Rules
 

After coming across this post in the shoutbox this morning, I thought maybe it's time to raise the issue of forum rules.

First, this is the post I am referring to:

Now, this may be perfectly harmless, ie. a member of that age group wanting to discuss his anxieties with others of his age, yet at the same time it could be someone looking to hook up with minors (most likely a troll though).

Anyway, the forum owner should make a clear statement regarding such comments/posts involving minors and maybe also place the 'Forum Rules' link in a little more accessible location, rather then hidden away at the very bottom of the page. Even I had to seriously look for that one.

So far the forum hasn't had any issues with such post, at least not that I am aware of them but with the way things are going with the web at the moment (ACTA/SOPA/etc), maybe time to add a clear statement regarding such posts/comments in the rules, which at the moment are rather short and snappy, though if you find them, they do contain everything they need to.

I personally would like to see a section added threatening any violation with an instant ban and reporting of the members IP address and other details to the authorities.

It's been a while since I joined, but isn't there a mention this site is for 18+ when joining? It sure ain't a site where minors should be allowed to start with. Granted that anyone can lie on their age when joining though that is not exactly the site responsibility.

I haven't seen the post Hoverfly refers too. Probably has been taken care of already. And probably a good thing as well. So I can't have an opinion without the context. But it does look rather odd.

Yet, is there really a need to post rules against something that is already illegal everywhere? In any case, site rules don't mean much if illegal actions happen. These actions should just be acted upon for the merry fact that they are illegal and the site has a duty to cooperate with officials in those cases.

I don't think there is a need to start policing the site. But everyone here has the same duty on the site as in meat space, that being a good citizen and acting accordingly.

Jo, it was not an actual post, he posted it in the shoutbox and maybe that is not stored as is on some sites, where you can go through the archives.

Thought so.