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: The Once and Future Lawyer

Kentucky tries to stop anonymity on the internet: good luck enforcing that one

By 4L

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Notwithstanding the unlikelihood that this sort of bill would ever pass a state legislature and be signed into law, lawmakers in Kentucky attempted to throw a punch at virtual bullies by requiring "anyone who contributes to a website to register their real name, address and e-mail address with that site." I'll add this to my list of things to address in a future article about blogging, but it suffices to say for now that even if this bill could get past the obvious First Amendment hurdles, which it probably won't, how can it possibly be enforced? One may assume that if a Kentuckian newspaper, for example, creates a forum for online commentary, most of the posters will be within the readership of that paper. It does not follow, however, that all of the posters will be. Seems pretty unusual and disparate to force these newspapers to pony up some dough for these nonresidents. And what happens when someone creates a false identity to post under?

The real solution to this problem isn't this type of law. If anything, the real stick would be to stop shielding internet service providers from liability. That's a federal issue, not a state one. And any change won't come in the context of anonymous internet postings; my guess is that it would come, if at all, in the context of internet piracy. Or maybe some sort of national security reason.

But who am I to say this is right or wrong or what the basis (rational or otherwise) behind this sort of bill would be? If it makes some of his constituents happy that he passed the bill, that's all he needs come reelection time.