depew <red@redpoll.neoucom.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> I certainly don't want to do anything that I am not "authorized"
|
|
> to do. If you can suggest a better way to "minimally-moderate",
|
|
> I'd appreciate it if you would share your ideas with us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
______
|
|
<3.7> Can restrictions on anonymity be enforced? (How?)
|
|
|
|
Eric Schilling <gandalf@cyberspace.org>:
|
|
|
|
> The main point I would like to make here is that while we can go
|
|
> through and revise the news sw to "reject anon posts to technical
|
|
> newsgroups" or some such thing, I think the attempt will prove
|
|
> futile. Each attempt to modify news can result in a changed
|
|
> approach by anon service providers to thwart the change. I think
|
|
> this would be pointless.
|
|
|
|
<jbuck@ohm.berkeley.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> This whole debate is a lot of "sound and fury signifying nothing"
|
|
> because, even if you all decide to ban anonymous posting servers,
|
|
> it is not enforceable. The only people who conceivably could
|
|
> enforce retrictions are those that control the international
|
|
> links.
|
|
>
|
|
> Policy changes should be made by cooperation, not by attempting
|
|
> to dictate. ...you need to persuade those who run the services
|
|
> to act like this through friendly persuasion, not by trying to
|
|
> beat them over the head with a stick (especially a stick you
|
|
> don't even have).
|
|
|
|
Al Billings <mimir@stein.u.washington.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> I wouldn't help people get rid of anon postings as a group. If you
|
|
> don't like what someone says, then you put THAT anon address in
|
|
> your kill file, not all of them. Of course, if and when I get an
|
|
> anon site going, I'm just going to assign fake names like
|
|
> "jsmith" instead of "anon5564" to avoid most of the hassles.
|
|
> You'll never know it is anonymous will you?
|
|
|
|
Anne Bennett <anne@alcor.concordia.ca>:
|
|
|
|
> I must admit to some astonishment at this argument. I see the
|
|
> value of anonymous postings under some circumstances, yet believe
|
|
> strongly that these should be identified as such, so that people
|
|
> who do not wish to read material from people who won't identify
|
|
> themselves, don't have to.
|
|
>
|
|
> I fail to see what good you would be accomplishing, and indeed
|
|
> surmise that you will cause many people inconvenience and
|
|
> annoyance, by hiding the anonymity of postings from your
|
|
> anonymous site. Would you care to justify where the hell you get
|
|
> the gall to try to prevent people from effectively filtering
|
|
> their news as they see fit?
|
|
|
|
Nicholas Kramer <nk24+@andrew.cmu.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> It seems obvious to me that Julf will never make his anonymous
|
|
> server agreeable to all. Seeing's how at present the overseas
|
|
> lines are being used for this, and that there is an abundance of
|
|
> people willing to put their money where their mouth is, why
|
|
> doesn't someone in North America set up a new anonymous site WITH
|
|
> THEIR OWN RULES. Set up an anonymous server that, say, doesn't
|
|
> allow anonymous postings to comp.* groups, or has the "default"
|
|
> as no anonymous. It seems to me that one of the best ways to kill
|
|
> off a radical idea is to endorce half of it and let the other
|
|
> half wither away. Besides, if there is a "more reasonable" anon
|
|
> server around, I'm sure more sites wouldn't have second thoughts
|
|
> about killfiling anon.penet.fi.
|
|
|
|
Dr. Cat <cat@wixer.cactus.org>:
|
|
|
|
> Can the anon servers be banished from the net forever? Don't
|
|
> count on it. Today, tomorrow, next year, it may be possible to
|
|
> keep systems like anon.penet.fi from being widely used. But does
|
|
> anyone here think that some easy method for creating messages
|
|
> totally anonymously won't be widespread on the networks of a
|
|
> hundred years from now? The technology to make it happen is easy,
|
|
> the technology to keep it from happening is hard and will get
|
|
> harder. Widespread anonymity will happen sooner or later. Count
|
|
> on it. You can bury your head in the sand and say "It isn't
|
|
> acceptable because bad things can be done with it", or you can be
|
|
> pragmatic and say "This is coming, so what is the best way to
|
|
> deal with the consequences of it"?
|
|
|
|
Richard E. Depew <red@redpoll.neoucom.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> I am writing to inform you that if Julf, admin@anon.penet.fi, does
|
|
> not soon block anonymous postings to the "sci" hierarchy, then I
|
|
> will activate an "Automated Retroactive Minimal Moderation"
|
|
> script that will cancel postings to this hierarchy from his
|
|
> server. ...
|
|
>
|
|
> Rest assured that there is nothing personal in this. I have not
|
|
> read your postings, and I have no reason to believe that they
|
|
> were out of line in any way other than being anonymous.
