OK, who's the wise guy?

Assemblyman Peter Biondi of Somerset County wants to be able to find out who says nasty things about him on the Internet. That's what I'm gathering from his bill to require Internet service providers to keep track of the names and addresses of all who post comments on their Web sites. Biondi's bill would enable the subject of a defamatory remark to request and receive the name and address of the person who posted it. A little intimidating. And a lot of harm to freedom of speech.

Should people - most likely public officials and others in positions of authority who would be singled out in such postings - be able to find out who said what about them? Or will that prevent forum users from "speaking" their minds in their posts?