Good Idea: Paper to readers: Comments now cost 99 cents and your name

From The Attleboro Sun-Chronicle website.

The gist is this: to prevent being held liable for anonymous comments posted on their site, this news outlet would require people who wish to comment on articles to pay a one-time fee of 99 cents and properly identify themselves. This is "to eliminate past excesses that included blatant disregard for appropriateness guidelines, blind accusations and unsubstantiated allegations." Sounds reasonable. Also, "Registrants understand that under existing state and federal laws they are legally responsible for any comments they post." Again, more than reasonable. Left unchecked, it's only a matter of time before someone starts taking website owners to court over postings made by anonymous commenters.

Some say this will retard "user interaction". I'd say to that, "the users' interactions are already retarded."

(And... predictably!... the comments following this online article are inane and pointless, with posters decrying that--gasp!--they will be responsible for what they write).

Sigh. And good on The Attleboro Sun-Chronicle!