My point is that posting on a message board is a privilege provided by the owner/s of the board, and not a right.
Whether or not you have paid for the privilege.
Uh, no.
With a commercial transaction, which the purchase of a membership is, you have purchased certain contractual rights. Those rights are governed by two things: one, the contract documents, and two, applicable state and federal laws.
IH tries to write their contract in such a way as to eliminate as many rights as they can, but they are still subject to state laws of contract, including in most states the obligation to contract in good faith and fair dealing, and anti-fraud provisions of law. The member has a right to certain benefits of the contract, which rights can be enforced in court if desired.
Not, of course, that anyone would actually sue a message board, nor even threaten to. Nobody would ever do anything like that. Usually just a mention to the owners of the board as to what their legal obligations are is perfectly sufficient.
But don't ever, for a moment, think that the purchaser who pays for a membership has not purchased any rights with their payment. |
