From: avi baumstein <avi@clas.ufl.edu>
Date: Mon, 30 Jan 95 20:22:41 PST
To: mossberg@wsj.com
Subject: No Subject
Message-ID: <199501310422.XAA28500@cutter.clas.ufl.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


sandrew@ufl.edu, dart@freenet.ufl.edu
Subject: WSJ column of 1-26-95


The following refers to the page B1 article in the January 26, 1995
column of The Wall Street Journal titled "Personal Technology" by
Walter S. Mossberg.

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Mr. Mossberg:

Your editorial warning of the dangers of the online universe, while
well written, presents many arguments which do not make sense in
the current context of society or the Internet.

Your belief that anonymity is ruinous to on-line culture is based on
simply incorrect assumptions. The most egregrious of these is that
anonymity is anti-democratic and not present in our non-digital
society. It is widely known that the Federalist Papers were published
under psuedonyms, as have many other works which our culture holds
dear (Samuel Clemmons' Mark Twain identity comes to mind). Anonymity
can be acheived in the written word very easily today, by simply not
signing a letter, and dropping it in the nearest mail box. The White
House is one of the biggest receipients of such anonymous mail.
Newspapers routinely publish anonymous articles, often credited to "AP
Newswire". Most editorials bear no author (although the editorial
board can be identified, who is to say which one of them, or even if
any of them wrote a specific piece?) It is not uncommon for letters to
the editor to be published unsigned, to protect the wishes of the
author. 

The corporation is a form of anonymity. The legal term used to
describe a corporation's name screams of anonymity: Fictitious Name.
Oil companies routinely print ads in major media under names such as
"Coalition to clean our beaches". These are not only anonymous, but
misleading. 
 
Yet given all these methods of anonymous publishing (in print,
none-the-less), our society has existed in it's present form for
several centuries. And I am sure that anonymity is by no means a
product of modern day America.

Your statement "Our democracy and society require accountability, not
anonymity." is 100 percent wrong. When you go into a voting booth, do
you sign your ballot? Our government is founded on anonymity, and
SHARED accountability. We are all responsible for what happens in this
country. Perfect accountability is actually acheived only in a
dictatorship, where it is known that only the dictator is calling the
shots. That's certainly not democracy. 

Anonymity has many positive uses. The most often mentioned is for
victims to be able to discuss their problem without fear of
retribution or identification. There are many places on the Internet
where such discussions regularly take place. Another use can be where a
person wants their opinions to be judged on their merit, rather than
their name (have a look at The Economist, which does not publish
bylines, but yet it is extremely respected. Possibly there is some
connection here). Other uses can be whistleblowers; The state of
Florida maintains an anonymous hotline for government workers to tip
off the Comptroller about wastes and abuses. 

The bottom line is that anonymity, rather than being a bane to
democracy and freedom, is actually essential to the proper workings of
our society.

As a last example, I draw your attention to the lines that delineate
this email message. They proclaim that this document has been "PGP
signed". This is a technology that allows you (or anyone else) to
verify with almost certainty that it was I who wrote this letter. This
is a counterpart to anonymity in the on-line universe. Were I the
president, sending an official document, rather than believing the
name I signed or whomever my on-line service claimed to be, you could
independantly verify that that signature belonged to me, and that it
was indeed I who produced the contents of the message. 

There is no problem with anonymity OR accountability today, both work
perfectly fine, and serve their respective purposes.

Sincerely, 

- -avi

Avi Baumstein
avi@clas.ufl.edu


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