REEF forum regime

[bcdope]

So that others can learn from my "alleged" reef forum insolence (bcdope, 5:33pm pacific)... I got this recently from the can reef tribunal and thought you might be interested:

this part of the user agreement.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this BB to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law

here is the entire agreement.

Rules, Policies, and Disclaimers
If you agree to abide by our rules below, please press the Agree button, which will enable you to register on this message board. If you do not agree to these terms, press the Cancel button.

Considering the real-time nature of this message board, it is impossible for us to review messages or confirm the validity of information posted. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the contents of posted messages and are not responsible for any messages posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of this BB or any entity associated with this BB. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately by email. We have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, so please realize that we may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately.You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this BB to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyrighted material is owned by you.Although we do not and cannot review the messages posted and are not responsible for the content of any of these messages, we reserve the right to delete any message for any reason whatsoever. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s).We reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.

By registering you have agreed to these policies. Plain and simple. This isn't a democracy.. As an FYI.

We are here to discuss reefs. Let's keep it that way. You can make the difference you seem eager to do. A more constructive method will work wonders.

[Mak]

I receive 1 myself. Plus a couple other fairly nasty letters from a Mod.

[SuperFudge]

B.C.D,
Not sure I understand what you wish to convey....but if its a dislike of the terms and conditions,I figured we all agreed to them when we joined. :confused:

Mak,
In all fairness and without being a Mod,
I could assure you that the emails were very cosiderate on the thier part...

If they recieved similar ones to the one i recieved from you,for simply replying with a condradictory statement to yours in a thread....they were being very considerate indeed.....

[ 02 July 2002, 18:38: Message edited by: Superfudge ]

[Troy F]

If you don't like the rules don't post. Pretty simple. The board is definitely not a democracy. If you continue, you're posting privelage will be suspended. :D

bcdope, you were asked politely to tone down a couple of areas of your posting. We are not asking anymore smile.gif . I sent you a very polite e-mail explaining the position of the staff here and if you'd like I could post it so all can see how bad you were treated.

Mak, I don't know what the hell you're doing in the middle of this, unless it's because you were asked not to post about your other habits on the Marine and Reef Aquarium Board but consider the warning issued to you as well.

[Mak]

Originally posted by Troy F:

Mak, I don't know what the hell you're doing in the middle of this, unless it's because you were asked not to post about your other habits on the Marine and Reef Aquarium Board but consider the warning issued to you as well.[/QB]<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">HUH? HABITS? Enlighten me a little more please Troy.

[Delphinus]

Hi Guys,

If you want my advice. I think I said this once before: the collective memory of these kinds of incidents is very short. Let it drop for a day or two or three, and nobody will remember this.

Let it go.

The irony of this specific situation is that nobody disagrees with the original "spirit" in which certain posts were made, however, certain concerns were raised about the "letter" in which they were raised. Naturally, nobody likes to be told to back down, and it's easy to take things the wrong way sometimes, so things can escalate very quickly in a manner that really benefits no-one.

Sometimes I may not agree with something that is said, and I may even discuss my disagreement, as a "member of the community." That is the nature of this kind of forum and it is the only way we will ever learn anything -- if we all agree then really there is no need for a discussion. HOWEVER in all cases of a civilized debate, we need to have a referee, or a chairperson or a moderator. Whose job it is to step in when certain things, whether intentional or not, may be said that could be misconstrued. Or perhaps when the temperature of a topic gets a little heated. Just to step in and try to steer things back to a civilized tone. This happens in any organized dialogue. Meetings in the workplace. Debates between politicians. etc. The moderators are just doing their job here -- in the interests of protecting this board as a valued resource of our community. We need to have rules to protect our society and sometimes we need to be reminded of the rules.

When you're pulled over for a speeding ticket -- your opinion of the police officer may not be very high. But the worst thing you can do, is share with him or her at that moment your precise thoughts of them at that moment. Sometimes, it's in our better interest to take our lumps rather than share a little too much honesty. Remember, they are only doing their job, which is to protect the greater good. Even if you don't agree with their assessment or their penalty, there is a proper procedure to appeal your case. It is no different here.

[ 03 July 2002, 11:10: Message edited by: delphinus ]

[MitchM]

I don't understand why offensive threads are deleted. I read here many times references made to threads that are considered "bad", but when I try to view them, they're gone.

It seems to me that it keeps the door open for other people to make the same mistakes in the future.

I would prefer for the thread to be "locked" and then people can see what NOT to do in the future. :confused:
A posted warning from the mods in a locked thread would seem to me to be sufficient to protect the operators from liability issues.

Yes?.......No?......

Mitch

[Troy F]

Mitch, the threads removed were removed to avoid possible litigation, I'm not a lawyer but leaving it up there just seemed risky, I'm still fumbling my way through this and claim no expertise. I actually did issue a warning at first and left the thread open but the same kind of attacks towards a certain owner persisted. What do you think we could have learned from that? This is too small a community here to allow some of the things that transpire on the big boards. A flame war here ends up with no members willing to talk to one another and the end of the board.