READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!
I do not mean this facetiously.
I'm not sure how many of you have read the rules and regs that we 'agreed to' upon joining, but here are some fun quotes:
" Unlike other radio related sites, this Forum is not dedicated to a specific radio service, but instead opens its doors to all radio related activities."
followed immediately by:
"This is NOT the place to publicly pass judgment on other radio operators practices or skills."
notice there is no mention of context here. Just a blanket statement that, if enforced, would wipe out a good portion of posts here.
So, based on the fact that so many posts of this type exist here and have for over a decade, we can conclude that the enforcement of the rules on this forum is at best arbitrary, and for good reason IMO.
This forum long ago became a haven for people wanting to give an honest opinion about this or that operator/shop because they weren't being banned by the forum's sponsors.
That is how the membership in this portion of the forum grew, and the administrators knew it.
That was years ago...
then comes my favorite part. The one where we find out that admin really only cares about ad revenue:
"The forum also provides a showcase for small companies and individuals to showcase their radio related products directly to their target audience in the form of web based advertising. For details on how to advertise your company on the Worldwide Radio Forum, please contact the Administrator. This forum contains one of the finest online collections of individual hobbyists and professional technicians. Courtesy and respect toward others are expected of everyone, but above all, HAVE FUN!"
Notice how that one is worded. We users are here and allowed to post here because we are the target audience for the advertisers, and without them, there is no use for us.
then we have that last statement, that could be taken to mean that ABOVE ALL OTHER RULES, we should do here what is fun for us.
admin might want to think about re-wording that one LOL.
next we have the clause that takes away any and every privilege a member might have to post an opinion about someone or something:
"You agree to not use the Service to submit or link to any Content which is defamatory, abusive, hateful, threatening, spam or spam-like, likely to offend, contains adult or objectionable content, contains personal information of others, risks copyright infringement, encourages unlawful activity, or otherwise violates any laws."
Did any of you notice that little part about "likely to offend"?
That is the single most open ended rule in the whole thing!
Can any of you honestly say that the things you say and do in your every day life are not likely to offend ANYONE?
Of course not. There will always be someone who thinks that the way another lives is wrong and offensive to their viewpoint.
Once again, their ass is covered and we are not actually allowed to post anything.
This one is especially fun:
"We reserve the rights to remove or modify any Content submitted for any reason without explanation. Requests for Content to be removed or modified will be undertaken only at our discretion. We reserve the right to take action against any account with the Service at any time."
Notice the word modify in there? just be aware that admin can alter your posts without informing anyone.
Now for the scariest one:
"You are granting us with a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, unlimited license to use, publish, or re-publish your Content in connection with the Service.
These terms may be changed at any time without notice.
If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use this Service. If you wish to close your account, please contact us."
this means that once you post something cool you figured out how to do, or figure out a better way to do something; they can do what they want with that info.
Once one is done reading these rules, it becomes glaringly obvious that rule breaking has been rampant on here for over a decade, and we are left to figure out why it's allowed.
hmmmm...
why would the forum admin put up with our crap for so many years???
I mean it's very obvious that they don't have to, and are fully within their rights to ban anyone they want.
The reason is that they realized that they wouldn't have anything on here worth reading if they actually enforced the rules as written.
This forum, the members here, and the wealth of information here WOULD NOT exist if admin had been enforcing the rules THEY WROTE, and this place would be a ghost town.
So, we are left to exist in this limbo of some rules not being enforced, some ignored, and some only enforced when one person is having an off day.
So moderators, i would like to formally request that you stop choosing whether or not to apply the forum's rules as if it's up to you.
it clearly is not, as spelled out in the rules, and if they were to be enforced with an even hand, most of us would have been banned years ago.
And yes, i say this knowing that i have benefited from that same loose grip.
Why haven't we been banned? because of what i said above about the real purpose of this forum being to provide a place for advertisers/ sponsors to hock their wares, and that if they are not complaining or leaving, then there is no reason to thin out the audience.
Let's call a thing a thing and take some personal responsibility for what we post AND READ on the forum.
If you don't enjoy what you are reading. STOP READING IT!!!
If you don't want to be part of a certain discussion, DON'T MAKE A POST!!!
And for the Administrators, either enforce the rules as written and ban almost everyone, or leave us alone until an advertiser complains.
well, bring on the flamethrowers.
LC
Can we get some clarification on what constitutes a bullshit post?
