You are not logged in. Login Now
 0-24   25-49   50-74   75-99   100-124   125-149   150-174   175-199   200-224 
 225-249   250-274   275-299   292-316   317-341   342-366   367-391   392-393   
 
Author Message
25 new of 393 responses total.
jmsaul
response 317 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 04:44 UTC 2004

Re #315:  I don't think Valerie cared whether her actions were within the
          guidelines or not; her own comfort and feeling of control were
          paramount.  She herself said that she was prepared to be removed
          from staff for it, so it's clear she at least suspected she was
          doing something she wasn't supposed to.
bru
response 318 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 04:58 UTC 2004

delete and be damned!  They are no great loss.
jmsaul
response 319 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 05:00 UTC 2004

If that's the standard, let's torch 80% of the conferencing system.
other
response 320 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 05:24 UTC 2004

Mary, I would respond that if it came to it, our answer would be 
that this was an aberration, not a one-time kindness.  Our answer 
would be that this was the result of an internal communication issue 
we didn't know existed, and we're using this opportunity to insure 
that it doesn't happen again.  Our answer would be that this WAS a 
violation of existing policy.  

My guiding principle here is the one of least harm.  That principle 
dictates that the text rightfully removed remain removed, and the 
text not rightfully removed be restored, except insofar as it quotes 
significantly (an admittedly unclear standard) from the rightfully 
removed text.  The stated purposes of item removal were specifically 
prevention of future parody (Valerie) and prevention of future abuse 
(John).  Valerie's case is easier, since it is her text in specific 
which represents the potential, and it can easily be identified and 
separated.  Jep's case is a bit harder.  Not having great 
familiarity with the precise content of the items, I can't say 
exactly how best to serve both his need and the need to protect 
against censorship, but I'm SURE there is a balance to be struck.  
However, that compromise will likely be less satisfactory to jep 
than to those others who posted in his items.  

Jep's right to redress his own errors does not supercede the rights 
of others to control over their own thoughts and ideas, nor does it 
supercede the rights of Grex to to what is in its own best interests 
within the limitations of the law, and that's something he'll have 
to accept.  

The point is that we can move on from here with some reasonable 
action which addresses the current issues without establishing a 
precedent Grex can't live with, and we can do it without completely 
backtracking and exposing jep to the full extent he fears.
willcome
response 321 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 09:57 UTC 2004

Do you know about the harm principle?  It's based on you shouldn't harm the
harmless as a legal law.  What do you think?
jmsaul
response 322 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 13:15 UTC 2004

Re #320:  That's well said, and a good explanation of my position too.
iggy
response 323 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 17:00 UTC 2004

(for those of you who are impaired, the following is sarcasm:)
i think that all text on grex should be erased in an attempt to start
over from scratch.  within every conference there should be a warning 
about not entering anything that you wouldn't want to be read on the front
page of a nation-wide newspaper.  and a prodding that you may claim to
not care now, but that if you change yuor mind in 5 years you cannot go
back and un-do what you wrote.
tod
response 324 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 20:54 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

slynne
response 325 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 21:29 UTC 2004

That is a little bit of an over-reaction. 
jp2
response 326 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 21:37 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

naftee
response 327 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 13 22:13 UTC 2004

You should see janc over-react.
jaklumen
response 328 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 09:36 UTC 2004

Welcome to the theater of the absurd?
cross
response 329 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 16:51 UTC 2004

I encourage everyone who reads this to ask themselves the following:
What would the reaction be if a random person broke root on grex and
deleted a bunch of conference items?

Wouldn't we restore them?

So what makes this situation different?  That some well known and popular
grexers deleted (either directly or by proxy) their items?  Is it the
fact that these individuals are well-known and popular that allows us
to condone their actions?  Is it the fact that they had good reasons?

This is important.  Why are people willing to let valerie and jep slide
when if the exact same thing happened under different circumstances,
the question wouldn't even be asked: we'd simply restore the deleted data.

I disagree with Joe that restoring the items would serve no useful
purpose.  It would send a message that Grex does *not* tolerate
censorship, and that if such aberations do happen, they will be undone
quickly.

That said, as I have proposed before, I think that jep and valerie
(or someone acting on their behalfs) should be allowed to delete their
responses from their items prior to them appearing publically.
slynne
response 330 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 17:04 UTC 2004

Honestly, I am willing to let valerie and jep slide on this because 
those items are so personal. I realize that I am not being objective 
about this. 

