--On 2004-1-30 4:53 AM +0000 James Craig Burley <craig(_at_)jcb-sc(_dot_)com>
wrote:
Validating and/or tracing human identity is *not* an email issue any
more than it is an http-retrieval, ftp-upload, instant-messaging,
etc. issue. It's a fairly general issue on the Internet; in some
areas, *viewing* certain materials that you mentioned is a criminal
offense, so it needn't be emailed, though it could be uploaded to an
ftp site and still be a criminal offense, of course.
As a somewhat offside corollary, using photons to view child porn
doesn't make the physics community accessories to a crime.
A messaging transport cannot dictate, restrict, or encourage morals any
more than sight, speech, or the printed word can.
--lyndon