In retrospect, Dreamwidth should have developed this functionality alongside the importer, so that people who for whatever reason didn't want their comments to be held on Dreamwidth servers could reasonably ensure that their wishes were met. Dreamwidth remains vulnerable to copyright claims arising from imported comments, as the commentator licensed their words for publication by another service, and certainly not to Dreamwidth. Providing this easy method of deletion may be an acceptable remedy.
To raise a related point, there are extreme cases where a journal-owner imports content that is legal in one jurisdiction but not elsewhere, and this could create legal jeopardy for the commentator but not the journal-owner. For instance, in most countries it's not specifically illegal to threaten the life of Mr. Obama, but it is in Dreamwidth's chosen jurisdiction. This is another reason why it should be possible to remove all comments.
The arguments against this proposal appear to be "it's an anti-social thing to do", and I don't particularly disagree. I think that it's far more anti-social to coerce someone into presenting their work on Dreamwidth when we know the tools are available to remove it. Delete * from Comments where userid = delete_me_now. The technology is not difficult.
Ultimately, this is a social question over who "owns" comments: the commentator, or the original poster. Livejournal has determined that the commentator has final control over their comment, as can be seen from the ability to republish comments out of context. The contributors to this thread appear to place ownership with the original poster. I'm not sure if that makes the OP responsible for what appears in their thread.
no subject
To raise a related point, there are extreme cases where a journal-owner imports content that is legal in one jurisdiction but not elsewhere, and this could create legal jeopardy for the commentator but not the journal-owner. For instance, in most countries it's not specifically illegal to threaten the life of Mr. Obama, but it is in Dreamwidth's chosen jurisdiction. This is another reason why it should be possible to remove all comments.
The arguments against this proposal appear to be "it's an anti-social thing to do", and I don't particularly disagree. I think that it's far more anti-social to coerce someone into presenting their work on Dreamwidth when we know the tools are available to remove it. Delete * from Comments where userid = delete_me_now. The technology is not difficult.
Ultimately, this is a social question over who "owns" comments: the commentator, or the original poster. Livejournal has determined that the commentator has final control over their comment, as can be seen from the ability to republish comments out of context. The contributors to this thread appear to place ownership with the original poster. I'm not sure if that makes the OP responsible for what appears in their thread.