Forum Rules Violation Policy

The rules for using the Antique Radio Forums have evolved over time, mostly with public discussion, with policies that are enforced to make this a pleasant community.

There are a number of people that apparently are either unwilling or incapable of adhering to the rules, or else don't think they apply to themselves. Moderators are constantly having to edit, lock and delete topics because of rule violations, and these are usually from the same few people.

Posting material not permitted by the rules will result in a warning and a request to review the rules for the forums for the first violation.

A second offense will result in a ban from posting in the forums for 30 days. This includes posting under a different account as well as the user account of the violation. Posting under a different user name while under suspension will result in a permanent ban.

A third offense will result in a 90 day posting suspension.

A fourth offense is a permanent ban from participation in the forums.

How do I know if comments are deemed "political" or "religious" or "adult"?

If you aren't sure, then don't post it.

Who decides what is a rule violation?

The site owner and forum administrator, in discussion with the forum moderators. Moderators who spot rule violations may refer them to the administrator for appropriate action, but will not, by themselves, make the final determination.

If I really need to post something that I'm not sure is a rule violation, what should I do?

Send a Private Message (PM) to the site administrator with what you want to post for approval before publicly posting it.

Sounds good to me...

Alan good deal i agree 100%.Angelo

Good deal Alan! I don't understand why a few members here have to constantly make it political. I personally could not care less about other members political or religious views. Nothing anyone says here will change my views anyway. Let's just keep it radios, enforce it and we're all better for it.

I agree too.

Lee

My worry is not for the blatant rules violation. Should be no problem giving the guilty parties an increased and escalation system of penalties. My concern will be for casual, unintended violations and how they will be acted upon. The definition of no politics can be highly subjective.

And I am supposing that Politics doesn't include FCC rules and licensing?

I have "transgressed" on several occasions, sometimes honestly not knowing where the line was. And it is indeed a nebulous line. Politics in some form or the other works its way into our lives wherever we look, but I have yet to "put down" anyone here because of politics but admit I like to express an opinion. I have on occasions been misunderstood as to my intent about something I said and perhaps sometimes talk when I should be listening, and probably sometimes ruffle someone feathers about a technical point. And, oddly enough, I am sometimes WRONG. Woe be on me! Seldom is anyones' political orientation changed in such exchanges. The occasion squabble that members sometimes get into here that seem to go on and on distresses me more that a political comment. But I'll try to behave!

If your aim is to make the ARF a sterile wasteland, this is a good start. Men of intelligence and learning understand the rightness and value of Liberty. They certainly would not choose to reside in a country run along the lines described above. Such countries often have walls to keep citizens from fleeing. The ARF have no such walls.

Disagreement breeds discussion. Conflict breeds feuds. Disagreement and conflict are not the same. I vote for discussion, and not the latter. (I can't really vote, but you get my drift)

We are mostly a group of grumpy old men, with the world as we know it changing, and not for the better. We do not suffer fools well.

That said, I note the rules, and I will try to abide by them, but then again I always have.

Yours Truly, terry h

Alan --

You have good idea, but I worry about new ARF members who aren't as aware of the rules as the "veterans". I was on ARF for at least a year without realizing that moderation issues should be brought up only in PM's and not on the public threads. I know better now (after a locked thread and warning), but I can how easy it would be to get that first warning if you're not familiar with how things work here. It seems to me that the new folks are a lot different from the repeat offenders that the new policy is mainly directed towards.

Bob

I would not go to a political forum to discuss radios. Methinks the same consideration should be given to those who come to this forum and do not want to hear about political views. This is an excellent step to help ensure that political topics can be prevented from appearing in the forums and causing never ending disagreements. Do I think political discussion is a bad thing? Definitely not . This is not the place for it. Those who wish to carry on these discussions need not feel hard done by. There are plenty of forums that welcome such discussion.
best regards,
Sandy

Well..Alan.. sure that sounds great.. and yes it ought to work..

1.) Political
2.) Religious
3.) Adult
..okay...... seems easy.

.. but on a humorous note... I seem to remember a time when a moderator threatened to lock a thread when there was simply some chatter about crazy oddball things that "audio-phools" spend money on...

The moderator at the time seemed to have taken some "personal exception" to the use of the term "audio-phool".. claimed it was derogatory to him.

And then there was a time a moderator PMed me to chastise me severely as being a "bad American" and telling me I was contributing to the downfall of American jobs... because ... when someone on the forum asked where to buy some resistors... I replied with an Ebay seller located in China !!!

