During our groups discussion during class we discussed various aspects of internet anonymity. While we did not come to a consensus of whether or not anonymity should be allowed on the internet we were able to identify strengths and weaknesses that anonymity provides and maintain an active discussion of the questions that follow: Among the main strengths that we discussed were that anonymity allows protection while discussion of personal topics such as health issues, gambling habits, and religion. This anonymity also provides support groups to those victims of rape, violence, as well as users of illegal drugs who seek help or are trying to quit. Most importantly we concluded that the greatest aspect to online anonymity is that it provides protection. Anonymity protects peoples privacy, protecting people from identity theft, marketers, and from strict governments. Unfortunately, aside from protecting the responsible members of society anonymity also protects criminals. Anonymity enables people to use the internet for fraud, harassment, distribution of pornography, to threaten others, to steal confidential information, as well as to break copy right laws. Does the potential for harm by criminals who use anonymity to hide from law enforcement outweigh the loss of privacy and restraint on freedom of speech for honest people who use anonymity responsibly? The right to express ourselves freely is a right that we constitutionally are granted as citizens of the United States. Many other countries are not a fortunate as us to have such rights and while its unfortunate we should appreciate what we have and use it more responsibly. The actions of the minority should not have such a large impact on the protection of honest members of the online community. While anonymity makes it hard for law enforcement to find the dishonest members online the loss of privacy would have a devastating impact on the rest of the community. As a group we believe that freedom of speech outweighs the potential harm caused as a result of anonymity online. Is anonymity an important protection against possible abuse of government power? Should people have the right to use available tools, including anonymizers, to protect their privacy? As a group we do believe that people should have the right to use tools such as anonymizers to protect their privacy. We believe that it is heavily depended upon as a resource for online support for people included in our strengths listed above. We can send hardcopy mail without a return address. Should there be more restrictions on anonymity on the Internet than in other contexts? I do not believe that there should be more restrictions on anonymity on the internet then in other contexts because there is less opportunity on the internet for criminals to inflict physical harm than in real life.