IPKat comment moderation policy

Do not make Merpel angry, or...

The comment section of IPKat posts is a place for vigourous debate, often adding valuable insights to the posts. In fact, Merpel has heard that some people visit IPKat for the comment section (Merpel: I am slightly hurt).

It has always been IPKat policy to allow pseudonymous comments. This allows practitioners, but most importantly insiders of various authorities, to add their insights without fear of repercussions. We understand that some people working for such institutions feel, justifiedly or not, that they cannot speak freely when they are identifiable.

On all posts relating to the European Patent Office, however, the right to post pseudonymously has been abused in recent times. On Merpel's post welcoming the new president of the EPO, the situation got out of hand. The overwhelming majority of comments were purely libellous ad hominem attacks on a man that has not even taken office. This led the IPKat team to decide to remove all comments on said post (IPKat did not receive any legal threats).

Going forward, we do not want to remove the ability to post pseudonymous comments. After all, Merpel is a pseudonym, too (Merpel: are you implying I am not real? Now I am really hurt).

But while Merpel is a critical cat, Merpel is not a libellous cat. He does not abuse the privilege of the pseudonym. Going forward, we will rigourously enforce the following comment moderation policy:

1. Strictly no anonymous posts, only pseudonymous. This is mostly for readability in long threads.
2. Strictly no personal attacks on identifiable people. If you need to spew hatred, go elsewhere.
3. Play nice.