anonymous

There are lots of politicians out there who aren’t thrilled with the anonymous free speech the Internet offers. If they don’t know the blogger’s name, they don’t know who to be mad at. One Alaskan political blogger got so under a representative’s skin the representative spent months trying to find and disclose her identity. You know, because apparently there’s nothing else to do in the Alaskan legislature at the moment.

Fair warning: this is an unsubstantiated, nonspecific, and not entirely easy to swallow rumor.  Today isn't April 1st, however, and the rumor seems to have gotten the attention of a leading tech reporter and at least a few stock traders.  So (for the umpteenth time) consider the possibility that Yahoo is on the path to getting acquired.

Murdok previously reported how Kentucky State Representative, Tim Couch, proposed a bill that would not allow Kentuckians to comment anonymously on the Internet.

First rule of politics for incumbents: During an election year, try not to highlight your general uselessness, especially if you share a name with a famous football player, because people will notice.Second rule of politics for incumbents: If you go to the trouble to introduce a bill, be prepared to defend it until the bitter end, even if you know in your heart it will never pass, not in a million years, unless futility somehow becomes a desired legislative virtue.

Mayer Fertig at the Jewish Star on November 2nd reports (my link/ emphasis):

You can't help, from a reasonable Internet distance, but like her; she's sexy, irreverent, and smart, everything you should like and fear in a gal. But she goofed, at least a little, and unfair or not, Nintendo is the latest corporate entity to can an employee for blogging.

A recent court decision in Arizona is being touted as a victory for free speech and for the right to speak anonymously online.

The parent company of the controversial filesharing service Kazaa has filed suit in a Canadian court against p2pnet.net over alleged libelous comments made in the blog's comments section. The result of the lawsuit could have broad implications on the level of responsibility bloggers and forum hosts hold for third party (often anonymous) comments.