I have always preferred online community that tied into real-life community, using real names and discussing real issues in real space.
But there are certainly reasons for anonymous channels on the net -- and now, just being anonymous may make you subject to jail time.
In question is a new law, buried in the Violence Against Women Act, that makes it annoying someone -- when not acting under your real name -- punishable by stiff fines and two years in prison.
As the ACLU points out, the really problematic point in here is that there's no real good definition for "intent to annoy." I know people who are annoying in their very existance online -- and what better reason to hide behind anonymity!
See the article linked above for some very reasonable examples of why this isn't just about "cyberstalking."
This is probably about as enforceable as the CDA, but is sufficiently obscure that it will probably take someone being prosecuted under the law before people get outraged. The CDA was silly -- as someone at the time pointed out, there were parts of the Bible that couldn't be distributed on the web (see the second post down, with the familiar name on it) should it have passed.
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Comments: 6
;p
keep trying....
booty - which is the rally cry - down with those who lack the intent to annoy, or damn them i say?
i like the first one - it's more - annoying...