http://ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/.....2008_93905

Or just use Tor

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7265212.stm

The fear is that the same could happen with the blogging issue: that they might use a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

The access to the ip data given by Americans (Google) was, in the case of press-gr, given only on the basis of criminal indictment. Probably it would have happened more quickly in the UK, where anti-terrorism and anti-paedophile laws allow easy police access to ip addresses. At this time, I recently recall reading, by law the Greek police cannot even identify paedophiles from Greek ip addresses. So, the big issue is how the Greek state is going to improve its legitimate need to control aspects of internet use while maintaining civil rights of normal users.

I do have a question for people. Don’t Kiss the Frog mentioned the ridiculous ban on video games a few years ago

The proposed law reminds me of an older one (also incited by the mainstream media) which forbade video games; I mean all of them. Ridiculous. Nothing but hype. It was approved by the parliament, though. People got their equipment confiscated. Until the hype died away

I remember when my gamer friends heard about the law, most of them just laughed but some were very worried (some were involved in serious gaming and even in game development). I am sure those caught up in the nonsense took it very seriously and were quite rightly scared to death about being sued.

But then it did blow over.
Perhaps this will be the case here ?
What do people think ?

However, it will be difficult to really stop blog owners from being anonymous. All anyone has to do is set up a blog in the USA and then Greece won’t have jurisdiction, since in the states, we have freedom of speech. How do you do this?

METHOD #1: Set up a basic internet (dial up) account with a company such as MSN, Netzero, etc in the USA etc. Some are as cheap at 9.95 USD per month, and immediately give you access into their network without the typical “Greek company” waiting times. Plus you can be billed thru your credit card monthly.

Then, what you do is connect to the American company’s internet access number from your computer (in Greece) and then you are connected in the American service provider’s dial up network. You set up your initial blog, post your blog articles etc., from inside the American service provider’s network, and then you disconnect. Of course, in addition to the monthly ISP charge, you will be charged long distance phone rates to connect to the USA from your computer in Greece. But, generally, you would prepare the blog article ahead of time and then just copy and paste the article into your blog to limit the actual connection time.

For example, Diva, if one of your readers (from within Greece) visited your blog (from Greece) using this method, and you tried to track their IP address, you’d see that their IP address originated from within the USA.

METHOD #2: Have a friend or relative set it up for you in the USA and you email your blog Articles directly to your friend and he posts em for you.

I find it highly unlikely that an American service provider would give the private details of one of it’s customers to Greek authorities strictly on the basis that the blogger was remaining anonymous.

I had no idea. Am I the only one ?

I wonder what the rules are in other European countries…

Did you know that for several years now, to use an internet cafe in Italy you have to produce a passport and the cafe logs your details onto the computer you use? This is so that the police can trace emails or whatever to internet cafes and catch “the terrorists” with their passports.

What I am opposed to is throwing out the baby with the bathwater so to speak. Anonymous blogging is, very often, necessary, as in the case of DD and this is a right that should remain strong.

The press-gr blog was set up, unlike normal blogs, so that anyone could anonymously post actual blogs there. The anonymous posters had their ip addresses concealed, and the owner of the website was not known. They traced the physical address for the police to raid through an ip address from Google servers [it is supposedly the editor of a major Greek newspaper]. The whole thing is a disgrace, yet quite a few of my Greek friends approve of it because it has juicy scandals every other page.

What scares me is that the proposed anti-anonymous blogging law could have serious implications for all bloggers here in Greece. I choose to blog anonymously because of threats made against me not the other way round. I should have the right to protect myself online if I am doing nothing wrong.

I will be watching closely and will keep you posted on any developments. If anyone is following this in the Greek press, please keep me informed. Thank you.