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List:       cryptography
Subject:    [RRE]Anonymous Communication on the Internet
From:       Robert Hettinga <rah () shipwright ! com>
Date:       1999-07-31 21:40:53
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Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1999 13:39:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: Phil Agre <pagre@alpha.oac.ucla.edu>
To: "Red Rock Eater News Service" <rre@lists.gseis.ucla.edu>
Subject: [RRE]Anonymous Communication on the Internet
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[Reformatted to 70 columns.  Note that full text for several of the
articles and abstracts for the rest can be found at the TIS web site.]

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Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 11:33:52 -0500
From: Rob Kling <kling@indiana.edu>
Subject: Anonymous Communication on the Internet


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact
         Ellen Cooper, 202-326-6431, ecooper@aaas.org
         Dave Amber, 202-326-6434, damber@aaas.org
         George Vlahakis, 812-855-3911, gvlahaki@indiana.edu

AAAS URGES CAUTION IN REGULATING
ANONYMOUS COMMUNICATION ON THE
INTERNET
Benefits of Anonymity Outweigh Likely Harms

Washington, DC (June 29, 1999)-Governments should be cautious in
attempting to regulate how people conceal their identities on the
Internet, according to a new study by the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS).  Such regulations could prevent people
from seeking counseling, expressing political opinions or engaging in
financial transactions, and could impede the development of e-commerce
and the World Wide Web.

The study is the first comprehensive analysis of how to balance
the costs and benefits of anonymous communication on the Internet
and is presented in the April-June issue of The Information Society,
an international journal whose editorial offices are at Indiana
University's School of Library and Information Science.  The journal
is published by Taylor & Francis Inc.  The study is the result of a
two-year project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to
examine online anonymity.

"Policymakers ought not to react overzealously because some people
have misused anonymous communications on the Internet," said Al
Teich, director of Science and Policy Programs at AAAS. "If anonymous
communication is used for illegal purposes, the originators of the
anonymous messages-if they can be found-should be punished. However,
the positive values of anonymity more than offset the dangers it
presents."

Rachelle Hollander, director of NSF's Societal Dimensions of
Engineering, Science and Technology program, which funded the study,
said, "There are many differences between Internet communications and
other forms, but there is one significant similarity: The content of
the communication, not just whether or not it is anonymous, determines
its value.  Anonymous communications over the Internet have positive
and negative aspects.  So do anonymous communications by telephone,
the U.S. Mail, or the company suggestion box."

The explosive growth of the Internet over the last decade has created
new avenues for anonymous communications. Anonymous remailers allow
Internet users, free of charge, to post anonymous messages to most
Usenet newsgroups or to send anonymous e-mail to anyone they wish. In
its simplest form, an anonymous remailer works by accepting an e-mail
message from a sender, stripping off the headers that would serve to
identify the sender, and then forwarding the message to the intended
recipient.

Under the cloak of anonymity, users can participate in political and
human rights advocacy, engage in whistle blowing, receive counseling
and perform commercial transactions without disclosing their
identities.  However, anonymity also helps to protects users who take
part in socially unacceptable or criminal activities because of the
difficulty in holding them accountable. Harmful communications include
spamming, hate mail, child pornography and online financial fraud.

- more -

"Anonymous communication is a form of communication, with all of the
human complexities that we experience in modern society. In modern
society people routinely communicate anonymously when they shop or
travel.  It seems a bit more exotic in discussions of the Internet
because of the social significance of specially helpful or harmful
communications, and because of the technological complexities in
creating or hiding on-line identities," said Rob Kling, editor-in-
chief of The Information Society and Indiana University professor of
information science and information systems.

In order to give Internet users the opportunity to communicate
anonymously for legitimate reasons while deterring illegal or
unethical uses of anonymity, the study makes several recommendations,
including allowing online communities to set their own policies on
the use of anonymous communication and informing Internet users about
the extent to which their identity is disclosed online.  The study
discusses how anonymous communication can be shaped by the law,
education and public awareness, and highlights the importance of
involving all affected interests in policy development.

Policymakers, business leaders and scientists have been grappling
with the just how anonymity should or shouldn't be regulated on
the Internet. Several companies have pursued the strategy of filing
"John Doe" lawsuits that enable them to subpoena files revealing
the identities of those who they claim have defamed them on the
Internet.  And the U.S. government has placed strict export limits
on high-powered encryption that is necessary to guarantee anonymity
(although the House and the Senate are considering bills that would
change the policy).  Proponents of anonymity, however, argue that
efforts to use the courts or regulations to control anonymity on the
Internet can hamper technological advancement and undermine the open
exchange of information.

Instances of both harmful and beneficial uses of anonymity are
plentiful on the Internet.  In 1996, a student at a University of
California campus caused anguish for many people by sending anonymous
hate mail to an Asian student electronic list.  On the other hand,
during NATO's military attacks on Kosovo in March 1999, special
services were created to help Kosovars, Serbs and others reporting
on the war to send e-mail anonymously or to post their comments on
certain Web sites, avoiding both censorship and possible reprisals.

         As one part of its online anonymity project, AAAS held a
conference in November 1997 to address the problem of how to foster
socially desirable uses online while discouraging undesirable
uses.  AAAS also conducted an online survey, convened focus groups
of professionals, commissioned background papers on anonymity,
and developed a series of case studies for educational use.
A description of the project can be found on the AAAS Web site at
http://www.aaas.org/spp/anon/.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the
world's largest federation of scientists, works to advance science
for human well-being through its projects, programs, and publications.
With more than 146,000 members and 282 affiliated societies, AAAS
conducts many programs in the areas of science policy, science
education and international scientific cooperation.  AAAS publishes
the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Science, as well as a number of
electronic features on the World Wide Web.

# # #

EDITOR'S NOTE: People who interested in copies of the report should
go to The Information Society's Web site at
http://www.slis.indiana.edu/TIS.

----
Rob Kling
http://www.slis.indiana.edu/kling
The Information Society (journal)       http://www.slis.indiana.edu/TIS
Center for Social Informatics             http://www.slis.indiana.edu/CSI
Indiana University
1320 E 10th Street,  Room 005C
Bloomington, IN 47405-3907             812-855-9763 // Fax: 855-6166

  Read & contribute to the ....
  Social Informatics Home Page --> http://www.slis.indiana.edu/SI
  a resource about research, teaching, conferences & journals

Read:
"What is Social Informatics and Why Does it Matter?"
D-Lib Magazine    January 1999  Volume 5 Number 1
at http://www.dlib.org:80/dlib/january99/kling/01kling.html

You can learn about our Scholarly Communication & IT Project at:
         http://www.slis.indiana.edu/SCIT

--- end forwarded text


-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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