Well, there are several articles of the charter that either need more brainpower than I have available at the moment or are moot because of the new charter. So, skipping those, that takes us to Article 6, TOE:
Article 6: Age Restricted Forum
Ratified May 30, 2005; June 6, 2005; amended October 25, 2005
¶1: Front Page disclaimer statement
A statement on the front page of the Message Board and on the registration form will state:
“Notice: Adult language is allowed on B77, but generally occurs no more frequently than in real life. We do require that members be at least thirteen years of age before joining. This board also contains an age restricted forum for discussion of topics inappropriate for children. The contents of this forum are not accessible to members who are under the age of eighteen, nor are they immediately accessible to the newest registrants.
All new Board registrations must provide their date of birth and a confirmation email from the member’s registration email address before membership is activated.â€
¶2: Forum header description and visibility
The “Thinking of England†forum header will be visible in the index but access is restricted to those who have specific permission to do so. The forum description will state: "Discussion of topics inappropriate for children; not accessible to those under the age of eighteen."
¶3: Eligibility to Access the Age Restricted Forum
A member becomes eligible to access the "Thinking of England" forum after three months and 100 posts. After this time, a member can request access to the forum from a Ranger. Access is routinely granted unless the required number of ToE members voice their opposition to the petitioning member gaining access to the forum pursuant to the process outlined in ¶4.
¶4: Amendment Procedure for Denial of Access
In recognition of the special level of trust, sensitivity and comfort required in the Thinking Of England forum as already witnessed by the 3 month / 100 posts rule for eligibility, we propose the following amendment:
When a member requests access to the forum, a Ranger will title an announcement thread in the ToE forum with the petitioning member’s name and will post in it the following three paragraphs of text:
"(Member name) has requested access to this forum. Members have until (10 days from day of announcement) to consider whether they have a reasonable belief that the rules pertaining to posting on the ToE forum are likely to be broken by the petitioner based on past experience either here or elsewhere. Those rules include posting in a manner that ridicules, demeans or threatens other posters, or engaging in provocation or the spreading of sensitive information.
"ToE members who object to the petitioner gaining access should submit a brief explanation by PM to a Ranger or by email to the Administrator account. List of Rangers and Admin. acct. email address A Ranger will send an email acknowledgment to each person who submits an objection to let them know their objection has been received, and will forward a copy of this acknowledgment to a designated ToE member. Once two objections are submitted, a summary of those objections will be posted in this thread and the thread will continue to be updated in this way as more objections are received. Please do not post in this thread; it is intended for official updates only. Members are asked to refrain from publicly discussing the petitioner during the consideration period, as the petitioner is not in a position to respond.
"If at least two objections to the petitioner gaining access are submitted, a poll will be added to the thread approximately halfway (five days) into the objection period; ToE members who believe the petitioner should be denied access based on the objections listed should indicate this by voting in the poll. If 12 members vote to deny access, the petitioner is denied access to the forum for a six-month period, after which time they may reapply. Forum members are trusted to refrain from trying to deny the petitioner access without good reason."
The poll will offer the following options:
- I think the petitioner should be denied access to ToE based on the objections stated in the thread
- This option is only here because a poll requires at least two options
When the 10-day period is over a Ranger will announce in the ToE thread whether the petitioner is granted or denied access and will supply the petitioner with a summary of the objections lodged against them, making every effort to avoid revealing the identity of those objecting. The petitioner's thread will be left up for an additional three days, after which time a Ranger will delete it.
If the number of votes is less than that required to deny access, the petitioner will be granted access to the forum and should announce their arrival in the Welcome thread in the forum, which will be created for this purpose.
Discretionary Exception for Extraordinary Circumstance
If a Ranger receives a communication that a ToE member has had a RL experience of a seriously harmful nature with the petitioner, the veracity of which is supported by at least one other b77 member, the Ranger at their discretion may announce in the petitioner's thread in ToE that such a complaint has been brought and the petitioner has summarily been denied access. The petitioner will be informed that a serious complaint has been lodged and their access denied for the usual 6-month period, and will be advised that subsequent requests for access are likely to meet with the same result. The thread will then be locked and deleted. If it is subsequently determined in a hearing that the accusation was false, the accusing member will be subject to penalties up to and including an immediate ban and always including a minimum two-year ban from the Thinking of England forum.
A committee composed of volunteer ToE posters and Rangers will annually review these procedures to assess their effectiveness and determine if changes need to be made. If changes are required, they will make this known to the board at large and the usual procedure for amending the Charter will be followed.
