Anonymity is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the United States was founded, in part, thanks to Thomas Paine’s anonymously written, pro-revolution pamphlet Common Sense. On the other hand, 12-year-olds who post anonymously on the internet can be rather unpleasant and cause real problems by cyberbullying. Whether you think the good outweighs the bad, this news is troubling indeed: A far-reaching bill introduced in the New York State Senate could end the practice of posting online once and for all.
Sen. Thomas F. O’Mara / NY SenateIntroduced by New York State Sen. Thomas F. O’Mara (R—Big Flats), S6779 would require that any anonymous post online is subject to removal if the poster refuses to post — and verify — their legal name, their IP address, and their home address. From the (likely well intentioned) bill:
“A web site administrator upon request shall remove any comments posted on his or her web site by an anonymous poster unless such anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post and confirms that his or her IP address, legal name, and home address are accurate. All web site administrators shall have a contact number or e-mail address posted for such removal requests, clearly visible in any sections where comments are posted.”
Critics are quick to point out how dangerous and ineffective the anti-privacy bill would be in the off chance that it somehow passes. After all, IP addresses do nothing to verify a person’s identity, and including your home address on a controversial internet post could open you up to real-life threats.
In effect, the bill is an online stalker’s dream. Of course, the most likely result of the bill’s passage would just be the full-scale elimination of all comment systems everywhere, because the system is an unworkable burden on both the poster and the “web site administrators” who would need to respond to ludicrous take down requests at all times of the day.
somebody forgot what the 1st amendment is.
and this is what we pay politicians to come up with?
No wonder why kids these days are a bunch of skinny jeans wearing pussies.
Didn’t get the memo that NY just bought the whole internet…:rofl
Did people actually gets paid to come up with shit like these? If so, where can I get a job like that??? :rofl
the bill is only for new york based websites, essentially their way of making it so they can take down comments on political blogs.
absolutely nothing new. all of these are laws in new york:
It is illegal for a woman to be on the street wearing “body hugging clothing”.
Citizens may not greet each other by “putting one’s thumb to the nose and wiggling the fingers”.
A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting.
It is against the law to throw a ball at someone’s head for fun.
The penalty for jumping off a building is death.
New Yorkers cannot dissolve a marriage for irreconcilable differences, unless they both agree to it.
A person may not walk around on Sundays with an ice cream cone in his/her pocket.
While riding in an elevator, one must talk to no one, and fold his hands while looking toward the door.
Slippers are not to be worn after 10:00 PM.
and tennessee has my favorite crazy law (cause i just found out about it like a month ago:
You can’t shoot any game other than whales from a moving automobile.
+rep to the first person that can point out why that’s so insane.
Im gunna go with…WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING FIND A WHALE IN TENNESSEE?!?
And that’s why every time I pass by a S550 with “NYS Senator” plates on it I flip them off and tell them to go put a whale costume on and walk around Tennessee.
EDIT SORRY… DONT WANT THE INTERNET POLICE COMING.
192.168.1.1 - 40 North Peal St. Albany NY, 12207, 7th floor section C 4th cubical in on the right.
Does that mean when the site is registered by a New Yorker? and/or the site is hosted in NY?
Of all the problem we have with the state, they came up with an answer to a question that no one asks…:rofl
…again.
wtf i can’t plus rep you!
no the question was asked, and was asked by the most important person to them, themselves. they wanted to figure out how they can stop people talking shit about them on the internet anonymously.
They prolly figure if someone’s talking shit, they’ll have all their info on file to future be labeled as a domestic terrorist or similar.
I wouldn’t doubt it if this also has something to do with the bullshit anti-bullying crap going on.
fuck that, everyone here at the state talks shit about them in their offices!
You are right on. And from talking to people here, this is their PRIME target:
its been around as a sole purpose for nys employees to “vent” all the bullshit they see here every day. Its borderline illegal (as in shouldn’t leave the office) some of the stuff that leaks out of there, usually typed and submitted right from the keyboard behind a machine on NYENET.
The stuff people in the public sector dont see will blow your mind. Keep an eye on this site and you will see what i am talking about.
can’t forget the state of politics blog, the woman that runs that blog and host the show came into my class this semester, most amusing thing i learned is that cuomo has to have the room set at 55 degrees when giving a speech.
They all expect to be spoon fed. and then someone smacks them in the nose with the spoon, that person is now a personal target for the offended.
Heres a good one…
they go after and target such petty shit, so they seem like they are doing something to protect tax payers money. yet the time and MONEY spent to investigate a case like this, is many times MORE than the “reward” AKA the $1000 that person scammed from the payroll system. NOT to mention, they forget about everyone who has half a brain will instantly say “well who signed their time sheet???” We all have a supervisor that approves the time. I am sorry but if I had the balls to submit a time sheet for a week I didnt even say hi to my supervisor face to face, becasue I was in Mexico… and they ACTUALLY APPROVED IT… yeah i did something wrong but holy shit is my supervisor a retard. BUT that supervisor’s name isnt even mentioned in the article, and they were the first/last defense against the fraud in the first case. and legally are just as at fault “falsifying the documentation” as the person who got caught. But politically I am sure “somehow” they got exempt from mention in the article.
YET… they can piss away millions on a “re-stacking” initiative. Moving everyone around to different buildings.
Then dig into this issue and find the amount of money paid to a CONTRACTOR to come and sort this whole thing out and tell us where to go and when. That contract would pay everyone’s salary here for a year and then some. I was told we were moving 4 months ago “no later than feb”… and I am still typing from the same desk. ANNNND the money pissed into the new place to remodel it becasue it hasnt been used in YEARS, had mice and rats running around, who knows what other health hazards, not enough storage for our servers in my unit ALONE to bring over… list goes on.
Sure it might save 9m a year on leases… but I know for a fact they spent more than that already, and only one floor I know of moved already!
Our office “restacked” we moved a floor below our old office. It seems like they are making one floor completely vacant to bring in another agency. But it’s a huge pain in the ass because on any given day certain units that are crucial to our operation are shut down for a day or two and stuff gets put at a stand still. Not to mention other small inconveniences like the elevators always being tied up by the movers. Be glad you haven’t moved yet haha. But yeah it does look like a big waste of money and just another “success” cuomo can use to brag about on his road to running for president.
Bill will most likely sit on the floor and won’t get passed by both houses.