[Dave]

Recieved the following PM on AVFORUMS today :-

http://www.thephotographyforums.com/gallery/album63

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Mate were you linking to other photography forums in your signature just to have a dig at us for the Seany thing?
Kind of seems like it.
__________________
Stuart Wright : Founder of the AV Forums and home cinema enthusiast.


From this I started this thread......shame the forum is becoming so paranoid these days !!


Censorship of other ForumSites from AVFORUMS

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This post will test the true censorship of this site.....I hope Stuart is man enough to openly explain to others why he is censoring links to other forums sites !!

I recently recieved a note from Stuart asking why I was listing links to other forums in my signature, which included my userids. I have now found they have been removed by Stuart with no explanation.

Amazingly enough people use more than one forum to share information. I for one frequent many more specialised Photography forums & so do others who use the Photography section here. I basically listed my USERID for these other sites so that we can find colleagues across sites when discussing items.

Is the owner of this site so paranoid of other sites that he feels he has to censor the links. I know this was instructed to Mods at one of their last meetings !!

It's a shame this site has become almost to big to forget the roots of the Web for sharing information, including other more specialist forums.

Debate

[RobertP]

I asked for it to be made it public that Seany only left the AFV after being scolded like a naughty schoolboy (not a respected forum mod) for posting relevant and helpful link to information that just happened to be on another site. Sean deserved a ban for his reaction but that was not the point.

Edited to depersonalise and add info

I got a brief reply that posting links to competitors is against the rules. Don't see many what camera for £50 threads on POTN to draw AVF punters but....

Obviously not noticed mattym's sig on AVF yet

[Gandhi]

oh well. On the overclockers forum it's a fundamentalist mormon based bulletin board. You can't even discuss the weather for fear of getting a 'holiday'

bit offish though. People are weird!

[Dave]

Farcical really as they have a thread showing useful links, that list exactly the same links I had. Censorship went futher than that though , with instructions to delete any comments that may be competition to adverts on site......just another example of greed ruining a respectable site to date. I mostly feel for the Mods who work for free.

Ah well, plenty more fish in the sea as they say....& to date this is an excellent site

[Gandhi]

and hopefully it'll stay that way.

Unless our mods and admin go all 'Caesar' on us

[Dave]

Originally Posted by gandhi

bit offish though. People are weird!

Working fr an IT company in Outsourcing I have seen how much companies pay for data / customers of other customers. Based on member numbers & hwo high the hit rate is on Google searches, the site in question is worth a considerable amount of money...trust me. Censorship is the 1st step to retain its value......I assure you the site will be sold with the next x years. Once again I feel sorry for the Mods who work for free & make the site more valuable by the day. I was asked if I wanted to be a Mod on the site & stated NO based on latter point.

Not sure who owns this site, but take note :lol:

[Steve]

Originally Posted by DJW

Not sure who owns this site, but take note :lol:

I own this site but set it up with the aid of three other members initially. Since the site grew a little we have since added two other moderators to our fold. We do not intend to censor anything that is not illegal or a blatant unnecessary plug to a similar site.

Like you have already said the internet is a wide resource and we fully understand that our members are aware of and visit many other sites, that however does not mean that we will actively support them any more than they will us. If one of our members links to another useful site specifically for information or in the interests of helping out we will gladly let it stay (ala Bachs recent favourites list), if it’s done just to promote that other side it will be removed. We think that is fair and reasonable.

We do not accept adverts here, so have no “customers” to protect. We also make absolutely no money; all costs are currently borne by myself. I am no hero though the costs currently associated with this site are tiny and only when they escalate to beyond reasonable will I then look at ways to offset that. In the future, should we accept advertising it will also be on the understanding that they are paying for the advert only and will gain no favouritism, their product/s will still be up for discussion and opinions both good and bad will not be censored.

It was also decided that if the site should make any money in the future, once my costs have been covered then the remainder would be split evenly amongst the “Staff” as a “thank you” for all the hard work they currently put in for free. This is not a blind promise and they know that, however they also realise that it is very unlikely for along time…basically they expect nothing and give a great deal for free.

After that, in the far distant future, if there is any money in the kitty, then what is left will be put towards prizes etc for the competitions and future stuff, it will be our way of giving back a little as a thanks to you.


