Can somebody enlighten me as I've just found out, somebody,one of the administrators of the other aussie VW Forum, altered my profile signature albeit illegally including disabling my account in order to prevent me from responding. The 'altered signature' clearly amounts to defamation. I have notified my legal representative and will be taking action shortly. The question is, is this something that can happen here? It makes me wonder as I have often suspected somebody has been accessing my messages and reading personal correspondences.
Thanks!
a

I don't like the sound of this.
I thought we were all meant to be friends.

We are friends mate but unfortunately there will always be wannabe dictators out there that abuse their powers.

as long as you understand the first rule of law........"He with the least money loses" , then go for it

I can honestly say that in my position as an administrator I cannot read anyone elses PM's on this forum.

I can at request edit a users account. This has only ever been limited for me to resetting password for those who have forgot, or changing username.

Thanks very much for your reply and I certainly appreciate your honesty.
Cheers,
a

I was a member of a different forum not vw and the "owner" was always creating false user names and posting inappropriate messages. He would change peoples signatures and edit posts from other users. He is an all round crook and I imagine he is still doing it. Most people wake up to what he does and leave.

Admin on Kombi Konnection cannot access PMs and the only time user accounts are accessed is to reset password or at a user request to change a username.

There is also many Australian based VW forums


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Yep, can't access PMs here on AVD.

Legal challenges do pop up time to time hence why Brad (buggy brad) and partly Jim (bennetonvw) called it quits....for something that we are supposed to be involved in for fun is not so enjoyable when you have to deal with solicitors and the like.

Al

I would have thought Andrew would have jumped in here but I will before it goes to far down a confusing path.

ALL MODERN Forum software will allow the reading of messages etc by accessing the Data Base Directly, this is, however, something which most people can not do due to very limited access to the server itself.

In that case of AVD and the software which it runs on, it is NOT POSSIBLE for anyone other than Andrew to look at anything on the server and thus NOT POSSIBLE for anyone to read any U2U's which are not their own.

The AVD Software, which is largely written by Andrew allows admins a certain level of access and even then it LOGS every use of this access so it can be audited should the need arise. That's right every time an Admin access there admin panel and does anything it records who did what when.

A LOT of the free forums do not offer anywhere near this level of control or audit path. In fact many of them actually use the PM's / U2U's as a form of market research to see what people are up to and sell on their findings and details to viral web companies. One of the many reasons AVD stayed on UltimaBB, why do you think free forums are given out ?

As Al pointed out I am no longer an Admin and have nothing to do with running this place, after all the hard work Andrew has put into keeping the Software secure and sorted though I thought it only fair to make sure NO ONE thought this post was about AVD or that this sort of thing could happen on AVD.

As Brad mentioned, us super admins can edit users accounts but it is all logged so the other super admins can find out what has been done, by who and when.

I have checked the logs on requests from members before, in order to tell the member who (admin or moderator) changed or deleted a post etc.

SPRINTSTAR,

I agree with the above replies but check the site's rules and make sure you haven't (accidentally) contravened them in some way before you sink money into a legal challenge. The site's rules might also contain disclaimers that leave you legally legless.

I am an administrator of a VW forum also and there is no way I would deal with a member other than in a private and (hopefully mutually) respectful way.

It's easy for me to say, not having seen the offending profile signature change, but it might be easier to take a chill pill and give that site the flick.

Regards,

Matt.

"but it might be easier to take a chill pill"
Society would be much happier if we all took note of the above.

Grey hair and grey beard precludes me from the knowledge to answer your question, but they are very simmilar to the amber sandwiches of my youth and the red drink the doctor recomended just last week, (cab merlot seems to work very nicely)

I run many sites with forums, and been involved in many other interactive sites over the years, and have to say that it is only here in Australia that I have seen problems with solicitors, legal threats and such like. And to be really blatantly honest - most of those conversations have been here on AVD. it simply isn't a problem in the rest of the world. Go figure?

Generally by using a site you agree to comply with some rules, they usually just amount to using the site as if you were conducting communications face to face - be polite, don't swear, don't be offensive etc... It's generally not really that hard to comply with, and if you don't agree, you should not use the site. Unfortunately these rules need to be written out as some people seem to throw away their manners when they get behind a keyboard. Netiquette seems to completely escape some people. Rules may also state what is and what is not acceptable in signatures.

By the same token - the same rules usually say something along the lines of the management reserving the right to delete or modify content where appropriate, they also generally say that any data you submit to the site is not secure and may be compromised - privacy policies, generally only extend to dissemination of information to third parties.

Without using a secure server to host the site, encrypted data, and providing valid certification to client connections (like you have with an online bank account) you should assume that your data is more or less freely available. If you want something to be private - ie in no way accessible to anyone who YOU don't want to be able to see it - put quite simply - don't post it on the net.

If they have modified or deleted the content of your signature as they think it contravenes their acceptable use policy, whether written or implied, then they are perfectly within their rights to do so. However, if they locked your account and changed it to something offensive / defamatory then you MIGHT be able to sue for defamation of character (libel). BUT... try to consider what it is, that has caused whoever did this, to act in this way. If you go to court - they will pull out every last post from the site that you have made to try and turn the tables on this accusation - they will try and paint you in a bad picture. This is probably not hard to do to anyone by misquoting, removing the context of a comment and placing spin on the meaning of a post. A good solicitor will probably make Cliff Richard seem like Ozzy Ozbourne.

Libel is a hard thing to go to court over - generally you have to prove that it has somehow affected your reputation and caused financial or emotional loss. Simply being upset over someone calling you names is generally not going to get past the first consultation at the solicitors (additionally they may laugh). Libel is in complete contravention with the basic human right of freedom of speech - if someone calls you names - they are just in their actions - as it is their right.

Tough justice as they say.

Sprintstar,