>Recently when a couple folks aired their personal dispute on another forum, the Moderator--one of the nicest and most helpful guys in the world--had to step in and issue a rule prohibiting that sort of thing. I thought you might enjoy the last part of his post:
...In the event that something bad should befall me personally or the forum becomes affected I will track you down and kick your ass. No really, I mean that with all my heart and soul....
I'm starting to think perhaps William and I have been too wussy lately. : )
OTOH, my impression was we were doing pretty good at the "Good Cop, Bad Cop" game :^) We toss a coin, and the loser/winner, depending on how you look at it, has/gets to use the "Smite" button. We don't even send you termites or powder post beetles via the USPS, much less threaten bodily harm or, worse, litigation.
>I think the admins and moderators at the forum Michael linked to are just pointing out in a typically direct Australian manner to their forum users that the admins and mods can't and won't protect forum users who misbehave - so forum users need to take personal responsibility for what they post.
Admins and mods of forums based outside the US need to be very aware of the threat of law suits based on slanders because most countries don't have the strong "free speech" defence that exists in the US.
>Brother there are times when you've got to cut the bull and lay your cards right out on the table for all to see and say it so that there is absolutly no misunderstanding. this fellow is obviously very passionate of his WW Forum and isn't gonna stand for some fool to cause him to lose it, and I have absolutly no doubts that no only does he mean it, but would also fully back up his statement. He gets a Salute from me.
I'm not familiar with Australian law regarding slander, but if I recall correctly, British law favors the slandered far more than American - if Oz is more like the mom country that way, it could be a serious issue.
>Interesting forum - I may have just added a new place to visit.
I need to ask Derek, Angus, or one of the other Centralians who lives in Oz, though: I visited one post about someone's shop, and she refers to a "fumping bench." And what is that? If I saw it on an American post, I would think the post needed to be removed, but I assume it's got a clean meaning in Aussie-speak.
>Personally I admire him for "telling it like it is." That used to be a lot more commonly done here in the states, but direct talk seems to have gone out of fashion these days....
In the US, there are very few laws restricting speech, and in order to collect for slander or libel, a person must demonstrate damages, and often intent. And truth is always an absolute defense. Under our law there is no such thing as "malicious truth-telling."
>You have to have a thick skin and a warped sense of humour to last on an Aussie woodworking forum! So much begins in earnest, with some really knowledgable contributions, but the thread can (will!) eventually deteriorate and become silly (also partly attributable to the very organised nature of the forum, which makes it possible to follow topics for a long time - sometimes they go on too long). At the same time Aussie contributers tend to be quite blunt and call a spade a spade. You need to able to handle a rebuttal or criticism, or you will experience them as rude and aggressive. But they are really pussycats and there is a great deal of self-restraint on the whole. This is quite evident in the self-derogatory put-down (of one's workworking effort, for example) that many in the USA would find foreign.
The rule about Australians is that they hate rules! I think many of the "rules" are said tongue-in-cheek. Don't take them too literally. Often many woodworking strategies are also offered tongue-in-cheek. I guess everyone wants to be heard in some way or other, and if you can't be the class genius then you can be the class clown. For all this, the Ubeaut Bulletin Board is a great forum. Visit awhile.
>I believe "funmping" may be a phoenetic version of "thumping" aka whacking, hitting, clouting, mashing, tonking, bashing and any other descriptive words for "hit very hard."
Of course, I may be mistaken as I live 1400 miles away from the nearest bit of Australia!
>I think this is quite interesting. The forum avoids all risk while taking possession of all contributions to the board. (I'm assuming that all photos and articles posted on said site are copyrighted by the forum as they are here.) And how about if the moderator slanders a participant? Slander can take many forms.
IMO, the last thing we need here is a "moderator/forum is god" attitude. What's wrong with the common respect that's been happening here lately?
So if this is wc's declaration of something about to happen, some tedious legalistic approach that stifles all debate, please let me know so I can get out of the way.
>The bottom line is to "Say what you mean and mean what you say".
Most important of all post here as if the person you`re talking about was standing in front of you and you intend to communicate rather than provoke.
Mainely,Bob
PS-I personally think our "cops" are doing a fine job and would like to thank them all.I know I wouldn`t want the job and wouldn`t be near as good at it if I had to shoulder it.
I imagine an American accent might reduce "thumping" to "thumpin'". Now try saying "thumping" with a Cockney accent (which is a big ingredient in Australian English). This will produce "fumping".
>Pam wrote: "The forum avoids all risk while taking possession of all contributions to the board. (I'm assuming that all photos and articles posted on said site are copyrighted by the forum as they are here.)".
It is no different that WC - just have your say and post your pics. Unless they are crudely inflammatory, or racialistic (not necessary bigotted - we all have our individual bias), then the information stays put. I have only known of one contributer being banned from the forum in all the years I have been visiting.