... so you see... lol
.... it does become a little difficult .. from time to time...to know exactly who's toes you are stepping on... and exactly where the boundaries sometime stray too.

I totally agree with the new guidelines.

I frequent 2 or 3 other forums. Of those, the one that seems to work the best and has (in my opinion) the best overall feel, also happens to have fairly strict rules about politics and controversial topics. There are no arguments or bickering, it just works. People really seem to play by the rules and on the rare occasions they don't they don't, their comments are expunged before other people jump into the fray.

The other forums I visit are much more loose about the rules and little feuds and grudges often seem to develop.

It's not a question of "free speech". This is not a street corner, not a public library - it's Alan's place. He has every right to do as he sees fit to make this a great forum, and I trust that he will do it in a way that is fair to all.

Thank you again Alan for your efforts and thanks to the people here that make this such a great forum.

By the way, the other forum that I like so much is Steve Hoffman's forum at http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/index.php. It's mostly dedicated to music and record collecting (1950's through 80's) but also has a good video forum. Mountains of good info there. There's a "Clubhouse" type forum but you don't see it unless you register.

+1.

Steve

I think we are indeed talking about the blatant violators.

Yes, there are comments that appear from time to time, mentioning something the President did, or some new law that might restrict us as radio collectors. Generally nothing is said. There have also been a few instances where a moderator has nit-picked over what most would consider an innocent comment. If this were the only problem, it would not be a problem.

Then there was the recent thread about, uh, you-know. Originally someone asked if there was a run on, uh, you-knows; a few responded. Then it turned into a discussion on the right to bear, uh, you-knows. Next thing you know, it's an argument. The thread is locked. A second thread opens, pretty much continuing the locked thread. The argument reignites. The second thread is locked. Someone opens a THIRD thread. Here we go again. Locked. We then have a FOURTH thread, with a title of "look what I found", to continue it further and blast the moderators for locking the last three. Where does it end? Maybe with a suspension.

The new rule is not intended to make everyone uncomfortable here; rather it's intended to help prevent those reoccurring threads which start arguments over things totally unrelated to radios.

"The ARF have no such walls."

Yes, it absolutely does. This is NOT a public place. We have no "right" to post here, or even BE here.

Play by the rules or go elsewhere.

I would rather this be a "sterile wasteland" dedicated to radio topics than a "whatever the opposite of sterile wasteland is" with no rules and topics constantly denegerating into flame fests.

Thanks Alan. I am sorry that you have to constantly deal with this.

And as Gary has mentioned, it isn't as much the misinterpretation of the rules. Rather it is the same few that seem to think that they will decide what is appropriate. And those same few feel that they have a "right" to interpret the rules as they see fit. This forum is a privilege, not a right. I have learned a vast amount of information here and I appreciate it.

When I was an early member, I posted a link to an auction that had an item going very high. I got a quick PM from a moderator, telling me that it was inappropriate. I made a mistake. I didn't know that it was not the way things went around here but it never happened again. So, if one wants to vent, here is not the place. There are many, many other places to participate. And I will not be at those places...

I agree about getting rid of all political conversation . I dont care about or have any use for it . Like you said there are other places for those who like it to go on the net or take it to emails .

Hay guys its the same thing as driving to fast or driving drunk .. you will get your licence taken if you do some of this to many times

I thank you !

I've transgressed too. However, I was the one that was personally attacked first in a couple of cases. I guess that doesn't make it "right" though.

However, even I can see the reason for the no political thing (( can see both arguments for and against though, it might be a good idea to have a roped off section as it were where people can vent, but I'm not running the show, so I'll have to respect the decision). Sometimes it results in really vicious, knock-down drag-out (verbal) fights. I've never started a political thread, but have been guilty of jumping in, and in a couple of instances, responding in a peppery way to attacks. As long as they behave too, and the rules are applied fairly and evenly, ok, I can live with that just fine.

There's only a couple of people I've ever had a problem with, and that's way better than real life. On the whole, everybody seems to get along remarkably well.

It's funny how personal respect plays into things - in a venue where I've known and respected the people a long time, it's a whole different ballgame. At the upcoming OTR convention, I like and respect about 100% of the people there. I don't know if the subject will come up this time around, most of the people share my views, but even if it's something I vehemently disagree with, I'll try to change the subject, or find an excuse to get out of the situation. Why? Because I want the convention to survive, and also I've known the people for a long time and there's almost no jerks there, so it's hard to get mad. I also generally only see those people 3 days a year, so it's much easier to avoid situations.

Anyway, to make a long story short, as long as all sides behave, I'm ok with it.