Canadian Police Recommend Ending Anonymity On the Internet

An anonymous reader writes "Michael Geist reports that last week the Ontario Provincial Police, one of Canada's largest police forces, recommended legally ending anonymity on the Internet. Noting the need for drivers licenses to drive or marriage licenses to get married, the police suggested that an Internet license that would reveal all users is needed to address online crime. The Canadian Supreme Court strongly endorsed a right to anonymity earlier this year."

Comments

Tsk tsk.

[blueshift_1]

I feel like the drivers and marriage licenses are not that relevant here. A drivers license is mainly used to show that are at least reasonably competant drivers (though we all know that doesn't mean that much) and a marriage license is more of a way to formalize the legal agreement so that you can file taxes and whatnot as married. The internet is a tool of communication and you can definitely use a pay phone, send a letter, or even buy cellphone without a license of any sort. Just have the cash and pay for the service. Just looking for the easy button on determining who did what on the internet.

and on a side note, the US uses marriage licenses/laws (in some states) to limit who can get it. Imagine the damage this could cause with the government limited who could use the internet... like dangling fruit over our head to make sure were good little kiddies and never did anything bad on the net.