Very interesting topic this. I like DutchNikon also went to leave a comment on one of the conversations on the main page, but declined after being made to open a disqus account. I don't feel I'm paranoid about Internet security, and certainly have nothing to hide, but am concerned about who has access to my personal information, and will not give it away unnecessarily. (Posting on NR counts as unnecessary). After reading Admins comments about why he has changed the way the site works, I can now see a lot of sense for it. I also always thought it a shame that many of the contributors to NR seemed only interested in being antagonistic and disrespectful to other contributors. Interestingly though, without any different account status, we seem to avoid such time wasters in NRF. Why is that? I know the mods here are constantly removing spam threads, but the actual contributors to the discussions are I would suggest, nearly always genuine. Long may it continue! DutchNikon got further than I with the disqus account application, when the registration box came up, I just thought "what on earth is all this", and just decided not to post because it looked like too much hassle, I never got as far as reading the privacy policy!!

Admin, I can now see the reason for the change, and although I'm still not sure I want to open an account, if you have started using the services of disqus for the reasons you state, I would also recommend turning off the "guest user" option, otherwise as others have stated, there would seem to be little point in it. You'll just have to accept that there is always some collateral damage in such decisions.
Thank you for a great site, I really enjoy being a part of it.

Admin,

I know you're trying to please everyone, however allowing unregistered users to post again does nothing to change whats going on; you are still going to get trolls and junk comments as you were before; just in a different format.

I believe you should go back to having a disqus accounts. There are many large and popular websites that use disqus exclusively and without problem; I do not see what the issue is here. Yes, there's going to be people that do not want to share info, but that's fine, they do not need to register. This is a small minority, just like those who do not think they should give out a social security number to sign up for a credit card. However, having quality comments (over quantity) does help improve the image of the site, and it will make your job easier as a moderator too.

"There is nothing to be paranoid about if you are not doing anything wrong."

The problem is not you its them..

Turning on-off cookies is a good idea. It does involve knowing when to exercise control.

Multiple email accounts is also a good idea that involves a little control. It is a good way to clasify responses, including spam. Just set your "reply as" value to where you want the email to go. Today, I get fewer than 5 junk emails a day in my primary-office email account. It also helps avoid virus threats in critical accounts.

DutchNikon said:
...
Recently a new "Cookie Law" was accepted here in the Netherlands, which even requires websites to explitly ask a visitor wheter he wants to accept or refuse the usage of tracking cookies, so if you now visit a Dutch website ( or already many foreign websties to for that matter) you get a question on your screen asking wether you wan to allow that website for using cookies.

...

That option has been in browsers for 10 years - you just have to select it/turn it on.

I'm not sure what you think they capture, but it is much less than I believe you are thinking it is.

I just chuckle when I hear countries (including the US) think they can create laws around the internet. The internet is larger than any country and any law that is out there. It is truly a "self" regulating entity. One country's laws never transfer to another - all people have to do is move the site to another country or in many cases set up a shell company in a country to own the site.

I did a small change to the blog commenting system - you can now posts as a guest without registering with Disqus.

DutchNikon said:
Recently a new "Cookie Law"

This is EU wide.

Most non-EU web sites are breaking this law by not offering the option that the EU now requires.

As before, the lawmakers and the laws they vote on are not keeping up with the global reach of the Internet, so they think that a law that says when using the web, you must stand on your head and wear red pajamas applies to everyone. How wrong they are!

OK, I was commenting only on the fact I can use the information which is attached to an email address to assist me in keeping the spam down. I am not supporting any position except to say some info is helpful. And, believe me, the discussion is helpful as I am a real neophyte when it comes to computers and software, etc.

>>This can be helpful in keeping the spam producers to a low level here on NRF<<

NRF does not use Disqus , just the front page of NikonRumours uses it for the comments on artikels..

Also i have no problem with NR knowing my credentials at all

I do object to a company like Disqus for storing and using all data they can accumulate on me (and the rest of the world) and providing/selling this info to other interrested parties and hence making money using my credentials that way.

All spam / add's that disqus related companies can/will send me would be for USA based companies&stores anyways so there is no use there either
95% of the spam i already receive is from US based companies offering me stuff, medicine, fake diploma's , fake bussiness oportunities etc. that they even can not or will not send to the other side of the planet anyways.

If it would just be for law enforcement reasons i would have no problems at all with storing my info, but it is the only thing that it is not used for..

Interesting note....information I do not even look at but once or twice a year is the source of referrals to my website. I can see the origin of the folks who link to it, what country, etc. they are from, and other info I have no use for. I think this is like looking at the address of an email, the knowledgeable folks can tell all sorts of information unless it goes through some weird server.

This can be helpful in keeping the spam producers to a low level here on NRF.

Hi Peter,

Thank you for your response !

>>who serve ads based on your personal preferences <<

This is only thru (or should be) if you do not have a tracing filter activated in IE

>>I hope you will reconsider your decision.<<

KK you're right off cours, i will not leave NikonRumours, but i will refrain from commenting on the frontpage, cause i am not going to open an E*mail account just for that...

Tao,

Referring : " seriously doubt that it is against any countries law as admin pointed out, almost every single site in existence always have and always will collect information."

