Giving up a portion of your freedom

Johnson, Dan. "Anonymity and the Internet." The Futurist (July 2000):12.Acedemic OneFile. Gale.BCR Regis University.10 Oct 2007

The right of privacy on the Internet is a clear problem not only for underage persons but also for the average user that does not want big brother watching. The director of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Mark S. Frankel, clearly agrees on this point although anonymous communication is fast becoming a problem. Frankels view "The consensus view of the conference was that the positive value of anonymous communication more than offsets the dangers of abuse…" Although he agrees that abusers that impersonate, give false information, spread viruses and engage in other criminal acts are a problem, he gives ideas on how to solve the problem. Suggestions like monitoring with a warrant and "Inoculate the public" seem a little scary but probably necessary because of the obvious resources that criminals can and are feeding upon.

Opinion: Firmly in favor of strict privacy laws, I am at odds with the potential intrusion that inevitably would happen if legislation were put in place to monitor chats or blogs. I have to conclude that in order to protect our freedom we must give up a portion of it. -Teresa

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