Trolls, You're Safe Here

I promise to never press charges using this cockamamie law:

Annoying someone via the Internet is now a federal crime.

It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. Thank Congress for small favors, I guess.

This ridiculous prohibition, which would likely imperil much of Usenet, is buried in the so-called Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act. Criminal penalties include stiff fines and two years in prison.

"Whoever...utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in whole or in part, by the Internet... without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person...who receives the communications...shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both."

What I want to know is, will this statute be used by people who honestly feel they are being cyberstalked, whiny bloggers who get mad when challenged about their opinions, or (worse) public officials of any stripe, who are criticized legitimately on the Internet, call it "annoyance," and try to shut down dissent. I'm thinking the latter.

I would never try to shut down or even moderate comments (what little there are). Who gives a crap? Answer everything and let your readers decide.