I think that restoring the items with the comments of anyone willing to 
have them deleted is probably the best solution to this issue. I think 
that most people would be willing to have their own comments deleted 
from those items. The few comments that would be left would not be 
harmful to anyone, imho. 

But honestly, that solution pretty much acomplishes the same thing as 
just leaving them deleted. I get the whole thing about how we dont want 
to set a precident for some users being allowed to delete other users 
posts and all that. I dont think that the posts themselves are worth 
much especially since they will be taken out of any context they once 
had. In the grand scheme of things, I dont think these items are 
important. I personally do not care if they remain deleted or not. 


flem
response 331 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 17:35 UTC 2004

The difference between leaving the items completely deleted and
restoring them minus the responses of users who *explicitly state* that
they don't mind having those comments deleted is this:  In the former
case we as the community of grex are saying that the desires of a single
user are more important than the rights of ownership and freedom of
speech of all the other users who posted in those items.  We're not even
saying that one person's rights are more important than anothers, we're
saying that one person's *desires* are more important than the rest of
our *rights*.  
slynne
response 332 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 18:02 UTC 2004

Yes. I can totally see how you can see it that way. And I agree that it 
is wrong to allow a user to delete anyone else's posts. I know that if 
the board were asked to vote on this, I would feel compeled to be 
objective and the objective view is that grex users should not be 
allowed to delete other user's posts. Nor should they be able to have a 
staff member delete other user's posts (unless in the context of 
something like the proposed blog conference). 

Yet, I would hope that anyone who had responded in those items would be 
willing to give their permission to have their responses deleted. To do 
otherwise is, imho, rubbing salt into the wound. I honestly believe 
that most of the people who have commented in those items would be 
quite willing to allow their posts to be deleted. 

FWIW, I understand that there is a big difference between allowing 
one's posts to be deleted and having them deleted by someone else 
without permission even if the end result is the same. 
keesan
response 333 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 18:05 UTC 2004

So far how many people have said they are NOT willing to have their postings
deleted from Valerie's and JEP's items? The only one I recall is Mary.
albaugh
response 334 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 19:16 UTC 2004

Re: #333 - it doesn't matter.  The default position must be "as close as
possible to what should have happened", which is all people's responses remain
unless they exclicity go and scribble them themselves.
cross
response 335 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 19:38 UTC 2004

JP2 said he didn't want his responses deleted.
jmsaul
response 336 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 19:49 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

jmsaul
response 337 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 19:52 UTC 2004

I do not want my responses deleted from Valerie's items.  I'm willing 
to discuss with jep whether I'd consent to having them removed from his.

In either case, what matters isn't that my responses were particularly 
valuable, it's the principle:  deleting them wasn't Valerie's decision 
to make.
happyboy
response 338 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 20:03 UTC 2004

i don't want my posts deleted.
naftee
response 339 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 14 23:50 UTC 2004

re 332
>willing to give their permission to have their responses deleted.

But now you're making assumptions about other people's opinions!  Unless of
course you remember exactly who responded to each item and can either vouch
for them reasonably or have spoken to them personally.  I'm willing to bet
you did not do this.

The above point goes for all the other users who made similar statements.
jep
response 340 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 15 03:23 UTC 2004

My items being deleted is different from a vandal breaking root in 
these ways:

1) Multiple staff members thought it was okay to delete those items 
and said so publicly before I made my request.

2) There was precedent, at the time I made my request, for deleting 
items of that sort.  Valerie had deleted her items.  

3) I asked for my two items to be deleted.  I made an official request 
through the best means of doing so; a message to "staff@grex.org", and 
this request was granted.

I've already stated that I wouldn't have asked for the items to be 
deleted if it weren't for points 1 and 2.  I had no reason to expect 
they might be restored, amidst a publicity firestorm yet, when all I 
wanted was for them to disappear.

I'd rather, right now, that no items had been deleted, rather than 
have the possibility my items will be restored in the current 
environment and due to the current situation.
naftee
response 341 of 393: Mark Unseen   Jan 15 03:35 UTC 2004

Do you even try reading things in this conference?  All three of those points
are mostly bull.
 0-24   25-49   50-74   75-99   100-124   125-149   150-174   175-199   200-224 
 225-249   250-274   275-299   292-316   317-341   342-366   367-391   392-393   
Response Not Possible: You are Not Logged In
 

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss