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Korea Fighting Pseudonyms on the 'Net 389
ThreeDayMonk writes "According to the Chosun Ilbo, Korean net firms, pushed by the government, are moving to require message board users to use their real names: 'The current regulation that requires those who post messages on government and public organizations' web sites to use their real names is likely to be expanded soon to private portal sites.' The Japanese version of the page has more information. Apparently, citizen ID numbers will be used to verify identity."
NO! (Score:5, Funny)
Such a law would be a boon for the Moon Units... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:NO! (Score:2)
Almost always been like this (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Almost always been like this (Score:5, Interesting)
When World Cup Soccer came around, the Korean Govt. decided to change the ID string format so they could weed out anyone already in the country that was not following the rules. This resulted in all foreignors having to reregister. The story was that they wanted us to be able to have ID numbers that would work with online activities. The result is a new number, that when decoded, has everyone shown as 'female'....and I still can't use banking sites. And, yes, number generators are common. Give them time...they'll figure it out soon enough. ID theft here is as bad as any other country, BTW.
Korean Racism against Non-Koreans (Score:5, Insightful)
Please read "Once shunned, Chinese in Korea courted again [emcweb.com]". Even to this day, the Koreans have a racist attitude against non-Koreans. Most damning is the discriminatory laws that the Koreans have used against non-Koreans. The government of Korea gives preferential treatment to ethnic Koreans seeking Korean citizenship, and if you cannot prove that you are ethnically Korean, then you must obtain a personal guarantee from a high-ranking government official. Even more shocking, for more than 50 years, non-Koreans were prohibited from owning businesses. The Koreans "successfully" drove out most of the Chinese, reducing their number from 150,000 to 20,000.
Re:Almost always been like this (Score:5, Interesting)
sillly (Score:3, Interesting)
It always amazes me how stupid government regulations can be. Do these guys even think for a second before pooping out such a law ?
Re:sillly (Score:2)
The ID you enter isn't displayed on the webpage for the public to see. It is simply logged. Just like Slashdot's logs will have your IP address stored somewhere.
Re:sillly (Score:5, Interesting)
So you mean all korean messageboards are going to run over SSL ? Comeon, most of these boeards store IDs in cookies, unencrypted. Walk into any public room, copy cookie, done.
And besides that : since the ID is apparently something associated with paper passport, who is going to stop kids from writing down dad's passport id ? Or the librarian from writing down mine ? Unless they add a smartcard chip to every passport and plug extra hardware into every internet connected computer, such measures are ridiculous.
Citizen ID Numbers (Score:5, Insightful)
No it wouldn't (Identity Theft) (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Citizen ID Numbers (Score:3, Interesting)
This isn't all that strange in a country where so many people share a common last name (Kim).
Re:Citizen ID Numbers (Score:3, Funny)
you know (Score:3, Funny)
Obvious to many, but... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Obvious to many, but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Anybody who has been reading a lot about how repressive N. Korea is in the news lately, and has no idea how things work in S. Korea.
Re:Obvious to many, but... (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, I assume you would say you came from "America". Though that is rather definitely permanently divided into North and South, "Americans" just assume that only refers to the USA.
But (Score:2, Funny)
Re:But (Score:2, Funny)
Name : Anonym Us Corherd
Karma : horrible
Last post : -1, troll
Airport clerk : Sir, we do not accept trolls in out airplanes, we do not like them slobbering up our seats. Please use another agency
Re:But (Score:3, Funny)
People don't use their real names? (Score:3, Funny)
You want my name? (Score:3, Funny)
My address and phone number I keep a little more guarded, but the one thing I really don't post publicly, anywhere, is my e-mail address. Just let me keep that to myself, and I'm happy.
Well, that and obvious things like my social security number and various bank account numbers and personal identification numbers.
Re:You want my name? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:You want my name? (Score:2, Funny)
For the sake of completion, here are two photos: Photo 1 [radiofinder.com] Photo 2 [radiofinder.com]
FFS, this guy looks like Harry Freakin Potter!
this is a good idea (Score:4, Troll)
Also, forcing people to use real names would eliminate some other big problems. Look at the amazon.com book reviews. Book publishers frequently post dozens of positive reviews for their own books to sell more copies. Forcing the usage of real names would mean that this could only be done once per person. And even then, you could do a little background searching to determine that the guy who said "THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER" was really the author's brother.
