Washingtonpost.com's Brady Wants to Hold Nasty Posters Accountable

By: E&P Staff Jim Brady, executive editor of The Washington Post's online division, said during a panel discussion at the Digital Hollywood conference in Los Angeles that he would like to see a technology that could identify people who violate site standards while posting comments at Washingtonpost.com -- and if need be, automatically kick them off for good.

Greg Sandoval at cnet.com reports today that Brady said, "I think part of the problem is that people aren't held accountable on the Web," Brady said. "People say things online they would never say when disagreeing with someone at the dinner table. I think heated debate is fine, but when there are [flame wars], many people won't take part for fear they will be attacked and bashed over the head with the [Internet-equivalent] of a steel pipe."

Brady, Sandoval notes, made headlines in January 2006 after shutting down the comments area of a blog where outraged readers gathered to rebuke the Post's ombudsman, Deborah Howell.

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