Ric Moore wrote:
On 10/15/2014 12:34 AM, Andrew McGlashan wrote:
That's a problem in itself. There should be room for real discussion as
is taking place here on the debian-user list, without fear of having
posts filtered.
I agree, but they (the moderators) have a vested interest when someone
posts something considered "illegal" and have to ban such posts with
notice to the OP. They HAVE to do that. Otherwise, they (Debian) get
sued. Quite a few of the anti-systemd remarks have brushed up against
those boundaries. Red Hat has lawyers on retainers, sitting in rocking
chairs, being paid even while doing nothing. So, damn skippy
moderators can not let things get out of hand. I wouldn't have that
job, as it's damned if you do, damned if you don't.
In that light, what would you have moderators do? What they could do
is shut down public list support, so they are 100% safe legally, and
let others provide that from their kitchen table server. There is that
option. Ubuntu moderates the stuffings out of their support lists now.
So, I hope everyone keeps this in mind before hitting "send" while
passionately debating a topic. Ric
Actually, it's the other way around. As I understand the case law, if
you don't do ANY moderation, the rules of free speech arise - they only
person who might be liable for anything is a poster. On the other and,
as soon as you do ANY moderation, the moderator and his/her organization
become liable for slander, libel, etc. -- the same way a newspaper
becomes liable for such things when posted in a letters to the editor
column. The exception has to do with taking down copyrighted material
if you get a takedown notice - there's a "safe haven" provision in one
of the laws.
(I support a bunch of lists on our server, and did some research into
this way back when. I believe the case law involves some AOL moderated
forums. Mind you things may have changed since I last looked.)
Miles Fidelman
--
In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice.
In practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra
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