# Threatening Legal Action Gets You Banned? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [August 5, 2014, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881 "2014-08-05T16:37:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/21 "2014-08-05T21:41:35Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > +1 Like I can’t even bring myself to type “+0.999… Like” ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/22 "2014-08-05T21:42:09Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > 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. You really need to read the thread. I would not characterize it as “he was just asking the mods to do something about it”. His posts were extremely confrontational, long and rambling, of questionable mathematical validity, and often contained references to the NSA (at one point he claimed that he could tell that the SDMB was being run through the filters of an NSA supercomputer in Utah - he could tell because of the time stamps on the posts). The “let me introduce you to Consequences” was basically a comment about some “edge” in the responses that he was getting due to what he had posted and the confrontational way that he was going about things (in other words, it was a consequence of his actions). It was not a threat. We received reports about many of his posts, especially as he veered way out into left field with the NSA nonsense. I gave him a mod note to try to get the thread back on track, and that kinda worked for a bit, but then he started going way out into left field again. When he didn’t get an immediate mod response to what he thought was a threat (that actually wasn’t), that’s when he posted the bit that **Fenris** quoted above. It’s very difficult for me to take that post as anything other than a thinly veiled threat of legal action, basically saying “if you mods don’t do something about this, there are laws against this sort of thing, hint hint…” type of thing. Did he actually mean it as a threat? His posts were so erratic that it’s really difficult for me to say what was going through his mind, so who knows. But you definitely don’t get the context of it all just from looking at that one post. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/23 "2014-08-05T22:01:24Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > I’m merely disappointed that **Colibri** missed his chance to say, _“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you 999.999999… times.”_ Dude. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/24 "2014-08-05T22:26:09Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > And it’s always the damned mathematicians. “The fisrt thing we do, let’s kill all the mathematicians.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/25 "2014-08-05T22:28:20Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > “The fisrt thing we do, let’s kill all the mathematicians.” > > Stranger You go after half, I’ll get the other three quarters. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/26 "2014-08-05T22:31:50Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > You really need to read the thread. I really don’t need to read 1700 + posts of mathematical argument and hostility. > [@](#): > > When he didn’t get an immediate mod response to what he thought was a threat (that actually wasn’t), that’s when he posted the bit that **Fenris** quoted above. It’s very difficult for me to take that post as anything other than a thinly veiled threat of legal action, basically saying “if you mods don’t do something about this, there are laws against this sort of thing, hint hint…” type of thing. I don’t think that’s a reasonable interpretation. To me it looks like “this guy is breaking the law, please do something about it.” You have to twist it to breaking point to get any other meaning. ISTM that you mods already had him in your sights, and were just looking for an excuse to pull the trigger. Perhaps he deserved it for prior misbehaviour. Maybe it was just a matter of time. I’ll have to take your word for it. Still, the final straw was imaginary. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/27 "2014-08-05T22:51:46Z")
I’m a little more than tangentially connected to this thread. Of course, my “_Cognitive Tide, let me introduce you to Consequences_” wasn’t a threat. The consequences had already been visited upon Cognitive Tide, who was reaping the rewards of his own failure to engage in constructive and well-intentioned debate – I (and I dare say others) had become less patient, less generous, more snarky, \*\*more edgy \*\*(and I’ll even concede more “hostile and aggressive”) towards him. Those were the entirety of the “consequences” referenced. Was he threatening legal action against me or SDMB itself? I don’t know, but I believe that it’s easier to read his posts as threatening legal action against SDMB than it was to read my post as a threat. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/28 "2014-08-05T23:10:58Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > You go after half, I’ll get the other three quarters. That’s 12% of a plan. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/29 "2014-08-06T00:22:38Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > I don’t see it in the official registration agreement, We interpret this clause in the Registration Agreement to include legal threats against the board or against other posters: > [@](#): > > Do not post threats or state or imply that any individual or group is deserving of harm. Now, while the poster may not have made an explicit threat to take legal action, he indicated that he believed (rather ridiculously) that grounds existed under Federal Law to take action against another poster for threatening him (or possibly against the board itself). As **engineer\_comp\_geek** says, this was a implicit and thinly veiled threat. While I mentioned this in banning him, there were a number of other grounds as well, the most obvious one of which was being a jerk. I might have included this in my post, but I didn’t think it was really necessary for anyone who had been reading the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/30 "2014-08-06T00:41:46Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > ISTM that you mods already had him in your sights, and were just looking for an excuse to pull the trigger. We didn’t need an “excuse” to pull the trigger. He was already eligible for banning for jerkishness and trolling even before he made the posts referring to legal issues. At that point in the thread he seemed to be going into full meltdown and would probably have been banned shortly even if he hadn’t made those other posts. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/31 "2014-08-07T13:10:14Z")
It would be nice if the trigger pull was for something unambiguous, not for something that takes interpretation of something vaguely written that the straightforward reading doesn’t violate rules. And I did go back and read about two pages (400 posts) of the conversation, so I did see the weird tangent to the NSA, his obstinancy and other behaviors. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/32 "2014-08-07T13:57:29Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > 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. Could I get some context, please? If you feel like posting it here would dig up old wounds, you can PM it to me. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/33 "2014-08-07T15:11:08Z")
Legit ban as far as I’m concerned based on past practice here. But (like a lot of things) it brings up a question in my brain — if a poster actually does file charges against (or sue) another poster, without saying anything on this board, does he/she also get banned? Is taking legal action as a result of actions on this board an offense, or is just the threat the offense? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/34 "2014-08-07T15:19:07Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > 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. Neither did I. I think **Colibri** grabbed the ban hammer a little too soon. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/35 "2014-08-07T16:34:07Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Neither did I. I think **Colibri** grabbed the ban hammer a little too soon. For a poster who had been around for a year or more and had made some decent contributions to the board, then yeah, I’d agree it was too quick on the trigger. But if you’ve been around for less than a month and contributed little besides confrontation and fallacious arguments, I don’t think you get the benefit of the doubt. It’s a small step from saying “he is doing something illegal…” to “…and I’m going to do something about it.” I’m fine with the banning. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/36 "2014-08-07T22:36:39Z")
I agree. Not even a second too soon. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/37 "2014-08-07T22:48:53Z")
More like .99999999…ths of a second. Goordriddance. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/38 "2014-08-07T23:12:23Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Neither did I. I think **Colibri** grabbed the ban hammer a little too soon. I doubt you would think so if you had seen some of the sock posts he made after being banned. He immediately started asking about where the board “and its servers” were based. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/39 "2014-08-08T04:16:04Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I doubt you would think so if you had seen some of the sock posts he made after being banned. Well then, good riddance. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881/40 "2014-08-08T04:20:08Z")
**kopek** , I imagine if it ever got to the point authorities were contacting the SD admins for poster information and/or serving warrants, etc, that would be grounds for immediately banning the person who initiated the legal action. Can’t say for certain, I’m sure there are caveats and loopholes, blah blah blah. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/threatening-legal-action-gets-you-banned/694881.md?page=3)