Last and most importantly, this would save usenet. Usenet is becoming unusable today due to stupid spam posters, idiot trolls, and crazy psychos looking to start flame wars. You could argue that there is a real need for anonymity online, but I really disagree. The fact of the matter is that Morpheus dies, the Matrix is destroyed, and Neo is revealed to be a program and not a real human at the end of Matrix Revolutions. So to those that disagree with me, I ask you to consider my position carefully.
Ironically this was posted by an AC (Score:4, Funny)
Re:this is a good idea (Score:4, Insightful)
I think that's more important to protect than the benefits of eliminating your Internet Troll.
It is rather amusing that you posted AC.
Re:this is a good idea (Score:3, Informative)
Of course, I live in a country where unpopular political opinions (which do not advocate violence) may get you spit upon, get you fired, and get you audited by the taxman, but which will not get you thrown into prison for the next decade. Where ther
Re:this is a good idea (Score:3, Interesting)
Yeah I know. But if your political opinion is important enough, then it should be worth some inconveniences, in my opinion. My main point though, was that anonymous political opinion is mere noise. It doesn't mean anything. Write a letter to your congressman on an issue and sign it "JohnFluxx", and it will be completely ignored. I've actually been quoted in articles for a political opinion I posted online under my real name, but never once have I been quoted a
Re:this is a good idea (Score:2)
by Anonymous Coward
Best troll ever. Irony has a new champion.
*shudder* (Score:2)
Re:*shudder* (Score:2)
>name, and my primary email address.
Something tells me that posting to Usenet will not get you killed, imprisoned, or fired, or have your healthcare privileges revoked.
Perhaps you do not live in an oppressive society.
You remind me of a manager I once had. An elderly wife of a wealthy retired surgeon, who was simply not able to understand that other people work because they need money to make ends meet. For example she could simply not understand why ot
Re:this is a good idea (Score:2)
Re:this is a good idea (Score:2)
Re:this is a good idea (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:this is a good idea (Score:4, Insightful)
Because an online conversation can be dug up later by someone with a grudge against you, any government (not just your government) that takes an interest in you, any employer or prospective employer, and used in a different context to make you look bad. Look for instance at what happens to politicians who "misspeak". It dogs them forever -- who can recall Dan Quayle and not think of "potatoe", or Al Gore "Inventor of the Internet"?
I had a little flame war on a local BBS a few months ago. Then recently a new guy took offence at something I wrote, and he dug up the old flames and republished them. Imagine that in real life. For the rest of your life.
My prediction... (Score:5, Interesting)
While no one in Korea will run to the streets protesting, this is the internet and the more courageous Koreans (a minority) will stop posting to message boards that reside in country and start using boards put up by Koreans living in the U.S. and other countries.
Note: I'm an American who has lived in Korea (I speak read and write Korean) and I'm not trying to be "inciteful".
Re:My prediction... (Score:2, Interesting)
The *most* violent and frequent protests in the world occured in South Korea during the hey-day of dictatorship in the 80s. The student protests in Korea were a major reason why Korea is a democracy today.
You can't get protests like that if Koreans were "sheeplike".
How is it that China, with more than 1 billion people, could keep control of a population so big with nary a protest (save the Tibetans monks that were slaughtered)?
If you want a sheeplike coun
Re:My prediction... (Score:3, Insightful)
The *most* violent and frequent protests in the world occured in South Korea during the hey-day of dictatorship in the 80s. The student protests in Korea were a major reason why Korea is a democracy today.
I was there for that. Obviously you weren't.
btw, I did study history, from Chosun to the present day...
Korea is an entire nation. Those large, violent, frequent protests that you saw on TV weren't what you saw on TV. I was there and the prostests were actually pathetically small. Usually it was le
Re:My prediction... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:My prediction... (Score:2)
Sorry, teaching ESL to Korean students because you're a blond, blue-eyed white boy with no qualifications, *after* Korea became a democracy just doesn't mean shit.
