Comments on: Labour List – a warning to all potential contributors

By: mikkimoose

mikkimoose — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:36:56 +0000

> I think you're being a little unfair. Comment moderation is off at Labourist – but if comments have multiple links in them (in your case, there were 2), the comment software thinks we are being spammed and blocks your IP.Tim has shown proof of the contrary.> From 4500 visits over this weekend, we have 3 IPs in the blocked list. So to suggest that we are being heavy handed with comment moderation is a little harsh. If you would have emailed us we would have gladly unblocked your IP – like it says in the message you pasted above.Really? You blocked it because you didn't like me pointing out some important facts about domain registrations of which you clearly are not aware, but which you should be in starting a new business on teh interweb. It was not an accident, you did it deliberately, so I'm unclear why you are now feigning graciousness and saying I should have emailed you. It says in your message, 'If you think your IP address has been flagged in error', and we all know that it was deliberate, and not an error.> I also note you post here as 'mikkimoose' but on Labourist as 'Mike Hunt'. Doesn't this make you a sock puppet?. I think Tim has a pretty strong position on that. You obviously want to preserve your anonymity as do we. Why is it wrong for us but right for you?Actually Tim has my real email address, and to him I am not anonymous. Why? Because he has chosen to setup his website to exclude anonymous users.Your website OTOH, is a veritable den of false ids, to wit, on that very thread:"Peter Mandelson says:January 17, 2009 at 8:45 pmDerek!In my office NOW, you unwashed halfwit!What the hell is this!? When you promised me complete and utter control over the Internet, I believed you. You UTTER cock monkey.How did you let this happen? What do you mean you have NO IDEA?!? You DO realise I could be made to look a complete HOON don't you?Jesus, I pop off to Marrakesh for ten minutes for a little R&R and the next thing, every bastard in the blogosphere is ripping the shit out of me."You clearly seek to profit (via increased page impressions for your advertising) from trolling, the misuse of other people's identities, etc., yet you are speciously suggesting that I have somehow sinned by not using the same meaningless alias on your den for anonymous trolls run by an anonymous troll, that I do on here. And as you've only decided to respond when it turned out I had a voice outside your trollpit, it speaks volumes about YOU that you were happy to ban 'mike hunt', but when it turns out you've caught a live one, you suddenly find the ability to respond.When you register a domain you have to play by ICANN's rules. It's not optional, in the way that you have the choice to allow homophobic posts about Peter Mandelson or not, or I have the choice over whether I wish to be known as 'mikkimoose' or not, it's a simple YOU MUST COMPLY.>Thanks for reporting the site to ICANN, btw. If we are taken down because of it, I hope you will feel pretty pleased with yourself.Well yes I will. Very. Because you thought that quietly banning me while still claiming to be the home of free speech was clever. It wasn't. And> Did you pull the legs off spiders when you were a kid? We will need a new URI and new DNS whois record. Maybe we will register as 'Mike Hunt' next time in your honour :P'Y'know, if I am working an area of technology/something else that I don't know much about, I do try to listen to those that do. Perhaps if you followed suit your level of knowledge would increase, and you'd make fewer mistakes in the future. I think this would be a better approach than shooting the messenger.> I don't mean to be unkind or use Tim's gaff to have silly arguments – but come on – we are just ordinary techie types who happen to believe open debate is better than one sided propaganda, so we built Labourist between doing other work. Surprisingly, lots of people seem to like it but that doesn't mean we want to be known as 'libertarian activists' or whatever label would be attached to us as individuals. Is that so hard to comprehend?Open debate? It's anything but. You appear, pound to a penny, to be Tories running a site in order to undermine the Labour Party's official one. It's not surprising that people are wondering who is doing this and what they want to get out of it.

By: Manic

Manic — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 12:46:34 +0000

"Comment moderation is off at Labourist"Yep, as I suspected; moderation is still on:http://www.bloggerheads.com/images/labourist.gif

By: Manic

Manic — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 08:33:56 +0000

- "Comment moderation is off at Labourist "Perhaps it is at present, but it wasn't recently; I had a comment (with *no* links) held over and marked as "awaiting moderation'.- "I also note you post here as 'mikkimoose' but on Labourist as 'Mike Hunt'"If you were someone I trusted or even if you were merely consistent in previous claims, I might respond to that claim immediately, but you're not, and you haven't been, so until mikkimoose has a word to say about it, you'll have to wait. Sorry. Even if it is true, I would think the circumstances warrant a passing mention in any discussion of the rights and wrongs of it.- "Why is it wrong for us but right for you?"a) There is at the very least a key difference between the use of a pseudonym as a comment contributor, and volunteering to police comments on a grand scale.b) So you do have another known/established identity online? This appears to be what you're suggesting in your 'shoot the messenger' accusation here. A more specific question (please don't use it to dodge the first); have you previously commented on this site under another name/profile?- "Thanks for reporting the site to ICANN, btw."Hey, he came to see you first, and you sent some clear signals that you've acted in bad faith before confirming it here. If anything, he may have helped you out by forcing the changes you discuss in a further effort to thumb your nose at ICANN's policy*. You do realise that with a smidgen of cooperation from No 10 Downing Street, 'Dolly' could have taken control of the domain you registered under his name at that address, yes? Or, like the massive commitment you've taken on with offering to police the comments at labourist, did you not really think it through?(*Speaking as an outsider, this seems like an odd thing for a libertarian to do. Don't ICANN have a right to conduct business according to that policy? Of have you consistently flouted the rules of their gaff by using false details for all of your websites according to some political principle that you've yet to outline/explain?)- "Did you pull the legs off spiders when you were a kid?"How is this in any way relevant?- "We will need a new URI and new DNS whois record"The selective depth of your technical knowledge intrigues me.- "that doesn't mean we want to be known as 'libertarian activists'"And yet that's what you are… if you are, as you claim, libertarian. Activism is the deliberate use of action to bring about social/political change, and that's exactly what you're engaged in here… unless you honestly regard your commitment to spend time policing comments on labourist as futile or meaningless, in which case one might wonder why you've bothered at all.If you don't want to be known as an activist, do what most shy people do and stay at home, yelling at the television (or throwing beavers at it, or whatever it is that you do in Canadaland).

