-Basic facts about internet anonymity-

Source:

http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.805/student-papers/fall95-papers/rigby-anonymity.html (basic facts about internet anonymity)

 

My topic:

Internet anonymity should be granted

What I hope to learn from this source:

I want to grasp some vague idea about internet anonymity and their importance for me to start understanding the topic in depth.

Notes:

 -Anonymity:

1. The quality of state of being unknown or unacknowledged.
2. One that is unknown or unacknowledged.

- How on-line anonymity works

Although internet users can send messages by borrowing other user's accounts or by forging identities, one of the most common and least complicated ways of obtaining anonymity on the internet is by making use of one of many anonymity services. Some of these services are connected directly to specific newsgroups on the usenet. Other anonymity providers are global and service the entire internet. These anonymity servers make use of what are called "remailers", which are basically computers on the internet that forward electronic mail or files to other network addresses. Before the remailer forwards the information, it strips the header from the original email so that the information showing where the message originated is no longer attached to the email. Many anonymity services replace the header with anonymous addresses such as nobody@nowhere. The eventual recipient of the message then has no idea about who sent the email and where it originated. This type of service is termed truly anonymous. Other anonymity services use similar remailers, but also give each user an anonymous ID, almost like a mailbox on the server, which stores the address of the sender so that any replies to anonymous email can be forwarded to the original sender. This type of anonymity, called pseudonymity, allows users to be anonymous but reachable.

-History

Anonymous posting/reply services on the internet were started around 1988 and were introduced primarily for use on specific newsgroups which discussed particularly volatile, sensitive and personal subjects. One of the first of these services was started by Dave Mack for use on alt.sex.bondage. Anonymous postings on newsgroups such as this one soon became the primary method of communication. Anonymity services which utilized remailers for entire internet soon sprang up, combining the functions of anonymous posting as well as the anonymous  Cypherpunk groups in mid-1992. Global anonymity servers which served remailing in one service. The new global services also introduced the concept of pseudonymous emails which allowed replies to anonymous mail. These and other global servers which were started in the US died quickly as a result of numerous barriers such as attacks by net citizens and system administrators. The average life span of most anonymity servers is about 6 months because of these barriers and there are usually only 20 to 30 of these servers operating around the world at any one time. Some of the most used of these global servers include the Kleinpaste, Clunie and Helsingius servers. Even these servers were temporarily and/or permanently shut down due to the intense conflict surrounding their use. Foreign anonymity servers often fare better due to a more relaxed attitude of foreign system administrators.
The Helsingius server, which is run by Johan "Julf" Helsingius, is one of the most stable global anonymity servers. Julf Helsingius' original impetus to provide a global anonymity service was his desire to prove that censorship on the internet is impossible because there is always a technological solution which can circumvent the problem. Helsingius eventually expanded to worldwide service from Scandinavia due to a flood of international requests. This server, which is one of the most popular, currently has over 200,000 registered users. Although penet.fi has undergone numerous temporary shutdowns and has been involved in a recent police investigation, it has survived for over 3 years. Penet.fi and similar servers are currently the primary anonymity servers on the internet today. A list of some of the current anonymity services can be found at the University of California at Berkeley.

 

-Final thoughts:

This source provided me with enough information to make my decision to choose the following topic for my essay, and had me get started on collecting more statistics and necessary information. However, I am also concerned that this source is only showing a fraction of the whole truth, and it is having me develop a prejuice towards  prohibiting internet anonymity. I should get more research done to have an idea of the whole picture.