Discussion of illegal activity

Khannie

Ok, it was very quiet for a while there, but there have been more and more threads asking for help with illegal stuff popping up recently....sooooo.....just a reminder (especially to new people)......

DISCUSSION OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

Consider yourselves warned. I've just been warning new people over the last week. From now on, it's a temporary ban because I'm getting tired of it again.

I will bump this thread tomorrow, so if you've read it today and there's only 1 reply tomorrow, from me, then it's the bump.

odie

Hi Khannie,

Would it not be better to just close off these threads as soon as possible. That will stop the rot setting in and send out the right message. Perhaps leave a link to the legit software discussed in the closing reply.

galwaydude18

I have to agree with odie!

RE*AC*TOR

some heavy handed bans would be best - i think the line is set down what people can and can't say. So if that line is crossed *bang* one month ban - thread closed/deleted.

i wouldn't be arsed leaving links for commercial software - tis a bit snivelling...

Khannie

Heh....we have two extremes there.....

I will be temp banning / closing from now on (did it for a while there, and it seemed to effectively stop the rot for a good while).

I don't want to be overly heavy handed though, especially with new users who haven't seen previous bans, etc.

I think a temp ban for a week is reasonable (not so harsh that they'll never be back / I forget to unban, but harsh enough to not do it again / put others off), so that's what I'll be going with. None of the regulars ever post requests for help with illegal stuff to be fair and it's only become a problem again very recently.

Thanks for the suggestions though lads. It's always good to get suggestions. Being a "benevolant dictator" isn't all the fun it's cracked up to be.

Orion

maybe if you got your thumb out and finished this you woudn't need to feel guilty about banning people

odie

I think you will find info pertaining to Khannie's suggestions at the bottom of this page

The Charter

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=208207

the_syco

Specify what is "illegal", as alot of the sh|t (like bittorent) is sometimes gray area, and some of the people may say "linux_distro.torrent" is not working, and not "Hackers.(1995).WideScreen16x9.torrent".

Such as:

"Its a bannable offence to mention any warez, filesharing, etc, or how to get them/use them."

odie

Oh I dunno, let me see now.

Illegal Software, includes (anything music, games, utilities, apps, movies, made with 1's and 0's) that has a price on it, that is being used but not paid for.

Exceptions would be try before you buy. Within trial period and freeware, that is designated by the designer as such.

Maybe I am being simplistic here. If so please put me right.

As for grey areas, not sure what they could be. Black and white as far as I can tell.

Khannie

lol@finger out

I like syco's idea. There is a lot of gray area stuff.....basically /anthing/ that pertains to bittorrent is immediately suspicious. It's a great way to distribute high volume community stuff (like linux distros and pure pwnage videos or whatever) but most of the time it is used to distribute movies, etc.

I just cant go banning people for talking about opening ports and what not, because it could be perfectly legit....and we're all innocent until proven otherwise.

The real problem is what I said in the charter sticky: If there's enough discussion of illegal stuff, or if it looks like mods turn a blind eye to it, then it /could/ endanger the whole community.

DemonOfTheFall

Yeah there are numerous legit uses for Bittorrent. Some of the community free video projects are very good.

Eg. www.systm.org
Great videos, very professionally made, content and style. Slightly short on the content, but sooooo much better than anything we will see on tv.

I say that if it seems like a gray area in the person's post just ask them to clarify what they need the advice for. Then the community is seen to be making an effort (which it is too)

the_syco

odie wrote:

Exceptions would be try before you buy.

Yes dude. Try the full product, and then maybe, MAYBE buy it. As I said, gray area.

Mutant_Fruit

the_syco wrote:

Yes dude. Try the full product, and then maybe, MAYBE buy it. As I said, gray area.

No grey area at all there. If you illegally download a full product (i.e. obtain a full product without paying for it where no free trial exists) then thats a ban offence. If theres no free trial, then don't ask here how to get a full version working... or uninstalled as was the case today. Try quoting the entire line. You're half-quote missed the point of his statement...

Exceptions would be try before you buy. Within trial period and freeware, that is designated by the designer as such.

Capt'n Midnight

If you removed the benefit of the doubt then many queries on the Windows forum could be read the wrong way. eg: A lot of us have to clone machines as part of our jobs.

Microsoft Licensing is a bloody nightmare to understand, and there are a lot of gray areas some day I'll get around to sticking up something on the Biki. BTW: The Gray areas are usually on the usage/downgrade/upgrade rights and client rights. However, they are fairly clear on the where you can install it rights.