"The fine would be five-hundred dollars for a first offense and one-thousand dollars for each offense after that."

Knowing the way states assess fines, The first offense would be the first undocumented comment in a thread and all following comments count as subsequent offenses.

I think it'd be much easier on everyone to simply ban IP addresses from Kentucky from their websites and show a picture of Mr Couch with an explanation of why, as a Kentuckian, you're not allowed to view the site.
David | 03.11.08 - 12:29 pm | #

Wow that is really crazy. I don't know what it is like to be a kid these days but the old days of getting beaten to a pulp in the schoolyard couldn't have been worse than getting made fun of online, and we all survived that.

There is no question that requiring a real name produces a different type of discussion. My neighborhood listserv requires posters and commenters to apply to participate, their identities are verified and when you post or comment you have to sign you full name and your street address, so the discourse is all very civilized.

But a web site ought to be able to choose its orientation and requiring names as a matter of law seems like a major violation of free speech. By the same logic, should protestors have to wear name tags and their signs bear the names of the people who wrote them?
Leonardo | 03.11.08 - 4:51 pm | #