Online anonymity

[Keira <keira@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear ICANN

I am the co-founder of a web service for activists, I am a woman, and
sometimes my opinions are unpopular.

I live in a relatively safe, very comfortable country with strong rule
of law. And yet, for people like me the most likely cause of death or
injury is violence (from men). This is even more pronounced for black,
brown, indigenous, lesbian, disabled and/or trans women.

In this safe and 'enlightened' place I live, the free speech of women
comes with a hefty price tag. My friends have been threatened with
death, torture and rape, stalked and harassed online. As it is, they
gave had people call and show up at their workplaces (found online).

The crimes committed by these women to justify such behaviour include
acts such as running support services for new parents, working for a
trade union, being involved in refugee rights movements, or just being a
transgendered person.

I'm sure you've come to the point of rolling your eyes at the drama when
someone tells you that people will be harmed if you decide to remove
anonymity, to publish our home addresses in aid of the profits of a few.

I don't want to talk about violence though, although that is a very
serious implication of this proposal; I want to talk about something
much more dire. I'm talking about silence.

The anonymity currently available when registering domains is the only
reason I have one.

For myself and so many others the risk just wouldn't be worth it. I
would leave my business, or require a man to register the domain for me.

I would, effectively, leave the internet. And of course I wouldn't be
the only one.

An internet without the voices of women, of victims and survivors of
violence, of whistleblowers, of marginalised groups, of people with
unpopular opinions, wouldn't be the place it is now. The silence would
be deafening.

I understand the proposed change would only affect those running a
business online and not every blog and forum. But restricting this
avenue of funding to those without fear of abuse will restrict these
unpopular voices; we need an income too.

Don't make the folly of thinking that the annoyance of tracking down
offenders (honestly, just get a warrant) is worth the price of an
internet made up of only the most privileged.

Sincerely,

Keira