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Like everything, there are many shades of grey here. For example, if you forced everyone to reveal their true identity you would eliminate many whistle blowers at companies big and small. What about voting? Yes, you need to establish your identity to the system, but do you want your voting records stored and therefore possibly available to the public? I happen to know of a sexual predator whose victims were children. People didn't come forward for years because they were afraid of being exposed to all the nastiness that comes with this sort of thing. There are many places in the world where critical words written about whomever is in power might mean a midnight visit from the police and a trip to a dungeon.I know I would be very relucatant to participate in most online forums if my true identity were available simply because you never know who will use it to stalk you, threaten you, or possibly deny you a job or worse. I quit a rather wonderful forum because I went by my true identity and there was a nutcase there who threatened me with all sorts of vile stuff. Several people I know were attacked by him. I believe one lost his job because of this person's false attacks sent to the person's employer. Others were attacked digitally via the Internet and had their computer systems wrecked. The threatener was a a bit of an evil genius software hacker. Someone else I know called the police on him several times because of the threats.
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