Recently a new "Cookie Law" was accepted here in the Netherlands, which even requires websites to explitly ask a visitor wheter he wants to accept or refuse the usage of tracking cookies, so if you now visit a Dutch website ( or already many foreign websties to for that matter) you get a question on your screen asking wether you wan to allow that website for using cookies.

Just for the record :

I just opened the Nikon Rumours website from my office PC, running IE.8 ( i cannot change that as it is not my network/PC) ,
Opening an artikel on the front page now also presents me with the following message :

>> sorry, the browser you are using is not currently supported. To use the comments, Disqus recommends the following browsers:

Firefox
Chrome
Internet Explorer 9
Safari
<<

DutchNikon said:
No matter which extra E8Mail accouint i would use, this :

"and to have your personally identifiable information collected, used, transferred to and processed in the United States."

Is against the privacy laws in my country, wether it was announcedon the website or makes no difference...

I seriously doubt that it is against any countries law as admin pointed out, almost every single site in existence always have and always will collect information. Many times it is just as simple as; Country, region, language, browser, browser version, PC or Mac, relayed link/direct visit, etc.

Just because it collects info, does not mean that the info is of your 3rd cousin's, sister's, son in-law's mistress. There is nothing to be paranoid about if you are not doing anything wrong.

DutchNikon said:
"and to have your personally identifiable information collected, used, transferred to and processed in the United States."

Is against the privacy laws in my country, wether it was announcedon the website or makes no difference...

Dutch,

You make a good point that is more complicated than at first might be considered by many. I am a citizen of the EU and a subject of one country (the UK) and living in a non EU country (the USA). The country of which I am a subject has one law regarding privacy and the EU has another, yet the country where I reside has a third law and the state of that country in which I make my home can have a fourth law that governs at least some of these issues.

The problem here is that the lawmakers and as a result the laws they make have not kept up with the pace with which the internet has evolved so can overlap and even contradict each other. Not wanting to reduce this to a discussion about international/web law (yawn), I suspect that in practice, we are just going to have to live with the sorry state of affairs as they are now.

If we wish to make use of these services, we need to put up with it.

@spraynpray I was deleting those comments on a regular basis, but sometimes I was few hours late - it is very difficult to provide 24 hours live moderation coverage.

"At some point, the amount of trolls and useless comments on the blog were out of control and I had to take measures. Many readers have complained to me that the quality of the comments section has decreased significantly."

I never complained, but I certainly thought it really was a shame to have such comments on the blog.

I may have done it differently though and just excluded the comments as they are not necessary IMHO. For example, I don't think I have ever used them - or if I have, I certainly wouldn't miss that facility going away.

HTH [NR] admin - oh, and thanks for this site.

BTW, here is a list of some major websites that use Disqus: http://disqus.com/showcase/

DutchNikon, the TOS listed by Disqus are pretty much the same for every website you visit on the Internet today. For example:

CNN http://www.cnn.com/privacy.html

"Examples of the types of personally identifiable information that may be collected at these pages include: name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, fax number, credit card information, and information about your interests in and use of various products, programs, and services.

At some Turner Network sites, you may also be able to submit information about other people. For example, you might submit a person's name and e-mail address to send an electronic greeting card and, if you order a gift online and want it sent directly to the recipient, you might submit the recipient's name and address. Examples of the types of personally identifiable information that may be collected about other people at these pages include: recipient's name, address, e-mail address, and telephone number."

Disqus really makes the moderation of the comments on the blog easier for me. At some point, the amount of trolls and useless comments on the blog were out of control and I had to take measures. Many readers have complained to me that the quality of the comments section has decreased significantly. NikonRumors (and almost every other website on the Net) is also scanned by Google (and Bing, Yahoo, etc) who serve ads based on your personal preferences - it's just how the Internet works today. Pretty much everything you do online is used for some sort of data mining,

I hope you will reconsider your decision.

Peter

Wataru said:
I only have alternate personalities...I lost my real personality to spam years ago....

LOL

Geoff_K said:
Heck, I have 3 emails that I use and 2 FB accounts. 1 is me 1 is my alternate personality.

I only have alternate personalities...I lost my real personality to spam years ago....

No matter which extra E8Mail accouint i would use, this :

"and to have your personally identifiable information collected, used, transferred to and processed in the United States."

Is against the privacy laws in my country, wether it was announcedon the website or makes no difference...

Geoff_K said:
Heck, I have 3 emails that I use and 2 FB accounts. 1 is me 1 is my alternate personality.

I have 4 - 1 personal - 1 junk alt. 1 Professional - 1 professional junk alt. Such is life - you can gripe about it all you want - but that is the reality.

Good for the site if it brings some pennies in to keep it going. I'm happy to support this site.

Heck, I have 3 emails that I use and 2 FB accounts. 1 is me 1 is my alternate personality.

Hmm, with the switchover to DISQUS, does that affect forum users too or just front page comments?

I never go into comments on the front page.

adamz said:
@sevencrossing - sure, You can set up n e-mails but is this the way it should be done? IMHO, no.

These days it isn't realistic not to IMHO.