I do not mean this facetiously.
I'm not sure how many of you have read the rules and regs that we 'agreed to' upon joining, but here are some fun quotes:
" Unlike other radio related sites, this Forum is not dedicated to a specific radio service, but instead opens its doors to all radio related activities."
followed immediately by:
"This is NOT the place to publicly pass judgment on other radio operators practices or skills."
notice there is no mention of context here. Just a blanket statement that, if enforced, would wipe out a good portion of posts here.
So, based on the fact that so many posts of this type exist here and have for over a decade, we can conclude that the enforcement of the rules on this forum is at best arbitrary, and for good reason IMO.
This forum long ago became a haven for people wanting to give an honest opinion about this or that operator/shop because they weren't being banned by the forum's sponsors.
That is how the membership in this portion of the forum grew, and the administrators knew it.
That was years ago...
then comes my favorite part. The one where we find out that admin really only cares about ad revenue:
"The forum also provides a showcase for small companies and individuals to showcase their radio related products directly to their target audience in the form of web based advertising. For details on how to advertise your company on the Worldwide Radio Forum, please contact the Administrator. This forum contains one of the finest online collections of individual hobbyists and professional technicians. Courtesy and respect toward others are expected of everyone, but above all, HAVE FUN!"
Notice how that one is worded. We users are here and allowed to post here because we are the target audience for the advertisers, and without them, there is no use for us.
then we have that last statement, that could be taken to mean that ABOVE ALL OTHER RULES, we should do here what is fun for us.
admin might want to think about re-wording that one LOL.
next we have the clause that takes away any and every privilege a member might have to post an opinion about someone or something:
"You agree to not use the Service to submit or link to any Content which is defamatory, abusive, hateful, threatening, spam or spam-like, likely to offend, contains adult or objectionable content, contains personal information of others, risks copyright infringement, encourages unlawful activity, or otherwise violates any laws."
Did any of you notice that little part about "likely to offend"?
That is the single most open ended rule in the whole thing!
Can any of you honestly say that the things you say and do in your every day life are not likely to offend ANYONE?
Of course not. There will always be someone who thinks that the way another lives is wrong and offensive to their viewpoint.
Once again, their ass is covered and we are not actually allowed to post anything.
This one is especially fun:
"We reserve the rights to remove or modify any Content submitted for any reason without explanation. Requests for Content to be removed or modified will be undertaken only at our discretion. We reserve the right to take action against any account with the Service at any time."
Notice the word modify in there? just be aware that admin can alter your posts without informing anyone.
Now for the scariest one:
"You are granting us with a non-exclusive, permanent, irrevocable, unlimited license to use, publish, or re-publish your Content in connection with the Service.
These terms may be changed at any time without notice.
If you do not agree with these terms, please do not register or use this Service. If you wish to close your account, please contact us."
this means that once you post something cool you figured out how to do, or figure out a better way to do something; they can do what they want with that info.
Once one is done reading these rules, it becomes glaringly obvious that rule breaking has been rampant on here for over a decade, and we are left to figure out why it's allowed.
hmmmm...
why would the forum admin put up with our crap for so many years???
I mean it's very obvious that they don't have to, and are fully within their rights to ban anyone they want.
The reason is that they realized that they wouldn't have anything on here worth reading if they actually enforced the rules as written.
This forum, the members here, and the wealth of information here WOULD NOT exist if admin had been enforcing the rules THEY WROTE, and this place would be a ghost town.
So, we are left to exist in this limbo of some rules not being enforced, some ignored, and some only enforced when one person is having an off day.
So moderators, i would like to formally request that you stop choosing whether or not to apply the forum's rules as if it's up to you.
it clearly is not, as spelled out in the rules, and if they were to be enforced with an even hand, most of us would have been banned years ago.
And yes, i say this knowing that i have benefited from that same loose grip.
Why haven't we been banned? because of what i said above about the real purpose of this forum being to provide a place for advertisers/ sponsors to hock their wares, and that if they are not complaining or leaving, then there is no reason to thin out the audience.
Let's call a thing a thing and take some personal responsibility for what we post AND READ on the forum.
If you don't enjoy what you are reading. STOP READING IT!!!
If you don't want to be part of a certain discussion, DON'T MAKE A POST!!!
And for the Administrators, either enforce the rules as written and ban almost everyone, or leave us alone until an advertiser complains.
well, bring on the flamethrowers.
LC
