Sensible Anonymity on the Internet Essay -- Exploratory Essays Researc

Sensible Anonymity on the Internet Abstract: This paper is an analysis of the anonymity of Internet users. Specifically, what are the benefits and disadvantages created by anonymity on the Internet, and how can the disadvantages be lessened without adversely affecting the benefits? The rapid growth of the Internet’s popularity is staggering. In 1990 few people outside the research community knew of it, and today it is estimated that there are more than 300 million Internet users worldwide (1). It is unlikely that any previous notable form of media or technology (radio, telephony, automobiles, or television, for instance) gained such widespread usage so quickly. When one adds up the cost of a computer, modem, ISP1, busying a phone line and the time it takes to download/upload email/websites it seems obvious that it is not cheap or easy to surf the net. The anonymity that the Internet provides its users is a key factor in why the Internet has become so incredibly popular so quickly. The benefits of anonymity on the Internet outweight the disadvantages, however something should needs to be done to reduce or eliminate the disadvantages without adversely impeding the advantages. The ability to have your own anonymous website (geocities.yahoo.com) with an anonymous email address to go with it (mail.yahoo.com or www.hotmail.com) is extremely alluring to the general public. No programming ability is required when programs such as Microsoft FrontPage ® and Adobe GoLive ® help you create webpages using a simple word-processor-like interface. Formerly, one had to be an established, professional journalist, author or artist to have relatively any chance to publicly express your views, opinions and/or creativity. Wi... ...mity.html>. (July 21, 1999). 3. Al Teich, Mark S. Frankel, Rob Kling, Ya-ching Lee. â€Å"Anonymous Communication Policies for the Internet: Results and Recommendations of the AAAS Conference† The Information Society 15(2) (Version 14/January 27 1999). Notes: 1 Internet Service Provider 2 A remailer is a free, online service through which emails can be sent. The remailer will send the email on to its final destination, but the transmission history of that email will be erased before it is sent. 3 American Association for the Advancement of Science 1 Internet Service Provider 2 A remailer is a free, online service through which emails can be sent. The remailer will send the email on to its final destination, but the transmission history of that email will be erased before it is sent. 3 American Association for the Advancement of Science