[projectvrm] Fwd: [ PFIR ] New York Times: "Who Decides Who You Are Online?"

[Judi Clark < >]

From a couple of days ago.

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New York Times: "Who Decides Who You Are Online?"

http://j.mp/s9UcL0  (New York Times)

    "As the Internet becomes the place for all kinds of transactions, from
     buying shoes to overthrowing despots, an increasingly vital debate is
     emerging over how people represent and reveal themselves on the Web
     sites they visit. One side envisions a system in which you use a sort
     of digital passport, bearing your real name and issued by a company
     like Facebook, to travel across the Internet. Another side believes in
     the right to don different hats - and sometimes masks - so you can
     consume and express what you want, without fear of offline
     repercussions.  The argument over pseudonyms - known online as the
     "nym wars" - goes to the heart of how the Internet might be organized
     in the future.  Major Internet companies like Google, Facebook and
     Twitter have a valuable stake in this debate - and, in some cases,
     vastly different corporate philosophies on the issue that signal their
     own ambitions."