Re:To protect the innocent (Score 1)

Anonimity is already all but abolished in other media, why should it bother us if it doesn't exist on the 'Net? If you send a letter to a newspaper expressing your views on the legalization of marihuana, they will not publish it unless you sign your name on it. You may ask not to have your name published (that's called your "right to privacy"), but the newspaper editors will know who you are. You may choose to submit a fictitious name, but if they bother to verify your identity, and find it to be fake, your opinion will not be heard. If we cannot express our views using our own name, then we are _not_ free. If we admit that we _must_ remain anonymous to be safe from reprisals, then we are, effectively, _not_ free. This, BTW, is what I believe is really happening.

If I post this here under a pseudonym, I expect /. to respect my _privacy_ by not divulging my real name. But if legally requested, and with good enough justification, anyone would be able to find out who I am. If I post a message _anonymously_ threatening to kill someone, and that person turns up dead, then the police will not be able to identify me from my posting.

This discussion has a gazillion ramifications which I, not being a lawyer (thank God), cannot even fathom. I do believe there is reason to fear not being completely anonymous: corporations, governments, and, ultimately, people, cannot be trusted to respect others' privacy when it comes to defending their own selfish interests.