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Illinois Politician Wants a Kill Switch For Anonymous Speech Online
New submitter OhSoLaMeow writes with a story at The Daily Caller with unpleasant news from the Illinois state Senate, where a state senator has introduced a bill that "would require anonymous website comment posters to reveal their identities if they want to keep their comments online." From the article (warning — obnoxious ads with sound): "The bill, called the Internet Posting Removal Act, is sponsored by Illinois state Sen. Ira Silverstein. It states that a 'web site administrator upon request shall remove any comments posted on his or her web site by an anonymous poster unless the anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post and confirms that his or her IP address, legal name, and home address are accurate.'"
Already, Facebook and Google+ forbid anonymous postings. Facebook's comment system is used all over the web, so you can't post anonymously anywhere it is found -- you can, of course, violate their terms of service and use a *false* ID, but in that case, again, you can lose your voice and your posts at any time
Maybe that is the game... Your freedom of speech is only valid if you are presented as you? As in, how do I know there is even a person behind that statement? If there isn't, then it can be terminated! Just thinking from the other side
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
Yes, and despite him being able to Google, it doesn't change the fact that I am still "anonymous" according to the proposed law. Even if the information was part of my signature and appeared in every post, it still wouldn't be enough for the proposed law.
I also suspect that he might be seeing some "troll" mods for what most would consider a breach of etiquette.