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When should members have to confirm their identity? And how?

When we launched Autograph Magazine Live, we decided to give members the option of posting anonymously so they could legitimately discuss autographs with less risk of being sued.

For the most part, that's worked quite well. We have protected a lot of collectors and fans, and we've contributed in a meaningful way to the fight against forgeries.

But like a gun can be used to save lives or take lives, there have been occasions where people have used their anonymity to throw out all sorts accusations, recklessly or nefariously. And worst of all, it's not just the 6,900 members of this site that see these accusations. Over 300,000 other people have read AML in the last year who were not members.

So for the sake of parties being discussed and the autograph hobby, we will no longer allow anonymous members to make accusations. And we're also going to put some rules in place, like other communites have, to make AML a little less chaotic.

When do you think member should have to use their real names and confirm their identity? And how should it be done?

Thanks,

Steve Cyrkin
Community Manager

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dane on January 30, 2015 at 2:59pm

I suppose you could confirm them, but I think that might leave you open to "warrants" for records/etc establishing identities. If you don't mind the record keeping (and record security), I'd say the best bet is a government issued ID of some sort, like an expired passport.

As for when, I think that when a member posts anything that supports or goes against another individual/company, that would be a reasonable time to require that real names be used.

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Permalink Reply by Mike T on January 30, 2015 at 3:00pm

I think it comes down to the moderation. Baseless, anonymous accusations should not be left on the boards. However, moderation must be done carefully, simply pulling every discussion down because someone is blamed is not the proper way to go.

Also on the name thing... I think publicly displaying your real name and confirming their identity should be separate. I for one have no problem confirming my identity (to you or the mods) but because of my job would rather not use my full name on the boards. Just my opinion.

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Permalink Reply by Dane on January 30, 2015 at 3:12pm

Mike, out of curiosity, is your job related to autograph authentication? If so, my understanding is that you should already have your full name displayed. From what I (admittedly vaguely) recall from the last time I asked about full names, professionals who work in the autograph industry are required to post their full names.

As for moderation, I disagree. The moment a board starts to moderate posts, they take on a much larger legal obligation regarding the posts that they choose to not moderate. It goes back to the "the opinions held by this individual do not reflect the view of this station" type disclaimers that they put on infomercials and some commentary shows.

Moderation is definitely one of those double-edged sword situations.

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Permalink Reply by Mike T on January 30, 2015 at 3:41pm

No, autographing is just a hobby for me. I just have a high profile job and would rather keep my comments here off of wikipedia and blogs concerning my business.

Moderation is a double edged sword, but it is necessary to enforce the rules, otherwise the rules do not matter.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Cyrkin, Admin on January 30, 2015 at 3:13pm

Here's what we're going to do temporarily, while we gather opinions and get our ducks in a row:

For the time being, if you want to make negative comments about any party discussed on this site, private message me with your phone number plus Google+ or Facebook account to confirm your identity. I won't publish that information.

If you don't want to change your member name, go back to your profile and you'll find a new question that asks for your real name. You can then go into your settings and make your profile visible only to other members...or keep it private where only we'll see it.

A reminder though: If you are in the autograph business, you must use your real name, or your account will be suspended. That's been the rule since day one.

Anyone who makes negative comments about parties without using their real names will have that content deleted and they will be suspended after first warning.

Thanks...and bear with us while we put things in place.

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Permalink Reply by Dane on January 30, 2015 at 3:26pm

Steve, since members seem opposed to sharing their IDs with you, perhaps you can just IP track people, instead. That way, they remain "anonymous" publicly, but still can be charged legally for any malfeasance.

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Permalink Reply by Mike T on January 30, 2015 at 3:49pm

What is wrong with negative comments backed by facts? How do you define a "negative comment"? Simply saying stating that a party screwed up an authentication, when backed by factual evidence, should not warrant a full background check on a hobby forum.

I think this needs to be better defined.

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Permalink Reply by terrier8HOF on January 30, 2015 at 4:06pm

there is nothing wrong with negative comments backed by facts. the problem is many of them are not supported and people's reputation get affected negatively.

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Permalink Reply by Mike T on January 30, 2015 at 4:49pm

Sure, and if they are baseless accusations they should be moderated.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Iam on January 30, 2015 at 8:39pm

Agree everything should be moderated according to its merit

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Permalink Reply by Benjamin Marik on January 30, 2015 at 3:23pm

For me, asking for any kind of identification is pushing it. This is a hobby forum much like collecting baseball cards or model building. Nobody should have to present any kind of government issued ID for that. Especially with all the identity fraud that goes on today. A mere membership should be good enough and anyone who comes here bashing other people should be moderated accordingly. It's all about moderation. For me, I would not do anything more than signing up. I use my real name to sign up and I am a newer member but I am sure I don't give anyone the impression that I am not who I say I am. But I do know that there is another side. There are people who come anonymously, and that is where moderation is key in my humbe opinion. ID, phone number, personal information should not have to be given.