Anonymous now and forever
EFF is continuing its good work in defending Internet anonymity. A Tulsa, Oklahoma school superintendent doesn't like being anonymously criticized on the Internet and has sued the site operator to force revelation of the users making the posts. EFF has filed to block the school official's subpoena. I don't agree with EFF on every issue, but this is a noble cause and the Oklahoma case is not the first anonymity case in which they've filed something.
Anonymity is not privacy, but it is the "penumbra" of privacy (apologies to the departed Justice Douglas). Free Speech is, as a practical matter, easiest to protect when there is not retribution for what's said. Given the permanent nature of what's written on the Internet, there is no sense of latency; when you read something on a website, it often reads like it was written today. When the veil of anonymity is lifted, then whatever the author said will be around forever and fully attributed. Could anyone with an opinion survive having that opinion recrammed down his throat for the rest of digital eterntity?
The penalties of endless attribution and possible retribution far outweigh the benefits of allowing a subppoena for an angsty lawsuit.
Posted on July 03, 2006
