[853] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Carrier Liability Legislation
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Manavendra K. Thakur)
Tue Jun 18 21:10:12 1991
To: kadie@eff.org (Carl M. Kadie)
Cc: com-priv@uu.psi.com
In-Reply-To: Your message of Tue, 18 Jun 91 18:56:38 -0400.
Date: Tue, 18 Jun 91 21:06:42 EDT
From: "Manavendra K. Thakur" <thakur@zerkalo.harvard.edu>
>>>>> On Tue, 18 Jun 91 18:56:38 -0400, kadie@eff.org (Carl M. Kadie) said:
> As to the first point, anonymity and accountability are not
> inconsistent. For example, I recently wanted to post a note about a
> friend of mine. For the sake of my friend's privacy, I wanted to
> post the note anonymously. So, I send it to another friend and asked
> him to post it for me.
[...]
> With encryption techniques another solution is possible. The
> identity of the author could be kept confidential. It would be
> available only with a court order.
I much prefer this solution, assuming that it could be implemented in
a reliable and effective fashion.
It is much more akin to most people's expectation of privacy regarding
things such as first class mail, phone records, bank transaction
records, video rental information, etc. To wit: these are all kept
private, and in many states it is illegal to disclose many or all of
these without a duly authorized court order.
This is the level of protection that, to my mind, needs to be and
should be extended to internet carriers.
Manavendra K. Thakur Internet: thakur@zerkalo.harvard.edu
Systems Programmer, High Energy Division BITNET: thakur@cfa.BITNET
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for DECNET: CFA::thakur
Astrophysics UUCP: ...!uunet!mit-eddie!thakur