Sorry, I never taught ESL. But I did teach Korean-Americans in the U.S. Korean. And I was first in Korea before it was a democracy.
My dad was a member of one of the student protest groups at Yonsei University.
Really? I studied at Yonsei for one year. Did you?
What little protests you saw during the 1990s is nothing.
Umm, I was there in
Re:My prediction... (Score:4, Funny)
Oh I agree with you. I am a citizen of canada and as much as I hate the naivity, moral superiority, and complacency of Canadians, there is a good reason why it is so; it is called winter, which unless you are in BC we all get 8 months of it! Who the hell wants to protest outside from October to May? And when the four months of summer comes, most people would rather be at the beach, gardening, hiking, golfing, and doing summer stuff than picketing and yelling 'down with this, down with that".
Canada has the higest number of golfers per capita of any nation, so I guess we know were our priorities are.
Re:Re[:My prediction...] Baa... Baa... (Score:5, Interesting)
As to whether or not the baa-baa-sheep-like-ness will prove to be seriously detrimental to Korean society in the future will require many decades of observation, and many hours spent watching the History Channel after those decades have passed. Who knows? Maybe they've got it right.
Well, after the "Asian Market Collapse" the "baa-baa-sheep-like-ness" did prove very beneficial. When the government called on Koreans to stop traveling and taking Korean money out of the country most Koreans complied. In fact, they put a noticeable dent in the Thai weekend excursion business. Also, when the government called on employees to continue going to work even though their employers had no cash to pay them, most complied. A good friends sister-in-law had a small business with about twenty employees. They continued coming to work despite not getting a paycheck for several months. The whole thing could have been much worse than it was if not for everyone making sacrifices "for the good of the group".
Coincidence of what? (Score:2, Funny)
2. Koreans like dog meat.
Make your own conclusion.
what we have here is a failure to authenticate (Score:2, Interesting)
Any ID scheme by definition requires authentication, and therefore security protocols on an ABI layer (assuming we confine this discussion to computers and message boards). Most open source ABIs are well known and showing their age, the hacker community already knows how to circumvent them. The pri
Re:what we have here is a failure to authenticate (Score:2)
I understand that a lot of liberal slashdotters might find the idea of having everyone post under their real name and number intriguing.
Hmmm, I would have thought just the opposite. I would think that a lot of liberal slashdotters would see this for what it really is.Re:what we have here is a failure to authenticate (Score:3, Insightful)
It depends. I can see communitarian liberals believing we should all live without secrets in a big happy utopia where everyone's lives and views are public and respected (e.g. David Brin's "transparent society"). On the other hand, as an individualist conservative/libertarian with an inherent distrust of government power, I think this is a terrible idea.
Re:what we have here is a failure to authenticate (Score:2)
Re:what we have here is a failure to authenticate (Score:3, Funny)
Data mining for dissidents (Score:2)
Far-reaching implications. First applications I see is government spider programs crawling all over the Korean message boards, looking for anti-social posts, keeping records, tying in data from different forums. The government will have a database of everything you've ever said online. Then, when something not so nice happens, they start querying the database.
SELECT FNAME,LNAME,ID
FROM CITIZEN,FORUMS
WHERE FORUMS.POSTS.CONTENTS contains "bomb" AND FORUMS.POSTS.CONTENTS contains "allah" AND FORUMS.POS
Re:Data mining for dissidents (Score:2)
from the why-is-every-user-named-kim dept (Score:3, Funny)
[/joke]
Thank God I live in the US (Score:2, Insightful)
After a little over 10 years from breaking away from a dictatorship, my people *still* don't understand what freedom truly is.
This is exactly what the founding fathers were doing when they made sure that freedom of speech became a pillar of what made this country. That is what makes this country so great. (Yes, there were a few hiccups, but at least today we can protest against the government and not fear being killed).
