FC: "Nobody should just be able to use a computer anonymously"

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[The exact quote, abbreviated so I could shorten the Subject line to a 
reasonable length: "Nobody should just be able to sit down at a computer 
without some verification of who they are." --Declan]

*******

From: "Volokh, Eugene" <VOLOKH () mail law ucla edu>
Subject: "Nobody should just be able to sit down at a computer without some 
verification of who they are."
Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2001 21:42:04 -0700

        "Nobody should just be able to sit down at a computer without some 
verification of who they are."  Any thoughts on this sentiment, and the 
incident that prompted it?


                              The Record (Bergen County, NJ), July 5, 2001
                                July 5, 2001, THURSDAY; ALL EDITIONS

   SECTION: NEWS; Pg. L1

   HEADLINE: LIBRARY'S COMPUTERS LINKED TO HARASSMENT ;
   WEBVANDALS USE SMUT TO DEFAME 3 TEACHERS

   BYLINE: JAN BARRY, Staff Writer

   Logging on to an educational Web site, a teacher at Martin J.
   Ryerson Middle School was horrified to see pornographic material posted
   in his name.

[...]

   Detectives didn't have to look far to find where the postings came
   from. The Internet's internal coding system pointed from SchoolNotes.com
   in Gig Harbor, Wash., to two computers at the Ringwood Public Library. 
. . .

[...]

   Mayor Allan Van Eck and Lombardo agree.

   "There should be some kind of accountability on what is sent on the
   computer, especially because it is a public entity paid for by
   taxpayers," Lombardo said.

   Citing his experience as vice principal at Mahwah's middle school,
   Van Eck said "each student has their own log-in name and password, so we
   know who has logged in or not. I don't know why the library can't do
   something like that. Nobody should just be able to sit down at a
   computer without some verification of who they are."  ...

  The incident, however, has prompted library officials in Ringwood
   to consider overseeing computer use. "We are very sorry this
   happened," said Cahoon, the library director. "We have been looking into
   some sort of software management program . . . so people would be
   tracked. Let's hope we can prevent it from happening again." . . .





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