# Posting links, some clarification please **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 17, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012 "2005-12-17T02:26:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012/1 "2005-12-17T02:26:27Z")
From [this thread;](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6908299#post6908299) > [@fluiddruid](#): > > **Go You Big Red Fire Engine** , do _not_ post links to filesharing sites, whether endorsed by you or not. This is a rules violation. Can I have a cite for that? Because all I could find was not to start discussions on file-sharing. > [@](#): > > For this reason, we ask our posters to refrain from discussions on how to use file-sharing software at the SDMB. Debates on the legality of this practice are allowed, but do not ask questions of the type “How do I get this peer-to-peer sharing software to work?” or “Can someone help me find a copy of (song or movie clip) using peer-to-peer sharing software?” Me posting a link to a spoiler (that will be unwittingly seen by people, spoiling it for them) that just happens to be on a file sharing site doesn’t seem to be a violation of the rules. I checked the rules before I posted. Could you update the rules? ---
**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:** [December 17, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012/2 "2005-12-17T14:44:09Z")
Oh, you mean you weren’t actually discussing filesharing, you were just discussing places where filesharing is discussed? I’ll put in right away for a change to the rules: > [@](#): > > For this reason, we ask our posters to refrain from discussions on how to use file-sharing software at the SDMB. Further, please refrain from discussions on where to find file-sharing software, where to compare file-sharing software, where to determine which file-sharing software is the best, how to decide which file-sharing software is most illegal, which file-sharing software has bugs, and similar related topics. When we say “discuss” we mean any post that involves comments about, links to, quotations from, or … Hmm. Maybe, on second thought, we’ll leave it just not to discuss file-sharing software? Look, seriously, **Big Red** , we understand that you thought you were legally avoiding (rather than illegally evading) the rules. You were wrong. Our rules are deliberately NOT a legal system, where one can get around some general purpose by finding a loophole. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012/3 "2005-12-17T16:14:29Z")
**Go You Big Red Fire Engine** , clearly posting such a link would enable users to find how to fileshare (because you directly linked to such a site). Similarly, discussions of the merits of the web design on a filesharing site (with link!), would not be allowed; just as we would not allow “What do you think about the bulletin board set-up over at this forum on bomb-making?” threads, or “I found this interesting cookie recipe on [Blackmarketcannabissalebymail.com](http://Blackmarketcannabissalebymail.com); all you need to do is take out the pot from the ingredients!” I realized that you did not seem to understand this, so that is why I did not give you an official warning. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012/4 "2005-12-17T17:39:41Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > “I found this interesting cookie recipe on [Blackmarketcannabissalebymail.com](http://Blackmarketcannabissalebymail.com); all you need to do is take out the pot from the ingredients!” Now, why would you ruin a perfectly good cookie recipe by doing _that_? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Atheist\_Princess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@Atheist\_Princess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atheist_Princess)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012/5 "2005-12-18T00:58:19Z")
Perhaps you should simply state: > [@](#): > > For this reason, we ask our posters to refrain from discussing file-sharing in its entirety. That makes the rule a little clearer and maybe then, nobody will be pulled up on this matter in future. It hardly seems fair that someone should be reprimanded if they feel the rules are unclear. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012/6 "2005-12-18T01:59:32Z")
Someone will always feel the rules are unclear. Consider the laws in your state about stopping at a red light; there’s probably several hundred pages, and people still are unclear about right turns on red. ---
**Author:** ![Atheist\_Princess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@Atheist\_Princess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atheist_Princess)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012/7 "2005-12-18T02:15:24Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Someone will always feel the rules are unclear. Consider the laws in your state about stopping at a red light; there’s probably several hundred pages, and people still are unclear about right turns on red. A right turn here would more than likely cause a major accident seeing as I live in Australia. Regardless of that, sure there’s probably many pages. But thats for road rules, where peoples lives and property are in danger. Not for an internet message board. ---
**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:** [December 18, 2005, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012/8 "2005-12-18T03:37:52Z")
? My point is that, even when there are extensive and thorough laws for important things (like driving), there are people for whom the rules are unclear. How much more so for a message board: why should we try to write volumes and volumes of explanation of our rules, when no matter how much we write, there will still/always be folks who don’t understand. PS - Sorry, my analogy was aimed at the U.S. I shoulda picked a more global example. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012/9 "2005-12-18T06:52:29Z")
> [@fluiddruid](#): > > that is why I did not give you an official warning. I understand this. But your examples are of actual threads discussing these activities, where as mine was just one post. **Atheist Princess** ’s idea would make things much clearer. I just don’t feel my post was a “discussion”. > [@](#): > > clearly posting such a link would enable users to find how to fileshare (because you directly linked to such a site) Hmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-links-some-clarification-please/336012/10 "2005-12-18T16:47:50Z")
Alright, let’s try this example. Say that someone posted a link to a site with instructions for making a bomb. Arguably, this is not a “discussion” of an illegal activity, it’s just a link. It’s the same thing with posting a link to a filesharing site. Even though it’s not a “discussion” it still enables the prohibited activity.