[Jeremy Banks]

I'm very glad the USA doesnt have jurisdistiction over the net, But ASO is US company.

So much for the foundations of america.. The supposed free land ;\

The land is free, the internet isn't. As the site owner, Tim can do anything on his private board. Nor is the internet under the sole jurisdiction of the US.

So? Free speech means you can say what you want without fearing retribution from the goverment (as long as it doesn't violate other rights). This is a private site. That does not apply here, and I get very sick of people always claiming "free speeecch!!!!1!" when someone is banned from a forum.

Did William just earn the title of first non-bot to be banned?

[z3rb]

I think he did.

In the UK, there's only 1 place where you can say what you want; The house of Commons, i could say that Mr Blair is a retarded fat poohead on TV in there for example and there would be no legal concequences.

Well, i hope this all sort of dies soon.

[djrk111]

*laughs*

Thanks, Tim!

To whoever is wondering about free speech- absolutely not. Neither William nor any other member has unrestricted speech on someone else's server. I'm afraid the constitution doesn't go quite that far. Similarly, my speech isn't free in many places. If I were, for example, to stand outside your home and chant rude remarks, you'd be able to call the police.

[jaseone]

I thought I would just chime in here seeing how I was the one to begin this thread, let me just state that my intention was not to get anyone banned and I was truly trying to get everyone including myself to start over. I know I have made a few snide remarks lately although I don't think I have ever really stepped over the line but I have gotten sick of all the pointless threads lately and the way a lot of the threads have gone like the most recent vB vs IPB vs SMF vs the world thread.

I was just trying to get everyone back on track and see if we could start having more intelligent conversations so we can add more value back to these forums as lately I had even been contemplating not visiting the forums on a regular basis here and for me that is a BIG thing but I really didn't want to do that.

I'm sorry to see William banned, others and myself had tried to assist him and help him along the way with guidance on what questions he should be asking and how he should be acting but a prime example of the result of that can be seen as the first response to this thread. I see that as unfortunate and I hope William can learn from the experience and be able to come back at some stage to participate and appreciate the forums here for their intended purpose.

[evn]

I made friends with the "ignore user" option long ago so I'm not going to bother with the whole "ban vs. free speech" part of the thread.

I was just trying to get everyone back on track and see if we could start having more intelligent conversations so we can add more value back to these forums as lately I had even been contemplating not visiting the forums on a regular basis here and for me that is a BIG thing but I really didn't want to do that.

You're not alone there, but I really wonder how much good contributing (answering questions, posting examples, FAQs, etc) does when nobody seems to bother to search.

As ASO has grown it seems like the technical savvy to relative new-comer ratio has really shifted to the right. There's nothing wrong with that, its just unfortunate that there wasn't a strong collection of community elders that were willing to guide the forums in the direction some of us would have liked. There are > 2000 members now, and it looks like the 20 or 30 that would like a slow paced technical forum have been out voted by those that want something else.

I'm all for nerding-it-up chatting about the technical nuances of web application development but I really wonder how much value that would provide to the average forum member. Lately I've been thinking the only way to get back to sustain the level of discussion from 'back in the day' would be to setup something like an unofficial ASO-blog with rigorously moderated comments.

[Jeremy Banks]

I made friends with the "ignore user" option long ago so I'm not going to bother with the whole "ban vs. free speech" part of the thread.

I prefer it if the post is hidden entirely. I don't understand why neither vB nor IPB do this by default. I mean, if the user's post is their, and the content is just one click away... blah. I don't find that it's much use.

[Max]

I prefer it if the post is hidden entirely. I don't understand why neither vB nor IPB do this by default. I mean, if the user's post is their, and the content is just one click away... blah. I don't find that it's much use.

That would make it for an interesting read to those who can see all posts...

At any rate, the only thing I would say on this topic is that if you want to have technical discussions, start posting. I personally have a great deal of fun over at anandtech's highly technical forum, the math forum at vbforums, and of course Slashdot. All for different topics, but all good. Doesn't seem to be a problem for the most part if the desire is there. Those few who tend to disrupt the normal flow are usually phased out gradually... or banned That is unless too many people start paying attention to them.

Of course, if you want to really isolate things, you can certainly give a moderated blog, or protected forum a try, but my guess is that there will be way too few people there to actually hold any meaningful discussion.

My two cents...

This post has been edited by Max: 13 January 2006 - 10:03 PM

[SeattleCane]

good work.

So? Free speech means you can say what you want without fearing retribution from the goverment (as long as it doesn't violate other rights). This is a private site. That does not apply here, and I get very sick of people always claiming "free speeecch!!!!1!" when someone is banned from a forum.

Did William just earn the title of first non-bot to be banned?

[Joel]

Well, it seemed to me that William was hoping for a Neowin replacement when he stared most of his threads, so I can't say I'm sorry he's been silenced.

[nezermundy]

Well, it seemed to me that William was hoping for a Neowin replacement when he stared most of his threads, so I can't say I'm sorry he's been silenced.

Yeah he was banned there which is my I do not have much sympathy here, or maybe I am just been mean,

[Chris]

For you ignorant fools arguing free speech allow me to quote the first amendment to the constitution for the united states of america:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Now, for the first one of you that can point out where the heck Congress got involved, I'll gladly retract my statement calling you a fool. Until then, educate yourself, and quit your griping about something you obviously have no clue about.

This post has been edited by Chris: 15 January 2006 - 08:27 PM

[swanienufan]

For you ignorant fools arguing free speech allow me to quote the first amendment to the constitution for the united states of america:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Now, for the first one of you that can point out where the heck Congress got involved, I'll gladly retract my statement calling you a fool. Until then, educate yourself, and quit your griping about something you obviously have no clue about.

Nice post Chris, I think you hit the nail on the head. This whole issue reminds me of the line from "Hoosiers" where the guy says, "If you get naked and howl at the moon, thats your business, but if you do it in my front yard, you force me to deal with it", or something like that.