[ninjin]

If we put the ideological issues aside there are some other potential issues about using Disqus that I have thought of:

1.) Control of data, I am not sure what rights I am legally signing away to Disqus when using it as my comment service.

2.) Continuity, I am certain that if Disqus passes away the service won't be there and only fools would offer a free service and ensure that the data isn't lost for what ever reason. How are your data liberation policies, a simple click for a zip or a tar-ball? Or would I need to construct my own back-up using your API? If the latter, is that allowed?

[simanyay]

You can export your data whenever you want and the process is as easy as clicking one button: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/447925/Screenshots/ao8k.png

Nothing changes when you comment on a website using Disqus—your comment is published on someone's website and becomes their data. That said, if a comment was not originally anonymous, you have an option to anonymize it so that it is not associated with your profile and name anymore. We are and will always be on commenters' side.

This is what I can authoritatively say as a Disqus engineer. If you want more information, email to [e-mail] and folks here will be happy to answer all your questions.

Anton