Anti-Spam and Anti-Piracy have a common foe – Anonymity
by Ross Lasley
There has been a substantial amount of buzz lately about the music industry lawsuits – and there continues to be plenty of buzz about new possible spam regulations.
It is interesting to me that I haven’t seen much observation of the common problem they share – and how that basic problem needs to be acknowledged before discussing anything related to Internet law or regulation.
The Internet was built - from the ground up - to allow totally anonymous communication. This was one of the greatest strengths, touted as the very best feature as political dissidents in China found info on democracy – but this rather obvious fact seems to be escaping legislators and lawyers today.
Did you hear about how one of the people the music industry sued as a ‘major pirate’ in fact had a computer so old that is wasn’t capable of running the software used to share downloaded music? This wasn’t surprising to geeks – someone had spoofed using the woman’s identity. They made it look like they were her as they shared and swapped music files – and it is not as though we are talking about some major technical feat there.
If the FBI can’t find the people who are writing viruses despite a huge allocation of resources, how can RIAA be depended upon to accurately identify the people it feels are criminal? It can’t.
When the bulk of problematic spam comes from unknown and undiscoverable overseas locations, how can any new law impact the practical problems people have at their inboxes? It can’t.
One of the greatest things about the Internet is that it is anonymous – this goes right to the heart of real unrestricted free speech. In order to have that, we pay a great price as a society – neo-nazis, anti-war protestors and the NRA all have the same rights (...gotta figure amongst our readers one of those three organizations offends you).
It is my opinion that the benefits of a free and anonymous communication system outweigh the problems that are part of it.
The only way to really battle spam and piracy - and all the other things people don’t like about the Internet – is to rip down the current system and totally replace it with a new one. Built from scratch new communication protocols - that would allow a new Internet that only has users that can be accurately identified.
I think this is a horrible idea and will destroy so much of what the web has built in the last decade. But I’d like to hear your opinion – we’ll feature some responses in our next newsletter.
At the end of the day I hope people recognize the real debate – it is not about the latest piece of spam regulation or anti-piracy measure. It is about whether we will tolerate the current problems because of the benefits of a free anonymous system. If we can’t, we need a new system – that is the only solution that is viable in the long term.
My .02 worth? The current problems are acceptable as part of a free anonymous system – ideals are never supposed to be easy.
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 Tech Tip |
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by Michael
McGrath
Speaking of email, and for those of you who use Outlook Express,
don't you just hate it when you keep getting prompted to enter
your password? You've been using OE for months, never been
asked to do that, and suddenly you can't log in to retrieve
your messages. It's been so long since you set up the account
in OE that you've forgotten your password, maybe? Annoying,
isn't it?
Outlook Express is quirky that way, and will sometimes, and
for no reason, spontaneously delete your password. When that
happens, that little window opens every time you try to log
in to your mailbox, asking for your password. Want a non-technical
solution? An easy one that often times works? Here it is...
You know how, sometimes, some piece of electical equipment
goes on the fritz? Won't work when you flip the switch? But,
you unplug and plug it in again and suddenly it works? Do
the same thing with OE.
Go to the Tools > Accounts window, highlight the account
listed and click Properties. Write down on a piece of paper
the server settings (POP3 is for incoming mail, and SMTP is
for outgoing mail), the user name and your password. Then,
go back to the Accounts window, highlight the account, and
click Delete. That's right, Delete. Unplug the account.
Then, click New. The Account Wizard will appear, asking
you for the server settings, user name and password. You've
been smart enough to write them down, so just enter them in
the appropriate windows. Click Finish, and you've just plugged
it back in.
This trick doesn't always work... but it works often enough
in our experience to make it a worthy Tech Tip of the Week.
If it doesn't work in your particular instance, then grab
yourself another free e-mail client, like Eudora
(which we use here at KISS) and use that same information
you wrote down to set up your account there. |
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