South Korean Court Deals Blow to Law Outing Internet Users
Los Angeles Times | A constitutional court in South Korea ruled that website users should not have to identify themselves before posting to online message boards and websites, dealing a blow to a law curbing Internet anonymity. The South Korean law required Internet users to submit their real names and government identification numbers before chatting on Web portals.
The South Korean system was the most sweeping effort to register and identify Internet users in the world, rivaled only by restrictions in China, said Sarah Cook, a Freedom House senior research analyst focusing on Internet freedom. But as other countries become increasingly wired, the same debates are likely to pop up elsewhere.
