Real Name Verification asks all users to verify their real-world identity before making any user content on the web - blogs, wikis, photos, videos, or even comments. Users won't be required to use their real names as their IDs, but still they have to verify their particular online ID is mapped onto their real name.
So it's like this: If you are lonelygirl15, and if you want to upload your videos on Youtube, you can still appear as lonelygirl15 but you gotta tell Youtube that you are actually Jane Doe (or whatever is your real world name) and your actual social security number is 123-45-678. "Hi lonelygirl15, would you mind if we check your real name and social security number before you proceed with the video clip upload?"
Guess what will happen if that mapping info gets hacked (guessing who in the world fake Steve Jobs might be will be the thing of the past); or if someone steals your real name and social security number, and acts online as if he was you - this time, with more (false) credibility.
This requirement applies to anonymous comments as well - if you want to leave an anonymous comment to someone's blog, you should still have to go through real name verification process. This will make Korea the first country in the world that invented the term, "real name verified alias" - isn't that a self-contradictory term?
The purpose of this mandate could be pretty noble (or so I hope) - to discourage those dangerous evil trollings. But what if the government starts to use this feature to hunt down whoever makes anti-government-ish comments (whose definition can sometimes be blurry). Or use this mandate as a way to deter people from making any criticism on the current government. ("Hey dude, we know who you are, so you probably don't want to mess with us the officers.")
The general industry consensus towards this real name verification thing is pretty bad. Folks are afraid the government might be turning the clock back. It could come from a noble cause, but it may not be the cleverest solution. I'm all for introducing measures to deter trolling, but asking all internet users to go through real name verification for all types of user generated content sounds a bit too extreme/unproductive to me. After hard thoughts, we as the society as a whole might indeed end up concluding the real name verification is the best thing out there against trolling, But still the question remains: Have we thought about it hard enough, as hard as we possibly can?
