# In the matter of Ed's thread take down **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 24, 2014, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519 "2014-06-24T09:28:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/141 "2014-06-25T16:50:03Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > He just needs some time to get to know you better. Or for you to promise to bury all his negative google results. Real friends get to pet the Oscar that way. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/142 "2014-06-25T18:36:41Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > Or for you to promise to bury all his negative google results. Real friends get to pet the Oscar that way. Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/143 "2014-06-25T20:24:04Z")
I hope _this thread_ doesn’t become the top google hit for Mike Minkler now, what with all the stuff about what a shithead he is. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/144 "2014-06-25T20:28:10Z")
That’s a _horrible_ thing to say about an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/145 "2014-06-25T20:30:24Z")
The deletion didn’t even work. If I Google [Redacted] the thread still comes out near the top of the list. And to view the thread, I just have to look at the cached version. It shows the first page, at least. So deleting it was pointless. It hasn’t hidden the comments. It won’t satisfy [redacted]. It won’t prevent any actions that [redacted] might make in future. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/146 "2014-06-25T21:02:24Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Have you read the [**Oh that Kayaker, he is such a dumbfuck**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9999999999999999999999999) thread? Damn it. You almost got me with this one. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/147 "2014-06-25T21:38:18Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > The decision to forgive and forget should have been Equipoise’s alone. Ed should have consulted her. He should have demanded that Michael apologize to her for his threats and bribes and such if he wanted a chance of having the thread removed from the internet. …and, as I said earlier, the offer of a shiny gold statue as well. Seriously, what does he need three of them for? Two serve perfectly well as bookends. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/148 "2014-06-25T21:43:15Z")
MODERATOR POUNDS GAVEL FOR ATTENTION: OK, I said very clearly back in Post #117: > [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > **STRONG MODERATOR WARNING:** > > Ed had said, “Users are asked to refrain from posting additional comments about this matter.'” > > We don’t object to a metadiscussion of the wisdom of removing old threads, but we don’t want to see a rehashing of the original incident. PLEASE DO NOT POST DETAILS OR NAMES. I have issued an Official Warning to **bup** for failing to follow moderator instructions (Post #143 above.) And **running coach** : you didn’t help by quoting **bup**. I have deleted that quote; I’m not issuing an Official Warning for you, but I am offering some friendly advice: Don’t. AS A POSTER: I understand that my instruction was a long time ago, several hours and 30 posts earlier. Still, I assume people read the prior posts before posting themselves? If we need to repeat this instruction every five or six posts, we can do that, but it gets a bit tedious. The other choice is to close this thread. Or y’all could simply focus this discussion on the question of SDMB policies, and NOT on the original incident. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/149 "2014-06-25T21:58:44Z")
So to be clear about the SDMB policy, as long as we have a lawyer write a very nice letter that in no way threatens legal action against the message board, we can have threads removed that impugn our character and also have the mods hand out warnings to anybody that wants to rehash the matter? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/150 "2014-06-25T22:04:59Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > MODERATOR POUNDS GAVEL FOR ATTENTION: It was worth a try. This thread is done. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519/151 "2014-06-25T23:23:57Z")
> [@GrandWino](#): > > So to be clear about the SDMB policy, as long as we have a lawyer write a very nice letter that in no way threatens legal action against the message board, we can have threads removed that impugn our character ust to be clear: it has always been general policy that we don’t remove threads, but that we make exceptions in exceptional cases. There have been several such over the years, most of them just don’t come to public attention since the whole point is to DAMPEN the topic. > [@](#): > > … and also have the mods hand out warnings to anybody that wants to rehash the matter? The instruction was very clear that the question of thread removal can be discussed; the seven-year old idiocy cannot. We allowed three pages of pretty much leniency, until someone decided to use the specific name. That crossed the line. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-matter-of-eds-thread-take-down/691519.md?page=7)