Esther gave a great talk about the Accountable Net at Accelerating Change that is now up on IT Conversations. It is worth a listen as we look at identifiers for people on the net. I blogged it here.
This is the summary offered on IT Conversations:
There also needs to be a balance between the ability to authenticate identity and protect the possibility of anonymity.
Since the knowledge base of its users varies so much, rules for internet communities need to be carefully designed. More than one system needs to be employed in order to offer security to new users while maintaining robust opportunities for people with advanced knowledge. Regulation of the internet should be, in Esther Dyson’s words, a way to empower people to do things without giving them power over each other.