FELGRAU.COM FORUM HOUSE RULES

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Jason Pipes
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FELGRAU.COM FORUM HOUSE RULES

Post by Jason Pipes »

The following rules are considered to be active immediately. Please read these in full and abide by them. Those who violate these rules will be dealt with as laid out below.

Feldgrau is, first and foremost, a non-political research site dedicated to the study of the German Armed Forces in World War II. While we welcome contributions on that subject regardless of the individual contributor’s personal beliefs, we will not tolerate certain types of behavior.

Personal insults, racial and ethnic slurs and flame wars will simply not be tolerated. Threads or posts that do not comply with the overall mission of Feldgrau will be deleted at the discretion of the Owner of the Board. Deleted threads and posts are not stored, they are simply “deleted” and not recoverable.

Some threads may be closed for violating Forum Policy or wandering off-topic. But whether or not a particular closed Thread remains on the Board is again at the discretion of the Jason Pipes, as it may be that the thread, despite containing some objectionable material, also contains information of use to serious researchers. Where available, links should be provided to material sourced on the Internet, or edition/chapter/page number references to written exerpts reproduced here.

Spamming the Board or its Private Messaging system, for any reason, but especially in order to promote another site, sell products or recruit members for political purposes, is strictly forbidden. Using the PM system as a tool of harassment against a member is also a serious violation of
Feldgrau policy.

Discussions about the Holocaust or involving it are not allowed.

Feldgrau's policy on the issue of war crimes is that discussions of war crimes, ala "xyz unit did xyz thing at xyz place and date" is fine (in the proper forum) as long as it remains TOTALLY neutral and unbiased either for or against it. Ours is not a place to judge, condemn or defend but to simply study and hope to understand. There is nothing wrong with trying to get a full picture of, say, the 2nd SS, but to go off on a rant "for" or "against" the division in this context is just totally out of line in a place dedicated to research, not polemics.

It is not the purpose of these rules to restrict the free exchange of ideas and knowledge. Indeed, the rationale behind these rules is to insure that legitimate research is not inhibited by the use of personal insults, rude behavior or abusive rhetoric.

As valued members of the Feldgrau community, it is important that everyone have an understanding of the procedures the Moderators will follow to enforce Feldgrau’s policies and rules. These are set forth below:


1. Informal warnings to individuals or groups can be posted on a Thread by any Moderator at any time. For instance: “Commissar D, no personal insults, please!” or “Guys, let’s try to get this Thread back on topic”. Informal warnings should not affect a contributor’s status unless a specific member receives them on a regular basis.

2. First Formal Warning. A “First Formal Warning” will be triggered by a serious breach of forum rules or the need to continually issue informal warnings to a particular contributor. Any Moderator can issue a “First Formal Warning” after discussion with other Moderators in the privacy of the “Moderator’s Only” section. But, this warning should be made by PM to the offender, not publicly.

3. Second Formal Warning. A “Second Formal Warning” is issued upon a serious breach of forum rules by a contributor who has already received a “First Formal Warning”. A “Second Formal Warning” should convey to the contributor that he is a prime candidate for banning and will be banned upon another breach of forum rules. Again, this must be done by PM to the contributor and not publicly. Only Jason Pipes can approve a “Second Formal Warning”.

4. Banning. Banning, of course, is the most drastic measure and should be done only after a contributor has received a First and Second Formal Warning. But, in the case of a particularly offensive action by a contributor, it can occur upon the commission of the offense, without the offender receiving a “First” or “Second” formal warning. Naturally, only Jason Pipes can ban a contributor, but Moderators are obligated to inform Jason of any matter of such a serious nature that it might require immediate banning.

5. Re-admission to Feldgrau. Banned members may be readmitted only by contacting Jason after a suitable “cooling down” period decided upon by Jason. Banned members who rejoin without permission under a different user name, will have their accounts immediately frozen. Re-registering under a different user name without permission from Jason Pipes renders a banned member ineligible for re-admission to Feldgrau. This rule will not be applied retroactively and current members who are in this situation are encouraged to come forward now, so that their status can be re-evaluated by Jason.

6. Moderators have the same rights as everyone else to express their opinions and fully participate in discussions. In the event that a contributor believes that a Moderator is abusing his authority, the complaint must be made by PM to Jason Pipes and not aired on the open Board.
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Tom Houlihan
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Post by Tom Houlihan »

Jason, somebody is going to ask, so I'll step up. Is there an ex post facto element in here somewhere, or does it start fresh right now?
TLH3
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Feldgrau für alle und alle für Feldgrau!
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Alex Coles
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Post by Alex Coles »

I don't know about you, but I think a thread with these rules should of been written years ago.
Alex

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San Martin
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Post by San Martin »

Hear hear.
"I like to think that, apart from being a bit of a Butcher that I have more to offer" Ron "Chopper" Harris, CFC
Helmut Von Moltke

Post by Helmut Von Moltke »

Thanks Jason. I myself have to admit I and many other members didn't quite follow them in the intense battles on Feldgrau recently. I will try to in the future. Best wishes.

