>in the case of somebody really stepping over the line, how much "lee-way" do you give them?
>Flagrant libel without a shred of evidence is quite another matter. To what degree do we make exceptions
>How much do they have to be responsible for?
MrB,
Just some thoughts on your [self-described <g>] kooky questions...
I assume you are talking about how to deal with SI posts. IMO, each person's post, regardless of the poster's mental condition, potentially affects many other people. Those potentially affected include not only anyone who happens to read the post, but SI's operation as well.
My impression [and I could be wrong here - I'm no lawyer] is that under certain circumstances, SI could even be held liable for posts made by its members. In addition, SI, it seems to me, is much like a private club in that it has a responsibility to its members to maintain a reasonably civilized atmosphere. To accomplish that end, SI can boot out members at will.
If I were running SI, I'd be kicking out more people . In other words, and generally speaking, the "lee-way" and "exceptions" you mentioned, would be far less than it is now if I could throw people off this web site. I'd tend to lean toward protecting the environment of the site and less toward protecting what some would call "freedom of speech".
SI members pay, in part, for a sense of civility at this site. In order to maintain civility, some kooks simply have to be booted out. On the other hand, SI needs the revenue, so throwing out too many paying members would hurt their bottom line. So I suppose it's quite a balancing act for SI management to perform, at least from a business perspective!
BTW, what some might call "borderline kooks" are capable of adding kaleidoscopic effects of color, fascination and interest for many SI members, even though a few other members may not think so. In that regard, it seems to me that putting up certain mischief-making members to a vote for maintaining SI membership would be an interesting thing to do. Let SI members themselves vote on whether the less extreme kooks stay or go.
Ice
|
