Text 9436, 73 rader
Skriven 2010-07-25 06:56:36 av Bob Ackley (1:300/3)
   Kommentar till text 9430 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
Ärende: Good, free email addresses in the States
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Replying to a message of Michiel van der Vlist to Bob Ackley:

 MvdV> Hello Bob,

 MvdV> On Saturday July 24 2010 12:14, you wrote to Robert Bashe:

 MvdV>>>>> 99,9% of the users of the InterNet hide their identity...

 BA>>>> That's Usenet.

 RB>>> No, that's the Internet. Look at any forum you care to mention
 RB>>> and try to find a real name.

 BA>> Usenet (newsgroups) is *part* of the Internet - in fact it is the
 BA>> *original* Internet.

 MvdV> No, it is not. Usenet is one of the early applications running on
 MvdV> the internet, but it *is* not the internet. FTP and UUCP came
 MvdV> before usenet btw.

 MvdV> Sorry to say this Bob, I do not mean to be patronising but as a
 MvdV> non-user of the internet, I can not consider you an expert on this.

You and Bob Bashe refer to 'forums,' I assumed that meant newsgroups.
Apparently you were referring to what we call 'chat rooms' over here.  I
am totally unfamiliar with such things,  I am also unfamiliar with 'blogs.'
I do note, however, that while the IP addresses and other identifying data
are probably stripped from the packets at the receiving site, such packets
*can* be intercepted and that information extracted there.

 BA>> I think the information is stored in message headers - but note that
 BA>> in most forums the messages are only stored for a few days.

 MvdV> No IP addresses are not stored in forum messages, and forum messages
 MvdV> are usually kept for years, rather than days.

 MvdV>>>>> If every provider of services took that attitude, we might as
 MvdV>>>>> well shut down the Internet.

 BA>>>> Not a bad idea, IMO.

 MvdV> A proposal to shut down the internet is as realistic as a proposal
 MvdV> to do away with motorised transport.

You've not heard about the "Internet Kill Switch" proposal that the US congress
wants to enact for Obama.  Not at all unfeasible as the US government owns and
controls the root servers for it.

Shutting down a private network - such as the telephone system or a broadcast
network - is also possible, and only a bit more difficult - goons with guns in
the
control rooms works just fine, it also works for newspapers (and ALL of the
preceding
has been done in this country, albeit on a small scale).  Shutting down Fidonet
- before
the days of Internet traffic transport - was also considered, but it's much
more difficult
to kill a completely distributed system such as Fidonet was.

 MvdV> It is so deeply integrated in
 MvdV> society that there is no way back. Anyone knowingly and willingly
 MvdV> abstaining from the internet is an oddball of the same magnitude as
 MvdV> someone knowingly and willingly abstaining from the use of
 MvdV> motorised transport.

Actually I'm considering getting a horse.  While not feasible for long trips, (
only rarely
travel more than 15 miles.



--- FleetStreet 1.19+
 * Origin: Bob's Boneyard, Emerson, Iowa (1:300/3)