By: The Editor

The Editor — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:59:47 +0000

@mikkimooseI think you're being a little unfair. Comment moderation is off at Labourist – but if comments have multiple links in them (in your case, there were 2), the comment software thinks we are being spammed and blocks your IP.From 4500 visits over this weekend, we have 3 IPs in the blocked list. So to suggest that we are being heavy handed with comment moderation is a little harsh. If you would have emailed us we would have gladly unblocked your IP – like it says in the message you pasted above.I also note you post here as 'mikkimoose' but on Labourist as 'Mike Hunt'. Doesn't this make you a sock puppet?. I think Tim has a pretty strong position on that. You obviously want to preserve your anonymity as do we. Why is it wrong for us but right for you?Thanks for reporting the site to ICANN, btw. If we are taken down because of it, I hope you will feel pretty pleased with yourself. Did you pull the legs off spiders when you were a kid? We will need a new URI and new DNS whois record. Maybe we will register as 'Mike Hunt' next time in your honour :PI don't mean to be unkind or use Tim's gaff to have silly arguments – but come on – we are just ordinary techie types who happen to believe open debate is better than one sided propaganda, so we built Labourist between doing other work. Surprisingly, lots of people seem to like it but that doesn't mean we want to be known as 'libertarian activists' or whatever label would be attached to us as individuals. Is that so hard to comprehend?Anyway, sorry that we can't please everyone but very happy to be providing a service that so far has been widely well received.

By: Manic

Manic — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:52:33 +0000

I so want to trust these mysterious masked men who have so kindly offered to police someone's comments for us.(I'm sure Canadians are 'nice' people and all… I just don't want them over here. Perhaps I should write a letter to the Daily Mail about that.)

By: mikkimoose

mikkimoose — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:22:48 +0000

Speaking of labourist, intrigued at their refusal to identify themselves I checked the whois record, which shows the fake details of 'Dolly Draper, 10 Downing Street'.I pointed out, (as a reply to your comment there), that this is contrary to ICANN's policy, and is grounds for deletion of their domain, and that they should not enter false info in their whois. Anyway, I'm slightly surprised to find that they use comment moderation on all comments, and my comment does not show up immediately, but moreover the moderation is far more heavy-handed (contrary to the claims of 'The Editor') than I've ever experienced anywhre else, as I find that as thanks for this single comment, I am (or my DHCP IP anyway) blocked from their site:"Your IP address has been automatically flagged for potential abuse of comment policy. This could be due to posting multiple comments under different aliases or making offensive, threatening or spamming comments.If you think your IP address has been flagged in error, please email labourist@gmail.com and we will review your case. Please note, IP flagging is extremely unusual and only occurs when our trust is abused."I'm not quite sure why they've done this, as I was merely telling them to correct their oversight, but as they are obviously unwilling to take feedback into consideration, and not only delete comments they don't like, but ban the commenters from even reading the site, I've reported them to ICANN for the fake whois information. My complaint is in progress.Hopefully, for their sake, they will listen to ICANN, even if they didn't want to listen to me.

By: Manic

Manic — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 21:56:11 +0000

I'm not being racist, but I just don't trust those Canadians.(mutters)(prepares internment camps)

By: GusA

GusA — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:50:40 +0000

Ah. I see. Labourist IS funny, but another right wing blog is maybe not what this country is crying out for, or even what Canada is crying out for. Dont get me wrong – I hate New Labour as much as the next man, more probably, but, well, you know.

By: Manic

Manic — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:50:12 +0000

Nothing revealed beyond 'The Editor' seemingly being from way out of town or wanting to cover their tracks, CP.And you're asking me to hit one person with a stick and pat the other on the bum! Go easy.I'm unlikely to trust Draper to any extent, and I'd place little faith in anything with him at the helm.

By: CPLOL

CPLOL — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:16:40 +0000

Do tell us more – in fact all you know – about 'The Editor' Tim. It seems the only honourable, open and honest thing you can do in this context.The authenticity of comments and commenters and indeed post authors has of course been a great problem at LabourHome. And there has been a great rash of bulk often OT trollage at Labour List so better identification of commenters would be a good idea as perhaps some kind of word limit and strict adherence to on topic conventions.Most of the comments I've seen have not been about the content or accountability. Just sneering and talking across.But it is only Beta, and one week in, and a self-confessed and rather hyper nay manic novice at the controls. As the bloggers' blogger and with a high level of expertise and principle you might be a bit more gentle and helpful. IMO.