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HK

Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:
HK wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:
wrote:
On Mar 10, 6:23 pm, "Reginald P. Smithers III" "Reggie is Here
wrote:
HK wrote:
wrote:
On Mar 10, 4:12 pm, HK wrote:
Posted on Thu, Mar. 06, 2008
Anonymous Web postings targeted
BILL WOULD REQUIRE NAMES, ADDRESSES
By John Cheves

A bill filed in the House would keep Kentuckians from posting
anonymous
comments to Web sites.
House Bill 775, filed Tuesday by Rep. Tim Couch, R-Hyden, would
require
anyone who contributes to a Web site to register a real name,
address
and e-mail address with that Web site. The person's full name
then would
be used whenever he or she posted a comment.
Web site operators who violate the disclosure law would be fined
$500
for a first offense and $1,000 for each subsequent offense.
Couch readily acknowledged on Wednesday that his bill raises First
Amendment issues regarding free speech, so he won't be pushing
it. But
he wanted to call attention to the phenomenon of unkind and
often untrue
comments about people being posted online by Kentuckians hiding
behind
the cloak of anonymity.
"Some nasty things have been said about high school kids in my
district,
usually by other kids," Couch said. "The adults get in on it, too."
"When you're anonymous, you can say anything you want to about
someone,
and nobody knows who you are," he said.
Couch said he, too, has been the subject of anonymous online
roasting,
and while he doesn't enjoy it, he doesn't think there's much the
legislature can do about it.
"I think right now (online posting) is pretty much just on its
own. It's
a machine that's going to go its own way," Couch said. "The
state can
try to pass some rules, but I don't really think it would do
anything."
- - -
Not quite my idea for shedding the cloak of anonymity, but it's
a start.
I'd love to see usenet require posters to post with their full,
real
name and real ISP.
Could get costly. As a web hosting provider I would be looking for a
software package that would block all ip's from that state to any
access to my systems, just like Indonesia and China. It is a
political
ploy anyway, someone looking for votes.
Well, I think getting rid of usenet anonymity is a great idea.
Harry,
Beside you telling us your name is Harry Krause, you are just as
anonymous as "Reggie". No one really knows which Harry Krause you
are,
there are many in the US and what your home address and phone
number is.
We really don't know for certain if your name really is Harry
Krause,
or it is just a UseNet persona. If everyone had to submit to a
background check, and all of the information was in the public domain,
what would you do differently when communicating with someone in
UseNet?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I know who he is, and could call him right now or send him a letter,
directly to his house... Just for the record...

PS - But if Harry's Law was applied to UseNet, Harry would have to
let everyone know that information, including the guy from Thailand
living in Canada, who took offense to Harry saying he was having
incest with his underage sister and pimping his underage sister. I
think the guy said he wanted to walk up to Harry's door late at night
and have him say that to his face, or something to that effect.

Now that would not be prudent.

If Harry's law applied to usenet, you wouldn't be here.

Yes, but you would not be here either, since I don't know which Harry
Krause you are, if you really are named Harry Krause. In fact, very few
if anyone who currently posts in rec.boats would be here

Oh, I'd be here, and so would lots of others. It would be a much
friendlier place, without posters whose only reason for being here was
to act snarky, or to criticize the boating decisions of others, without
revealing the decisions they made.