Hopefully, Choire will do something about Defamer. At a recent impromptu gathering of friends/bloggers all of us agreed that Defamer is the only one that doesn't work. I find the tone vulgar, others just don't find it funny. In short, something is not working.

Em, you write a blog for French people, and this qualification compels you to remark upon another blog's sense of humor? An American one, at that?
Let us be honest, Em.
Your country awarded Jerry Lewis the medal for your Legion of Honor, devaluing that medal, in the world's eyes, to the level of a Franco-American extra value meal.
The only time you've ever really confronted us Americans which carried consequence is when you released the mimes on us, and believe you me, we've haven't forgotton that little stunt.
And we never will.
To sum up, please take into account that the last large group of people the French successfully entertained was Nazi Germany, and you still had to resort to cheap physical humor, and your show only lasted a few weeks before it folded.

I demand that you take back what you said about Defamer.

Take it back!

I guess we finally know who Defamer is....

"Del" should talk about cheap humor. This is a near-perfect argument for switching to signed comments. This loser -- better known at L.A. Observed as IP 69.224.181.133 -- doesn't stay anonymous so he can add his thoughts without retribution at work. He just wants free space to toss insults without his kids knowing he's an ass. He should get a blog, put his name on it, and embarrass himself there every day (like I do!). Instead, he freeloads here. Should say, used to.

When I get back from vacation, I'm probably going to try that new MT comments regime. I'm tired of babysitting these idiots.

On the odd chance there's any confusion, I know Del ain't Def....

Just a hunch, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that "Del" is the same person who posted as "allen" earlier this summer. Similar tone, similar m.o.

Back to Emmanuelle's comment: more and more lately, the Defamer just doesn't make any sense. Take, for instance, today's two stories on Frankie Muniz.

Huh?

Let's try -- for once! -- to keep Jerry Lewis and French mimes (and the Nazis) out of it.

I'm aware that it's not nice to volunteer unsolicited negative opinions about a fellow blogger, especially a pro, and I don't pretend I could do any better (or in proper English!), but I guess in some weird way I care about this site. L.A. would be a better place with a better Defamer. I love the concept. From the conversations I've had with other similarly eager readers, I'm not the only one turned off by some expressions that are used to comment on female attributes, etc. More importantly, everybody wonders why Defamer doesn't seem to attract lots of insider tips. Why is that so hard to do it in L.A.? Is it due to the fact that he is anonymous? You would think that there is so much going on in this town that people would be all too happy to send him tons of good stuff. Someone was throwing around the idea of a group blog for entertainment journalists, to dish all the good content they can't publish in their papers or magazines....

One thing that I really dislike about France is how journalists get all this good information and only share it among themselves at dinner parties; rarely with the public. That's how come the average French didn't hear about (former president) Mitterrand's illness, or about his secret daughter, for years and years, while they, as taxpayers, were paying for the kid and her mistress-mom's lodging. Lots of things are never mentioned to the public, and there's no Drudge, no Harry Knowles, no Romenesko, or L.A. Observed. There are no insider websites to shake things up. That's why I care a lot about these sites.

This comment brought to you by Immigrants for a Better Defamer.

The little sucker switched to 68.123.236.217, but we got him. Now maybe the discussion can be about more about the topic of the post, and less about the imagined traits of the commenters.

"The little sucker"...

Kevin, what is your problem?
Del's posts are often annoying, but that's no reason for you to start behaving like so childishly.
There are plenty of other people here who post annoying messages, but you seem to have some kind of personal animosity going on here that's getting a little out of control.
Personally, I think posting somebody's IP address without their permission is way out of line, and smacks of McCarthyism.
You should be ashamed of yourself.

Kevin what is wrong with you?
Posting IP addresses of people you don't like who post on a blogsite open to the public??
No wonder some people wish to remain anonymous.
We're not even safe from the administrator of a free blogsite from going crazy.
By the way, Kevin, the person you're viciously persuing is probably not changing the IP address at will. This person is probably on a server that has a dynamic address system, so relogging resets his IP address.
Constantly posting his newest IP address only makes you look more desperately foolish.

Well, maybe you've got a point. It's true I've let the guy get under my skin some. But in my defense, he's abusing his privileges here. I suspect, as others have posted, that he's the same guy who trolled here a few months back and really pissed people off. I took some heat in email for letting that guy commandeer topics with his belligerence for too long. I tried to be patient this time too, but once again he has just become more offensive, not less.

