On 12/22/2010 09:33 AM, Bill Silverstein wrote:
On 19 Dec 2010, at 19:51, Derek Smythe wrote:
Yes we all know there are criminals out there, but there are plenty of other ways to get to them other than WHOIS of a domain name. Ok. How? And why should there be a need?
If you buy a house, but put it under my name to avoid a judgment against you, can you cry when the IRS (the US taxing authority) seizes the house because my outstanding tax bill?
Are we going to become an internet of vigilante justice? One can always construct a case to justify the destruction of privacy, particularly the privacy of natural people. And for each of those cases there are probably thousands of counter examples that are never uttered. Civil plaintiffs and criminal prosecutors ought to be required to initiate proper judicially overseen discovery or obtain proper subpoenaes and warrants asking "whose your daddy". Unless they do they don't, at least in my book, get much credit for arguments that privacy gets in their way. I've heard too many internet vigilantes justify the metaphoric noose because proper procedure and trial would be too slow and troublesome. I'm all for hanging the evil doers high - see http://www.cavebear.com/cbblog-archives/000236.html - but only after proper and fair process. --karl--