The problem seems to me to be that a website is the wrong medium.

I'm on a couple of e-mail listserves that seem to work a lot better.

You can't post or receive unless you sign on; but anyone can sign on. But if you continuously post abusive or totally irrelevant material, the listowner can delete you. And make you beg and promise to reform in order to get back on.

It is, admittedly, about as democratic as prewar Germany or the late Roman empire. But it works better than Mudcat has of recent (I seemed to join just when things started going to hell. I hope it's only coincidence.)

One variant on this is what Bgrass-l does, you have a mailing list that's echoed to a newsgroup. So anyone can read the posts, but you have to be a member to post. Come to think of it, that's about the same situation you'd have here if you required membership to post to the site.

So I guess I would chime in on the side of requiring registration. It's repugnant to me in principal (or do I mean princible?) but it appears to be necessary in practice.

If a newbie may be forgiven for having an opinion.

Peter.