I'm certainly not a lawyer, but as a widely published writer, I'm well aware that legal precedent holds that if you moderate, edit, or prune comments on your online forum -- or blog -- in any way at all then you stop being able to defend yourself as a common carrier and become a publisher who is, indeed, liable for the content that they publish.
This situation came to my attention from blogspotting and makes for an interesting problem. How liable are you from comments on your blog. I know there has been some legal questions in the local trail being covered by the Gazette blogInside the Courtroom: The Tiny Tots Trial that are new ground for courts and blogging so the comment situation is really beginning to flair up.
I had some problems with my blogging software for the past month or so that sent everything to moderation but I did no actual moderation. The problem is fixed but I will have to keep in mind this situation on commenting to see how it turns out. Interesting Times that's for sure.
To watch another carrying a load requires no exertion. Chinese proverb
