kentcoast

Hi,

I'm a relative newcomer to this forum but have found it to be very useful and I'm concerned that moderation may lead to a dilution of that usefulness.

In the relatively short time that I've been here I'm sure that I've seen threads that have started with posts which may well have been cut under the proposal but developed into useful conversations, Likewise other threads with interesting content have been spawned as a result of the 'bad ones' after all I've just read every message in this one <G>.

The forum represents a community, good, bad, funny, boring and 'Father Jack' clip the wings of any of those elements and you change the nature of the community.

Peer pressure may not be the best form of regulation but it's far from the worst.

I know it's a rather worn cliche but there's a very fine and dangerous line between moderation and censorship - some would say just a matter of personal opinion.

The job of moderator is one of the worst on the planet - I've been there, I know. The moderator is always wrong - too strict, too lax etc. you won't get any thanks and you certainly won't make any friends.

Finally, if moderation is chosen - remember the issues of justification, accountability and liability - the first two points are obvious but the third is an issue that you have to be absolutely sure about - a quick search on Google will show any number of examples where a moderator has been named in a civil action where a complainant has claimed to be have been libelled - the argument is that the moderator places him/herself in a position of accepting personal liability for the content of posts - if one of those posts is actionable the the moderator has failed in a duty of care.

Cheers

Perry

etlniwd

Sorry but we don't all have that American mentality. You could apply that argument equally to an unmoderated forum. The argument being that the forums owners in failing to excercise their right to moderate posts are putting themsleves in the position of accepting liability for the content of those posts.

Wasn't there a story a while back about a bunch of yanks sueing MacDonalds for making them fat ?

kentcoast

I agree totally that we don't have the american mentality BUT we have to allow for it... I'm thinking of one particular case, it was a mailing list rather than a forum but the same principle applies. The moderator is Dutch, he worked for a museum in holland and moderated a list about museum and art security issues. A message was posted which named a woman in the US. The resulting case is being heard in California because that is where the yanks consider the defammation to have taken place! Last I heard there were still legal arguements going on, but the moderator's life has been made hell and he has lost his job as a result of her lawyers pestering his employer directly.

Where a forum isn't moderated in terms of content then the general opinion is that it is protected in the States by their 1996 Telecommications act which classes the forum or newsgroup as a carrier. Once content management comes into the equation however then so does the duty of care.

I'm against further moderation - personally I'd hate to risk losing the PB's of the world but if it's decided that that is the way to go then so be it, it will still be a great place to hang out. I'm just saying make sure that you cover your backs. All the salties, great whites, funnelwebs, box jellyfish and coneshells in Oz have nothing on one American Lawyer with a chance of a payoff.

All the best

Perry

mashiraz

I think the site should NOT be moderated. I have found nothing distasteful in the last month since I joined. all Ihave seen is harmess bantering which I can easily ignore.

The advantages far outweigh those few occasions. And we all need the immediacy of replies. If it is moderated, there will be delays and people will lose interest.

Thank you to everyone who contributes to thissite.
Mash..

Don

Very succinctly put, Mash. But judging by the %s, we're going to have to vote for some kind of moderation, let's hope it ends up very minimal, eg excision of racist comments and bad swearing.

Cheers m'dears - Don

ndaltonb

Hi Mashiraz, Don (I'll try to get it right this time )

Moderation should be minimal as I don't really want to read each and every post. Also, just to let you know there shouldn't be any delay as we don't currently moderate before the post is on the board and I for one have a vested interest in keeping it that way. We rely on people reporting posts to a moderator rather than checking everything incoming.

Finally, to all who have contributed and voted, thanks for your views and I'll summarise over the next few days and come back for some voting and commenting. I'll also be checking with Paul about legal liabilities :scared:

Thanks to one and all

Nigel db

Paul

The legalities are obviously dependant on a combination of the location of the owners/moderators and the servers (depending on the type of issue). As it happens, I am in the US and the servers are in Florida so US law will usally apply in my case.

kentcoast is correct in that as soon as a single post is moderated on the forum, the owners/moderators are accountable for all posts. Remember that moderation means approving posts before they are made public. Simply editing and deleting posts after they are visble is not moderation.

As long you do not knowingly approve any illegal or libelous posts you will only have probems if you refuse to remove in a timely manner any illegal or libelous posts that are reported. Having said that, if somebody with a lot of legal clout decides to try and prove you knowingly approved a libelous post... things could get unpleasant even if you were cleared at the end of it all.

Un-moderated boards in the US are covered under the Common Carrier act:
Copyright infringement is another matter. The Common Carrier act won't protect anybody against that. If any legimate copyright holder requests that their material be removed from the board, then we must immediately comply.

At the end of the day, it's probably safer to remain un-moderated.

But all that aside, moderated or un-moderated; if somebody turns up with a team of lawyers demanding that a post be removed... we simply remove it. It's not worth the hassle and there's still over 80,000 other posts left.

There are a few laywers on the board so I'm sure they will correct any flaws in my interpretation of the laws.

ndaltonb

Thanks Paul,

And thanks to everyone who commented and voted.

This thread now closed and the result is to be moderated. The how comes later.

Nigel db