Jahanshah Javid

YES

I've alaways been for letting only registred memeber to leave comment. Registering is enough annonyme to let speech freedom and it will avoid foul language and abuse.

You can't kill all the chickens!

...

My input

First, take a look at this thread itself. Some 40 comments with only a few unregistered names. What does this tell you? It tells me three things:

1. There are enough registered users to leave comments to make articles have good discussions.

2. Many people who leave unregistered comments probably already have a registered account too. They just see no incentive to use their registered account. Especially on a controversial comment/accusation? Why risk exposing who you are? Even a fake personality has some emotional investment.

3. Iranians (maybe people in General), tend to behave a little more civilized when there is a chance -however slight- of accountability. Presumably you have their email and some other server information from registered users. (My own solution was to expose everyone's IP. this accomplishes even more accountability. But what you propose is a step in the right direction.)

It won't be "over." Don't think you never have to erase another comment or keep watching for abusive language. As Professor Ala said, there are chickens of all kinds. There will still be abusers and foul (fowl?) mouthed idiots but I think they will be reduced in number.

they can repost

as fast (or faster) as you delete them.

If people are registered, there will be less traffic on Iranian

Question:

Can you delete offensive comments?

If you can, there is no need to have people to register.

If not, then, maybe registration will be better.

It make the reader to think twice before reacting to a piece.

Mola, on the road

Small price to pay

You know you bring up such a good point Lale. I have donated money to countless causes and charities as well as my time, but not to iranian.com. One can argue I donated the time it takes for my writings but let's face it, despite all the cheap shots and a-hole commentators, the overall benefit I have received int he form of articles, photo essays and yes, even real friendships with certain contirbutors, have so much outweighed what measly little blogs/articles I contributed. I will gladly pay $5.00 registration fee and then some! Maybe if we all invest in this site, it not only will give us a sense of accountability but a sense of community as well. Poor JJ has been a one-man show for too long. Let's all put our money where our mouth is.

Sigh. I can hear it now, the outrage of people at the thought of giving $5.00 when they don't think twice about paying that for some cheap foam mixed with coffee at Starbucks!

Kudos to you, Lale!

Count me in

I say absoluetly make people register with a verifiable email address that you can tie in with their IP Address.   Credit card verification for one one time $5 donation to the site may be goo dto boot!

 Let's see who has the gumption to be as rude once you demand some accountability.  They can still be annonymous to the rest of the world!

It does not prevent freedom of speech. In fact I would argue it might increase it.  Honestly those of us who pick our fights may want to come back for more, more often :)

We love you for asking JJ. Now do it!  

One more thing, JJ

Registered or not, when you delete a comment, write a little note to the sender as why his/her comment was deleted, YOU have their e-mail address, right?

Or how about this? If WE (Iranian.com) delete 3 comments from you, you're OUT ! or your comment is pending approval, period.

 Someone writes an article or a blog and before you know it lots of chickens want to have or had sex with his/her grandma, sister, mother doughter or " ajdaad"

It's as simple as this, make people to be accountable for what they say, so far it's easy to hide behind the corner and open mouth. 

P.S.

And before you comment on why I am not registered. the sad part is I AM a registered user and I did try to tolerate, as much as I could, the hateful venom thrown at me but everybody has their limit and I reached mine. If something changes, then I will ponder posting again under my registered name.

Aval bekhoon

To paraphrase our dear editor in another section of this website earlier today, how about "aval bekhoon" and then cackle like a hyena.

This is not a new concept. Other websites that are very popular, such as yahoo or hotmail, and countless others, require that, and people still continue using them, and abiding by the requirement. If the editor is to allow only comments by registered users, it is still only a half-step in the right direction for what is to prevent those same hateful anonymous commentators to register 1000 fake names under 1000 fake emails and go on spamming the site? Giving your credit card for information purpose only to the responsible party and without authorization to charge it would ensure first of all that the people who are only interested in hateful threats and attacks will be weeded out; Secondly, that registered users will only be able to register once; Third, that there is some accountability because at the very least, the person running this website knows your identity. I don't see why this is so ridiculous, it has been working fine in other forums. I, for one, would have no problem with it. If your concern is credit card fraud etc., every day, you and I and countless others give away credit card info, whether to make a hotel or flight reservation or order a book online. So what is the big deal?

