Mmmm, Bye Bye Kaspersky

[S0rath 0f the Black Sun]

Probably something which they develop themselves...

As far as I know, they mostly purchase their software from known and not-so-known software developers. I tried of their file "shredders"/"wipers", pretty neat stuff for perma deletion of files without traces.

[Omniscient]

I have expressed the exact same sentiment for years now. Anonyminity is ruining the internet imho. Scammers, con artists, viruses, spammers and every criminal element possible leeches onto the web. It would all be stopped if you had a special connection code verifying your identity.

A website can have the option to require it or not imho. An apache module matched with browser authentication would be perfect. Sort of like SSL where a secure handshake is required but it will have verified personal information that the website owner can verify.

"You could make the same argument about the offline world," said Matt Zimmerman, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "You know, every purchase you make should be tracked, we should ban the use of cash, we should put cameras up everywhere because in that massive data collection something might be collected to help someone. But we think privacy is an important enough countervailing value that we should prevent that."

Bullshit. Because you can't walk around in the real world with a mask on. You would get kicked out of any store immediately. Websites are for the most part commercial entities and as such should be given the option of disallowing access to anyone anonymous. Unfortunately the internet is not setup this way but I can tell you that I fully believe this will happen because of the huge criminal element that already exists.

Uninstallation, complete.

Did you have a paid license? If not then his point is made and so is mine. You're a criminal. Don't be shocked by my statement either. I have always been a white hat and against anonyminity in it's current form. In almost all my sites I use Labrocca as my handle since it's my last name.

[p0w3r0fchr1st]

I don't use anti-viruses. I use linux
LOL, but before when I was on vista, I used bit defender. Good for security, just bad for freedom. Like you can't disable it like you want.

[Grizzly]

I have expressed the exact same sentiment for years now. Anonyminity is ruining the internet imho. Scammers, con artists, viruses, spammers and every criminal element possible leeches onto the web. It would all be stopped if you had a special connection code verifying your identity.

A website can have the option to require it or not imho. An apache module matched with browser authentication would be perfect. Sort of like SSL where a secure handshake is required but it will have verified personal information that the website owner can verify.


Bullshit. Because you can't walk around in the real world with a mask on. You would get kicked out of any store immediately. Websites are for the most part commercial entities and as such should be given the option of disallowing access to anyone anonymous. Unfortunately the internet is not setup this way but I can tell you that I fully believe this will happen because of the huge criminal element that already exists.

Uninstallation, complete.

Did you have a paid license? If not then his point is made and so is mine. You're a criminal. Don't be shocked by my statement either. I have always been a white hat and against anonyminity in it's current form. In almost all my sites I use Labrocca as my handle since it's my last name.

Yes, I have a paid license. I have a valid license for all the software I purchase. I support open sourced initiatives, but, at the same time, I understand the need for paid licenses for things. Money is the biggest motivation for most people. And without that motivation, some of the things that have been coded now would not have been done yet.

I'm not for 100% known users, I think it should be more along the line of like you said, as a website owner I should have the option of having a person's 100% verified identity before allowing access to a site.

[Omniscient]

Yes, I have a paid license. I have a valid license for all the software I purchase.

You have my respect then for doing such. I am the say way. Either I use something free like OpenOffice.org or I buy a license like my CuteFTP Pro which was well worth it.

I'm not for 100% known users, I think it should be more along the line of like you said, as a website owner I should have the option of having a person's 100% verified identity before allowing access to a site.

I think my idea is very good. It allow the website owner to make the decision and users can decide to either comply or go to another site. It allows for anonymous browsing and for webmasters to control their users if that's what they want.

[Grizzly]

Yes Omni, that idea is a great idea. It's just like a private business. If I had a store on a street in an actual building, I have the right (at least in the US) to refuse service to anyone as long as it's not based on race, etc.

I think it should be the same way with web sites. That's why I love when someone gets banned from a forum and they say something like they have the right to post whatever. People don't realize that the 1st Amendment (or applicable laws in other countries) protects you from the government. It does not protect a person's speech on private forums.

[J4P4NM4N]

Thanks for posting such an interesting article. First of all, I didn't even know Kaspersky was named after a guy. =P

As for my thoughts, I keep thinking of the humongous implementation time and costs, plus the fact that anything like that can be worked around. True, it would prevent some bad things from happening, but I like to be reminded of that guy in the article that compares it to the Big Brother scenario of real life.

[Grizzly]

It really wouldn't cost that much money. It's not hard for ISP's to implement (if they are not already starting something along these lines). It's just a little extra they have to add in.

[Omniscient]

Think of it this way. You had to join this site to be a member and post right? It's not that much of a stretch if there was an easy method for me to require your real identity. WTF can you do in this world and not have to provide identification when dealing with the private sector?

You can't get a cell phone. You can't rent an apartment. You can't rent movies at blockbuster. So why is so much anonyminity expected on the internet?

[UID=0]

This response is somewhat tardy I suppose.

One of my concerns about not being able to use the web anonymously
is that my personal information and details, could possibly be intercepted
by a third party, during any process of registration at wherever and may possibly lead to an instance of identity theft.

I know that there are a lot of smart cyber-criminals around, who dedicate a lot of time and resources
towards gathering peoples personal details and they probably make a profit from it.

Personally, I am not that knowledgeable about all of the various types of codes that are used in creating web facing applications nowadays and
therefore have to depend upon proxy servers and VPN's etc, as well as certain browser add-ons
to give me that degree of protection, that I feel is necessary for me anyway,
just as a measure of self-protection from the legions out there in the void who are not so nice.

The web has been described by some as being something like a
frontier town, in the American West, about 150 years ago or something
like that and I don't think that anybody can deny that it certainly has a wild and extreme side.

I can see how criminals may benefit from being able to use the web anonymously,
but I can also see that it can also benefit people who may not be criminals, that want to use anonymity, as a tool for avoiding
those types that want to explot them.