As a moderator here I don't speak up much. I've never actually deleted or locked a thread and I tend to avoid joining in the more "heated" postings. Lately there's been a bunch of noise about rules, moderators, sandboxes etc from certain few users who either delight in finding and exploiting loopholes in rules or who think they're entitled to things they're not. I think it was time a few basic truths were spelled out, since polite requests and basic decency seem to be ineffective.
This website is not a country like the United States, Australia, Canada, The UK etc, nor is it a political system, an essential service, a club or a charity. It's not run by an elected government, a royal family, or anything similar. This is a website that runs on one man's computer. It is run at his cost and for his pleasure. He (Robert) has chosen to nominate a few people to act as his agents. Robert is not a governor, president, prime minister or king, he is the owner of the site.
As such users have NO rights on this website. Let me repeat that for the few who don't get it... NO RIGHTS. ZERO. NADA. NONE. NYET. (The only exception to this being the right to leave whenever you want.) I realise this will come to a shock to certain people, especially those from countries with ingrained and inviolate rights but it's the truth. This site does not exist anywhere but on Robert's computer and in Cyberspace and as such any rights you may have at home do not apply here as they could not possibly cover all users from all countries. What you have instead is "privileges and obligations". You are offered the privilege of using this site, and by accepting that privilege you implicitly agree to be bound by it's rules as interpreted by the owner and his agents. If you don't like those rules there's no system of appeal, you can't vote in new rules or a new governing body, you simply have the choice to stay and abide by the rules, or leave.
The AUP and other rules imposed on use of this site are an attempt to define common sense and decency, but as the topic of this post says you can't legislate common sense. This is why moderators have the discretion to interpret the rules on a case by case basis. We moderators are human and fallible, live in different countries and time zones, and in often speak in differing languages or local dialects. We all have our own individual morals and ethics and while we may not always agree on what is or isn't acceptable we usually try to come to some sort of group consensus privately before acting publicly. We try to interpret & enforce the rules to the general benefit of this community and to keep the website running smoothly. Sometimes we may allow postings that aren't bike-related, that may be slightly inflammatory (eg: "friendly" HD bashing), or that are simply just fun because in our opinion it enhances the community. Sometimes we may edit, lock, or delete a topic because in our opinion it detracts from the community. If you have a problem with the actions of any moderator, take it up with that moderator in a private message. (Why private? Because public complaints detract from the community and won't achieve the change you want.) If you don't get satisfaction from that moderator you can take it up with BonnyUSA (Phil) as the lead moderator. If you still don't get satisfaction, then tough luck buddy. If it bothers you enough to get irate over then perhaps you need to find a different forum or make one of your own. If you choose not to leave but to make public rantings about your particular problem you just might find your choice taken away from you, and the privilege of using this site removed. Obviously we moderators would prefer if you just used common sense instead, as I'm sure you have something positive to offer that will enhance this community.
I think the vast majority of users will be fine with this posting, however if you find yourself offended or angered by it, perhaps you're one of the people it's addressed to and you should look to your own behavior on this site. I briefly considered saying "sorry for any who're offended" but then I realized it's not me who should be apologizing.