Now you may go on with your cackling instead of coming up with a solution.

Are you kidding?

You have the right to do what you want. You are not a public company, and no one is preventing anyone from speaking their minds.  This is crazy that this poses a dilemma for you.

Of couse there is NOTHING wrong with making people take 2 minutes to register even with a nom de plum.   They can still remain somewhat private but will have to be a bit more accountable as you can track their email address back to them. 

 Besides, any one's IP address can be traced back to their computer anyway.  I say force people to take  2minutes to register and log in each time and you may force a more civilized result.  DO iT PLEASE!

Ladan. PS, Annonymous 9999 who are you and what did you say about me that you had take back? See JJ, this is spooky.

Dear JJ,

Dear JJ,  

As a writer on Iranian.com, I rather be published on a media where my readers are not named f*** or k***,...so I’m sure you understand why i might one day decide to disappear from your site.

As much as I try to pretend I am tolerant and understanding, sometimes I just get too mad, and surfing Iranian.com feels like a burden, or voyeurism.

Unfortunately, these comments, the obscene, the unfair, and the mean comments we read here, are the reflection of our own hidden flaws. They are a reminder of our mask. The mask we like to put on our face, so the world might forget or not realize that it is just a mask. The real frustration -- at least for me--, is that even if you remove this option, still I wonder what could be behind the fake “taarofs” and nice smiles and the encouragements.

Azarin

TO "I am not fill in the blank".....Are you kidding me?

LOL.......

Now you're asking for too much !

For a simple registration requirement  a lot of people chickened out !!

Now you're asking for some credit card info ??

How about S.S.# and home street address,PH # and..........LOL

YOU ARE DEFEATED JJ

In the war against curbing freedom and free speech, you may win this battle but you have lost the war. Rgistration changes NOTHING but you have climbed down from the zenith of freedom to the nadir of enslavement!

Sorry about Ladan K.

I am sorry about the way I talked about Ladan K. She is very intelligent.

Registration requirements

I don't know if people have noticed that for Yahoo and other sites, creating a new email for a minor now requires registering a valid credit card. The service is still free and they don't charge your credit card. They do this to ensure there is a responsible adult who is opening the email account for a child. Since some people here are acting worst than any brats I have ever seen, perhaps one of the requirements for registration should be to give your credit card information (i.e. valid name and address) which would not be revealed except to the editor but at least it will ensure some accountability and prevent multiple postings under multiple personalities.

Partial solution

JJ, as some posters have pointed out, some people can register with different names/accounts.

Registering is a partial solution. Good step in the right direction.

There will come a day that you will ask a similar question: What should I do with posters who have not revealed their identities and/or using different names to attack others. Certainly, our people are very creative in doorgh ghoee.

You are taking the right steps in the right direction: tell us who you are, then express your views.

No more this person did this or did that without your name and identity revealed.

JJ

As a general rule, if someone has to log in to leave a comment, because they are registered, they tend to leave a "More Responsible" comment.

Also, if the only way to leave a comment is to be registered, then many people who are not presently registered will get registered to do that.

You have to understand that a lot of people have had the "Taste" of leaving comments for the past several months, and that they wouldn't want to lose that privilege if that means that they have to get registered. That simple :)

what happened to....?

What happened to nothing is sacred? Apparently that's true as long as people agree with your defenition of sacred. Instead of bothering your pretty little head with unregistered members, STOP DELETING comments by people that do not agree with you! Tell me what I, a registered member said in the T. Parsi's tread that warranted deletion? Apparently something are sacred after all like T. Parsi, IRI and their views. In kara na khobe volek!

As "What you should do" write a letter to Dear Abby maybe she can help you :-)

JJ Good Idea only registered to comment

JJ Jan: Only registered to comment is liberal enough and does not take away from Iranian's noble motto "Nothing  Is Sacred."  Free Speech/Free Press does not mean allowing cheap, obscene shots or slanderous accusations or insinuations from anonymuos sources.

