This is a copy of my reply to Jonathan Cooper's request for legitimate uses of anonymous services... DHM. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 16 Nov 1994 18:47:58 -0400 (EDT) On Wed, 16 Nov 1994, Jonathan Cooper wrote:
Is there any interest in IRC and HTTP anonymizing proxy servers?
Yes.
My question (which I have about most anonymized services) is what the legitimate uses would be. I'm currently in a code-till-I-drop mindset, but I really don't want people using these services just to sling porn-o-the-day or to irritate people on irc.
An example of use of anonymous servers: There is a newsgroup called alt.sexual.abuse.recovery [among others], a healing forum for survivors of sexual abuse/assault [often childhood sexual abuse], their significant others, and other support people. For obvious reasons, for many there is a need for anonymity [many of those who post would be killed VERY quickly if their true location/identity were discovered]. There is also an irc channel, #**** <name deleted> which is used by "asarians" for "live" discussions of many issues, ranging from very serious survivor issues to having electronic snowball fights. Again, for many, anonymity is VERY important. So yes, there ARE some very legitimate uses for anonymous servers, whether irc or email or netnews posting... If you want any further info, please ask. DHM.