Guaranteed good behaviorA model for enforcing terms of service policies

Practically every reputable news Web site has a lengthy terms of service policy, which users must agree to before they can submit comments on articles, participate in discussion forums, or upload photos or videos.

Such terms of service policies typically present a laundry list of prohibited conduct ... but what is the penalty for violating the policy?

Because the Internet is, for all practical purposes, completely anonymous, the most a site can do is de-activate the user's account and block his or her e-mail address or IP address -- but anyone with a little bit of persistence can circumvent those blocks.

There are two ways to make penalties actually serve as deterrents to bad conduct online.

The first is to alter the anonymity of the Internet and require people to identify themselves when they submit content. By making their identities known, they put their "real world" reputations at stake. And assuming that some sort of identity verification system is used to confirm their identities, an abusive user will not be able to re-register for a new account unless he can falsify his identity -- which is a bit trickier than just creating a new throwaway e-mail address.

The second is to hold users financially accountable for their conduct by requiring a small one-time fee to create an account. If the user obeys the site's terms of service, that's all he'll ever have to pay. But if a user persistently violates a site's terms of service, he'll quickly empty his wallet by creating new accounts to replace those that have been deactivated.

My own company, Truyoo, offers sites that accept user-submitted content a simple, easy-to-implement way to use both of these strategies.

Sites that implement Truyoo will have access to the verified identities of their users and are covered by the Truyoo Good Behavior Guarantee: "If a Truyoo-verified user violates your site's terms of service, you'll get $1 -- and they'll get banned for good."

Because a Truyoo ID works on any site that accepts Truyoo, it is much more powerful than any site-specific solution; if a user violates one site's terms of service, he loses his ability to post not only on that site, but on every other Truyoo site. And because Truyoo IDs are accepted at multiple sites, their value is much greater than any site-specific solution.

The best part is, Truyoo is free to implement, and it's extremely affordable for anyone who is willing to behave himself. Right now, you can get a Truyoo ID for a one-time identity verification fee of $1.35. Considering that most people pay $20 to $30 a month just to access the Internet, the value of a Truyoo ID is huge, and will only grow as more sites adopt Truyoo.