Of particular interest might be the following phrase from rule #5.
"If you receive private communication from another
participant that causes you serious concern, you
may communicate that to the Forum Manager, but no
action should be taken by the Forum Manager or
E-Democracy.org to intervene in private disputes
among individuals."What do folks think about this?
Here's what I think:
I think that if I was running a restaurant or coffee shop and I had an unruly patron who was persistently impolite and obnoxious, I might end up barring that patron from the premises. Now to change the situation to be even more parallel to the issues forum - let's say the patron was rude, but not over the line while in my shop. Yet then I find out that when someone orders a salad (which this patron despises salads), he takes down their license plate, tracks them to their house and threatens to beat them up if they'll come outside and fight him.
Once - maybe a fluke. But if this patron did this to at least four of my customers, you'd better bet I'd be kicking him out. Would I just tell my other customers "Oh, go call the police next time he shows up at your door. Just because he hangs around here and follows people to their houses to threaten them doesn't mean it's my business. It's out of my hands."
I'm part of another forum that bans members who go over the line. It hasn't ended the forum, though from time to time people argue about how far is too far in being impolite. Now I have some perspective I guess - nothing there has EVER gone so far as to include physical threats or the sort of slanderous statements I've seen tolerated here.
Behavior outside the forum that clearly starts *because of* and *in* the forum is relevant to the forum. I've posted before about my own concerns for my safety for having to put down a real name and address (or close enough). I suppose I'm lucky I haven't attracted the wrong sort of notice.
A point we had in the other forum was that anyone who used the forum in any way to promote or commit illegal acts would be immediately banned (upon proof and review by the managers - but if true, there was no second chance or warning). Threatening people is an illegal act. If someone is reading the forum and then writing to people based on their posts here and threatening them, then they are using the forum to commit an illegal act. If you wanted a standard for banning someone, use the current laws.
Mary Baker East Side
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page � FREE download! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/
_____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul
Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
