# The Banning of Shodan **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 14, 2020, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763 "2020-05-14T02:33:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/21 "2020-05-14T06:24:04Z")
He has issued his fair share of snide one-liners, but [his most recent warning](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=22301444&postcount=78) was not one. Nor were any of the other warnings listed in his suspension, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/22 "2020-05-14T06:55:10Z")
Regards ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/23 "2020-05-14T07:33:39Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Regards Oooh, burn.😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/24 "2020-05-14T07:54:28Z")
I normally would be against the banning, as he has only had a micro-suspension. A normal suspension would be the normal step before a banning However, in this case, two of his Warnings were for trolling, and I think that should change things. Combine this with previous admissions that he posted to needle people, that shows he was not posting in good faith. And his most recent Warning is entirely consistent with that–including the word “harpy” after being told that it was not allowed and pissed people off. It fits his bad faith posting style, and could easily be argued to be yet another attempt at trolling. The poster offered up for comparison is **Budget Player Cadet**. I see no indication that he ever posted in bad faith or ever intended to rile people up. He just had trouble containing his temper. It makes sense to me that he would be given a longer leash. I do not think that there is much chance that **Shodan** , if given a suspension instead of a banning, would upon return stop his habit of trying to rile people up while staying just shy of the rules. As such, I definitely see the argument that another ban would not be fruitful. I do however admit I am biased, in that I did not like **Shodan** and did not think well of him. My opinion of him trying to rile people up is based not only on his own admissions, but things he’s said to me personally, where the only purpose I could see was trying to rile me up. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/25 "2020-05-14T08:17:19Z")
Good moderation. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/26 "2020-05-14T08:17:36Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Extremely harsh and over the top. All of his warnings were the weakest possible. He’s been here 20 years and gets shown the door that way? Ridiculous. > > Yes, the word “harpy” was very insulting to this Harvard professor, however I thought it was the rule that we COULD insult people off the board. See every political thread about Trump. Here’s an analogy: If you or I go out and buy some beer and get blasted at a backyard BBQ that’s perfectly legal. It might be seen as tacky or low class by some, but we won’t be penalized. Someone who has a long rap sheet and is on probation, one the terms of their probation being “do not drink”, who does the exact same thing we just did can go to jail. Given his history, Shodan was on a sort of probation - he was very specifically told to avoid a certain type of behavior if he wanted to keep his posting privileges and he failed to do that. So he went to “jail”. That’s why the word “harpy” got him banned where for you or me it wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/27 "2020-05-14T08:19:35Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I think it’s horrible and should be rescinded. I am well aware this board is on borrowed time and most likely won’t last the year. Really? I think I’ve been hearing that for a decade. Or do you know something you might want to share? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/28 "2020-05-14T08:23:06Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Really? I think I’ve been hearing that for a decade. Or do you know something you might want to share? Yeah, we old farts aren’t going anywhere soon. Suck it up. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/29 "2020-05-14T08:35:35Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Really? I think I’ve been hearing that for a decade. Or do you know something you might want to share? Just the overall economic shellacking and craziness of the world that we’re in for. Even if the SDMB survives 2020, we’ve been living on borrowed time forever and someone will eventually pull the plug. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/30 "2020-05-14T08:48:09Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Really? I think I’ve been hearing that for a decade. Or do you know something you might want to share? The board will probably time out if he tries to share anything. As for Shodan, I detested him but that banning is very weak. I wonder who is next? ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/31 "2020-05-14T09:18:48Z")
I recall in the 2008 election when he outright let it be known that he was gonna troll, and IMO he should have been banned then. Long, long, long overdue. I bet he gets reinstated anyway. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/32 "2020-05-14T09:21:51Z")
Not a fan of **Shodan** at all. Not a nice person IMO. Terrible weak ban. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Crap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.crap/32/3131_2.png) [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/33 "2020-05-14T10:01:05Z")
Just make everyone take a myers briggs and political compass test before posting. ---
