New Rules (Member Review)

[vorlon13]

Some boards I post on have explicit rules about 'not starting a war' with another message board.  Usually, the rule is implemented via simply not allowing any direct mention of another message board in a posting.  Members can use euphemisms for other sites (like 'Auction site' instead of 'Ebay') and are allowed to directly name in the PM system.

If this has never been a problem here, I could see not having a rule posted, but maybe having one 'at the ready' or just being aware such things might occur would suffice.

Also, on another topic, I appreciate the inherent honesty of specifically noting the PM system is monitored.  Another site I post on makes a big deal of stating their PM system is 'inviolate'.  Of course, since mere humans are running that board, it didn't take long for me to note that information that could only be gleaned from a PM I had sent was common knowledge among the mods there.  LOL, I extracted a frightful vengeance on them (undetected and untraceable), and have never assumed a PM system was 'inviolate' again.

Nothing online is inviolate.

I was annoyed they lied, and took so little time in tipping their hands and being STOOPID.

If you're going to snoop in the PM system, then it must be important to them to do so, so tipping their hands so readily and drying up a source (me) was dum dum dum.

I don't suffer fools gladly.

[Pyrrho]

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Nothing online is inviolate.

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I was annoyed they lied,

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and took so little time in tipping their hands and being STOOPID.

If you're going to snoop in the PM system, then it must be important to them to do so, so tipping their hands so readily and drying up a source (me) was dum dum dum.

I don't suffer fools gladly.

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As you should be.  My point, though, is that no matter what anyone tells you about stuff online, it is never inviolate.  People seem to fail to realize that, yet it has been shown to be the case over and over.  Even if someone wanted to keep your stuff private (which is typically not the case), one good hacker could change that in a moment.

So, my advice to everyone is, if you want to keep something private, do not put it online anywhere, and do not even put it in a computer hooked up to the internet.  Or within view of a camera (or within audio range of a microphone) hooked up to your computer that is ever hooked up to the internet.

[Mystical]

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I was annoyed they lied,

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and took so little time in tipping their hands and being STOOPID.

If you're going to snoop in the PM system, then it must be important to them to do so, so tipping their hands so readily and drying up a source (me) was dum dum dum.

I don't suffer fools gladly.

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As you should be.  My point, though, is that no matter what anyone tells you about stuff online, it is never inviolate.  People seem to fail to realize that, yet it has been shown to be the case over and over.  Even if someone wanted to keep your stuff private (which is typically not the case), one good hacker could change that in a moment.

So, my advice to everyone is, if you want to keep something private, do not put it online anywhere, and do not even put it in a computer hooked up to the internet.  Or within view of a camera (or within audio range of a microphone) hooked up to your computer that is ever hooked up to the internet.

Mods can't read PMs here. Only Admins, and it's gotta be something big or a group decision to do so, for an admin to go into the PMs as far as I know.
It's clearly stated in the privacy policy that all your messages will be collected for all time, though.

Your messages are generally only viewable by the parties involved, but they may be accessed internally as needed for support or to investigate possible rule violations. Moreover, we keep a complete log of all messages sent on the forums, even when both parties later delete their accounts.

[Dystopia]

I have a question that's been bugging me a little - How far does AF go to avoid breaking the law of every country's specific laws? For example, there are German members on-board and Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany, in some cases just searching for Holocaust denial material can get the police to investigate your background - So how far does it go?

[Longhorn]

(If you need a new name, fake id and a mustache Uncle K, you know who to call)

[Tiberius]

I have a question that's been bugging me a little - How far does AF go to avoid breaking the law of every country's specific laws? For example, there are German members on-board and Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany, in some cases just searching for Holocaust denial material can get the police to investigate your background - So how far does it go?

It really depends on the situation and whether we are legally required to do anything. If someone was sending death threats via the PM system, and police in Germany contacted us asking for copies, we would probably give them the data. On the other hand, if the German police wanted information about German members posting Holocaust denial material, I think we'd probably deny the request unless we were legally required to hand the data over, which in the case of the forum would require the United States to request the data, as the server is based in the US and so am I.

Generally speaking I'm opposed to handing data over to law enforcement for crimes which don't have an actual victim, and Holocaust denial is one of those.

[Pyrrho]

I have a question that's been bugging me a little - How far does AF go to avoid breaking the law of every country's specific laws? For example, there are German members on-board and Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany, in some cases just searching for Holocaust denial material can get the police to investigate your background - So how far does it go?

It really depends on the situation and whether we are legally required to do anything. If someone was sending death threats via the PM system, and police in Germany contacted us asking for copies, we would probably give them the data. On the other hand, if the German police wanted information about German members posting Holocaust denial material, I think we'd probably deny the request unless we were legally required to hand the data over, which in the case of the forum would require the United States to request the data, as the server is based in the US and so am I.

Generally speaking I'm opposed to handing data over to law enforcement for crimes which don't have an actual victim, and Holocaust denial is one of those.

There is a reason people like you...

[LastPoet]

I am not in the staff anymore, but I know how hard they work to be fair under all decisions. It becomes second nature. It is the main objective. It has made we last all these years and endure alot of shitstorms.

I am a quitter, true, not because I couldn't, just because of the lack of time to properly carry out my responsabilities.

They will be just fine without me.

[Dystopia]

I have a question that's been bugging me a little - How far does AF go to avoid breaking the law of every country's specific laws? For example, there are German members on-board and Holocaust denial is illegal in Germany, in some cases just searching for Holocaust denial material can get the police to investigate your background - So how far does it go?

It really depends on the situation and whether we are legally required to do anything. If someone was sending death threats via the PM system, and police in Germany contacted us asking for copies, we would probably give them the data. On the other hand, if the German police wanted information about German members posting Holocaust denial material, I think we'd probably deny the request unless we were legally required to hand the data over, which in the case of the forum would require the United States to request the data, as the server is based in the US and so am I.

Generally speaking I'm opposed to handing data over to law enforcement for crimes which don't have an actual victim, and Holocaust denial is one of those.

I agree, but this isn't about what you and I think ideologically - I support abolishing Holocaust denial laws, but unfortunately those still exist and we got to deal with it. I believe in all of Europe Holocaust denial is illegal either implicitly or explicitly - In Germany or France it is explicit but in most hate speech laws, since anything fits there, Holocaust denial is always implicitly illegal. Of course I'm talking about legal matters, it's just a curiosity - But since there's a lot of international protocols and conventions I doubt that the staff could get away with it.

I post on a forum for discussion of politics and we've banned Holocaust denial material and, as a general rule, nazi ideologies - It's not because there isn't free speech, but the forum had trouble with nazis organizing military organizations and revolutions inside the forum itself and starting conversations on how to genocide Jews, etc etc - Additionally, some members got into trouble with the police because of Holocaust denial and generally appeals to genocide and violence, so the admins decided to simply forbid neo-nazism to avoid legal troubles.

[Mystical]

I am not in the staff anymore, but I know how hard they work to be fair under all decisions. It becomes second nature. It is the main objective. It has made we last all these years and endure alot of shitstorms.

I am a quitter, true, not because I couldn't, just because of the lack of time to properly carry out my responsabilities.

They will be just fine without me.