Taking the Right Away to Comment Anonymously

Kentucky State Representative Tim Couch is introducing a bill this week that would make anonymous posting on the Internet illegal in the state of Kentucky. Here's the information they plan to collect and somehow guarantee is accurate:

"The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site. Their full name would be used anytime a comment is posted."

The real kicker is that sites who do not comply with the law and allow anonymous comments will be fined $500 for a first offense, and $1000 for each offense after that.

I can understand Representative Couch's intentions with the bill to stop online bullying, which I believe is a significant problem in some schools and communities, but this isn't the answer to that. The Internet only facilitates bullying, but doesn't cause it and didn't create it in the first place. The same bullies who bullied on the playground are now bullying after school using the Internet as simply another tool. Such a bill clearly threatens our first amendment rights, causes businesses to rethink being located in Kentucky, is tough to enforce, and could set a bad precedent for Internet censorship. What should be created are laws that allow for prosecution of online threats and bullying, because that directly addresses the bullying problem, and will close a loophole in some states that prevent prosecutors from being able to punish those who have taken their bullying online. The majority of bullying that is the most damaging happens during the school years where the victims know each other. With the almost universal presence of MySpace, Facebook, etc. for teenagers there is the need to create new laws that ensure that this online bullying is prosecuted.

I doubt this law will make it past the introduction phase, but if it does then I hope a judge will strike it down immediately after it becomes. Such meddling in the Internet world can have far reaching consequences, and can generally make starting an Internet company even that much more difficult. I hope that if this law gets any further that the entire Internet community will take a stand, and use the power that possess as clearly demonstrated during the Internet radio fight last year.

Source: WTVQ