I think it’s more accurate to say that IT had a different interpretation of the rule and thought that what he did wasn’t a violation. The rest of his colleagues disagreed with him as did Ed.
How so? Shodan is on record as saying that is what “Regards,” means, on occasion.
Have you a link to that record?
Your point seems to be that Fenris’ example is invalid because it happened a while ago. (Please also note that you misread his post, as he asked whether the change was recent, not the thread in question.) Yet I’m quite certain the post Ed cites in his OP about rules for mod behavior is older than either Gfactor’s post or my board, making Fenris’ question perfectly valid and in fact quite relevant. If Gfactor’s post was OK, why wasn’t Idle’s? Did something change in the time between them? Not only that, other SDMB mods have made posts on other sites, including my board, about the SDMB and its posters over the years, none of whom were ever reprimanded, I believe.
Look, I wasn’t involved in the email discussions with Idle so I won’t argue that bridges weren’t burned there or he shouldn’t have parted ways with the mod staff. But I think the account laid out in Ed’s OP makes it seem like Idle broke a clear and obvious rule when other mods have done the exact same thing without consequence or comment. Given the long history of non-enforcement of said rule (buried in an ancient sticky), it’s not hard to see how Idle could have felt that he was being singled out because of his active participation and friendly rapport with my board. That’s a pretty sucky end to years of volunteer modding, even if he was complicit in the severing of the relationship.
As an editorial remark, I think a policy that volunteer mods aren’t allowed to have even benign discussion about this message board or its posters on any other site on the Internet is completely nuts. Don’t let them share sensitive information, sure. But a zero tolerance, “don’t talk about the SDMB or its posters, period” policy seems a bit…excessive.
So you’re definitely going to have to change that if you want me to come back and mod again. 
My understanding of the rule is that it is a prohibition against discussion of board business, i.e. privledged information as a result of being a staff member or party to staff discussion. Ultimately on edge cases people may disagree. If the nature of the disagreement is irreconcilable only then can it become an issue.
That seems reasonable to me. YMMV.
I don’t know the exact timing of the rules before I became a mod and what was allowed by Ed years ago. The rules like rules for posters evolve as situations change. How things were when you were a mod is now irrelevant. The rule isn’t new and possibly was different when you were a mod. It has been brought up relatively recently. Since it was a relatively minor issue that didn’t affect the use of the board to others it didn’t have to be in public. Idle Thoughts was in the middle of that recent conversation so he was aware of the reiteration of the rule and how it is currently to be enforced.
We are not going to debate the rules for moderators. That goes well beyond the scope of this forum and only matters to the few of us who volunteer.
No, I think that is reasonable as well. However, I’m not seeing where Idle posted any privileged or confidential information. Yes, he did say a banned sock account was discovered through “Mod CP detective work” but that can’t be what Ed is referring to in the OP, can it?
So, if we trace the root of this problem back to the source, we have a poster telling us that he sometimes tells us to fuck off with his sign-off, and a staff that allows him to continue his cryptic little game? That’s what I see as the headwaters of this river.
That hands-off policy resulted in a nice train wreck.
That’s about the limit of where I’m comfortable sharing.
Your logic is stunning.
Various people in the pit thread obviously misunderstood the nature of Shodan’s message. What puzzles me is how they even knew about it in the first place.
The common wisdom is that, in the Southern U.S., “Bless your heart” can be a way of saying Fuck You. One of those expressions is allowed in church and the other is usually not. Bless Your Heart does not always mean Fuck You. If it always meant Fuck You it would not be allowed in church. “Regards” does not always mean Fuck You. I doubt there’s been one time in 1000 when it kinda, sorta does mean that.
If context indicates the word “Regards” is being used as an insult then it should be moderated. I don’t think I’ve seen it used in such a way that it’s an obvious insult. And certainly not outside of The Pit.
My fictitious confession (about using “extremely questionable” but really, in my heart, meaning Fuck You) is directly comparable to Shodan’s real “confession”. Posters don’t get moderated for what’s in their heart — they get moderated for reasonable interpretations of their actual posted words. In the context of the actual thread.
Peter Morris: It was Idle Thoughts version of events he posted on Facebook.
Thank you. It was on my mind because very recently I received this mod note:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=20621556&postcount=76
and I could not help but wonder why Shodans “Regards” was not also considered playing games and as such a violation of the language rules.
I guess he has more protection than I do.
I don’t view Shodan’s sign-off as meaning “Fuck you” 100% of the time, or even 1%, as I normally skim past it. In fact, I fail to see how anyone can be annoyed by it at all.
I agree. I don’t even notice it. That said, if I did something like that that I knew annoyed so many people, I’d stop doing it.
I’d just like to say that, Gormless Wienie or not, it is a good thing the OP left this thread open to discussion rather than post and lock. 
I hope Chris goes on to have more IRL interactions, now that he doesn’t have the mod “job” here to take up all his time.
as for shodan, Bless His Heart. 
I am annoyed when I need to quote him. I am also annoyed as he knows full well many of his fellow posters find it annoying, but he does it anyway. That is anti-social.
Would you toss the habit into some kind of dug out hole?