Europe Seeks to Tighten Some Online Laws

Some European countries are proposing outlawing the use of fake information to open e-mail accounts or set up Web sites, a move intended to help terror investigations but which could face resistance on a privacy-conscious continent.

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Careful what you say and who you pretend to be when you say it in Texas.

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The identity of a woman who rang a telephone crime hotline with a tip-off about a fatal stabbing has been made known to the defendant because her phone was being tapped at the time, news agency ANP reports on Monday.

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Back in the day, just a few years ago, people signed their name when they hacked up a hairball of vitriol and sent it off for publication. Happily for somebody, that is not now the case.

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Should victims of abduction and abuse like Jaycee Dugard get the same media anonymity as other rape victims?

A thought provoking article in the The Guardian poses a good question:

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For months - years even - I've been arguing that anonymous and pseudonymous comments have no place on the Internet. I'm in no doubt that if we forced everyone who wanted to respond to a blog post or online article to use their real name, the Internet would be transformed.

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Some mythbusting about the Liskula Cohen case against the skanksnyc blog, and the future of blogger Rosemary Port's lawsuit against Google.

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A former Vogue Australia cover girl has won a landmark court battle to reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger who called her a "skank" and an "old hag".

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Last year, the Richmond Register (a daily newspaper in Richmond, KY) ran an article about a young woman who had been kicked out of a mall because the dress she was wearing (one she'd actually purchased at the mall) was too short.

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A compilation of websites that allow you to make "complaints" online

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Thousands of bloggers who operate behind the cloak of anonymity have no right to keep their identities secret, the High Court ruled yesterday.

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A blogger critical of First Baptist Church Pastor Mac Brunson wants to know why his Web site was investigated by a police detective who is also a member of the minister's security detail.

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Representative Mike Doogan (D-AK) decides that anyone with substantial influence on the political discourse must do so by name, so "outs" a well-known and well-respected Alaskan blogger. Regardless of consequences, legalities, ethics, or even consideration of future elections, Mr.

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DEAR ABBY: I am part of a group of people who read our local newspaper online and comment on the news of the day in the public forums provided. It's great fun and offers an excellent place to interact with others.

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Republican politicians on Thursday called for a sweeping new federal law that would require all Internet providers and operators of millions of Wi-Fi access points, even hotels, local coffee shops, and home users, to keep records about users for two years to aid police investigat …

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Your DNA is a set of bodily instructions, a catalog of our evolutionary past and a personal warning label about your health risks. It is also a secret. No one knows what your DNA says...

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A constant criticism of MySpace is that real names are hidden when you view someone's profile or interact with them on the site. They're now making subtle product changes that encourage users to show their real name on the site.

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Investigators Confirm Child's Body Wrapped Inside Plastic Bag

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A United Nations agency is quietly drafting technical standards, proposed by the Chinese government, to define methods of tracing the original source of Internet communications and potentially curbing the ability of users to remain anonymous (via American Libraries Direct)

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When the news broke a few days ago that Novak had a brain tumor and would retire, I was not made prostrate by grief.

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Social networking already intersects with gaming through GAX Online, but there's a newer MMO-centric community that's growing in popularity.

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The internet used to be a great place to discuss ideas. Now it's turning into a place where any discussion quickly turns into vicious, anonymous personal attacks.

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Will The Government Try To Make Online Anonymity Illegal? [Poll]

The lawmakers are coming! The lawmakers are coming!

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Noted lawyer Geoffrey Robertson on a proposed change to the UK justice system

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I'd never expected to find Jimmy Wales' name in the author list of a scientific paper, much less a list that includes one of the deans of fly genetics, Michael Ashburner. But the two are among the two dozen authors of a paper that will be released this evening by Genome Biology.

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The FBI has recently adopted a novel investigative technique: posting hyperlinks that purport to be illegal videos of minors having sex, and then raiding the homes of anyone willing to click on them.

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