|
|
>
|
|
> You have several possible courses of action if you wish to post to
|
|
> the "sci" hierarchy while the "Automated Retroactive Minimal
|
|
> Moderation" is in effect:
|
|
>
|
|
> *1 convince Julf to accept the "Petersen Proposal" for default
|
|
> settings for different hierarchies. I promise to turn off the
|
|
> ARMM script as soon as I hear that he will do this (or anything
|
|
> reasonably responsive).
|
|
|
|
Lasse Hiller|e Petersen <lhp@daimi.aau.dk>:
|
|
|
|
> I HATE to see my name being connected with this.
|
|
>
|
|
> Who, just WHO, do you think you are?
|
|
>
|
|
> I _proposed_, _suggested_ a compromise. You make it sound like an
|
|
> ULTIMATUM. I am appaled and ashamed.
|
|
|
|
Karl Kleinpaste <Karl_Kleinpaste@cs.cmu.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> blockage from an anonymous server is not a death sentence. Find
|
|
> another anon server. Post under your own name. Pick on an open
|
|
> NNTP server and forge elsehow. Find a friend who will post for
|
|
> you in some fashion. There's a boatload of solutions to the
|
|
> problem of getting your ever-so-valuable words posted to any
|
|
> newsgroup you want.
|
|
|
|
Richard E. Depew <red@redpoll.neoucom.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Meanwhile, anonymous servers are evolving into less virulent forms
|
|
> themselves, thus reducing the need for something like ARMM.
|
|
> However, I believe that various antidotes against breaches of
|
|
> netiquette ranging from mild but repeated offenses to abusive
|
|
> net-sociopaths should remain in our armamentarium, "just in
|
|
> case".
|
|
>
|
|
> What we need next is a mechanism for diagnosing net-pathogens, and
|
|
> for prescribing the appropriate net-medication. Otherwise, a
|
|
> net-doctor is likely to face charges of net-malpractice. :-)
|
|
>
|
|
> To the "magic bullet"!
|
|
|
|
Alexander Chislenko <sasha@ra.cs.umb.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Of course, it is possible to set up a distributed anonymous
|
|
> encrypted remailing system that cannot be stopped or compromised
|
|
> by taking over any given number of sites. Of course, anonymous
|
|
> postings will always exist in a growing variety of forms on the
|
|
> Net whose functional structure very soon will be drastically
|
|
> different from today's.
|
|
|
|
"somebody":
|
|
|
|
> I believe some regional network service providers in the US
|
|
> prohibit users to use anonymous postings or mail as part of their
|
|
> contracts. Does yours?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
_____
|
|
<3.8> What are the effects of anonymity?
|
|
|
|
|
|
<an8729@anon.penet.fi>:
|
|
|
|
> Since I began posting anonymously (to show support for general
|
|
> principles of personal privacy) I have been subject to far more
|
|
> abuse and attack than I ever received before. People seem to
|
|
> find it easier to flame and insult someone whose name they don't
|
|
> know. Perhaps it's easier to pretend that there is no person
|
|
> behind the email address who feels the sting of abusive comments.
|
|
|
|
Tarl Neustaedter <tarl@sw.stratus.com>:
|
|
|
|
> Anonimity leads to fun psych experiments; the literature is filled
|
|
> with all the various things that people will do anonymously that
|
|
> they won't otherwise. Including one notorious study involving
|
|
> torture that would not have passed today's ethical standards. Fun
|
|
> stuff, in any case.
|
|
>
|
|
> FINE. LEAVE US OUT OF IT.
|
|
|
|
Brian W. Ogilvie <ogil@quads.uchicago.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> The service provides a mechanism for forwarding mail to the
|
|
> original poster. Since most Usenet readers don't know John Smith
|
|
> from Jane Doe except by their opinions and their address, the
|
|
> effect of having an anonymous posting to which mail replies can
|
|
> be directed is minimal, except for those who personally know the
|
|
> poster--and ... the lack of anonymity could be serious. Any
|
|
> mechanism like this is liable to abuse, but the benefits as well
|
|
> as the costs must be weighed.
|
|
|
|
Perry E. Metzger <pmetzger@snark.shearson.com>:
|
|
|
|
> The tragedy of pseudonymous posting is that, once used, it must
|
|
> always be used. ... This is going to be a problem for
|
|
> pseudonymous posters; we'll start recognizing them by their
|
|
> grammatical habits or choice of words, and they'll wind up using
|
|
> pseudonyms all the time, in *everything* they post.
|
|
>
|
|
> I had thought of pseudonymity as a cloak, to be used at will; now,
|
|
> it's starting to look like a deadman switch that has to be used
|
|
> at all times.
|
|
>
|
|
> People speak of the 'freedom' of pseudonymity; here's an example
|
|
> of its restrictions.