What if you wanted to wri
Re:Thank God I live in the US (Score:3, Insightful)
True, but instead you're labled unpatriotic if you protest against the Government. Or if it is a nother country that does not agree to what you are doing they are almost considered your enemy and might get some s
Re:Thank God I live in the US (Score:2)
Awwwww! You've been labeled!
Yeah, I can see the comparison between being labeled unpatriotic versus being killed.
Re:Thank God I live in the US (Score:2)
Ragnarok Online (Score:2, Informative)
What this does do is make the punishment for cheating much more severe--you can't simply establish a new account and start cheating again. But it a
ok (Score:2)
Sorry guys... (Score:2)
You know who you are.
Bad ideas that people like are the worst kind. (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm pretty sure he wouldn't, and I'm pretty sure enough of the trolls and spammers would find ways to keep going that we wouldn't miss them.
So is this... (Score:2)
wrong answer. (Score:5, Insightful)
People use pseudonyms so that they can speak freely. So they post something that some nutcase doesn't like, then the nutcase hunts that person down and whacks them.
Or people want to speak out against the government. Which seem to be what the government there wants to put an end to..
Fear the government that fears you..
When the government restricts your right to speak freely on any subject, no matter who it may offend, it is time to abolish that government....
Re:wrong answer. (Score:3, Informative)
Er, Koreans aren't familiar with the concept of free speech. And there's certainly no constitutional guarantee of it. Hard to end something that never started.
Cheers
-b
Redundant example (Score:3, Funny)
I hate to point it out, but you seem to have used the same example twice.
Not a Problem For Some People... (Score:2)
Does this imply online opinion polls could work ? (Score:3, Insightful)
I realize there are many ways a positive id system could be abused, but if online opinion polling could be made accurate and easy to implement, some govts might wind up getting more than they'd bargained for.
Re:Does this imply online opinion polls could work (Score:3, Insightful)
No, because it's still a self-selected sample group.
Re:Does this imply online opinion polls could work (Score:2, Interesting)
Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)
omg too good to be true (Score:5, Funny)
Re:omg too good to be true (Score:3, Funny)
How's this for a conspiracy theory? (Score:3, Interesting)
This may be partially the argument in Korea as well, even though it still dowsn't apply to outlawing nicknames on private message boards. However, considering the traditional need for a strong centralized government in Asian countries, at the cost of individual rights, it's just natural that Korea would be among the first to implement this. I'm wondering whether Singapore, the most authoritarian of these countries, didn't pass similar laws already...
No wonder, especially in Korea... (Score:2, Funny)
And, after all, a number like 526590 is much easier to remember...
Korea's Stance: Pseudonyms No, Spam Yes (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe we should pull all of our troops out of South Korea...
Oh, by the way, here's a list of e-mail contacts for the Korean spammers who made it impossible for me to use my last e-mail address. Have at them, harvestbots!
