Great post over on the Tor blog about how “anonymity on the Internet is not going away.” This is a subject I care about deeply. Here, for example, is an essay I wrote about mandatory age verification and the threat it poses to online anonymity. I love this paragraph from the Tor essay, and agree with it wholeheartedly:
Anonymity is a defense against the tyranny of the majority. There are many, many valid uses of anonymity tools, such as Tor. The belief that anonymous tools exist only for the edges of societies is narrow-minded. The tools exist and are used by all. Much like the Internet, the tools can be used for good or bad. The negative uses of such tools typically generate huge headlines, but not the positive uses. Raising the profile of the positive uses of anonymity tools, such as Tor, is one of our challenges.
Amen brother.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.