Newspaper to out anon commenters

The Montana Standard today announced they will no longer allow anonymous commenters and plan expose the real names of all anonymous and pseudonymous commenters retroactively. The Butte, America Lee Newspapers affiliate posted the announcement online , saying anyone who wishes to  submit comments after Christmas will have their “real names” displayed, and that all historical comments will thereafter display the “real names” of the people who submitted the comments. It has not gone unnoticed that the new Montana Standard policy follows close on the heels of a heated local scandal involving media mogul James Cox Kennedy, the chairman of Cox Enterprises who owns land on the Ruby River/ Montana Cowgirl Blog . More here .

Question: I consider the Standard’s plans to expose the real names of anonymous and pseudonymous commenters retroactively to be a violation of trust — and chilling. Thoughts?