They don't want to 'moderate out the bad press' bad publicity can be just as
rewarding to a company as good publicity; however there are a certain
faction that use the newsgroups for their own personal rants and
gratification, they are offensive and even, in some cases use totally
libelous language against other users. While I agree with freedom of speech
I do not agree that you should call a person every derogatory name under the
sun and be able to get away with it. Any person in their right mind would be
of the same opinion. Any one can poke fun at someone providing, if that fun
turns out to be offensive, derogatory and/or libelous, they are prepared to
suffer the consequences.
Regardless of what the general populace think moderators are also governed
by a set of strict rules. It is not simply a case of 'Oh i don't like this
person so I'll ban him/her from posting on this forum.' If it was that easy
half the monitored newsgroups would have nothing in them.
We can all say our piece but it is not fun when 'you' happen to be the butt
end of the joke. Yes, you may turn the other cheek for a while, but the
comes a point when you will take no more. Just because you are on a
newsgroup using a false name etc doesn't give you immunity. That false name
keeps you safe from other users in the newsgroup, it does not keep you safe
from the law. Any law enforcement agency can easily track you down, all it
takes is a court order.
Moderators are there to make sure users stick to the rules, they are not
heavy handed net cops.
--
--
John Barnett MVP
Windows XP Associate Expert
Windows Desktop Experience
Web:
http://www.winuser.co.uk
Web:
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
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http://vistasupport.mvps.org
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http://www.silversurfer-guide.com
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