"And how about if the moderator slanders a participant?"
The moderators never (OK, very, very rarely) get directly involved. They do so only when rules have been sooo breached, and not to act as referees between parties.
As I have said elsewhere here, Australians detest rules and authority, and would not put up with a forum where they are restrained or restricted unreasonably.
The other thing about the written rules: Australians don't read rules!! Or instructions, for that matter. I cannot imagine most participants on the forum are even aware that there is an established protocol.
I'm from Australia, and this warning from the moderator is the shape of things to come. I have just witnessed one of the boards in Australia close because someone said something about someone else, and the lawyers hit the moderators with law suit.
The law here makes the moderators responsible for anything anyone says on a forum. Fortunately the action was dropped, but the board is gone, and with it a very good online community. Have a look at where it used to be, at the link below.
> The forum avoids all risk while taking possession of all contributions to the board. (I'm assuming that all photos and articles posted on said site are copyrighted by the forum as they are here.)
I'm pretty sure that's not the policy here, as all articles are clearly copyrighted by the contributor(s) at the end of the text. I remember Ellis or someone else who'd know make the same statement about photos as well. WoodCentral acts as publisher here, and assumes some degree of liability, so there's been discussion about slander before in that respect.
As for the whole "impending doom" paranoia, I just think that's silly. You know better by now, don't you?
>It really is sad to see a community disappear like that under those circumstances.The up side(if there is one)is that folks down your way have real cause to be civil and stay on top of things.The down side is that some folks can`t resist resolving problems by using a bigger stick in the form of a lawyer.
While some may think that the "first ammendment at all costs" approach here in the US is the way to go,I have to wonder if we are just bringing ourselves to the point where there are no guidelines(some feel freedom means freedom from personal restraint,morals and ethics) so people scream whatever they want whenever and wherever they want and everybody has a lawyer on retainer.
A sizable portion of our society as a result is just hitting the off button and finding ways to try and insulate itself as a result of a small percentage of our population`s inablity to control thier mouths or actions.
Things would be so much easier if we would just bring back dueling as a means to resolve matters of personal offense.
>I don't know what started this discussion because I have been too busy updating our servers to follow along with every new twist and turn. One thing that strikes me is that none of it has anything to do with hand tools.
Regarding copyrights, part of what Pam (or whoever) said is true. If you post here, you implicitly grant WoodCentral the right to publish your work, which is what the messageboards do. We do not, however retain all rights to your work. You can take it anywhere and sell any and all rights (except WoodCentral's ongoing right) to anyone you please and we have nothing to say about it.
If you send us an article for publication, you implicitly grant us the right to publish it. Our copyright notice is mainly to put pilferers on notice that they cannot just come here and grab anything they want for their own publications. It is admittedly misleading on our part to suggest at the end of our articles that we must give permission for anyone else to use the material, but I want to know who wants it and why, so I can inform them of the exact nature of the rights involved.
Regarding moderators as god, I cannot fathom this concept at all. Our policy around here is and always has been to let commmon sense rules of community prevail. We don't allow personal attacks or discussions of religion or politics, and we don't allow off-color humor or commercial posts. Other than that, have at it.
We've gained our reputation as a friendly, informative and easygoing forum as a result of our policy on posting. Those of you who have been here a while know without thinking whether a post is acceptable here. Those who don't know, usually find out fairly quickly. But we are not and do not intend to be heavy-handed with our moderation. Personally, I don't pretend to be automatically correct about everything and I am always open to discussion of our policies and/or specific actions. The same holds true for Ted and William and Keith and Dan and the rest of the moderating squad. We're trying our best to uphold the spirit of the board while allowing you to post freely. We do not require anyone to register and we have *never* physically (as in via IP addresses) banned a single person from any of our forums. We've deleted posts, sure, because they were clearly (or marginally clearly) not appropriate, but the total number of deleted posts can't be more than a few a month, compared with the almost halff-*million* messages posted on our three main boards.
I don't know if this longwinded explanation helps anyone, but I sure hope so. If in doubt, think about the golden rule. Simple as that. We are not authoritarians here, just civil moderators upholding a fair and commonsensical policy.
If anyone has any questions or suggestions, you may address them to me personally. Thanks.
>My wife always likes to say that what people often forget about freedom of speech is that while you are free to say just about anything you want, that does not free you from the consequeses of what you say. You're free to go into a biker bar and say that a 300 lb biker looks whimpy - but that doesn't free you from the consequenses of that statement - like him using you as a pile driver. :)
>Like the story of the 90 pound egghead who insulted the biker.
The biker says"How about I just mop the floor with your face?"The geek says"You`ll be sorry if you try".The biker laughs and asks "why`s that little man?".
To which the geek replies"You won`t be able to get in the corners".
