flo wrote:.... but i think it is a sad state of affairs if someone is ostrasised for disagreeing with someone elses views and removed from a site.
Flo, I can't make it any clearer, GoreD wasn't banned for disagreeing with someone else's post, he wasn't even banned for being abusive to the other person.
He was banned because he copied a post from the forum and posted into an open forum on another website.
We have a duty to protect the rights and security of our members.
Gore not only posted the content of the post but he also posted the guy's name (he happens to use his own name as a nickname which is another issue)
The site here at Mil Forums has rules clearly displayed on the front page, you have to agree to them in order to join. It is the same with the other site. One of those rules is that you are not allowed to copy content from the site and publish it in any other format. Gore knew this, or at least if he didn't there is no excuse, it is written in red on the front page of the site.
The forums at the other site are private, therefore, unlike here, nobody who is not a member can come and view the posts, that is the 'protection' that I offer the members, they can post within their own community knowing only members of that community can see what they say.
If someone copies one of their posts - without permission - and sticks it onto an open website, that protection is instantly removed and it is a breach of trust. Further, because the site is geared towards Police Officers it then opens up a police officer's posts to all and sundry with related security issues. There may be people out there who decide to take a personal vendetta against the poster and cause all manner of problems..... would everyone here be entirely happy with every single post they've ever made here being brought to the attention of, for instance, their commanding officer, or their wife, or colleagues...I hope you get my drift.
It was clearly explained to Gore that he had breached the rules, he was asked to remove the post. He removed the identity of the poster and the name of the site it had come from, however, he refused to remove the post itself. It was expalined to him in a total of 3 messages why we had this policy and could he please remove the post. The last message clearly informed him that removal of the name was not sufficient and unless he removed the posts he would have his membership cancelled. He replied to it in terms that basically said removing the name was good enough..the post remained therefore his membership was cancelled.
When you run a website and you set rules you have no other sanction if someone refuses to stick to the rules than to remove their use of it. It's not a case of 3 strikes and you're out, you either stick to the rules or you don't and if you don't and the consequences are explained, you can hardly go off bleating about being treated unfairly.
Now, Gore could have come on here and said "some idiot on another site says.... "and basically explained what he said without copying word for word what it was he had a problem with, that would have been fine...but he copied it wholesale and just re-posted it, which was not allowed.
He could have kept his mouth shut and just done it anyway and nobody would have been any the wiser, but he then stupidly announced on the other site that he had copied the post here (he didn't name this site) to see what people here thought of it in an effort to get 'backup' for his opinions because he felt nobody was agreeing with him. (for the record, several people agreed with him but criticised him for being abusive to the original poster)
Now call me old fashioned but if you announce to everyone you've just broken a cardinal rule of the site, he can't expect everyone to ignore it...how would you feel if it was your post that was copied and published elsewhere.
To repeat, there was no problem with his content, or his abuse to the other member, that is part of what forums are about and happens sometimes...it was because he refused to accept the rules of the site. He has been a member of that site for some time and I valued his input, even if I didn't agree with everything he said, I did not ban him lightly.
If I refused to accept the rules of this site I would expect the Admin to cancel my membership......
What would you have done?
