Bo-gutted!

Once again goes to prove the idiots at BASA HQ think they can destroy one of the few civil liberties any democratic country has.....freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech is one thing. Defamation another. Being over-sensitive to negative remarks yet another.

To clarify, I have created this filter to offset those who want to criticise particular individuals, and those individuals who want to put the burden of responsibility on me for providing the forum, despite me not making the critical remarks personally.

Just talk about something or someone else. If you want to express your disapproval of someone, vote with your wallet like everyone else.

It is a real shame when it comes to this Isaac. It is a great forum, which to me provides more interest and entertainment than the local news papers. I hope the additional stress does not cause you to give up on what has become a part of the South Australian Basketball culture. You have a tremendous amount of support.

(Mod: This post is not available.)

Damn. I just tried to publicly state my support for KFC and its founder - and my post got edited out!

Important question - do the deleted posts count for stats purposes? I smell stats padding here!

I know you said not to reply isaac but ..
Dear fellow forum users I think the responsible course of action is to look after isaac and this forum which has contributed to basketball in SA and stop the cheap shots which have at times tended towards slander or have been too personalised.

Has HE put the same restrictions on the 6ers forum?

Moses -- they count towards stats, yes.

Just Wondering -- no, the Sixers forum requires registration for all contributors. Hoops SA does not (because I believe it is a barrier to entry and like to have as many people involved as possible, even if it means kids being idiots sometimes). It is very easy for me to switch back to an "approval required" forum, but that (a) leaves moderators needing to do more, (b) reduces posts and replies, and (c) means that since all posts could be considered "reviewed before being approved" that Hoops SA could be held liable for content of posts.

Also, the Sixers forum does not have the volume of posts that Hoops SA has (1500-2000 vs 47,000+). Easier to keep an eye on what's happening there.

I hope that everyone can read Red Dog's post and appreciate what is being said -- talk about stuff, provide constructive criticism or positive notes, but don't belittle or drag down an individual because it makes things difficult for me.

Isaac, it was kind of a rhetorical question, but thanks for your explanation.

And I do agree with Red Dog. None of us want to make more work for you and the other moderators or, worse case scenario, this forum closed.

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The fact that Isaac had to post this topic should be enuogh for the people who have an issue with said BASA personnel.

GET OVER IT AND MOVE ON - Do not cause Isaac and other Mods greater hassles or this fantastic forum will disappear.

Try writing a letter to the Advertiser with some of teh crap ppl post - it wouldn't get printed, so be thankful for the liberty extended on Hoops and respect the rules - or lose a bloody fantastic forum.

(the above post is mine, not Pickles.)

This was kind of a predictable consequence of some of the personal attacks that are unfortunately becoming common place in various threads.

I obviously believe in freedom of speech but we have to be aware that there are consequences when we use Hoops SA as a forum for calling for someone to be sacked whether it be the Chief Executive Officer of BASA all the way down to
administrators involved in each local club.

Out of respect to Isaac, if not to anyone else that may be slandered in the process, this should not be occuring.

Does anyone actually believe that anything productive will come out of personally abusing individuals on this board?

I'm talking about recent threads in which individual umpires and club administrators have been criticised in a manner that may not only upset the individual but also their families.

Problem is that not only do we post such information under anonymous tags such as 'Stephon' but we put Isaac and this entire site on the line in the
process.

This post isn't only in defence of the Chief Executive Officer so no need to reply with the predictable 'puppet' lines but also in defence of Isaac who runs this site on a not for profit basis. He shouldn't have to deal with aggrieved persons as a result of our posts.

I'm the first to promote freedom of speech but we can all have our
whinges with a degree of common courteousy. For example, I appreciate the information provided to me directly from the 36ers office and the accessibility the Chief Executive Officer has provided me whenever I have had a question or a concern.

That has not stopped me from having a whinge as to our woeful game night entertainment on this forum or indeed many other criticisms I have raised with him directly.

We can all have these whinges without making personal attacks such as calling for people to be sacked or attacking junior umpires and the like.

No good is going to come from such personal attacks. I know defamation
proceedings were mentioned in a post by Nathan Durant with respect to criticism of his wife for which he has copped ridicule on this board most unfairly.

The truth is that posters do put themselves open to defamation claims by posting personal abuse and Nathan had every right to make that threat.

The big problem I've got with posts comprised of personal attacks is not that the individual poster is open to action but so is Isaac for publishing this content.

I'm not a defamation lawyer so I don't know what chance someone would have of making a successful claim against Isaac (The Doctor might be able to assist in this regard).

However, the truth is that even if someone were to make a claim against Isaac it would waste not only his time but also money and none of us have the right to disrespect Isaac in this manner by posting material comprised of personal attacks.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't whinge or voice concerns but if we
have to post negatively, we should do so in a general manner and not
target individuals.

Stephon and others,

There is no reason why a defamation claim couldn't be borne out of posts on this site. Web forums are considered printed form, just like newspapers. There's also no reason why a claimant couldn't try to attach liability to Isaac/Hoops SA.

Whether that claim is successful is irrelevant. If the claim is made, it has to be defended, and almost all claims settle prior to any any judgement/order made.

Isaac has done the only responsible thing he could.

i know its the pot calling the kettle black- but did u guys not read issacs post- please do NOT reply to this message he said

It's easy, go and register yourself on the sixers site and write constructive critisism.

I wouldn't worry too much Isaac, there has never been a successful defamation case brought against an internet provider or forum moderator in this country to date. secondly even in some of the most egregious defamations in history against high profile A listers by newspapers there has never been a significant financial settlement and a retraction is the norm.
In South Australia fair comment and truth is a defence to defamation actions as opposed to the US model where free speech and fair comment is ok but fact is no defence - go figure.
Forum participants should still avoid making remarks about individuals, at the end of the day it's just not polite!

Unlike the US, we have no constitutional guarantee of free speech. What we have is a 'fettered', implied right to free speech. The right to freedom of speech is balanced against other interests; here, it's the right of individuals to be protected from harm to their reputation.

Any person who participates in the publication of the defamatory material can be held liable. With publishing on the internet, the author of the material, the ISP and hosts of internet content, and any other infrastructure providers may thus be liable.

Isaac does a fantastic job with this site, and we're lucky to have someone committed to basketball to operate a forum for us to express our ideas and opinions.

Please give him a hand here and think before you post.

Keep up the good work!

Sorry Isaac I made a post and used the name of the Bucks first pick in this years draft and didn't know it was not allowed.

I like how this page is described as funny!

It is a bit amusing. What happened was that previously there was just The Little Ball. A post either got it or not. It's a flag in the database. Then I started trying to introduce different awards - Funny, Insightful, Helpful, etc. Downside is that all the old posts get the default upgrade of Funny!