Tomorrow, public key cryptography could finally upload onto the Net a real right to anonymous speech. We could then enjoy digital anonymous speech at least as secure as the anonymous speech that we already enjoy in hard copy … A robust right to anonymity covers more than unsigned notes; it covers your right to send and receive anonymous messages, to use a pseudonym, and, arguably, to engage in cash transactions. You probably already do these things in realspace. You’ll definitely want to do them on the Net.
Predictor: Bell, Tom W.
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for Wired magazine, Tom Bell, a teacher at the University of Dayton Law School, writes: ”Imagine combining your right to free speech with your right to privacy. You would end up with the right to communicate with others without communicating your identity. You would end up, that is, with a robust right to anonymous speech … E-mail pseudonyms and anonymous remailers provide cover, albeit thin, to millions of correspondents and independent publishers. Tomorrow, public key cryptography could finally upload onto the Net a real right to anonymous speech. We could then enjoy digital anonymous speech at least as secure as the anonymous speech that we already enjoy in hard copy … A robust right to anonymity covers more than unsigned notes; it covers your right to send and receive anonymous messages, to use a pseudonym, and, arguably, to engage in cash transactions. You probably already do these things in realspace. You’ll definitely want to do them on the Net.”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Anonymity/Personal Identity
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: ‘Anonymous Speech’: Imagine Combining Free Speech with Your Right to Privacy
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.10/cyber.rights_pr.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney