Del Mastro Targets Online Anonymity
10 Comments
Recent Posts
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 186: Andy Kaplan-Myrth on the CRTC’s Last Ditch Attempt to Fix Canada’s Internet Competition Problem 
On Media Bailouts and Bias: Why Government Media Policy Is Undermining Public Trust 
Canadian Government Quietly Backs Down on its Implementation Plans for a Digital Services Tax 
Bill C-18 Bailout: Government Announces Plans to Pay For 35% of Journalist Costs for News Outlets as It More Than Doubles Tax Credit Per Employee 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 185: Bill C-11 at the CRTC – A Preview of the Upcoming Online Streaming Act Hearing
Okay, this is disturbing…to put it mildly.
There are certainly lots of very bad actors operating on the Net from across the planet, but this could be overkill.
Whenever …
…this man opens his mouth, such disturbing stuff comes out. This man defines buffoon, more so than Rob Ford.
Hurting those he claims to help
The people most affected by this would be those who are being bullied, those in abusive relationships, and the like who need to remain anonymous while seeking support online. And of course if it really is “electronic […] libel and slander”, then the posters can be pursued in the courts.
I hope he gets inundated with email (ideally from constituents) suggesting (politely) that he drop this.
I fear such people may be the intended targets of such legislation.
Privacy? … Priceless.
This ‘solution’ has been found to be of little success when tried in other jurisdictions, never mind the fact that the net is global and across legal boundaries. For those bad actors hiding behind anonymity, there are many others who do so for their own protection (or of others). While the easy solution is a blanket coming out, I don’t think that solution is in the best interest for everyone. What is needed are ways to handle unmasking in instances that warrant it, and by that I *mean* with a warrant.
Yes, a warrant is a cumbersome step for those involved in police work, but it is a necessary counterpoint to unfettered state intrusion. I have heard of complaints to lack of resources to timely acquire a warrant, well the simple solution to that is to increase the resources not decrease the rights. Costly? Most likely, but what is the value of liberty?
Inane
Del Mastro needs to think _practically_. _Practically_; how would one regulate online comments? Require a Facebook account to post on all Canadian-hosted websites? Run a rootkit on Canadian’s PCs to ensure they use their “real” name? How would the websites know that “John Edwards” is not really “Jack Durnwar” stealing another’s identity? Note; on sites which have real name policies, there is the same ratio of bullies, jerks and dipwads as any other place.
I oppose this for _practical_ reasons.
http://northerninsights.blogspot.com/
I hope Del Mastro isn’t as intellectually deficient as he seems. He might be surprised to learn that a number of famous people have written without using their real names. Here are a few of the “fake” names: Mark Twain, Zane Grey, George Orwell, Stan Lee, George Eliot, Franklin W. Dixon, Ellery Queen, Ann Landers, Abigail Van Buren, C.S. Forester, Anthony Burgess, Dr. Seuss, Joseph Conrad, George Sand, etc. Oh yeah, also Del Mastro’s hero: Ayn Rand.
Pfffft, whatever you right-wing loon!
I didn’t know Canada had “Tea Party” members? I learn something new every day.
fatty
Go eat a whole cake Mastro and shut up!
God… can’t wait until CONs get kicked out of office from their majority come 2015
Okay then….
Dean, …. how about first telling us the identity of “Pierre Poutine” as a sign of good faith?