Let me start by saying, that the purpose of Rules, any Rules, is to limit & direct actions, towards desirable outcomes, whatever those outcomes are deemed to be.
If the issues are entirely Public, then the Rules would need to consider what outcomes are acceptable, from the Public perspective, But they would also usually have “some” content directing people towards outcomes which may not currently be widely accepted, But which may be required in the medium to longer term, perhaps from a government perspective.
Should the issues involve both Public & Private issues, then most of the above is still going to be in play, But the Private imperatives will also need to be considered, as there would be little point in implementing a range of Rules, where say one of the final outcomes saw the Private enterprise (such as an Internet Forum), go broke, as the Costs of achieving the Public & Private imperatives outweighed the profits made.
Effectively, there is almost always a balance to be struck, between Rules, achieving the reasons for those rules, which is generally to deliver services to be enjoyed by the Public, whilst at the same time ensuring that the Private Business survives & achieves a Profit, to enable their services to be delivered in the longer term!
I note the following suggested analogy of the Law, to an internet Forum such as this –
“If rules are articulated in such a fashion that there is squirm room, loopholes or, as you seem to be suggesting degrees of severity, then, in short, the rules have been ineptly developed or articulated. Or, those implementing/enforcing them are not fully conversant with the overall meaning, or, lack the understanding to apply them equally.”
Whilst the analogy has been made, there are many reasons why the analogy is not particularly appropriate, including –
1) That Laws are enforced by people that have spent enormous amounts of time, studying & interpreting the laws, such as Judges.
2) People, such as Judges, are paid a considerable amount of Money, as a reward for their studies & they also spend a great deal of time, in actually doing their job, which they are paid for.
Of course, the above does not apply to those Moderators on internet Form, who may simply be there, like I am, to give back a bit to the community, by assisting in allowing an internet Forum to operate, so most members can communicate their ideas to others, without them having to endure some of the worst aspects of Swearing, baiting, trolling and other internet not so “niceties”.
Almost all Moderators, unlike Judges etc, would not be paid anything, they would “donate” whatever spare time they have and no matter what some Forum members may think, Moderators may only be available usually for the McDonalds “limited time only”.
Anyone expecting more, I would venture to say, is going to be let down, because no matter anyone may or may not say, no one is going to, nor is any one capable of, spending every waking hour sitting at the keyboard, nor even as much time as Judges do, in peering at every post made, particularly on larger forums.
And then, there are the myriad of problems that come with interpreting the rules, as I attempted to look at in post –
http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1343785142/3#3So, as I have said previously, I’m not sure if that helps, but they are some more of my views.
Oh & finally, there can always be the unplanned eventualities, which sometimes come along, one of which occupied quite a portion of my day, today.
Anyway Cheers!
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