A test case went all the way to the US Supreme Court that determined it is legal to use someone else's name as a pseudonym. Nonetheless, kleptocrats declared a war against anonymous bloggers who choose for pen names the names of politicians. But the right to engage in anonymous blogging is a well-established constitutional right in all civil nations.
In fact, anonymous political speech is an especially valued right in the West. From Homer to Mark Twain and the authors of the Federalist Papers, anonymous pamphlets, leaflets, brochures, and books have played an important role in the progress of mankind. http://venitism.blogspot.com
As Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens put forth in deciding McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Comm'n 514 U.S. 334, 357 (1995), "Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation — and their ideas from suppression — at the hand of an intolerant society. The right to remain anonymous may be abused when it shields fraudulent conduct. But political speech by its nature will sometimes have unpalatable consequences, and, in general, our society accords greater weight to the value of free speech than to the dangers of its misuse."
Kleptocrats cannot understand that a blogger is free to decide whether or not to disclose his true identity. The decision in favor of anonymity may be motivated by fear of kleptocrat retaliation, by concern about ostracism, or merely by a desire to preserve as much of one's privacy as possible. Whatever the motivation may be, the interest in having anonymous posts enter cyberspace unquestionably outweighs any public interest in requiring disclosure as a condition of blogging. http://venitism.blogspot.com
Accordingly, a blogger's decision to remain anonymous, like other decisions concerning omissions or additions to the content of a blog, is an aspect of the freedom of speech protected by any reasonable constitution, the Lisbon Treaty, the European Convention of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Most bloggers follow the pseudonym netiquette:
1. Any person can use any pen name, aka pseudonym or alias, as he pleases.
2. Most persons use pen names of famous people, such as politicians.
3. It's an honor when somebody uses your name as a pen name.
4. Only spoofing is forgery, i.e., when one makes the appearance of an email coming from another email.
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