Anonymous Online Diaries With Invisiblog

An anonymous reader writes "The Cypherpunks have finally caught on to the blog phenomenon: enter Invisiblog. This blog system allows users to register accounts and update their weblogs using Len Sassaman's Mixmaster anonymous remailer program. Now you can post all those tales of late-night dumpster diving, without fear of being branded a terrorist!"

Comments

Interesting...

[AdamTrace]

... or just a cool place to post those secrets you've been dying to shout out to the world.

that's great...but

[wattersa]

isn't the whole point of a blog to give the world a small peek at what you're doing? If it's anonymous, there's nothing to stop someone from posting absolute fiction. I might as well just write short stories and post them on usenet...

Re:that's great...but

[NeeNee3]

I agree with you. I think that most people want a blog so that they can talk about themselves. Perhaps they use a pseudonym, but after time, I've noticed that most people start revealing more and more information about who they are and where they are, etc. So, a completely anonymous blog seems rather pointless.

Re:that's great...but

[forand]

what exactly do you think a blog does? Unless you know the poster to ANY blog in person and know that what they are writting is the truth there is no way to know that they are not submitting fiction. Simply putting a name next to a post doesn't mean it is truth.

Dealer blog?

[lpret]

I think this could turn out to be a very interesting project. Think of the people who can now share their story -- Chinese dissidents, drug dealers, hitmen, etc. Society will definitely gain from this.

Re:Dealer blog?

[SuperBanana]

I think this could turn out to be a very interesting project. Think of the people who can now share their story -- Chinese dissidents, drug dealers, hitmen, etc. Society will definitely gain from this.

Not really, because we won't be able to tell what's actually true and what isn't, so you pretty much have to throw the baby out with the bathwater, because you can't tell the difference; it might as well all have a giant "FICTION" stamp on it. Even the non-anonymous weblogs can be complete BS, this is worse.

There are practical matters here- think about it. How's a "Chinese dissident" going to prove he's really a Chinese dissident, without exposing his identity in the process? Hell, half the time people are caught because they reveal information or details only they(or a select group) knew.

Re:Dealer blog?

[Jeremi]

Even the non-anonymous weblogs can be complete BS, this is worse.

Sure... but many things can be independently verified. And of course, certain anonymous weblogs may build up a reputation for truthfulness, which is a useful heuristic.

Of course, this sort of thing is also a great way to post ransom notes, etc... not that I'm saying it's a bad idea because of that, I'm just noting a fact.

Slashdot to the rescue

[nacs]

I guess the good thing about the invisblog site being slashdotted offline is that they'll learn from their mistake have better servers next time around a 13 year old doesn't like what someone said on their site and decides to DDoS it.

So what???

[exhilaration]

Just as Slashdot removed posts that those friendly scientologists, a court order would easily force these guys to remove "offensive" material - if they're in the U.S.

Providing anonymity is only half the battle, you have to base yourself someplace that U.S. law reach to.

Why this isn't stupid

[GeoGreg]

There's already a couple of posts to the effect of "don't post anything on the net that you don't want traced back to you." But, that's not an argument against having anonymous publishing forums. Security agencies want to eliminate anonymity as a route to engaging in criminal activity or, more ominously, as a route to expressing dissent. In some countries, the suppression of dissent is explicit. In others, it's implicit. If these countries allow access to the Mixmaster remailer, and individuals use tools to which security agents don't have access, then "nym" weblogs could be a way of publishing information that governments (and other organizations) wish to suppress. The worst they could say is "you sent an encrypted email to someone" (which is bad enough in some places).

Saying "it's pointless to hide your tracks, so don't even try" is giving in to those who wish to be able to track down every dissenter, and I'm not sure we should do that quite yet.

Re:Excuse me, I speak Jive

[maxpublic]

Maybe, just maybe, you shouldn't write about things that would get you in trouble.

And this was called 'insightful'? Many of the "things that would get you into trouble", in this country and others, are simply those things that the powers that be don't want you telling the world. But I suppose if you're just another alpha-male-worshipping ass-kissing moron, then advice like this is just the thing to make the world a good and right place to live in.

Forget things like exposing political corruption or corporate wrongdoing - you shouldn't be even thinking about such things, much less discussing them with your fellow human beings! Why, if we all bowed down before our political and corporate masters and acted like the proper slaves we were meant to be then we'd all be much, much happier! And should ever a disloyal thought cross your mind, just ignore it and turn on the TV until it goes away....

'Insightful', my ass.

Max