Another politician who doesn't get it. According to WTVQ/Lexington,
Kentucky Representative Tim Couch filed a bill this week to make anonymous posting online illegal. The bill would require anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site. Their full name would be used anytime a comment is posted. If the bill becomes law, the website operator would have to pay if someone was allowed to post anonymously on their site. The fine would be $500 for a first offense and $1,000 for each offense after that. Representative Couch says he filed the bill in hopes of cutting down on online bullying. Representative Couch says enforcing this bill if it became law would be a challenge.
Ya think? Is Kentucky, or the federal government, going to start monitoring the comments posted on every blog and website? Impossible. There's also no way for website operators to check whether a commenter is using their real name. Even if you register with me, how am I going to verify your information (without accessing the Patriot Act database, of course)?
Feel free to comment, but please make up a funny bogus name -- no real names allowed.