My tolerance for abusive jerks in the comments is becoming admittedly less. My approach to comments here has always been -- and I'll try to be clearer about it when I get back from vacation and tweak things a bit -- is that this isn't really a public forum. It's more akin to a party I host. If somebody came to a party at my house and started abusing the guests, they'd be asked to leave. I suspect I'm going to lean even more that way in the future, not less. The blogosphere is big enough now that they have plenty of places they can go and spew at will. This isn't intended to be one of them. If that doesn't work for them, they should go to one of the other parties.

I know it's repetitive for me to say this, but if the guy used a real name or identifier, he'd be given a lot more leeway. People who are open about who they are can pretty much criticize anybody here. They just have to stand behind it. If they come here anonymously and choose to be a jerk, and ramp it up when people urge them to be cool, then I don't want them. I don't want to be the guy who inflicts them on this tiny corner of the public.

And if they don't take the hints and instead become personally insulting to other commenters, then yes, it's quite possible their computer's IP number will be blocked from commenting and posted so that other bloggers can watch out for them. It's the only personal identifier they've given us.

I think *someone* needs a vacation ...

Kevin, if you step back and think a moment, you'll realize that was not exactly the greatest move on your part.

IP address lookups are notoriously useless anyway, and it makes it seem like you're out to get people based on their comments, especially if you don't like them.

What sort of bell does that toll for us if we decide to put our real names? Will we get letters and calls from angry people instead of merely risk seeing our IP address on here? It encourages less identity, not more.

Well first, you're right, I do need a vacation...

Second, for the coming day when real names are required, I'm working on a way that people won't have to put their email addresses on the posts any more and risk being spammed.

As for everybody being afraid of their IP address getting out, it's now happened twice here in 15 months. The first time was when somebody posed as a real person and posted a derogatory comment -- and word to the wise, from now on that will get your IP address posted on the front page in boldface type. And now with this repeat troller who was escalating his personal insults, from his place in hiding.

OK, I read your answer to the previous posts after I posted mine. Now, I get it. Things are so much clearer now.

So this is not a public forum on media and L.A. It's your party.

Blogs, and just about any other form of media, become more vital in people's lives when the community it targets considers it to be "theirs." Personal blogs? Zzzzzzzz.

For instance, if I subscribe to the L.A. Times or a magazine or even a Podunk weekly, I consider it to be "mine." When I call Circulation to say I missed a paper, I don't say, "Hey, I didn't get YOUR paper today." I say, "I didn't get MY paper today." This site packs a lot more punch if you consider it to be that sort of thing, and "subscribing," for us, means visiting the site.

Obviously this has all distressed you quite a bit. If I threw parties and had all this heartache, I wouldn't throw any more parties. I'd keep my door locked and draw the drapes.

You're partly right. I think of L.A. Observed readers and the relative few who comment as very much of a community. That's why a boor who comes in and starts calling people names and trying to disrupt the party isn't met with open arms.

On a completely related to the original topic note, Jess is an amazing writer and pretty damn funny as well - i look forward to her at the helm of gawker.

Kevin was right to post "Del's" IP. Anonymity makes the Web a coward's paradise, a playground for those who like to vent hostility without paying the price. My view is that those who create sites and sustain them emotionally and financially have every right to set the rules and bounce those who refuse to play by the rules.

Kevin you would have a point if your site was secure, requiring a subscription, but it's not. That, I'm afraid, is your fault.
It seems like you are reliquishing responsibility for your inappropriate actions to Del, and that's simply childish, in my opinion.
I teach at a public school, and I usually only see that behavior from my third graders.

The IP you use is public information. Don't like seeing yours posted -- tough. (The problem is that dynamic IP's, such as those from a Pacbell DSL router in Irvine, don't map back to a unique computer or individual.)

I'm absolutely floored by some of you people.
When Del got obnoxious, I just ignored him like an adult, but you people are just out of this world.
I've never seen such lame-brained gang rule and intimidation in a forum supposedly for public debate.
Kevin, I liked your blogsite, but you are a sad, and pathetic man, and I won't be back here.
Go ahead and expose my IP address, since that's what you're so proud of.