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No, identity verification is good for everyone regardless of fame. Basically it means a John Smith can’t be Tim Sweeney. The likelihood of Tim Sweeney imperso

No, identity verification is good for everyone regardless of fame. Basically it means a John Smith can’t be Tim Sweeney. The likelihood of Tim Sweeney impersonating another Tim Sweeney is remote.

HWR_14 4y ago
> The likelihood of Tim Sweeney impersonating another Tim Sweeney is remote. For $100 you can legally become Tim Sweeney. Or Adele. Pretty much anything non-profane. Alternatively, you have things backwards. The odds that any Tim Sweeney would want to specifically imitate Epic's Tim Sweeney is remote. However, once they can, it only takes one to cause chaos. He might not be their first choice to emulate, but they know that they can. Or someone can seek them out. Imagine shorting NVIDIA and then having a Tim Sweeney tweet that Epic will require Radeon cards for the best graphics. There are multiple people named Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Think of just offering them the option to create chaos either because they want to or because someone offers them a bribe. Besides all that, I have no idea why identity verification is good for everyone. A lot of people would prefer to be pseudonymous.
- kcplate 4y ago
  So…for John Smith to impersonate Tim Sweeney on Twitter he needs to spend $100, go in front of a judge to petition a name change, change his name on everything else in his life, including all sorts of documents, policies, ids, passports, etc…creating a huge legal paper trail (that will cost a ton of money) then spend another $8 a month just to get a blue check to make snide comments on a social media platform? Seems like a fair amount of effort just to impersonate and troll IMO, probably not worth the effort. Also, in the case of a Tim Sweeney impersonating another Tim Sweeney and wrecking havoc there are some big statistical hurdles to overcome. You need to be a Tim Sweeney, you need to be familiar with another famous Tim Sweeney, you need to want to wreck havoc in a way that only The Tim Sweeney can, and you need to be dumb enough to think you will get away with it. Seems remote. > A lot of people would prefer to be pseudonymous. Ok. So don’t pay the $8/mo for identity verification on Twitter. Problem solved.
  - HWR_14 4y ago
    > You need to be a Tim Sweeney No, you need to find a Tim Sweeney who is willing to help you out. If there's money involved, it's pretty doable. You can get the real influencers to tweet about your product for a not-insane sum. I imagine the cheapest person who shares a famous name isn't that expensive. Meanwhile, you don't have to get away with it for long. Not that it it seems there is anything to "get away with". Does it violate any rules for a non-Epic CEO Tim Sweeney to talk about how much he hates NVIDIA's new cards?
    - kcplate 4y ago
      You just added more statistical complexity to the scenario, so not only do you need to be willing to take on all that risk and effort to impersonate another person, but you also need to recruit someone with the same name who is willing to undertake the scheme with you?

No, identity verification is good for everyone regardless of fame. Basically it means a John Smith can’t be Tim Sweeney. The likelihood of Tim Sweeney impersonating another Tim Sweeney is remote.

HWR_14 4y ago

> The likelihood of Tim Sweeney impersonating another Tim Sweeney is remote. For $100 you can legally become Tim Sweeney. Or Adele. Pretty much anything non-profane. Alternatively, you have things backwards. The odds that any Tim Sweeney would want to specifically imitate Epic's Tim Sweeney is remote. However, once they can, it only takes one to cause chaos. He might not be their first choice to emulate, but they know that they can. Or someone can seek them out. Imagine shorting NVIDIA and then having a Tim Sweeney tweet that Epic will require Radeon cards for the best graphics. There are multiple people named Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Think of just offering them the option to create chaos either because they want to or because someone offers them a bribe. Besides all that, I have no idea why identity verification is good for everyone. A lot of people would prefer to be pseudonymous.

kcplate 4y ago
So…for John Smith to impersonate Tim Sweeney on Twitter he needs to spend $100, go in front of a judge to petition a name change, change his name on everything else in his life, including all sorts of documents, policies, ids, passports, etc…creating a huge legal paper trail (that will cost a ton of money) then spend another $8 a month just to get a blue check to make snide comments on a social media platform? Seems like a fair amount of effort just to impersonate and troll IMO, probably not worth the effort. Also, in the case of a Tim Sweeney impersonating another Tim Sweeney and wrecking havoc there are some big statistical hurdles to overcome. You need to be a Tim Sweeney, you need to be familiar with another famous Tim Sweeney, you need to want to wreck havoc in a way that only The Tim Sweeney can, and you need to be dumb enough to think you will get away with it. Seems remote. > A lot of people would prefer to be pseudonymous. Ok. So don’t pay the $8/mo for identity verification on Twitter. Problem solved.
- HWR_14 4y ago
  > You need to be a Tim Sweeney No, you need to find a Tim Sweeney who is willing to help you out. If there's money involved, it's pretty doable. You can get the real influencers to tweet about your product for a not-insane sum. I imagine the cheapest person who shares a famous name isn't that expensive. Meanwhile, you don't have to get away with it for long. Not that it it seems there is anything to "get away with". Does it violate any rules for a non-Epic CEO Tim Sweeney to talk about how much he hates NVIDIA's new cards?
  - kcplate 4y ago
    You just added more statistical complexity to the scenario, so not only do you need to be willing to take on all that risk and effort to impersonate another person, but you also need to recruit someone with the same name who is willing to undertake the scheme with you?