Working their way down to zero?

The web site of The New York Times carried the following "note to readers" yesterday, announcing a change in the policy regarding reader comments on news stories:

Starting today, the character limit on comments will be reduced from 5,000 to 2,000 characters. The shorter length will allow for an improved experience for commenters and readers alike. As always, we encourage you to share your opinions and reactions.

Does this mark the beginning of the end for the bizarre practice of encouraging the illiterate, the ill-informed, the hateful and the deranged to dribble their brain droppings onto newspaper web sites, in response to news stories? We can only hope.