There goes the neighborhood…
10 Mar, 2008 | Written by Blake Imeson | under Internet
Kentucky Lawmaker Wants to Make Anonymous Internet Posting Illegal
“Kentucky Representative Tim Couch filed a bill this week to make anonymous posting online illegal.
The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site.
Their full name would be used anytime a comment is posted.
If the bill becomes law, the website operator would have to pay if someone was allowed to post anonymously on their site. The fine would be five-hundred dollars for a first offense and one-thousand dollars for each offense after that.” Full article… New article (last broke)
This is sad if this bill gains any traction. Agree? Why would this be a really bad thing?
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Cody Crumrine | March 10th, 2008 at 1:20 pm #
Frankly, this just strikes me as kind of ridiculous, even to the point where it’s almost laughable. If such a law like this were to pass, and be effectively put into practice, it would have some sad effects. So much participation online is on an anonymous basis. Take away that option and we lose comments on blogs like this one, user reviews on online stores, forums are just about gone, etc.
I don’t think we’ve got much to fear though, this bill just seems to far-fetched to pass, let alone be enforced. I mean really, what’s to stop me from using a fake name and a g-mail address? Can they really ensure that my “real” information is used? I doubt it. As far as the fine goes, are they really going to fine, for example, wordpress $1,000 for every comment? Heck, everything from Musician’s Friend to Cabela’s allows anonymous reviews.
This bill just has no chance, and it really makes me wonder what Representative Couch was thinking. Someone right something nasty on his political blog or something? Just delete the comment man, don’t try and pass some ridiculous law to cut down on “online bullying.” Sigh…
vernon172 | March 10th, 2008 at 2:32 pm #
I think it’s true that this bill won’t pass. A bill such as this would have to be much more sneaky to slide by. But it does strike me that the government is anxious to get a grasp on the internet. It is one area where it has not figured out how to tax or regulate (very much). I am sure the government will keep trying to find ways to get control over the internet, and i am sure individuals will keep finding ways to get around these controls. I also imagine that a few unlucky ones will get hit hard by the government in the process in order to make an example of them.
An example of this is the whole illegal downloading phenomena. The government has tried to crack down on it, and in response individuals have found all sorts of ways to get away with it anyway. However, a few unlucky individuals have gotten caught and hit pretty hard with fines etc. I’m sure this basic pattern will continue.