abuse@kornet.net, ip@ns.kornet.net, ip@ns.kornet21.net, domain@NS.KORNET.NET, donghk@soback.kornet.net, ever@kt.co.kr, jeonnam3@soback.kornet.net, jeon@kornet.net, jeonbuk3@kornet.net, koreatelecom@KORNET.NET, gfd5246@soback.kornet.net, gspark@kornet.net, help@KORNET.NET, helpdesk@KORNET.NET, haewha1@soback.kornet.net, heyeunmi@kornet.net, kmhno1@soback.kornet.net, hopewon3@soback.kornet.net, kgromc@soback.kornet21.net, kmhno1@soback.kornet.net, legal@KORNET.NET, network@kornet.net, packet@soback.kornet.net, postmaster@kornet.net, postmaster@soback.kornet.net, postmaster@ns.kornet.net, postmaster@soback.kornet.net, pusanpub@soback.kornet.net, root@soback.kornet.net, root@kt.co.kr, service@kornet.net, support@kornet.net, system@kornet.net, yjjeon61@kornet.net, abuse@ns.kornet21.net, domain@ns.kornet21.net, network@ns.kornet21.net, postmaster@ns.kornet21.net, resume@kornet.net, root@ns.kornet21.net, service@ns.kornet21.net, support@ns.kornet21.net, system@ns.kornet21.net, wong@kornet.net, abuse@ASADAL.NET, postmaster@ASADAL.NET, manager@cais.kaist.ac.kr, abuse@hanmir.com, postmaster@hanmir.com, webmaster@hanmir.com, msweet@kt.co.kr, abuse@itnsoft.com, help@itnsoft.com, ip@ns.kornet.net, hostmaster@nic.or.kr, marom@itnsoft.com, postmaster@itnsoft.com, root@itnsoft.com, eglee@yesnic.com, info@yesnic.com, hostmaster@yesnic.com, postmaster@yesnic.com, eglee@whois.co.kr, postmaster@whois.co.kr, whois@whois.co.kr, brkim@INWANG.NOWCOM.CO.KR, domain@NOWNURI.NET, busisik@nownuri.net, kbr@nownuri.net, memory@nownuri.net, abuse@nownuri.net, postmaster@nownuri.net, abuse@dreamx.net, abuse@cjdream.net, abuse@todream.net, admin@dreamx.net, admin@cjdream.net, administration@dreamx.net, administration@cjdream.net, billing@DREAMX.NET, billing@cjdream.net, brkim@cjdream.com, dns@dreamx.net, dns@cjdream.net, dnsadmin@dreamx.net, dnsadmin@cjdream.net, domain@DREAMX.NET, domain@todream.net, domains@DREAMX.NET, domain@todream.net, feedback@DREAMX.NET, feedback@cjdream.net, help@DREAMX.NET, help@cjdream.net, helpdesk@DREAMX.NET, helpdesk@cjdream.net, hostmaster@dreamx.net, hostmaster@cjdream.net, inhanna@cjdream.net, info@dreamx.net, info@cjdream.net, jyan@dreamx.net, jyan@cjdream.net, ley319@dreamx.net, loveabuse@dreamx.net, loveabuse@cjdream.net, mail@dreamx.net, mail@cjdream.net, mgr@cjdream.com, news@dreamx.net, news@cjdream.net, newsabuse@dreamx.net, newsabuse@cjdream.net, postmaster@dreamx.net, postmaster@todream.net, raven3@dreamx.net, raven3@empal.com, root@dreamx.net, root@cjdream.net, soip@cjdream.com, sales@dreamx.net, sales@cjdream.net, sbkim091@dreamx.net, sbkim091@cjdream.net, service@DREAMX.NET, service@cjdream.net, solhan@cjdream.net, spam@DREAMX.NET, spam@cjdream.net, support@cjdream.net, support@dreamx.net, sysop@DREAMX.NET, sysop@cjdream.net, sysop@todream.net, tech@dreamx.net, tech@cjdream.net, technical@dreamx.net, technical@cjdream.net, technicalsupport@dreamx.net, technicalsupport@cjdream.net, system@cjdream.net, system@dreamx.net, sysop@todream.net, ykshin@cjdream.net, ykshin@dreamx.net, eglee@yesnic.com, info@yesnic.com, hostmaster@yesnic.com, eglee@whois.co.kr, brkim@INWANG.NOWCOM.CO.KR, domain@NOWNURI.NET, kbr@nownuri.net, memory@nownuri.net, busisik@nownuri.net, abuse@nownuri.net, postmaster@nownuri.net, inhanna@sysone.co.kr, abuse@thrunet.com, abuse@korea.com, admin@thrunet.com, admin@korea.com, administration@thrunet.com, dns@thrunet.com, dns@korea.com, dnsadmin@thrunet.com, domain@thrunet.com, feedback@thrunet.com, feedback@korea.com, help@thrunet.com, helpdesk@thrunet.com, hostmaster@thrunet.com, mail@thrunet.com, mail@korea.com, news@thrunet.com, news@korea.com, newsabuse@thrunet.com, postmaster@
Korean or Chinese Goiv Influence (Score:2)
So is the influence of N Korea or China in this Real Name on boards requirement?
Re:Korean or Chinese Goiv Influence (Score:2, Informative)
It's already that bad (Score:3, Interesting)
I'd like to have their pretty pretty games, but not at that cost.
