All the talk recently about multiple fake identities reminded me of a research project I read about a few years ago. A team set out to ascertain if Shakespeare was really one person, or actually several people. The researchers analyzed the frequency distribution of words found in the works of Shakespeare, and compared them to the other writers of the day. I don't recall the results of the project, but that kind of research would have implications for anonymous postings. It is not too difficult to see how certain spelling errors, word frequency (how often do you say 'I':-) choice of wording, and the working vocabulary of an individual could allow you to identify an anonymous poster. This would be particularly easy if the individual also posted under their real name. I suspect that the government has done research on this topic. It would be useful to identify which terrorist made which (written) threat. This brings up the subject of how one can post without leaving an "ASCII fingerprint". I suspect the use of a spelling checker and grammatical checker would help. Perhaps running your text through a language converter, (say English to French) then back would remove many identifying characteristics. Jim Pinson Galapagos Islands PGP key available by finger jpinson@fcdarwin.org.ec