|
|
|
|
Melinda Shore <shore@dinah.tc.cornell.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> The problem ... is less one of authority than it is
|
|
> responsibility. People who dissasociate their identities from
|
|
> their postings no longer need to be as responsible, and the
|
|
> results of that are the kinds of content-free flamers that show
|
|
> up, for example, in the gay-related newsgroups.
|
|
|
|
Dave Hayes <dave@elxr.jpl.nasa.gov>:
|
|
|
|
> What a primal example of human nature. I have three questions for
|
|
> you folks.
|
|
>
|
|
> Do people really say different things to each other based upon
|
|
> whether their identity is or isn't known?
|
|
>
|
|
> Are people really so affected by what other people say that the
|
|
> verbage is labeled "abuse"?
|
|
>
|
|
> Most importantly, on a forum that prizes itself on the freedom of
|
|
> communication that it enjoys, is there really such a thing as
|
|
> freedom of communication?
|
|
|
|
Karl Kleinpaste <Karl_Kleinpaste@cs.cmu.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Weak reasoning.
|
|
> With freedom comes responsibility.
|
|
|
|
Dave Hayes <dave@elxr.jpl.nasa.gov>:
|
|
|
|
> Responsibility isn't real if it is enforced. True responsibilty
|
|
> comes with no coercion.
|
|
|
|
"somebody":
|
|
|
|
> These problems are not a service. Freedom without responsibility
|
|
> leads to barbarism, and the way anonymous services are structured
|
|
> is to remove the checks that impose personal responsibility.
|
|
|
|
Fred McCall <mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com>:
|
|
|
|
> It seems to me that one of the big 'needs' of anonymous servers on
|
|
> the net is as protection against the sort of person that uses
|
|
> anonymous servers.
|
|
>
|
|
> Hey, maybe there's something to this anonymity thing after all,
|
|
> but only as a defense against the sort of people who seem to be
|
|
> using it...
|
|
|
|
Chris Walsh <mack23@avalon.eecs.nwu.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> The S/N ratio on usenet is, IMHO, so low that complaints about
|
|
> posts from anon servers are basically using the anon-servers as
|
|
> a whipping boy. Clearly, any mechanism which decreases the
|
|
> difficulty of posting in an "untraceable" way will increase the
|
|
> quantity of drivel made available, but it will also increase the
|
|
> quantity of useful-but-sensitive material as well. Perhaps the
|
|
> net effect (pardon the pun) will be a slight decrease in the S/N
|
|
> ratio, but unless an appreciable proportion of posts use the
|
|
> anon-servers, I fail to see how this is so much more dreadful
|
|
> than what we already have that anyone would get their shorts
|
|
> twisted over it. I can see how it might produce momentary
|
|
> flurries of drivel in certain groups, but these groups already
|
|
> have such flurries regularly.
|
|
|
|
<C445585@mizzou1.missouri.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> In the larger context, it seems like, as USENET/internet grows,
|
|
> we're going to continue to have problems with abuse AND with the
|
|
> need for anonymity. I say this because as we expand, we get more
|
|
> people (thus more people who may be abusers of the system), and
|
|
> also because as we grow we start having more important things go
|
|
> around here. Sexual-abuse discussions are a lot more personal
|
|
> than discussions on whether PKP's patent on RSA is valid or not.
|
|
> In the future, more personal and more important discussions
|
|
> (maybe sci.* groups with prestige similar to that of scientific
|
|
> journals) will crop up.
|
|
|
|
Chris Walsh <mack23@avalon.eecs.nwu.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> Can anyone email me an example of a newsgroup whose traffic was
|
|
> noticeably worsened, S/N ratio wise, by the anon-servers?
|
|
|
|
Ron Dippold <rdippold@qualcomm.com>:
|
|
|
|
> Are you including Depew as an effect of the anon-servers?
|
|
|
|
Wes Groleau <groleau@e7sa.crd.ge.com>
|
|
|
|
> Several newsgroups were noticeably worsened by ARMM-5b ("b" for
|
|
> boo-boo) which--as everybody knows--was caused by anon-servers
|
|
> :-)
|
|
|
|
Richard E. Depew <red@redpoll.neoucom.edu>:
|
|
|
|
> The consensus seems to be that a general anonymous posting service
|
|
> such as that at anon.penet.fi seems sufficiently corrosive of the
|
|
> trust and civility of the net that this particular experiment
|
|
> should be ended. Perhaps the next time the question comes up we
|
|
> can say: "We tried it - we learned it does more harm than good -
|
|
> and we stopped it."
|
|
|
|
* * *
|
|
|
|
This is Part 2 of the Anonymity FAQ, obtained via anonymous FTP to
|
|
rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers/net-anonymity/ or newsgroups
|
|
alt.privacy, alt.answers, news.answers every 21 days.
|
|
Written by L. Detweiler <ld231782@longs.lance.colostate.edu>.
|
|
All rights reserved.
|
|
|