Great idea...hope it works for them ! (Score:2)
This is a good thing (Score:3, Funny)
Government Shoots Self in Foot... (Score:3, Interesting)
Clearly the reasoning behind this rule is to suppress dissent. I dont know whether this is about N. or S. Korea, but neither one would surprise me.
In North Korea, for example, everyone is required to have a picture of Kim Jong Il prominently displayed in their home. If an official comes to your house and finds the picture missing or displayed in a way which seems unsuitably reverent you can be arrested and jailed for up to two years.
(And what is it about dictators that they insist on splashing their ugly monkey-faces everywhere?
The policy of locking people up for their dissent is foolhardy, especially in a bankrupt country. Likewise, policies which suppress free expression prevent the free exchange and evolution of ideas. Considering that North Korea's best idea for helping their economy is to use nuclear weapons to extort help from the West, the region needs as much free exchange as it can get.
If this new law applied to South Korea it would seem to indicate a sea change in the political climate. Such a shift is not unprecedented in their history. People there still hold to the ideals of Confucianism which values the needs of the collective over the individual. Nevertheless South Koreans value freedom and the right of protest, so this law could not be upheld there for very long.
Here's a cool study [ttu.edu] about Political Protest in East Asia.
Radio talkback callers first (Score:2)
Case study in China (Score:5, Interesting)
This reminds me of a case that I ran into in China, a few weeks ago.
I've just started a new software company in Shanghai, developing PKI-related software (no, we are not developing PKI infrastructure software, just PKI-related) for e-business. And obviously, we are looking for partners, especially PKI infrastructure software vendors. We met with the CEO of a local software company which develops PKI infrastructure software. They position themselves as vendor of PKI software for identity registration and ID verification. The company is quite well connected (i.e. with well positioned backers and investors).
The scary thing is, they are pushing the government to adopt an ID scheme based on PKI, targeting those who go to internet cafe/bar. The scheme was to require everyone to register with a CA and purchase a digital certificate. And all internet cafe/bar computers must be modified to verify the certificate before allowing anyone to go online.
This scheme would allow the government to control everything the users access, and monitor who is doing what.
The good thing is, I doubt they would succeed (in Shanghai at least, but you never really know). There are all kinds of local protections here, although the company is quite well connected, but there's that company "Shanghai CA" which is even better connected, and basically the PKI market here. So that smaller company is basically pushed to the sideline, especially in Shanghai area.
The bad thing is, they are going to other smaller cities, and try to push their scheme over there.
So we'll see.
Re:Hmmm (Score:2)
http://www.petitiononline.com/scosueme/petition
but all of this is offtopic.
MY only question, is this north or south korea?
duh (Score:2)
Re:Hmmm (Score:4, Funny)
High irony (Score:2, Insightful)
The thousands of slashbots babbling something about "anonymity not being a part of freedom".
Ironic, a post from an AC condemning slashdotters penchant for advocating privacy rights.
The right to privacy IS a fundamental function of a free society, along with the right to peaceably assemble, the freedom to speak your mind and the free press.
I have to question the patriotism--or location-- of someone who would actively condemn us for that.
Unless they're posting AC; in which case they're probably simply
Not in the US without a fight... (Score:2)
And one thing that would strongly help to deter this kind of legislation in the U.S. is a couple hundred years of authors using pseudonyms.
Re:Down with ACs? (Score:2)
Re:This is what happens... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:This is what happens... (Score:5, Insightful)
Because, apart from governmental repercussions, there is peer pressure and societal disapproval for unpopular speech. If you force people to use their real names, you will get much less disagreement. Which is, of course, just what repressive governments like.
think about it. maybe a society where no one has to hide behind pseudonyms to speak their mind is more "pro-free-speech" than one where people feel the need not to compromise themselves or something by saying their opinion.
People have thought about this for a couple of thousand years. Many great works of literature, social criticism, reportage, and political science have been published under pseudonyms. Pseudonyms are essential for free speech.
If you want to get rid of the need for pseudonyms, you have to change human nature (peer pressure, retaliation, flaming, all that) first. Good luck.
