So it is said in this post. Not that I am in any way sad to see the guy go, but is this a generally known thing? I had not heard of this before.
It almost always does. Just doesn’t happen that often.
And it’s always the damned mathematicians.
It is known.
I don’t see it in the official registration agreement, but it comes up from time to time and the enforcement has always been consistent. Here are some results from a quick search:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11372867&postcount=23
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11472910&postcount=1
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12042761&postcount=4
Apparently there was one case where the threaten lawsuit = instaban didn’t occur as cited in a now (in)famous thread. Just one of the contraversies in that situation.
As I recall the first case was of of a former mod threatening to sue for something or other. That was a bit before my time, but is now part of SDMB lore.
But in The Case Who Dare Not Speak Its Name, it was allegedly a polite request that got the thread deleted, not the earlier legal threats. Go figure.
Regards,
Shodan
FWIW, interstate threats can get the FBI interested, but from personal experience, there needs to be a credible threat and a police report.
What I saw at the end of that thread was not a credible threat. Much like a contract needs to have a “meeting of the minds” with an offer and acceptance, a credible threat needs to be “real and immediate, not conjectural or hypothetical” such as “I know where you live and I’m going to kill you and your dog” and not “Oh yeah, message board poster that I don’t like? I’m gonna kick your ass if I ever figure out who you are in real life!”
Of course, there was a pretty good violation of the basic “Don’t Be A Jerk” rule.
Yeah–IMO, the SDMB is hypersensitive about the threat of legal action, but they’ve been 100% consistent* that any hint of legal action, however unlikely or remote results in an instaban and I’m pretty sure that it dates back as far as 1999 in an early kerfluffle.
Legit banning, IMO.
*Which, if you’re worried about lawsuits is good. “We didn’t single you out for banning, we ban everyone who even hints at a legal threat”
Isn’t the basic rule in these parts “Don’t be a jerk”?
I’m not a lawyer, but I’m pretty sure threatening to sue the people who run the messageboard you are posting to violates this.
The guy that the OP wonders about wasn’t…technically…threatening to sue.
The weird line break is his.
Not remotely a threat of suing, but still falls under hinting at any threat of legal action and has always been verboten.
I seem to recall that long ago someone hinted that the reason is the relationship to the Reader and its owners. As long as everything stays in the virtual realm, the board staff is more or less free to do as they please, but as soon as there is the slightest risk of real-world consequences the whole benign neglect from the Reader is in serious danger.
Yeah, I’m not seeing a threat to sue yet. So far, he seems to be pointing out that there are federal laws for dealing with online threats, and trying to make sure the moderators here are aware of them.
Now, there isn’t any actual threat posted above. The Great Unwashed made a comment that Cognitive Tide’s behavior in the thread was earning him hostility in the thread, i.e. consequences. Cognitive Tide seemed to think that was a threat to find him in real life or something. Very poor reading comprehension, but I guess that’s completely in character.
But I don’t see a threat for legal action.
It’s a very short step from there to “Nice message board… be a shame if something happened to it.”
The real question is how the hell did that thread get to be 36 pages?
36 pages = 35.999999 . . .
Yeah, insta-ban. This board isn’t exactly the goose with the huevos de oro for the owners. They avoid legal expenses like the plague. Can’t blame them for that.
Okay, I haven’t read the thread, I don’t know what the hell its aboiut, and I don’t know his behaviour prior to that one post. Possibly he was heading towards a ban anyway. Bujt I’ve got an issue with this ban.
As far as I can see, he DIDNT threaten legal action.
He received what he *thought *was a threat. He then contacted the moderators, reported the alleged threat, and said that it’s illegal to make threats.
AS far as I can see, he was just asking the mods to do something about it. He doesn’t say *anything *about legal action.
Even if we interpret his words as a warning that he’ll go to the police, is that wrong? What should someone do if they are threatened on the Dope? Rhe guy recieving the threat gets banned, the guy issuing the threat stays. Is that really what we want?
I do not know what “let me introduce you to Consequences” means, I can see why it might look like a threat in a bad light.
I’m merely disappointed that Colibri missed his chance to say, “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you 999.999999… times.”
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