I'm not a fan at all of "sock puppet" accounts. That having been said, requiring "legal" names in the group could be pretty onerous for the moderators and would go poorly for transgender folks or people who go by nicknames, etc. Is there another, less intrusive way to address the issue? And in fairness, I'm not crazy about having to give my address on TV either. If I were still living alone, I'd probably have refused myself.
Joe Viglione Giving
the address on TV is in case a statement is made against a citizen or
entity that is not true. Responsibility. We have a free society, but
the individual who refused to give his name wasn't being honest.
Councilor Maiocco knew it and shut him down. Then he got arrested twice
for exactly the kind of stuff he wanted to say at the council without
giving his address. Here's the punch line: he's not allowed to go back
to that address ever again for his conduct over there. We SHOULD give
our name and address out, it takes courage and shows you stand by what
you say. There are dangers, a Malden woman told a judge on August 28th
that she was going to my house because she got my address off of the
government channel. She now is under a restraining order for criminal
harassment. Yes, there are dangers in giving your address, and it cost
money to hire lawyers to protect oneself from nut jobs and crackpots,
but living in a free society is better than the alternative.
