Nowhere to Hide: Europe May Ban False Web Identities

Europeans may lose the right to create Web and email accounts under false names according to a New York Times article last week (Europe’s Plan to Track Phone and Net Use).

Creating an email account under a pseudonym is common practice, particularly for creating a catch-all for junk email. Several European countries are considering making this practice illegal in response to the terrorist bombings in Spain and England. Some of the possible laws would require all email addresses be traceable to a real name.

What effect does this have on Internet users? Should users be required to divulge their real names for email accounts?