Terms and Conditions, Section 22. Your Observations and Policies, Mods?

A portion of Section 22 of the T&C reads:

We reserve the right to delete any message and/or restrict Posting rights on the message board for any reason whatsoever.

I understand the other sections fairly well in that I can almost always tell what is allowed and what isn't. Occasionally, however, an administrative action is taken against something that doesn't violate the T&C.

Certainly there is authority for management to do as they will, but to save unnecessary frustration, I would like to ask the Mods, what will cause trouble that isn't specifically mentioned in the T&C? (And no, I don't mean "Be Polite," or "Behave as if you were a guest at a party.")

I am not asking for any specific case, or poster, but I would like to find out what is in the "unwritten T&C," if I may use that term.

reply to post by charles1952

In the series, Voldemort is the archenemy of Harry Potter, who according to a prophecy has "the power to vanquish the Dark Lord". Almost no witch or wizard dares to speak his name, instead referring to him by epithets such as "You-Know-Who", "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "the Dark Lord".

en.wikipedia.org...

Sorry Charles, I admire the seriousness of the thread but this is what passed through my feeble little mind when I read it.

Apologies.

But am curious about an answer.

reply to post by beezzer

Believe it or not, I have not seen an Austin Powers or Harry Potter film.

But I am an innocent here. If it's not supposed to be named or discussed, it will just take one Mod to tell me that, and I'll apologize and go back to posting as usual. I have ideas for a couple of threads on a British Military Unit, and quotations by people I admire. I'll be fine.

reply to post by charles1952


Who knows what could set someone off. Lord knows there have been posts I've made that if I hadn't hit "delete" right away, might have seen me to the door.

You're a very wise poster. I'm sure that this issue is upsetting and unusual.

reply to post by beezzer

Dear beezzer,

it's a funny thing, I was upset at the time, but I'm not anymore. In my mind, there is no anger or hatred, but there is confusion. I don't think anyone wants to be disciplined when they can't figure out the basis for it, even after an "explanation."

Honestly, truly, and sincerely, I'm just wondering where the potholes are so I don't drive into them in the future. The Mods can do whatever they'd like. That's not a complaint, they're the legitimate authority. We both know about that. I'm just looking for the missing half of the Regs.

I believe other ATSers would benefit as well.

With respect,
Charles1952

reply to post by charles1952


seriously, don't even bother. I have seen tons of threads about the T&Cs and as far as I can tell they are often just kind of thrown out there as an excuse to do whatever they want.
I had a thread one time that got shut down because i wouldn't violate the T&Cs, the issue of drug legalization came up which is a no no, i said i didn't want to get into it and it got shut down because of the "T&Cs".
Some of the mods are cool but just try to ignore them when you can, don't even bother debating crap with them or you will see stuff you wrote days ago and other threads suddenly being against the "T&Cs" or your threads will be moved. If you get the feeling that a member is friends with a mod just don't ever bother responding to them again.

It's essentially the 'tard-troll escape clause in two ways.

1) We just point to that when we encounter excessive post-banning whining and whimpering.

2) Some professional mom's basement dwelling board trolls might skirt the T&C with no singularly defining event worthy of an immediate ban-hammer, we simply don't like them, so we ban them.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord

I'm glad to hear that. Since it's been so long since I've been banned that I can't even remember which year it was, I know I'm safe from "The Ban Hammer." I'll rest peacefully tonight knowing I'm not in either of your categories.

emotion is the grandfather of action.
feelings dictate behavior.