¶5: Terms of participation in Age Restricted Forum
Before permission is activated, an email with the “Thinking of England†forum sticky note information will be forwarded to the new member, who will be required to agree to the terms of participation in that forum as outlined in that sticky by return email.
Posters, when in the “Thinking of England†forum, must be even more alert to abusive or exploitive behavior (especially taking advantage of another’s emotional vulnerability, youth, or inexperience in adult environments) than in other forums. Posters are encouraged to act on conscience when they witness such behavior and to report any violation of the by-laws to the Rangers.
As a courtesy, new posters to the 'Thinking of England' forum are encouraged to make their arrival known to existing posters in a Courtesy Introduction thread created for this purpose in that forum.
¶6: Legal Compliance
It is the intention of the membership to stay abreast of any changes in the law that would affect their responsibilities toward the public where this forum is concerned.
Do we need to change any of this? I promise to read it later, but I have to run now.
There are three things that I would change.
Firstly:
If a member has had complaints, but through the voting process still gains access to TOE, I would want there to be a five day period between when the Rangers announce that they are allowed access, and when they are actually given access so that those who had complaints can edit/delete their posts before the new poster is allowed into the forum.
If a person has a problem with someone being given access and that person is still given access, it is only fair to allow the person who is uncomfortable to remove any information that they wish from their posts and to PM other members and/or rangers to remove information about themselves from other posters posts, or at least to make that information non-specific rather than pertaining directly to them.
Secondly:
We don't have that many members who post in TOE that much anymore, so I think that the two people to object to cause a thread being started should be changed to one person and the 12 person voting to deny access should be changed to 5 people voting to deny access. I don't know how many people regularily read the forum, but there are only about 6 or 7 who post even somewhat regularily.
Thirdly:
Because there are quite a few posters who have posted in TOE in the past, but may not go there now, if a new member who has had objections about their joining has passed the vote, the Rangers should, at the beginning of the final five day period, sent a PM to all members of the TOE informing them that this has occured. Thus, these posters would have the information in enough time to edit their posts if they feel necessary.
Therefore, the bits pertaining to the time period, number of votes to deny access and Ranger PMs should read as follows (new or changed stuff bolded, stuff staying the same in smaller font):
"(Member name) has requested access to this forum. Members have until (10 days from day of announcement) to consider whether they have a reasonable belief that the rules pertaining to posting on the ToE forum are likely to be broken by the petitioner based on past experience either here or elsewhere. Those rules include posting in a manner that ridicules, demeans or threatens other posters, or engaging in provocation or the spreading of sensitive information.
"ToE members who object to the petitioner gaining access... ...as the petitioner is not in a position to respond.
"If one objection to the petitioner gaining access are submitted, a poll will be added to the thread approximately halfway (five days) into the objection period; ToE members who believe the petitioner should be denied access based on the objections listed should indicate this by voting in the poll. If 5 members vote to deny access, the petitioner is denied access to the forum for a six-month period, after which time they may reapply. Forum members are trusted to refrain from trying to deny the petitioner access without good reason."
The poll will offer the following options:
- I think the petitioner should be denied access to ToE based on the objections stated in the thread
- This option is only here because a poll requires at least two options
When the 10-day period is over a Ranger will announce in the ToE thread whether the petitioner is granted or denied access and will supply the petitioner with a summary of the objections lodged against them, making every effort to avoid revealing the identity of those objecting. The petitioner's thread will be left up for an additional five days, after which time a Ranger will delete it.
If, after 10 days, the number of votes is less than that required to deny access, the current TOE members will be informed of this and will have 5 days to do what they feel they need to do with their own posts and to contact other members and/or Rangers to ask for deletion of poster specific information and/or quotes pertaining directly to them.
Rangers should PM all members of the TOE forum to inform them that a poster who has had objections raised against them joining has passed the vote and will be allowed to join the forum, in order to allow posters who may not be regular posters to the forum to understand what is going on and to take such actions with their own posts as they feel necessary.
After 15 days in total, the petitioner will be granted access to the forum and should announce their arrival in the Welcome thread in the forum, which will be created for this purpose.
This may seem OTT, but there is a LOT of highly personal information in that forum, and posters need to know that they have the time to delete their history there if they feel that someone untrustworthy has become a member.
That's one thing about the TOE forum - it is built on total and complete trust and on a lot of sould baring honesty. That kind of thing needs protection.