One last thing (this is aimed at everyone), as you know we are liberal here and encourage opinions and discussion but please be sensible and don’t say anything libellous against any other forums of web sites. I have a duty to remove anything along those lines and I would hate to be put in that position. Keep it factual and not personal and everyone will be fine.

[RobertP]

Originally Posted by Steve

One last thing (this is aimed at everyone), as you know we are liberal here and encourage opinions and discussion but please be sensible and don’t say anything libellous against any other forums of web sites. I have a duty to remove anything along those lines and I would hate to be put in that position. Keep it factual and not personal and everyone will be fine.

Noted

[Gandhi]

Originally Posted by Steve

I own this site but set it up with the aid of three other members initially. Since the site grew a little we have since added two other moderators to our fold. We do not intend to censor anything that is not illegal or a blatant unnecessary plug to a similar site.

Like you have already said the internet is a wide resource and we fully understand that our members are aware of and visit many other sites, that however does not mean that we will actively support them any more than they will us. If one of our members links to another useful site specifically for information or in the interests of helping out we will gladly let it stay (ala Bachs recent favourites list), if it’s done just to promote that other side it will be removed. We think that is fair and reasonable.

We do not accept adverts here, so have no “customers” to protect. We also make absolutely no money; all costs are currently borne by myself. I am no hero though the costs currently associated with this site are tiny and only when they escalate to beyond reasonable will I then look at ways to offset that. In the future, should we accept advertising it will also be on the understanding that they are paying for the advert only and will gain no favouritism, their product/s will still be up for discussion and opinions both good and bad will not be censored.

It was also decided that if the site should make any money in the future, once my costs have been covered then the remainder would be split evenly amongst the “Staff” as a “thank you” for all the hard work they currently put in for free. This is not a blind promise and they know that, however they also realise that it is very unlikely for along time…basically they expect nothing and give a great deal for free.

After that, in the far distant future, if there is any money in the kitty, then what is left will be put towards prizes etc for the competitions and future stuff, it will be our way of giving back a little as a thanks to you.


One last thing (this is aimed at everyone), as you know we are liberal here and encourage opinions and discussion but please be sensible and don’t say anything libellous against any other forums of web sites. I have a duty to remove anything along those lines and I would hate to be put in that position. Keep it factual and not personal and everyone will be fine.

It's nice to know there are still some people out there who have the right ideas about how the world of the internet should be.

I have a warm glow now!

[Steve]

Originally Posted by gandhi

It's nice to know there are still some people out there who have the right ideas about how the world of the internet should be.

I have a warm glow now!

All decisions taken here are done as a group by all the staff collectively, thats how it was set up from the very beginning specifically to stop anyone going all "Caesar" as you term it. If I want something to happen and the remainding staff think it is a bad idea then I get overruled and it doesn't happen, this was implimented to prevent a situation arising that I once was a victim of.

We as a group keep ourselves saine and levelheaded, if you feel differently at some point please raise the point either on the forums or by PM to any of the staff where it will be discussed with you and resolved mutually.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Steve

All decisions taken here are done as a group by all the staff collectively, thats how it was set up from the very beginning specifically to stop anyone going all "Caesar" as you term it. If I want something to happen and the remainding staff think it is a bad idea then I get overruled and it doesn't happen, this was implimented to prevent a situation arising that I once was a victim of.

We as a group keep ourselves saine and levelheaded, if you feel differently at some point please raise the point either on the forums or by PM to any of the staff where it will be discussed with you and resolved mutually.

Top Guys !!!!!

Anyway I've been banned from the other place now, so my suspicions of censorship have been proven.....ho hum :icon_cool . Stupid thing is they have proven my point for me by taking that action ....anyway enough of that :yawn: , the weather is great at the mo so I'm off to shoot some photo's this savo.

[Steep]

I think you have forgotten that the other site is a commercial venture, part of an online shop and as such they have need to protect their business' profits. Yes it can seem heavy handed sometimes and certainly the sites owner doesn't always stick to his own rules but then he does own it and can do what he likes. I'm sure I would not be happy with folk posting links to competitors (or links to sites containg links to competitors) if it were my business.

[Matty]

Steep, DJW isnt talking about that one!

[Steep]

oh, erm, ignore me then

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Steep

oh, erm, ignore me then

Don't worry, the site in question is run in the same manner as if everyone else is a competitor :lol:

[busterboy]

Originally Posted by DJW

Anyway I've been banned from the other place now, so my suspicions of censorship have been proven.....ho hum :icon_cool .

Dav