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An internet site that allows people to
send anonymous
e-mail. When an e-mail message is sent via a remailer, the remailer
removes all the information that might identify the sender, such as name,
e-mail address, isp and ip address, before forwarding it to
the intended recipient.
Remailers are widely used by contributors to
discussions in newsgroups who wish to remain anonymous for some
reason, perhaps to hide personal problems from spouses and bosses or to
discuss sensitive religious or political issues without fear of
recrimination. Many pornography distributors also rely on remailers
to keep their identities secret, which has led authorities to concentrate on
their activities. The most famous remailer, Finland-based anon.penet.fi,
owned by Johan Helsingius, was subjected to great pressure from several
sources, including the Church of Scientology, to reveal the identities of
some of its 7000,000 users, Police investigations and widespread media
coverage followed, at least some of which was hysterical and inaccurate. All
this resulted in anon.penet.fi's closure in 1996, but many remailers
continue to operate world wide, and are widely supported by internet privacy
and free speech campaigners. |
