Aside from privacy policies, which are extremely important, internet policy on identity would be helpful. As it is, on many sites, people can post comments anonymously, which leads to trolling and people saying things online that they wouldn't in person. The problem with non-constructive negative comments online is that studies have shown the recipient of the negative comments can develop low self-esteem and in some cases can even become suicidal.
In The Circle, by Dave Eggers, a man develops TruYou, which standardizes all identity online. It puts an end to trolling and makes people accountable for all of the things they say or do online. In some ways this is scary, but it makes a lot of sense and solves a serious problem. Currently, some sites use things like Discus so that anyone who comments has to have an email attached to their comment. The downside of this is that anyone can set up a burner email account--even though it's a lot of trouble to go to for an anonymous comment.
Internet policy on identity could also lessen crimes that take place online. For example, uploading and downloading child pornography or selling sex on craigslist (these are things that happen!). What would you like to see included in an internet policy on identity? Do you think it would be a good thing to have?
Prompt for blog 6: Discuss one important policy issue for the Internet.
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