Spam Reporting and Abuse Policy

johnnygoodman · Post by **johnnygoodman** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:01 pm

Greetings,

Subject #1

Some CPAPtalkers have been using the spam mechanism to delete posts from others members which they disagree with. These posts often express unpopular or inflammatory views, but are not profane.

Any member of CPAPtalk may embrace or discard ideas offered on our free marketplace. Any member may offer their own ideas to counter others. This is called freedom. With freedom comes responsibility, in this case that includes being respectful of your fellow CPAPers. Don't squander freedom, practice the golden rule on CPAPtalk.

When someone decides to use a tool built to keep our community clean to "force" a certain idea or remove another, they are taking from our free marketplace and hurting the community. If your idea is so much better, state it clearly and let people pick up on it. This is the way rational, civil people interact with each other. This is how we must treat each other to help those who come here in a terrible state trying to get good sleep.

I'm not issuing warnings on this, if you have done it, you will soon not be able to report spam. If you are caught tampering with or disabling the bathroom's smoke detector, or in this case, getting cute with proxies or IP masking in order to report more "spam", you will no longer be welcome on CPAPtalk.

Subject #2

My approach to moderating cpaptalk is well known. Here's the basic rational:

Beware the person who wishes to legislate the morality and the behavior of his neighbor. Respect the person who accepts as responsibility, duty and sacred privilege the task of successfully moderating his own behavior. People who can do this are rare beacons of light. It is easy to point the finger "elsewhere" and imagine a utopia will result. It is hard to do the work and take responsibility to make your first utopia internal. Paraphrasing Ghandi - be the change you wish to see in the world.

There are no rules, no distant moderator, no respected member of the community that can legislate or moderate away our own foul dispositions. If this were not true, one of the many forms of government our forefathers have tried would have worked. For another example of the rhetoric used by people who advocate such a position, read literature from those favoring prohibition before its enactment. These people believed sincerely in their cause, they had good intentions and were good people but their actions were doomed to failure from the start.

How does all of that lofty philosophy play out in real life? In the most basic terms,
I'm trading value for value. I provide the domain, the hosting, the software and the moderation of CPAPtalk in accordance with my set of beliefs regarding human nature and business. You may use it free of charge, you may find a better board or you may start your own.

There will be no additional moderators on CPAPtalk. The core values of this board will continue to govern it. Love your neighbor and be a neighbor others can love.

Johnny

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): clean

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): clean

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): clean

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): clean

WillSucceed · Post by **WillSucceed** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:11 pm

Johnny:
Great policy! Thanks for the clarification... well done!

oceanpearl · Post by **oceanpearl** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:18 pm

HEAR<>HEAR

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:19 pm

now that is what continues to make our Wonderful forum a great place to be.

Vader · Post by **Vader** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:20 pm

Bravo, Johnny Goodman! and Thank You!

Your clarification on these issues is greatly appreciated by MOST of us.

Slinky · Post by **Slinky** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 5:21 pm

AMEN! And thank you, Johnny.

mikemoran · Post by **mikemoran** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 6:06 pm

Damn. I just got my septer all polished up and everything. Guess I can quit practicing saying "Off with their threads".

Great Job Johnny

sharon1965 · Post by **sharon1965** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 8:20 pm

thanks johnny, you rock

Craig-Tx · Post by **Craig-Tx** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:24 pm

Thanks Johnny.

That is one of the main reasons I like this board. All views are acceptable here as long as they are politely and cleanly stated.

and LOL, MikeMoran

-craig

kavanaugh1950 · Post by **kavanaugh1950** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:54 pm

Johnny, You the man!!!!!!!!

Elle · Post by **Elle** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:55 pm

eloquent...ahhhhh

Vasily · Post by **Vasily** » Thu Jun 07, 2007 11:00 pm

Excelent policy Johnny and very eloquently worded.

dsm · Post by **dsm** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:06 am

Johnny,

Very eloquent - now what congressional district are you in , I have some ideas to get you into the senate & me as your chaufer

Cheers

DSM

StillAnotherGuest · Post by **StillAnotherGuest** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 4:17 am

What should I do with all of these deleted posts? Put 'em all back?

Actually, assembled into a single document, it seems to flow along pretty well (the theme is pretty consistent), but there's nothing in there that would even come close to "socially redeeming value".

The new policy is really a lack of a policy. Under the guise of "Freedom of Speech", it fails to insure "Freedom from Fear" and "Freedom from Persecution". Many posters have noted a reluctance to post, or even visit, when the threads turn to venom. I agree with DreamStalker, Darwinian forces are at work here, where the one who spews the most hate becomes the alpha male. I suppose over the long haul, the forces of "good" would overcome the forces of "evil", but sticking with the Darwinian theme, this would be using a geologic clock in an internet world.

The right to submit posts to forumadmin (we're not talking about deleting posts anyway, we're talking about submitting posts for review, and they can be returned at any time) accomplishes 3 goals:

It stops the humiliation of the recipient of persecution. If you want to talk about "judgement", those people who hand out the venom are the ones guilty of being the judge, jury and executioner. The third party can then review the "public humiliation" to see if it is deserved or not. Hmmm. We seem to be going back to Puritan times, instead of forward to, well, anyplace else.

It removes the atmosphere of hate and anger, which is absolutely counterproductive in any social gathering, particularly one that is concerned with physical and psychological well-being.

It allows the poster of the venomous message a chance to reconsider. Many, if not most of the hate mail is a "knee-jerk" reaction, and I would think that given another chance, that poster would reconsider his actions (I would hope so, anyway). They may in fact, welcome the opportunity to be given a second chance. In the present scheme, even if they did reconsider their actions, it is unlikely that an "alpha male" would delete his own post, for his own fear of demonstrating weakness.

But if you made a post that helped someone, and a post that hurt someone, how would you like to be remembered?

Whatever. As has been noted, it ain't my ball and bat. Certainly not my playing field, either. In the end, I'm just
StillAnotherGuest

tomjax · Post by **tomjax** » Fri Jun 08, 2007 4:45 am

Sag,
you seem to not get it.

What next would you decide for the good of the rest of us?
Delete postings on every machine or mask but the one that meets your criteria?

Then go to cpap.com and delete those you do not like?
When and where would you stop?.
And should some of those here who resent your attitude be able to delete every one of your posts?

Your policy has benn tried many times in our history with disastrous results.
It is not up to you to decide

Thanks for the level head of reason from Johnny,

Spam Reporting and Abuse Policy

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