Handbook of Information Security: Information Warfare, Social, Legal, and International Issues and Security Foundations, Volume 2

Anonymity and Identity on the Internet

Jonathan Wallace, DeCoMo USA Labs

Introduction

Mechanics of Anonymity and Identity on the Net

How Do We Know Who Anyone Is on the Net?

Technical Solutions to Identity and Anonymity

A Reverence for Anonymity in U.S. Political Tradition

The Supreme Court Speaks

Internet Anonymity and the Law

Anonymity During Wartime

Subpoenas Seeking the Identity of Anonymous Speakers

An Anonymous Domain Registrant Contrarians

Conclusion

Glossary

Cross References

Acknowledgements

References

INTRODUCTION

The loose structure of the Internet dictates that it is somewhat difficult to determine a user's true identity; correspondingly, a weak degree of anonymity is easily available. Complete anonymity, or a high level of assurance of the identity of another user, both require work. Technical solutions exist to help with both problems. U.S. constitutional law and common law precedents show a high degree of reverence for anonymous discourse, which has played a significant role in the British and U.S. political systems. The Supreme Court has repeatedly referred to this history in affirming, in recent years, the right of U.S. citizens to speak anonymously on political and social matters. Cases involving anonymity on the Internet began with the passage of a Georgia law banning anonymous email. Most of the case law since then has involved public companies suing anonymous individuals who posted messages accusing the companies of stock fraud or poor management. These court ...