Internet Web site should require posters to use their real name

News Transcript Managing Editor Mark Rosman's column about how NJ.com has allowed vile and potentially libelous postings is right on target ("Vicious mes-sages must be silenced on Web site," News Transcript, Jan. 10, 2007).

The political discourse in Manalapan has progressed with many disturbing changes. It started with candidates accusing each other of being incompetent. It spread to "technically correct" facts intended to deliberately mislead the voter.

Then, there were fake newspapers with fake ads supposedly authored by their opponent. Now, we have become the joke of the county! The NJ.com Manalapan blog site has set a forum for morally challenged, intensely political minded people who anonymously spew hatred of anyone in the way of their perceived "political power." This part of politics truly saddens me.

I posted on NJ.com one time, when someone told me there was a person online who wanted to know if there was a Republican Club in Manalapan. I, being the president of the club at the time, posted information on how to get in touch with us. I posted under the screen name ManalapanGOP and listed all our contact information along with my full name. It was my one and only post, ever.

I suppose relaying pleasant information can be all right; however, I am not the blogger type. To argue with someone who is too cowardly to identify themselves is simply foolish. I believe if you do so, you become the fool.

There is another negative aspect to the NJ.com postings. Many people are being told the posts are from specific individuals. Because of the plethora of derogatory postings, some of these people do believe the lies they are being told. This activity is slander in a computer-age, state-of-the-art form. Simply claim you know who is posting and damage that person's reputation without them ever knowing. It's so easy to do. After all, the posts are anonymous. Who would know the accuser is lying?

Mr. Rosman, after the News Transcript's stray e-mail story last year, you know every e-mail and forum post contains an IP address and routing information specific to the sender's computer.

It is easy for NJ.com to find out who is or is not posting. I have hundreds of saved e-mails, with routing information attached, and own a few computers with machine IDs that I would share. I wonder who ... who else will give up such info to clear their name.

NJ.com, how about requiring posters to use their real verified names? This would be a start to clean up Manalapan politics. I wonder how many cowards would still post then?

Steven Johnson

Manalapan