老外在中国：揭开互联网匿名面纱

原来网站新用户注册只用简单填个表格就可以了，现在注册还需要提供电话号码、邮件地址，有些时候还需要身份证明。网上匿名的面纱正被掀开，网络行为因此可以得到更规范的管理和监督。

I've been away a lot these past few weeks, filming the latest entries in the Good Luck China series of videos.

过去几周，我一直忙碌于《好运中国》系列片最新作品的拍摄工作，很长时间都在外地。

There's been some unforgettable experiences - most notably floating down the Lijiang River with a pair of cormorants on a traditional bamboo fishing raft - but it's also meant spending extended periods of time far away from home.

拍摄过程中有许多难忘的经历。例如，印象最深的便是乘竹筏顺漓江而下时，竹筏上还有一对鸬鹚。但这也意味着要长时间远离我家。

Luckily, my fiancee bought me an e-reader recently, which not only gives me something to occupy my mind during the long journeys, but also makes it easier than ever to catch up on my reading. And catch up I have!

十分幸运的是，我未婚妻最近给我买了一个电子阅读器。有了它，漫长的旅途终于不再无所事事，终于可以更加轻松地赶上我的阅读进度了。是的，我赶上了！

Previously, I could only rarely be seen with a book in hand - my excuse always being that, after a day of reading for work, the last thing I wanted to do is read some more once I got home. When stuck inside a plane, train or automobile, however, I soon change my tune.

我以前很少有时间看书，我的理由是——在单位看了一天的东西，回到家一点其他的内容都读不进去。然而当我窝在飞机、火车或者汽车上时，我又变了主意。

Street of Eternal Happiness by Rob Schmitz was my book of the summer. I read it from cover to cover while on the road filming back in July and was absorbed by the characters' stories, all of which are connected by a single Shanghai street.

今年夏天我读了罗伯•施密茨写的《长乐路》。七月拍摄返程时我把这本书从头到尾读完了，沉浸在人物故事中不能自拔，这些故事都发生一条上海的街道上。

Next on my reading list was something completely different, however - the sci-fi adventure Ready Player One.

然而，我之后读的《玩家一号》则是风格则完全不同的科幻冒险小说。

Not only had I heard that it was riveting, I was also keen to explore the virtual world created by its author Ernest Cline before it appears on the big screen next spring, courtesy of Stephen Spielberg.

这本书引人入胜，明年春天史蒂芬•斯皮尔伯格导演将把它搬上大屏幕，我迫不及待想在电影上映之前，探秘作者恩斯特•克莱恩一手创造的虚拟世界。

The plot revolves around a favorite topic of mine: virtual reality and artificial worlds. Yet something rather odd occurred to me as I plowed my way through its 385 pages - this story, set in the year 2044, already seems a little dated.

这本书讨论的正是我喜欢的话题：虚拟现实与人工世界。然而，在阅读这本385页书的过程中，我发现了一些稀奇之事——这个设定于2044年的故事，现在看倒有点过时。

Ready Player One was only published six years ago and, in many ways, the future it portrays is pretty relatable. Our technology might not be as advanced as that in the book, but what's described is at least believable.

《玩家一号》在六年前才出版发行，从许多角度来说，它塑造的未来是有迹可循的。也许未来人类的科技发展不会像书中那样先进，但起码书中的描写是可信的。

Yet a key element of the plot, which I believe I can share without giving too much away, is the protagonist's ability to remain anonymous online - a quality that is increasingly becoming a thing of the past.

然而，在不剧透的情况下，我可以透露一点的是，这个故事的关键一环便是主人公可以在互联网上一直保持匿名状态——对于我们来说，网上匿名已经逐渐成为过去时了。

Websites that once allowed new users to sign up by doing little more than filling in a form now require phone numbers, email addresses and, in some cases, formal ID.

原来网站新用户注册只用简单填个表格就可以了，现在注册还需要提供电话号码、邮件地址，有些时候还需要身份证明。

The veil of anonymity is being lifted, so that online behaviors can be better regulated and policed.

网上匿名的面纱正被掀开，网络行为因此可以得到更规范的管理和监督。

Here in China, as of the first of this month, internet companies and service providers now have to ensure users complete real-name registration before they are allowed to post comments online.

这个月开始，中国首次实行全网实名制，互联网公司和服务商必须确保用户在网上发表言论前完成实名登记。

I wouldn't be surprised to see similar moves made elsewhere, by private companies if not the governments themselves.

如果其他国家的政府或者私人企业也采取了类似措施，我一点也不意外。

It truly seems that the Web's Wild West phase is drawing to a close, and whatever follows is unlikely to mirror Mr Cline's vision of our shared virtual future.

互联网上“狂野的西部世界”似乎将不复存在，不管我们共同的虚拟空间未来如何发展，都不再会像克莱恩描写的那般了。

音频编辑：焦洁

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Greg Fountain is a copy editor and occasional presenter for China Daily. Before moving to Beijing in January, 2016 he worked for newspapers in the Middle East and UK. He has an M.A in Print Journalism from the University of Sheffield, a B.A in English and History from the University of Reading and a Basic Food Hygiene Certificate from a pub in South Yorkshire.