That would be like in a fight allowing someone the unfair advantage of shooting or kniving someone from the back! Or similar to cowardly terrorist attacks from unknow dark sources.

Insulting and obscene language or slanderous accusations cause hurt, negativity and wastage of time and effort for all. I grew up in Engish schools where the art an crtaf of debating was taught and held in high regard. I witnessed the most passionate and even  angry, steamy debates.  But using abusive words let alone obscene insults, or making unfounded/unsubstantiated slanderous and libelous accusations were not permitted. It was considered too cheap, too uncouth,... the common words for fools, lazy minds, mindless or envious create nothing but cause harm folks, or worse: imbeciles! 

Justice, Love, Light & Peace for All

How many yahoo emails one can have?!

        Something is missed on both proponents and opponents of registration!

        Registration is not same as IDENTIFICATION. I guess we agree on that much.

       Now, I donn't see why posting a cmment by a fake "registered" name would stop anyone from writting a nasty comment?!

      YOu'd say it can be tracked easier and blocked eventually. But then I guess the ultimate question is how many public domain email one can have? Answer: INFINITE!!

       So to me registration is not a cure for the disease you seek to fix. What if we put a mechanism that if say 10 registered users demanded delete of a comment it would be deleted.

      Again, registration does not solve the problem!!

Sorry Sheila K, I am just making a point

When I used my registered name I was proud of expressing my thoughts the way I knew it, but “get over it” after being ruthlessly attacked by unregistered users is not as easy as Sheila K makes it sound like. There is a registered user in a hospital, among other things, because that person was humiliated by many people in this site. We are lucky no one has committed suicide yet. This madness has to stop before someone gets seriously hurt.

Chickenhood in a different format?!

 Are you going to encourage chickenhood in a different format? Some people can register and hide behind an anonymous name and attack others OR it will be easier for them to express themselves because no one would know who they are.    Until we come face to face with complete freedom (press, religion, speech, pursuit of happiness), we as Iranians will never realize the tremendous potential we have.In a recent LA gathering, some people including Pars TV proved that it is precisely because our people have never experienced true freedom that they are intolerant with each other. They reject consensus and look with disdain upon those who disagree with them.

As Nadia mentioned, some people have attacked the appearance of the posters because of their pictures.  How low can one get?

Many of you have wishful thinking (do this or do that).  Who is going to keep deleting the insulting posts?  Do you think this site does not have any operating expenses?  Are you willing to pay a membership fee for JJ to hire someone to delete these posts? 

There are those who appear to believe words alone are not actionable as forms of assault or crimes. It might be true that there is no law to define when violent speech or writing crosses the line from free expression into criminal advocacy. But certainly there have been judicial decisions where individuals have been held liable for false statements.

Registered users only!

We are culturally timid and avoid showing names fearing that someone we know may find out about our lousy thoughts and later report it as a joke to Aashenaa haa!

And some are just rude and frustrated and seize the opportunity to let it all out.

Either way, we all need to "get over it" and be proud of expressing our thoughts.  Just burn the bras!

Sheila K

Well,

JJ please let me add the follwing to my comments:

Block anyone from using a registered name as an unregistered user as illustrated below.  Good point brought up by the person leaving the "I am not" comments.  I believe this is a programming issue and can be done easily.  

KFC, here I come

I am not

Sorry,
I am not Abbas Zeineddin, but I want to tell you under this register/unregister system anyone can use your name to post comments for you whether you like it or not. It happened to me and I quit using my registered name.
Someome let me know when I made my point, please.

I am not

I am Leila Radan, but I posted this here to make a point.

Delete comments that attack authors personally

I don't believe registering is the answer.  Any reader should be allowed to leave comments.  How about devising a policy where personal and malicious attacks against the author are deleted?  The way I see it, one can express displeasure and be harshly critical without resorting to such tactics.  This has nothing to do with freedom of speech.  It has everything to do with slander and libel.   

I am not

I am not Kouroush Sassanian, but I posted this to make a point. Sorry I misspelled Sassanian in bellow comment.