You’re a Nameless Troll. What Do You Need Rights For?

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Yesterday AgencySpy reposted an op-ed by Alan Wolk that generated a shit-ton of loose-cannon commentary.

There’s a lot to be said about the culture of anonymous commenting — that it lets people say things they wouldn’t normally, which can be both good and bad.

But imagine a world where everybody who ever wanted to talk to you had to reveal all his name and contact information first. Sure it’d minimize a few random acts of verbal cruelty, but is a full-disclosure world one you’d want to live in? And can the ideal be scaled to the ‘net in a practical way?

We went over other grays in this discourse last week while Wolk’s post was still hot, but the topic’s so milkable we figure this merits a poll.

Should anonymous comments be banned from the ‘net?

  
pollcode.com free polls

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Steve Hall

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