FOR many years, Social Security cards carried an admonition that they were to be used "for Social Security and tax purposes -- not for identification."
You've got my personal guarantee that if an optional Internet ID is created today, it will be required before long. This is how the system works. Witness the gradual ratcheting up of (ridiculous) security measures in airports if you're skeptical.
That's pretty obvious. Just in a few month government and every established corp will require those for it's online services. Online banking, paypal&co, all app stores, gaming, taxes, healtcare, insurance ...
Prediction: it'll start with the gov't allowing safe harbor for sites that use these IDs, when questions regarding copyright, pr0n, etc., come up.
If your users post copyrighted material, e.g., then you'll be offered safe harbor only if you enforce registration via the national ID. Same deal for people posting "naughty" content -- which is more insidious than it sounds, because of the overlap between (a) sexual content and privacy concerns in discussions about, e.g., STDs; or (b) in the wake of wikileaks, being hassled about publication of, or support for those publishing, "leaked" data be it from government or from industry.
It's necessary that we provide a way for people to maintain anonymity, but the government wants to offer enough carrots to divert our horse from that path.
I've got a bridge to sell you, too.
Social Security Numbers, we were promised, would not be used as personal identifiers. See, e.g., http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02EFD71039F...
FOR many years, Social Security cards carried an admonition that they were to be used "for Social Security and tax purposes -- not for identification."
You've got my personal guarantee that if an optional Internet ID is created today, it will be required before long. This is how the system works. Witness the gradual ratcheting up of (ridiculous) security measures in airports if you're skeptical.