Should bloggers be subject to a Code of Conduct?

I came across an article published on BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6502643.stm that asks this very question. There are many people that receive angry, threatening, and/or hate filled statements on their blog sites that border harassment. Those supporting the indoctrination of a Code of Conduct believe this will alleviate the moral injustice occurring in the blogging world. The opposing view believes that it would be dangerous to impose such sanctions on ‘internet freedom’ and morality should remain a personal decision.

I agree with one of the interviewee’s of the article that people are much less inclined to monitor their words or care about the effects their statements have on others when communicating over the net. The internet has created an impersonal, anonymous environment where users ‘feel’ safe in saying things they would never otherwise say to someone in person. I don’t necessarily agree that a Code of Conduct with and/or without legal ramifications for misconduct should be employed however; I do agree that service providers of blog forums should provide tools for users to block unwanted participation. Perhaps providers should be responsible for taking measures, based on complaints and evidence, to block abusive users from the site all together when user control is ineffective (i.e. blog site owner blocks harassing user and they continue to create new accounts and post unwanted statements on the owners site).

After reading the statement within the article, “the fact that there’s all these really messed up people on the internet…” I realized there are more opportunities now for perpetrators to victimize others and the legal lines become grey when the web is involved. What makes it okay for someone to verbally and sexually harass someone, or send death threats to others over the internet, and not be held as accountable as they would be in person or over the telephone? Should we just create a separate legal system for the internet?