IP: Re: EU Legislative Proposal to Outlaw Anonymous E-Mail (via NTK)

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>X-Sender: jwarren@mail.well.com
>Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 17:56:17 -0700
>To: farber@cis.upenn.edu
>From: Jim Warren <jwarren@well.com>
>Subject: Re: IP: EU Legislative Proposal to Outlaw Anonymous E-Mail (via
> NTK)
>
>>>The Joint Action to combat child pornography on the Internet which is under
>>>discussion in the Council is intended to step up the measures to prevent and
>>>combat the production, processing, distribution and possession of child
>>>pornography and to encourage the detection and prosecution of offences in
>>>this area.
>>>
>>>Amendments include: (g) the sending of anonymous e-mail is prohibited.
>
>1.  It is really amazing that anyone -- even bureaucrats <grin> -- could
>believe that violators of the long-existant laws against child porn would
>not just-as-quickly violate prohibitions on anonymous email (or postings,
>which remain unmentioned).
>
>2.  Apparently the European Union has missed the fact that anonymity has
>been invaluable -- perhaps life-saving! -- for those in Serbia and
>Yugoslovia who are sending out "unapproved" information on the net ...
>anonymously.
>
>3.  Or perhaps the EU is just trying to stop the circulation of radical
>proposals by armed revolutionaries -- such as the FEDERALIST PAPERS ...
>considered the third most-important document in U.S. government.
>(Published anonymously, authorship of many of its individual papers is
>still in dispute.)
>
>4.  It also flies in the face of the EU's massive self-righteousness about
>protecting personal privacy!  (But consistancy has never been a strong
>point for those in positions of great power.)
>
>--jim; Jim Warren
>Jim Warren, Contributing Editor & columnist, MicroTimes Magazine
>Also GovAccess list-owner/editor; 345 Swett Rd, Woodside CA 94062
>
>[self-inflating puff: Hugh Hefner First-Amendment Award, Playboy Foundation;
>Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award (in its first year);
>James Madison Freedom-of-Information Award, Soc.of Prof.Journalists-Nor.Calif
>founded InfoWorld; the Computers, Freedom & Privacy Conferences; etc etc etc.]