Text 20452, 49 rader
Skriven 2008-09-02 00:34:11 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Ross Cassell (1:123/456)
Ärende: Echotag Madness
=======================
Hello Ross,

On Monday September 01 2008 15:55, you wrote to me:

 MV>> When I was still a point (considered a user by P4), I once filed
 MV>> a complaint against a sysop for publishing in transit private
 MV>> netmail in an echo. The complaint was accepted by the sysop's NC
 MV>> and ruled to be valid. The sysop's system was put on hold in the
 MV>> nodelist for a couple of weeks as a sanction. The sysop did not
 MV>> file an appeal.

 RC> But the rub is, the sysop could have filed an appeal..

He didn't.

However... He could have done that just the same when the complaint had not
been filed by me, as point, but by a sysop. What is the difference?

 RC> The word "private" should be used with great care, especially with
 RC> users of a BBS.  Some countries have laws which deal with "private
 RC> mail", and it should be made clear that the word "private" does not
 RC> imply that no person other than the recipient can read messages.
 RC> Sysops who cannot provide this distinction should consider not
 RC> offering users the option of "private mail".

That does not apply. I was well aware of the fact that in transit mail can -
and often is - read by the sysops of the systems that it passes. That wasn't
what the complaint was about. The complaint was about *publishing* in transit
mail. Publishing in transit mail is a nono. Doesn't matter if it it written by
a user, publishing it is a nono.

Of course when the sysop had appealed, the RC could have ruled that the
original complaint was null and void, as it was not filed by a sysop but by a
point. OTOH, he could have ruled the appeal was null and void as addressed
against a point. Knowing the RC, I do not think he would have done either.
There is another way of looking at it you know. When messages from points
(=users) are considered to originate from the Boss, so can complaints. My guess
is he would have choosen the third option and judged the appeal on merits.

Anyway, nobody made an issue out of the complaint being filed by a point. The
general opinion was that publishing in transit mail is a nono, no matter who
rings the bell.



Cheers, Michiel

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