Last week, Republican Tim Couch of Kentucky introduced a bill in the state legislature that would impose criminal fines on Kentucky-based website operators who fail to collect "a legal name, address, and electronic mail address" before allowing a user to post a comment. The proposed law would also require website operators to "establish reasonable procedures to enable any person to request and obtain disclosure of the legal name, address, and valid electronic email address of [a user] who posts false or defamatory information about the person."
Hmm . . . This looks like a transparent attempt to get around the First Amendment protection for anonymous online speech recognized in a slew of recent and not-so-recent cases, including Doe v. Cahill, Mobilisa v. Doe, Krinsky v. Doe 6, Essent v. Doe, and Greenbaum v. Google. Entirely appropriately, Marc Randazza takes Couch out to the woodshed for failing to appreciate not only the state of the law but also the importance of anonymous speech to our nation's history.
Putting aside the First Amendment issue, Couch's bill suffers from a host of practical difficulties. Ryan Paul at Ars Technica, also fired up by the stupidity of the proposal, writes:
Web site operators have no means with which to validate the identification information they receive from users or guarantee its accuracy. If it were even legally permissible, a state-wide ban on anonymous posting would have little impact because it would not be enforceable against web sites outside of the state of Kentucky. Indeed, such a law would likely compel site operators to move their web sites out of Kentucky.
Oddly, even Couch appears half-hearted about the bill's prospects. The Lexington Herald-Leader interviewed Couch and reported that he "readily acknowledged on Wednesday that his bill raises First Amendment issues regarding free speech, so he won't be pushing it." Huh? Wait, it gets better:
"I think right now (online posting) is pretty much just on its own. It's a machine that's going to go its own way," Couch said. "The state can try to pass some rules, but I don't really think it would do anything."
I think it's fair to say that Kentucky website operators don't need to pack their bags just yet -- with an endorsement like that, this bill isn't going anywhere.
Comments
This is a symptom
There are people in government who do not trust the electorate. They have probably given cause for this to be so. Some are more intelligent than Couch. We know the administration in Washington sees personal privacy as a threat and will violate it at will. We can only hope Americans will "throw the bums out" in November.
In the mean time, there are things you can do to safe guard your on-line privacy. These include protecting your computer from spyware and other malicious software and, securing your email. Information on how to do these things can be found at www.novo-ordo.com. There is also a free anonymous email service there.
Anonymous slandering
We are advocates of this bill and it should not be just a Kentucky Law but a US law. There has to be ramifications for those who think they can post information that is libel and slander and in essence ruin or close a business be it a brick and mortar or online one.
I beileve stronger laws for the internet is a pressing issue and we need to self police our actions. Other countries would follow suit quickly.
Let's get back our roots as a country that protects one another.