Vint Cerf: Google Shouldn't Require Real Names 113
An anonymous reader writes "In an interview with Reuters, 'father of the internet' Vint Cerf spoke about Google's past push for requiring real names from their users — a stance they later backed down from after public outcry. Google+ and many other services work just fine with pseudonyms, Cert says, and it's better to let users pick the option that works best for them. 'Using real names is useful. But I don't think it should be forced on people, and I don't think we do.' That said, he also firmly believes some services do need true identities from both sides: 'Anonymity and pseudonymity are perfectly reasonable under some situations. But there are cases where in the transactions both parties really need to know who are we talking to. So what I'm looking for is not that we shut down anonymity, but rather that we offer an option when needed that can strongly authenticate who the parties are.' Still, the matter of pseudonyms on Google+ seems to be settled internally, at least for the moment. Cerf said, 'There was a debate on this subject and it was resolved. ... Our conclusion was that choice is important.'"
Perhaps, but (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I think what they should do is (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, not really. The folks who like to launch personal attacks get pretty worked up about it when you post AC and they use a "real" name like "Frosty Piss".
Bud is not my real name, it's not on my birth certificate, or any official ID. Yet that's what everybody calls me every day in real life, and nobody has any problem with it. But go online, and suddenly it's some kind of major issue that I'm "hiding" behind a pseudonym. Nobody seems to get bent out of shape over Mark Twain's use of a 'fake name', etc.
Re:Change it? (Score:2, Interesting)
I changed mine to deleted after they started wanting your real name on youtube too. (Which was quite a while after they supposedly gave up their real name stance.)
Re:Did we need Vint Cerf to tell us this? (Score:2, Interesting)
I suspect that the Google culture that spawned issues like this is a factor in why Marissa left
My handle is more unique than my real name (Score:5, Interesting)
I know of at least seven other people with the same first and last name as me. One of them has published scientific papers in the same field as I have. One works in the same industry as me. Yet another has a similar hobby as me. Yet another of them is a rapist.
I know this, because people have confused me with them. I have received mail, both physical letters and emails that were intended for them.
I'd rather use my handle than my real name, because then people will not confuse me with any of the other guys. My handle is practically unique.
Re:Change it? (Score:2, Interesting)
That is getting annoying. I've already rejected the use of my real name (the one I use on my Gmail account, which is tied to my YouTube account) several times and yet they don't seem to get the fucking picture and stop harassing me. There are other things on YouTube that they don't seem to get either, like the little "helper" pop ups that show up in various places since they changed to the worst layout YouTube has ever had, such as the guide menu. When I click "Got it", I mean it, go the fuck away and never come back.
On my Gmail account, they keep bothering me to give them my mobile number, for "security" purposes". I reject it, all is well for a little while, but they keep popping up that obnoxious "security" request. Just fucking stop already.
On Google Play, you can't even rate an app, let alone write a review now because you MUST have a Google+ account to do so, which I absolutely refuse to use. I don't use Facebook, Twitter or any other social media sites either, so I wish they'd fuck off. In addition, they now pop up ads that you must dismiss every single time you download or buy an app from Google Play.
On Google Image Search, results are terrible ever since they did away with the ability to simply disable SafeSearch. Now, you either do a search with anything they deem to be too risque being omitted or you add some kind of qualifier like "porn" or "nude" and only get hardcore porn results, omitting the shitload of things that fall in between.
On Google Search, results seem to be much less relevant than ever. It used to be that I could type in a query, using various operators where desired, and I'd have what I was looking for within the top few results. Now it seems like no matter how specific I am, I almost always have to scroll down or go to the next page.
Fuck Google. I've already decided that my next phone will not be Android based due to all of their obnoxious behavior, I've switched to Bing, I've switched IM over to Skype and I'm seriously thinking about switching to a different email service. The only service that I can't find an adequate replacement for yet it YouTube, because it has the most content and most viewers.