Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Anonymous post

 
Computer Desktop Encyclopedia: anonymous post
Home > Library > Technology > Computer Encyclopedia

A message that cannot be traced to the person who created it. See anonymous remailer.

Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your iPhone/iTouch

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Anonymous post
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia

An anonymous post is an entry on a bulletin board system, Internet forum or message board, blog, or other discussion forum without a screen name or more commonly by using a non-identifiable pseudonym. Some online forums do not allow such posts, requiring users to be registered. Some may allow anonymous posts, but discourage anonymous cowards. Others like JuicyCampus, Squeelr, AutoAdmit, and 4Chan thrive upon anonymity.

Contents

IP Addresses

Anonymity on the Internet is limited by IP addresses. For example, WikiScanner associates anonymous Wikipedia edits with the IP address that made the change and tries to identify the entity that owns the IP address. On other websites IP address may not be publicly available, but they can be obtained from the website controllers.[1]

Actually identifying who posted an anonymous post requires two Doe subpoenas. First, the IP address of the poster must be obtained from the hosting website. Second, the IP address is linked to a real person. In legal matters, websites can be forced to provide IP addresses and then ISP can often be forced to identify user of the IP address.

Legal Protections

Main article: Doe subpoena

The right to speak anonymously online is protected, in the United States, by the First Amendment, and various other laws.[2] These laws restrict the ability of the government and civil litigants to obtain the identity of anonymous speakers. The First Amendment says that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press."[3] This protection has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to protect the right to speak anonymously offline. In McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission,[4] the Supreme Court overturned an Ohio law banning the distribution of anonymous election pamphlets. The Court said, "[a]n author’s decision to remain anonymous . . . is an aspect of the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment."[4] The Court found that "anonymous pamphleteering is not a pernicious, fraudulent practice, but an honorable tradition of advocacy and of dissent. Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority."[4] Various courts have interpreted these offline protections to extend to the online world.[5]

See also

External links

Notes

  1. ^ For some suggestions on how to make it harder to trace anonymous posts see EFF’s Article on Blog Safety, TOR.
  2. ^ For an example of a brief moving to protect an anonymous post.
  3. ^ First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
  4. ^ a b c McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 514 U.S. 334 (1995).
  5. ^ See, e.g., Doe v. Cahill, 884 A.2d 451 (Del. 2005); Krinsky v. Doe 6, 159 Cal. App. 4th 1154 (2008).

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY.
All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
© 1981-2010 The Computer Language Company Inc.  All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Anonymous post".  Read more