Rattle wrote:
It's funny when people think of online discourse as different, somehow set apart.
Chief among the recommendations is that bloggers consider banning anonymous comments left by visitors to their pages and be able to delete threatening or libelous comments without facing cries of censorship.
What's the driver? Why now?
Kathy Sierra, a high-tech book author from Boulder County, Colo., and a friend of Mr. O’Reilly, reported getting death threats that stemmed in part from a dispute over whether it was acceptable to delete the impolitic comments left by visitors to someone’s personal Web site.
And this:
Since last October, she has also had to deal with an anonymous blogger who maintains a separate site that parodies her writing ...
... a blog for a limited audience ...
"It makes me feel like I live in Iran."
I'm interested in how "anonymous comments" is defined by these folks. This is one of those areas were many people lack an understanding of how the Internet actually works. For instance, MemeStreams doesn't allow "anonymous comments" in that you have to make an account, but it is certainly possible to have an anonymous account. We do ask for age, real time, and whatnot, mostly do to COPPA. But nothing is stopping people -- here or anywhere else -- from using anonymous proxies and other methods to protect their identity. People do so here, and we are friendly toward that, to the degree they are not abusing the system.
Banning "anonymous comments" isn't really something that is possible, or a good idea.
This was a topic on Reliable Sources Sunday morning (not that I care for Howie at all, but). The transcript can be found at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0704/08/rs.01.html and this segment starts at about 60% of the way down. The issue that is being decried is not anonymous speech, but rather using "anonymity" to engage in speech that is not protected (make threats etc.). People say stupid things all the time. People who don't know how the internets work think they can say things that would get guys with guns knocking on their door and get away with it. On some levels they're right, on others...
