3SA Ban Complaint

Hi -

I've read the published way of doing this is to PM the mod who banned you, but since I have no earthly idea who that is I am going to post this here. I don't want to seem like a jerk, I just want to clear this up.

In regards to this thread

I was banned last night for 24 hours for the following reason:

"The IMAGE you posted was Richard Simmons. However, in another post, you
had a LINK to an image that was from a Hyperspace image, whether you
realized it or not." - from the mod who responded to my unban request.

The simple fact of the matter was that I had quoted a link in my response which had already been posted by someone else. The quoted text was set in bold and should have been easily caught by anyone reading it as being quoted text. The link was pointing to a site that had nothing to do with Star Wars / LucasFilm and I in no way even thought about removing the link from the quoted text when I replied. I won't do it again, but at the time it certainly didn't seem like the sort of thing you would get banned over!

Where does this end? I realize that you guys / gals would get in deep doo-doo for allowing hyperspace material to be posted in the boards. But come on - banning someone for quoting text!?! Isn't that taking it a little too far? I explained this to the mod last night, but was amazed to see that I was still banned this morning.

I would suggest that if this is the policy of TFN, you make it absolutely clear in your terms of service. The only thing mentioned there currently is that copyrighted material is prohibited. Is a link copyrighted material? Is posting the actual picture the real offense? Someone needs to make this clear. If quoting an offending link is also not allowed, then someone needs to make that clear as well.

Maybe this was a mistake, maybe it is the standard way of doing things around here. I don't know, but I've been posting here on & off since 1999 and I've never been banned for anything. I've never been banned anywhere else either, and I found that being banned for something as seeming petty as this was nothing less than ridiculous.

I do appreciate the jobs all of the mods do around here & I'm not trying to come off as a jerk. I'd just like to make sure this never happens to me again, or to anyone else for that matter. I'd also like to assure TFN that I was in no way trying to get any of you in trouble. I simply saw nothing wrong with quoting text that had already been posted. Seemed like fair game to me.

Peace.
FOA

 

Get in touch with an Adm. and they should be able to tell you who banned you, and then you can take it to PM

 

Please contact dehrian and see if you can work this out with him .

 

The point wasn't so much finding out who banned me. The ban is over, I've moved on. The point is to clarify the rules. I want to know what is allowed & what is prohibited. I would like to see the admins make a public statement as to whether quoting certain text is prohibited.

 

Seems like a real case of inconsistency here because in this thread there's a direct link to a Hyperspace image at starwars.com and the thread hasn't been locked, the link is still active and the person isn't banned.

Seems like they smacked down the wrong person for no real reason to me.

 

I'll allow discussion of policy here.

The ban itself should be discussed via PM with dehrian or another 3SA moderator.

 

As I undertstand it, anything released by Lucasfilm publically is not a spoiler. Spy Reports that appear on TFN I do not suppose are spoilers. However, third-party information is prohibited outside designated forums.

 

"It's a thumbnail from the OS front page."

But it's originally off the the webcam.
LFL may or may not have put it on their site for public viewing but TFn HS guidelines say that any HS material can't be republished....and that came from HS.

It's things like this that need to be cleared up.

?

 

common sense, attorney?

 

I'll take up the ban issue via PM.

For the record, when it comes to Hyperspace material in 3SA, you may not post images or links to images, nor exact quotes of text, though you may paraphrase. If you post an image, it must be altered in photoshop, and we will sometimes delete your work and tell you to go back and alter some more. There is a thread in 3SA detailing these rules.

The image in the link you posted, DA, is all right. That is a thumbnail image appearing on the regular OS to advertise Hyperspace content. It is available to any non-paying members through the OS. The thumbnail images that appear on the OS may be reposted. The rules apply only to Hyperspace-restricted content.

 

pitty all ban discussion gets sent to the world or private messaging, because banning some new kid for accidentily posting a link seems a bit rough.

of course who are we to question bans?

 

When did Cynical Bastard take over epic's username?

 

Had I actually thought at the time that it was accidental, I wouldn't have banned him. My estimation at the time was that it was intentional. In fact, in none of his unban requests did he ever say it was a quote of another user's post. This thread is the first time he's mentioned it.

As a mod, I'm supposed to make judgment calls. I made one. I'm not always going to be correct, but I do the best I can.

 

pyrus, is that epic's twin showing up??? ? let's seeeeee...... back in the olden times of '00, epic was known to have run amuck at times.

 

This might be a little anal, but there was also a post referring to Kazaa in that thread that should have been edited. At least my understanding has been that you're not to discuss where to obtain pirated material.

 

"common sense, attorney? "

Not a 3SA regular, are you Kyp?

 

Dehrain,
I noticed the thread in 3SA today
Hyper Space rules
that detailed the rules for HyperSpace content.
It is still listed that one cannot post pictures from hyper space, but it doesn't say that one can alter them and post them, I put a notation in the thread, but I will also post it here, the description should perhaps be amened so newer users will understand why sometimes they will see pictures even though it says you cannot publish them.

I would also consider putting a link to the thread in the main banner.

 

Kudos on the initiative shown there too Dehrian

It's nice to see a mod run with the ball when something like this comes their way instead of shrugging their shoulders and waiting for someone else to fix it.

 

I've added to the rules the bit about it being okay to alter images. That was added after the rules were drawn up, and I had forgotten to add it to the thread. Thanks for reminding me.

 

Someone is spoiling in the non Spoiler forum!

 

Yeah, and QUEEN_LEIA was giving me a hard time for trying to help out. Go figure. He said I couldn't tell "us" (he and spammer/spoiler?) what to do, by trying to prevent non-spoiler people from reading the spoilers, and that I should let nature take it's course. That sound a little fishy to anyone else?

 

I assumed he was just being stupid rather then outwardly malicious, but I guess you could be be right.

UKS

 

Checking that out now.

 

It does seem kinda fishy doesn't it?

 

anything come of it, KnightWriter?