via The Verge – All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/5/4066546/vint-cerf-real-name-authentication-useful-but-anonymity-necessary:
When he’s not theorizing about chatting with aliens over the internet, computer science visionary Vint Cerf maintains a day job at Google as a vice president and the company’s chief internet evangelist. The “father of the internet” was recently asked about Google’s stance on real-name authentication, a system that requires users to publicly go by their proper name on the internet. Thus far Google has gently pushed users to display their real name on Google+ and the company’s other services, but it hasn’t backed away from traditional usernames / pseudonyms, either. Cerf thinks that’s the right approach. “Using real names is useful,” he said in a recent interview with Reuters. “But I don’t think it should be forced on people, and I don’t…