IP: Nameless in Cyberspace: Anonymity on the Internet

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Do look at the AAAS study on Anonymity. It is not just a free speach 
> issue. Issues like liable etc become hard to handle. djf




> Date: Thu, 9 Dec 1999 10:36:33 -0500
> To: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
> From: Matthew Gaylor <freematt () coil com>
>
>
> Jonathan Wallace's new paper, Nameless in Cyberspace: Anonymity on the
> Internet, has just been published by the Cato Institute.
>
> Its online at:
>
> http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-054es.html in PDF format.
>
> Paper No. 54
> December 8, 1999
>
>
> Nameless in Cyberspace:
> Anonymity on the Internet
>
> by Jonathan D. Wallace
>
> Jonathan D. Wallace publishes Ethical Spectacle, available at
> http://www.spectacle.org/, and is coauthor of Sex, Laws and Cyberspace (New
> York: Henry Holt, 1996). He is a software executive and attorney in New
> York City.
>
> Executive Summary
>
> Proposals to limit anonymous communications on the Internet would violate
> free speech rights long recognized by the Supreme Court. Anonymous and
> pseudonymous speech played a vital role in the founding of this country.
> Thomas Paines Common Sense was Þrst released signed, An Englishman.
> Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, James Madison, Samuel Adams, and others
> carried out the debate between Federalists and Anti-Federalists using
> pseudonyms. Today, human rights workers in China and many other countries
> have reforged the link between anonymity and free speech.
>
> Given the importance of anonymity as a component of free speech, the cost
> of banning anonymous Internet speech would be enor-mous. It makes no sense
> to treat Internet speech differently from printed leaþets or books.
>
> 1999 The Cato Institute
>
>
> Regards,  Matt-
>
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