Pete Nattress Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered 23/09/2002
Points 4811
9th January, 2004 at 09:23:41 -
You may think that, in your country, you have freedom of speech, and therefore, by proxy, you deserve it here. Firstly, you don't have freedom of speech in your country, and secondly, you don't deserve it here. So you're pretty wrong, aren't you.
My first point: Freedom of Speech is an ILLUSION, comrades, created by your government. Looking at the hit stats of this site - http://www.nedstatbasic.net/s?tab=1&link=1&id=1800937 - we see that the USA, the UK and Australia provide us with the most visitors. These countries share similar laws with regard to free speech. I know for a fact that, over here, it is ILLEGAL to use racist slur. That's right, illegal; you could get sent to prison, or fined, for it. I'm not saying that I disagree with this law, quite the contrary, but the very fact that a certain thing has been disallowed shows us that our speech really is not free. What we can and cannot say is actually controlled, quite considerably in fact. And you've all heard of slander... we can't just say something totally unjustified about a body and get away with it. They could, and would, sue us. The question is, do you REALLY have freedom of speech? The answer is, no.
So when you here these crazy American war mongerers yakking on about how they're so much better than the old Iraqi regime because they allow people to protest, whereas Saddam Hussein would have had protestors shot, they're really not saying that much. Because the same protestors could not then go and publish a newspaper in America saying "George Bush sucks his Dad's cock!" and get away with it. Their speech is still restriced; just at a higher level.
Yet, thanks to this marvellous thing we're all plugged into now, the Interweb, they could very easily register a website and type it up there. Freedom of spech is not restricted on the net because, at heart, it's an anarchy. There is no governing body, no rules of use, no laws. On the web, anything goes. If a man living in the US owns a server in Armenia that he hosts Warez on, the US government can't do anything about it. The Armenian Governent could, expept they have no laws on software piracy, so they won't.
So, the Internet in general is an anarchy. This leads on, neatly, to the second point. Because this site itself is not an anarchy. We have a "leader", ShadowCaster, who basically owns the site. And there's the admins, who do the administration. And there's you, the reader, the little person. You have no power, I'm afraid, much as some of you may like it. Incidentally, to those who say, "well, actually, WE own the site as it's run off donations", I'm afraid you're wrong. Donators give the money to ShadowCaster to use at HIS discretion, no theirs. Cool and generous though they are, the donators are trusting their money to Shadow and do not get a say in how the site is run.
I've said it before, but I think it needs re-iterating: you don't have any claims to free speech here. None at all. Whatsoever. If you say something we (the admins) believe to be of detriment to the site, it will go. I can see that you'd be pissed off if you paid a subscription to this site, or if it was run off your taxes. But my point is that this site is registered to a Mr. ShadowCaster (or rikus, but I think he's handed it over) and it remains his private property. You use it on our terms. I know that currently these terms are sort of unwritten and mostly common sense, but I'm planning on getting them clarified in the near future.
That's the lie of the land: "our way, or the highway". It is not Nazism. Hitler was legally elected by the German people and abused his power. We have not been elected to run this site, we simply do, and we're doing YOU guys a favour. Ever heard the expression "Don't look a gifthorse in the mouth"? It bears particular relevance here. And, incidentally, I'd really love to see how this site would fair without an administration at all.
Feel free to disagree with me. We may be able to do what we want, but we're still much more lenient than we could chose to be. Just be thankful for that.
I thought dave_C was banned. Did he star a new account.
Well, if I ever said anything against the admins, i take it back. For the mostpart, they do an awesome job. I mean, CIRCY overdoes it a bit, ut I can't hate him for it. Anyone who needs proof, ask about Dave C's old posts. I stand by the admins, especially nattress, who is my favorite admin.
Remember, there's a little darkness in all of us... we just express it best.
--Ragnarok Games
Pete Nattress Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered 23/09/2002
Points 4811
9th January, 2004 at 11:14:32 -
he says he has some concession from shadowcaster. i'm fine with him being here on the condition he stops the "dawg" rubbish and stops insulting people, and i've told him as much myself in an email. suffice to say, i'll be watching him...
Actually when I first read this topic, I thought it was you, Paul, who wrote it
n/a
Pete Nattress Cheesy Bits img src/uploads/sccheesegif
Registered 23/09/2002
Points 4811
9th January, 2004 at 11:51:40 -
I wasn't addressing those who believe this is a dictatorship, Paul, I was addressing those who are protesting they deserve freedom of speech. Whilst I don't like being called Hitler, it's not what my agrument is here.
I'll pass on the raping small boys thing as I don't want to know what you do in your private time. (silly smilie face)
I'm not just talking about admins locking topics where people are arguing with them... I've never delibrately done that myself. I will argue a point as much as I please... the topics I lock involve arguments that just descend into petty insults, like the "interface debate" or the "lots of x members" thread. If I was _involved_ in the argument, or if the insults were directed at _me_, then so be it, but i'm doing it for the greater good of the site and not because I'm too coward to continue an argument. Similarly, I will take action if I have no involvement in the debate whatsoever. For example, a certain member was blindly insulting Fishead and Jon, so I locked the topic. Why? To prevent a massive flamewar, is why. I wasn't under fire at all and neither was any other admin.
I think you have the wrong end of the stick, Paul, if this topic is indeed a stick rather than a topic. As I read it, you think I'm saying people don't deserve freedom of speech when they're talking about the admins. I'm not saying that. I'm saying that people don't deserve freedom of speech when talking about anything. And you also forget the alternitive to locking, which is topic deletion (a passtime I rarely indulge in). Locking, at least, allows people to see what has been going on, even if they can't reply. Deletion completely censors the site and people are left totally in the dark.
For people who don't like reading: Paul has the wrong end of the stick.
Actually, in the USA it is not illegal to use racial slurs (which is the way it should be, why should the government tell you what words you can use?), and it would not be illegal to publish a newspaper which said those things. Very few limits are placed on speech in the USA, except for on broadcast television. But that does NOT mean that the DC has freedom of speech. The DC is not a public service. Just as you can kick someone out of your house for whatever reason you want to, so can the admins on the DC ban you for whatever reasons they see fit. Freedom of speech does not exist on websites, and never will.
Edited by the Author.
99 percent chance that the above post is 100 percent correct.
Pete, you're brilliant, but let me put it another way.
(NB This isn't directed at any one person)
Of course you're granted freedom of speech here - we don't force you to think in any way. The only thing we have to enforce is you're not an idiot about it, and that includes mindless insults, racial slurs, the breaches of simple "netiquette" seen so often on these boards, and so on and so on. It's those that we have to censor. Those who can't follow that simple rule don't deserve the freedom of speech that they've been given and are treated accordingly.
You can say what you like, within normal limits. As for the swearing, I don't mind it even though I tend not to swear myself, but other people might. Just keep it reasonable.
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Edited by the Author.
