Unfortunately we have been experiencing high loads of spam coming from networks in China, Malaysia, and other Asian countries. If you've visited our "recent comments" section on our Opinion section, you've probably noticed spam comments on older stories. Despite hours of work to prevent spammers from posting comments, it continues to happen.

We believe that most of the spam was coming from "bot" networks. These computers are taken over by viruses and then are controlled remotely by a group of individuals. It is important that all users connected to a public network maintain their computers. There are many anti-virus programs available for free, like Grisoft's "AVG", that will help protect your computer from these types of attacks.

Even with the requirement of user accounts, users of WillametteLive.com can still maintain their anonymity. We do not require anything beyond a valid e-mail address for account signup. To sign-up for an account you can visit the new user signup page. Immediately after signing up you will be e-mailed an activation link.

If you have any questions about how to sign up, please contact Technical Support at support@willamettelive.com