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31 Comments
- SniperGX1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5The american government hates anonymity which proves that it is the most important asset to freedom
- Fruvous, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The author blithely ignores that with anonymity comes an INFINITE number of identities, not just one. Take the eBay example. Sure, if I screw people over, I'll get a bad reputation on eBay. But I can just start another account, and resume my bad behaviour with none the wiser. Repeat until I am rich.
So without some kind of solid identity underneath that, anonymity does, indeed, kill. - recursive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2In fact, anonymity is probably the only thing that can save the internet.
- C0D3R, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Of course Mr. Schneier misses the point that e-Bay's accountability model is based on anonymous input. Where we have psuedo-anonymity as the basis for accountability, we have psuedo-acountability. Where we have pure anonymity as the basis for accountability, we have no accountability. That's the point Mr. Kelly made.
- bradspry, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The Federalist Papers are a series of 85 articles arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. The articles were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, under the pseudonym "Publius", in honor of Roman consul Publius Valerius Publicola.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_papers
I'm sure GWB has never heard of these most important documents, which are the foundation of the United States. - xofc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ amitrix
"Its the system!!! system manipulates individuals...so as long as the system remains corrupted, even PERFECT individuals will turn into PERFECT *****..."
Not to be dogmatic, but people make pretty good ***** by themselves, and apart from any system. Theologically speaking, it's called universal depravity, but that's nothing more than an elaborate way to say that everyone is ***** up in some way.
More to the point of anonymity and its uses and misuses: the internet is everything but a homogeneous system. You have everything from a 12 year old's semi-pornographic blog on xanga to ebay to the department of defense to my online banking. Just like in the real world, different sources are accounted different levels of trust and acceptance based on their perceived accountability, bias and authority. If said 12 year makes commentary on constitutional law or quantum physics, I'll take it with a grain of salt. Complete anonymity has no authority other than that afforded by the reasonable use of language: no one knows who I am in this forum, but I can gain authority by making reasonable and well thought out claims. In an analogue of the real world, the different social, political and commercial portions of the internet have varying levels of trust and anonymnity - fourfive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I like it!
- lollerskates, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0We can't have anonymity for transactions. It's crypto-anarchy! For everything else on the web, though, crypto-anarchy is what you want. The internet can't function with real identities; it's all about freedom. That's the point of the internet.
In the end, though, nobody is really anonymous. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The american government hates anonymity which proves that it is the most important asset to freedom"
I love people who think the government isn't human created, but some massive evil group set to peak into your everyday boring lives. Yawn. - scorwitz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Anonymity IS the internet. I still find it amazing that ANYONE puts there real name all over the place online. The only reason I haven't ever had a website of my own is for this reason. It could affect the rest of your life if you posted one thing that someone else used to judge you with.
- ImKenny, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"EBay's feedback system works because each anonymous nickname comes with a record of previous transactions attached, and if someone cheats someone else then everybody knows it."
Exactly, anonymity isn't going to hurt the Internet... It will actually help it. - bastien, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Anonymity will save Nobody
- valis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"I'm sure GWB has never heard of these most important documents, which are the foundation of the United States."
Here here. *nods* - OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0[quote]Anonymity IS the internet. I still find it amazing that ANYONE puts there real name all over the place online.[/quote]
If you're someone with a reputation in the "real world," you want it known on the internet when you say something. If the real GW Bush posted a comment here about throwing you all in jail for "terrism", you'd want some verification that it was really him. - jumjum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Anonymity has dominated the internet for the past ten years, and it has bloomed into another world. Who wants the same name in both worlds?
I don't really understand the 'anonymous hate' schpiel anyway. If someone confesses to a crime the message board admin has their IP address logged. If someone annoys you with their speech, mean-spirited or not, grow a goddamned spine and deal with it.
This world has turned into a world of pathetic cowards and deserves exactly what it gets.
GL. - bastien, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Fruvous: if anonymity is equal to an in(de)finite number of identities, it follows that there are several levels of pseudo-anonymity. The closest you are from non-anonymity, the less you need to rely on third-parties. The closest you are from pure-anonymity, the more you need to rely on the network.
Anonymity reinforce network effects, the internet is based on them! - Technopotamus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Anonymity also sometimes makes people act stupid! On instant messangers, online games, email and such, it takes people time to learn to use anonymity responsibly.
But hey, no parents teach their kids about using anonymity responsibly, or about internet customs in general. Until they do, anonymity will be mostly percieved as a blanket for immaturity, rather than a barricade against information misuse.
I was once told, that all i needed to do to switch long distance plans, was tell the telemarketer on the other end what my first name was; i hung up in disgust, and promptly took my first name off any online source. If they found my name online, whats to stop them from signing me up? Notice how phone books dont list first names? Why should the internet? - mpeters13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0anonymity has already killed the intarbutt. it's called 4chan.
- Metman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0LOL - Your NOT anonymous (99.99% of the time) and I get paychecks that prove that.
IF (cost_of_forensic_effort > dmgs_to_intity) {
$user = remain_anon();
} else {
pay_metman();
sue_silly_user();
}
Really is that simple.
There are several forensic firms who do exactly what I do. I get no less then 300 requests a month from private security firms and state/county/local law enforcement or law firms to track people down from things as simple as an hotmail email address or a forum/blog post. I have a 99.99% success rate. - amitrix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0interesting read...but whats bothering is "We live in a world where the police and the government are made up of less-than-perfect individuals"...no one aint perfect so i wonder if we ever will have an Utopian society or i aint sure if thats what we want??
Its the system!!! system manipulates individuals...so as long as the system remains corrupted, even PERFECT individuals will turn into PERFECT *****... - shanen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well, abuse of anonymity (in the /. moderation system) is why I'm visiting digg today. There are cases when anonymity serves legitimate purposes, but those cases are relatively rare, if you ask me. I think it is reasonable to provide for anonymity in those cases, but the Internet default of anonymity is not good. Look at the newsgroups to see another example. The S/N ratio used to be good, but now it's not just zero, it's gone negative. The sources of misinformation are far more insistent about their BS, apparently hoping that additional repetitions can overcome stubborn realities.
- termal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0More discussion on his blog if anyone's interested:
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/01/anonymity_and_a.html - knightblade2oo4, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Im pretty sure nothing can kill the internet.
- DeMarko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0sure I'll give you that, but I know one thing: (I hope all of you see this coming)
Video killed the radio star - cusoman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Anonymity won't kill the internet, no... but Albertpacino's crony alter-IDs he uses to bump his stories to the front page might.
- elroy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0it's pretty damn hard to post anonymously anyway.
- xVern, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0i was going to submit this, :(
- themachina, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0yawn.
- inkswamp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I'm no fan of George W. and his neocon cronies, but the widespread interpretation of the Department of Justice Reauthorization Act that Bush signed into law (the one that supposedly makes it illegal to "annoy" someone on the Internet anonymously) is wrong. Here is a much more incisive and thoughtful look at that bill, as opposed to the reactionary CNET story that started all this.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060110-5947.html - laughterkillsme, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Sometimes I ramble too, but I don't post it on Digg.
- chadell, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0There is nothing out there that can hurt the Internet, people will use the Internet to hurt others anonymously. Anonymous attacks are like querilla war fighters, you do not know who and where your enemy is. People who insist on anonymity are usually backstabbers, we all know what happened to Judas.
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