Re:This is what happens... (Score:2)
The US Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects speaking anonymously. 514 U.S. 334, 342 (1995), if you want to read their reasoning.
Even more directly applicable was a Georgia law forbidding pseudonymous Internet communication. See http://people.hofstra.edu/faculty/peter_j_spiro/c
Re:This is what happens... (Score:2)
a society where no one has to hide behind pseudonyms to speak their mind
is what we are aiming at. Noone is there yet.
one where people feel the need not to compromise themselves or something by saying their opinion
is where all societies are at present. Some societies allow you to give your opinion with less retribution than others.
Extremely dangerous power vacuum (Score:4, Insightful)
At the slightest sign of a power vacuum or confusion, ol' Puffy Hair would push over the US and South Korean border guards like matchsticks, and tapdance all the(-very- short) way to the South Korean capitol, for his own version of 'reunification'. Resource-starved countries with huge militaries, time has proven over and over, are extremely dangerous.
North Korea is so far into the dark ages, and Kim is so mentally deranged and desperate(the whole "I'VE GOT NUCLEAR WEAPONS, REALLY, I DO!" isn't working so hot for him), that at this point, he'd do anything and everything to get the resources and land South Korea has. It would, without a doubt, start World War III- that country is so armed to the teeth, and its people so completely, totally brainwashed...coalition soldiers would be fighting every man, woman and child strong enough to pick up a shovel or pitchfork. Kim is no Saddam- his people have been completely brainwashed into loving him. It would be a slaughter on both sides.
So, yeah, I think starting a coup in SK would be a really, really, really stupid idea.
Personal liberty and the right to vehemently question one's leadership shouldn't be questioned, regardless of what type of place you live in. If where you live thinks the idea of free speech is "wrong" then you live int he wrong place or the leaders are fucktards.
What are you, Wesley Crusher, with a fresh mouth?
Overreaction (Score:2)
South Korea has had a coup in the past; democracy was lost and the military was in power for some time. I
Re:This is what happens... (Score:5, Insightful)
Sooo . . . I should be allowed to ask about anything as long as I don't ask whether I should be allowed to ask? Phzzt . . . whoops, hold on a sec, my hippocampus is overheating.
Seriously though. I think what you're trying to say is that people should never be punished for asking questions. That I can agree with.
I think you're also trying to say that personal liberty is a value so fundamental that it would be foolish even to ask whether it might be a good idea to limit it in some cases. And that I do not agree with; there are plenty of cases where individual liberty is at odds with the interests of other individuals or those of society. As the old saw goes, "Your right to swing your arm ends at my nose." In the absence of any restraint on personal liberty, you have chaos; suppose I choose to exercise my personal liberty by murdering random strangers on the street? If you try to stop me, you are abrogating my liberty.
Establishing a good balance between personal liberty and the interests of others is an ongoing process, and questioning the premises on which the current balance is based is vital maintenance.
This Korean proposal is a perfect example. The government says "We should do this," and people say "Why?" and then you have a debate which hopefully ends up in a course of action acceptable to the interested parties. It's when that process is derailed that bad things start happening: when the government says "It's going to be this way" and pays no attention to the citizenry, the chances that the resulting legislation will be narrow, self-serving crap rise dramatically.
For that reason, we should always be allowed to question every facet of our political systems, without exception.
Re:This is what happens... (Score:2)
Sophostry. Illegal activities, beit murder, fraud, libel, slander, or anything deemed so for the protection of the public is not a "right." That is unless you can find a caselaw or Common Law statement of such from any legitimate court. Since you can't we'll ignore this particularly unfortunate statement and move on.
Re:This is what happens... (Score:2)
Re:UK parrallels? (Score:2)
Even for a single static IP it's trivially traceable - PC Plod calls ISP, ISP releases your contact details...
Dynamic IP is only slightly harder - you just need a reasonably accurate time of day.
Names By Census (Score:3, Interesting)
That'll cover 45% of the population, according to the [monash.edu.au]
1945 census
So not the entire population, but a lot more than the top 3 in the 1990 US census (Smith, Johnson, Williams) - about 8 million total, somewhere under 3%.