K
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Jason Pipes
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Post by Jason Pipes »

This wasn't posted earlier because we went forward assuming this was plainly understood. Since it's clear it is NOT plainly understood, we finally drew up this set of strict rules. Anyone who violates these will be dealt with accordingly.

I also might add as an aside, anyone caught registering with multiple accounts (either before or after banning) will be removed and banned from the site for good. I have very easy ways of knowing if this takes place, so please don't do it. If you have some legitimate reason for having more than one account, contact me offline and let me know.
Helmut Von Moltke

Post by Helmut Von Moltke »

Reply with quote
This wasn't posted earlier because we went forward assuming this was plainly understood. Since it's clear it is NOT plainly understood, we finally drew up this set of strict rules.
hi Jason,

Does this apply to some previous threads and posts, etc? Since Tom said that it is being debated among the moderators. Regards,

K
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Jason Pipes
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Post by Jason Pipes »

We will always be working on culling and trimming and cleaning the forum, but I think the consensus right now is to move forward and apply the newly stated guidelines as they occur NOW, not retroactive.
Paddy Keating

Re: FELGRAU.COM FORUM HOUSE RULES

Post by Paddy Keating »

There ought to be an appeals or review procedure in the case of formal warnings, particularly when there is 'history' between the moderator(s) and the member receiving the warning. I was recently sent such a warning for allegedly accusing another member of membership of a foreign intelligence service - indicating a misreading of what I actually wrote - and misspelling his name in an insulting fashion. It's not a big deal as such for me but other members subjected to unfair treatment by moderators might take it more seriously. So what about some transparency? Let's see moderators defend their decisions if they are challenged as unfair or rooted in old vendettas from other forums.

PK
pzrmeyer2

Re: FELGRAU.COM FORUM HOUSE RULES

Post by pzrmeyer2 »

I agree with Paddy. There ought to be some method of contesting a forum warning or banishment if one feels that it was unfair or unjust, and having their case addressed in a public manner. In the specific case of Paddy, Im still looking for what was offensive about his post--which itself was a rather restrained reply to a personal insult message from another member throwing out the usual ad-hominum attacks without addressing the original topic. Apparently, some members are allowed to insult at will but others must mind their p's and q's, based on the subjective opinions of a moderator, even when responding to insults. Interesting.
phylo_roadking
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Re: FELGRAU.COM FORUM HOUSE RULES

Post by phylo_roadking »

it takes a LOT to get a warning issued; and that and ANY other action is taken only after members have failed to police themsevles.

THAT failure is the worst failure of all - that we HAVE to have a monitoring system in place because the GENERIC "you" can't be relied upon not to break the behaviour rules of the forum.

Why should there be an appeal system in place....when putting fingers to keyboard is a sin of COMmission rather than ommission???

How many bites of the cherry do members think they should actually be afforded??? :D IF we had a "three strikes" rule here... :down:
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Malcolm Reynolds
pzrmeyer2

Re: FELGRAU.COM FORUM HOUSE RULES

Post by pzrmeyer2 »

so perhaps you can explain then what exactly Paddy did to recieve a warning, and how his comments in response to ad hominum (and ad nauseum) attacks should be punished when the original comments were not? why the double standard? a general, tounge in cheeck observation that it might be possible, given the cited precedents, that some members might be agent provacateurs, is punishible, but calling members neonazis, and anti-semites is not punishible? interesting.
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Re: FELGRAU.COM FORUM HOUSE RULES

Post by phylo_roadking »

Paddy's been made aware of why.

AND it's the rule of the forum that issues such as these are addressed "in camera".
"Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle." - Malcolm Reynolds
Paddy Keating

Re: FELGRAU.COM FORUM HOUSE RULES

Post by Paddy Keating »

I completely reject the formal warning. I did not insult Timo Worst. He effectively called me a neo-nazi, which he has been doing for years. He even admitted it in a post in the thread where I am supposec to have insulted him. I misspelt his name and made an ironic reference to accusations here and elsewhere that he might be an intel operative. In fact, I pretty much apologised to him for a previous clash years ago. It's there in black and white, unless it has been deleted. This isn't about that anyway. This is about old scores being settled now that some people are management here. I don't think the rules here mandate banning for disagreeing with a moderator. I have made plenty of contributions to this website, including financial ones. I even received complimentary remarks from a couple of mods today, one expresding himself openly, concerning a post I made. If you're going to ban me, at least try and a substantial reason but din't fabricate reasons because I am not guilty as charged. Or just do it without explaining yourselves. That's more honest.

PK
Paddy Keating

Re: FELGRAU.COM FORUM HOUSE RULES

Post by Paddy Keating »

In camera? The only reason for that would be a desire to protect the accusers rather than spare the accused any blushes, no? I don't mind being accused publicly of anything. What I want to see here is transparency. Tell everyone what I was accused of and produce the evidence. If your case is justifed, I will resign as a member. I can't be fairer than that.

LOL!

PK
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