Feds plan for internet "driver's license" - ? I do not like this!

[Skip Intro]

I saw this report on CBS the other day, just found it on youtube. No text that I can find so the link is to a CBS News video report. It appears that, in the interest of "security," the Feds (Obama admin) are thinking about, or planning for, a "driver's license" for all of us net citizens. Evidently China and some European nations have something like this already. But what happens to anonymity? Does this chill free speech? What about privacy? Don't like it, not at all. Leave the internet alone!

Anyway, here's the story: Fed's Plan For Internet ID 'Drivers License' Chinese Style - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJil-mM9Qsc

[Iris]

1. Sadly, I've resigned myself to the fact that the internet no longer has the opportunity to be

a democratic free-flow of information. I just don't think there are enough people who want to keep it that way.

[Lucinda]

2. Yawp. There was something in LBN a day or so ago about this.

I had the same reaction. I do not like.

[notesdev]

3. Anonymity is a hugely redeeming feature of the 'net

While some use anonymity to be nasty, others use it to say what needs to be said without fear of retribution.

Of the two, the latter is far more important as a societal value.

[monmouth]

4. So, when I get my license for my bicycle can I get my internet license too?...n/t

[TheKentuckian]

5. Yay!!! More authoritarian Big Brother bullshit!

If this was Bush....

[cynatnite]

6. Some of the rapture ready nuts think this is the mark of the beast..

It can be a good tool to track terrorists, pedophiles and other dangerous types. It can also be abused, too. It can impact free speech and shopping habits.

[anamandujano]

23. I doubt this is about "terrorists, pedophiles and other dangerous types"

It's about stopping the free flow of information and getting us back to the brainwashing of the mass media.

Before I began getting a couple of clues from various sites on the internet, I actually believed our government was honest and true. I actually supported the first Gulf War because if the USA was going to war it was for a good cause. This is while not even watching the news during the lead up.

It took a long time to wake up to reality.

If they shut down any place that I want to go or if they do the driver's license thing, I'm canceling my ATT account and hope all the providers take a huge cash hit from all the others who may do this.

Of course it's not even about money, they will probably bail out the failing internet providers. It's about killing what we have now.

[cynatnite]

25. I don't know why it's easier to not believe that this could have a benefit...

Like any tool that is created, it can be used for good and abused. I hope it's used for good, but I'm a skeptic. Of course, I don't do brainwashing. I dumped my tinfoil hat a long time ago.

:hi:

[Desertrose]

7. Control (& identify) the masses.

Not a good road we are hurtling down....

[Abq_Sarah]

8. Info here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/25/national-strategy-trusted-identities-cyberspace

Personally, I don't believe security or privacy is enhanced by having one master username and password for every internet transaction.

[cynatnite]

11. I have one username for everything...

but I use several different passwords. I've heard that using the same password is not a good thing.

[LisaL]

13. I don't believe it either. How could it?

If someone got that user name and password they'd be able to log onto many accounts instead of just one. How is that going to help security?

[RKP5637]

9. It will become another surveillance tool. The internet will become a bunch of

commercial garbage like most of what we encounter today. And every intent will be to gleam as much information as possible about every user. This is just another step in the process of fitting the masses into slots. Not enough Americans choose to be awake as to what is happening, many are pretty lame.

[wickerwoman]

10. Seems like it would make identity theft a lot easier.

[Octafish]

12. They don't like certain ideas -- and even certain words.

Government Nanny Censoring "Conspiracy Theories" is Also Responsible for Letting Bush Era Torture and Spying Conspiracies Go Unpunished

[Hoopla Phil]

14. I don't like it one bit. Keep the internet free!!!

[dkofos]

15. Will I have to use windoze to pass the test??

[Bonhomme Richard]

16. It would be a bigger threat than gun regulation. n/t

[somone]

17. But if the WH thinks it's ok, then it's all good

:sarcasm:

[msongs]

18. lol more change you can believe in from the more Bush policies crowd nt

[ProdigalJunkMail]

19. the 'pot 'o gold' for hackers... good god, how stupid

isn't the social security number fiasco enough of a hint on this sort of crap???

sP

[Ozymanithrax]

20. More and more, there is no such thing as privacy...

which I consider a problem in modern culture. In most cases, anonymity on the Internet doesn't exist. But I don't see it as a free speech issue. They are not trying to stop you from speaking, only identify the speaker.

[Shagbark Hickory]

21. Will the exam be in english AND spanish?

[astral]

22. They not only want to watch where we go,

they want to censor what kind of information we can find, too, for instance, health information.

[Recovered Repug]

24. If I've been drinking and get on the Information Super Highway,

can I be arrested for DWI? I wonder what the sobriety test would be.