I`ll also respond to the community backlash/blacklist response to posts made on Ax.

The complaint reads like this : If people were forced to post using their real identities, then they would be afraid to post as they could risk receiving a backlash from their peers, their coach, or promoters.

This is a real important issue. Though, I think the heart of the problem is misunderstood. It seems to me that this is a big issue that happens in a lot of regions where people exist that are not used to public attention. I know that there are a lot of a trainers who have given their students flack for posting certain opinions on Ax. That is a form of censorship. In this scenario, Ax would not be the one providing this censorship. The trainer is the one providing the censorship. There have been plenty of people who have already avoided posting on Ax for fear of this type of backlash. There have been incidents where a trainer/promoter has pressured someone into asking me to remove their comments. Personally, I think that is ridiculous. I think that people should stick by what they have to say. I think that we all need to realize that we all see things from different, but valuable, perspectives.

So this problem exists already, even without verified accounts. If you say too much then eventually someone that you know will find out who you are, or try to. This is a huge deal in England where, evidently, things are so cut-throat that a handful of posters (probably fighters, trainers or competing promoters) have tried to talk crap about people using anonymous identities and everyone freaks out about it and tries to figure out who that person is. It`s become like a game.

So, basically I feel that we should target those issues directly rather than trying to skate around them with anonymous identities. I understand where the pro-anonymity people are coming from. It is unfortunate that people abuse anonymous accounts, and that has caused me to approach this topic.