[pbiggar]

On newstilt, we've written the terms of service so that we can publish comments. We said that by posting you give the service permanent, non-exclusive, transferable rights to edit, modify, distribute, etc, the content.

I would ask PG to change the TOS of hacker news, to allow you do this. I think he'd like it, so he may be willing.

[jamesbritt]

And what effect might this have on the people willing to comment?

Comments add value to a site, making it attractive to advertisers. That's the exchange. Asking contributors to also allow the site owner to re-use their contributions for other purposes crosses a line for me.

[pbiggar]

We feel the exchange is that journalists serve their communities, and the communities help them earn a living. Using the comments off site helps that goal.

> And what effect might this have on the people willing to comment?

You incorrectly (to my mind) assume that this is a major problem for most people. I think there won't be any effect. People don't read T&Cs, though we make it explicit in them that we do this.

This isn't like Facebook changing their T&Cs. This is publicly posted information, not private correspondence between friends. That would be very different.

> Comments add value to a site, making it attractive to advertisers. That's the exchange.

That's not the exchange, just your perception of it.