**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:** [May 14, 2020, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/34 "2020-05-14T10:15:11Z")
> [@](#): > > [RioRico has been suspended for 30 days](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=896049) > RioRico has been suspended for receiving several warnings after a 7-day suspension in January. > [@](#): > > [Shodan is Banned](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=896190) > For earning a warning following a recent suspension, poster Shodan is banned from the SDMB. If there was ever an indication of the arbitrary nature of moderation on the Dope, this is it. Bad decision. I don’t think he should be banned for one warning in eight months. If he runs up another couple of warnings, then give him a thirty day suspension. And if he gets a warning after that, then ban him. It’s the same treatment you’ve given many other posters before him, including RioRico. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/35 "2020-05-14T10:28:31Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > If there was ever an indication of the arbitrary nature of moderation on the Dope, this is it. Bad decision. > > I don’t think he should be banned for one warning in eight months. If he runs up another couple of warnings, then give him a thirty day suspension. And if he gets a warning after that, then ban him. It’s the same treatment you’ve given many other posters before him, including RioRico. That was exactly what I was referring to, and not to call out that other poster by name as he cannot defend himself, I feel his posting style is much more provocative than Shodan’s ever was, and again, 20 years! How did he last this long if he cannot control himself? Could it possibly be, and I mean this in all seriousness, that the moderation has just taken an improper or unfortunate tack and has unconsciously let its bias into the mod decisions? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/36 "2020-05-14T10:56:03Z")
Unsurprisingly the “He was only banned because of his views” contingent are out, as they often are in these circumstances. Never mind that he’s been openly trolling for over a decade, something for which he’s been warned more than once. No, it must be because of his politics, because there can be no other reason for it. That said, I **am** surprised this is the one he went out on, although given that he was explicitly aware that the use of “harpy” was considered against Board rules this appears to be less about one sexist word and more about his ongoing tendency to push - and occasionally flout - board rules and mod instructions. **Shodan** was capable of intelligent and constructive debate but preferred to apply his talents to making this board a worse place. I won’t miss him. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/37 "2020-05-14T11:01:14Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > How did he last this long if he cannot control himself? Could it possibly be, and I mean this in all seriousness, that the moderation has just taken an improper or unfortunate tack and has unconsciously let its bias into the mod decisions? The answer IMO is that he has been getting progressively worse and more blatant in his behavior. This is often the case when long-time posters (of all sorts) get banned - for whatever reason they go off the rails and stop exercising the judgement that previously kept them from violating Board rules. For some it’s a sudden off-ramp to Crazytown; for others there’s a steady creep toward the boundary, and over time they put more and more toes over the line until one day they’re fully standing on the other side of it and the hammer comes down. **Shodan** was in the latter camp but it’s been noticeable. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/38 "2020-05-14T11:16:44Z")
> [@robby](#): > > It’s late and I’m tired, but I just wanted to say that I don’t know what we’re accomplishing by banning long-term posters like **Shodan**. > > His banning feels more like censorship than anything else (and I say that as someone who doesn’t particularly agree with his views). None of his warnings that were linked to in the ban announcement seem like bannable offenses to me, whether taken individually or as a whole. > > I greatly appreciate the work that the moderators do – a message board quickly becomes untenable without effective moderation. However, it just seems to me that someone who has contributed over 40,000 posts over the course of two decades deserves more of a fair shake. > > I hope this decision will be reconsidered. I agree with every word of this. ---
**Author:** ![road\_lobo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d78d45/32.png) [@road\_lobo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/road_lobo)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/39 "2020-05-14T11:19:54Z")
“Harpy” is a bannable offense? How about “strumpet” or “fishwife?” The purity spiral and sex negative feminism is getting tedious. You dilettantes are splitting hairs about sexist language and having anti-“misogyny” hugfests while actual misogyny is manifest around you as indigenous women are being annihilated in Canada and the USA, and mass femicide in Mexico is normal. Serious castle in the air bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![NorthernStar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c77e96/32.png) [@NorthernStar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NorthernStar)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2020, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763/40 "2020-05-14T11:45:44Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Could it possibly be, and I mean this in all seriousness, that the moderation has just taken an improper or unfortunate tack and has unconsciously let its bias into the mod decisions? As a hardcore lurker who basically only ever logs in to reply to specific topics and issues that have caught my interest, who nevertheless has perused SMDB from time to time for the best part of a decade, and who - as a non-American and a non-native speaker of English - has essentially zero personal involvement or interest in the minutiae of US/Anglosphere social justice issues, I firmly stand behind my position that the declaration of war against misogyny (which, in itself, is not anything bad - this is certainly not the place for juvenile “hurr durr nice bazooms” posts) and the manner it was implemented absolutely signalled the most abrupt turn to the left in my time here. To this day, I’m not sure of the extent real life events should be allowed to spill over into SMDB and prompt the creation of similar overzealous and “protective” board policies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-banning-of-shodan/853763.md?page=3)