Does TWC violate or infringe on your rights?

[La♔De♔Da♔Brigadier Graham]

I have to start by saying that this is in no way a criticism of the TW Center staff and would hope that it is not seen as such, after a considerable time pondering, I have come to the conclusion that it must be quite a difficult task to keep order in these forums, judging by what I have seen since becoming a member in April of this year.

Well it seems that lately members have been complaining about how stringent the rules are in the TW center forums on rulings such as posts being removed, given infraction points for what some members claim minor infringements, not being able to voice an opinion, thinking they may be being harassed by TWC staff, complaining how their opinion is interpreted,complaining that the Tribunal process is Quote

Just a Kangeroo court

Off topic postings, where is the fine line drawn?

What constitutes as an offensive comment?
does the use of smilies for instance warrant a reprimand?

Rules that defy belief such as the Clavicle Debacle

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

CLAVICLES

Some members think they have been treated like criminals when having "allegedly" found guilty of breaking a rule implemented by the Moderators or Administrative staff.

do criminals get more rights than members of this Community?

Where is this all heading? do you think your rights have somehow been infringed?

Does any one know just exactly what policies the Administrators can implement if they wanted to?


It may seem an absurd question to pose, but are the Administrators under any Moral obligations to meet the questions asked and ensure our Human and civil rights are met?

I reserve the right to abstain from the debate until it has been discussed further
and must add that the questions asked need not be any of my personal opinions on the subject.

Please read the material on the subjects before commenting or casting your vote on the subject

Please try to remain Civil and polite if you can as I am sure your posts may be removed if you don't.


This is only an example to give some idea of what rights are expected outside of the TWC, in this case British and European laws and is only there as an example for people to understand more about your rights outside of the TWC, obviously this cannot apply to every country, but may give some idea what is expected in Western society, for those members who do not know.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_Act_1998
Human Rights Act 1998

Human Rights Act 1998 United Kingdom Parliament Long title: An Act to give further effect to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights; to make provision with respect to holders of certain judicial offices who become judges of the European Court of Human Rights; and for connected purposes.


The Human Rights Act 1998 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received Royal Assent on 9 November 1998, and mostly came into force on 2 October 2000.[1] Its aim is to "give further effect" in UK law to the rights contained in the European Convention on Human Rights. The Act makes available in UK courts a remedy for breach of a Convention right, without the need to go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It also totally abolished the death penalty in UK law (although this was not required by the Convention in force for the UK at that time).
In particular, the Act makes it unlawful for any public body to act in a way which is incompatible with the Convention, unless the wording of an Act of Parliament means they have no other choice. It also requires UK judges to take account of decisions of the Strasbourg court, and to interpret legislation, as far as possible, in a way which is compatible with the Convention. However, if it is not possible to interpret an Act of Parliament so as to make it compatible with the Convention, the judges are not allowed to override it. All they can do is issue a declaration of incompatibility. This declaration does not affect the validity of the Act of Parliament: in that way, the Human Rights Act seeks to maintain the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty (see: Constitution of the United Kingdom). An individual can still take his case to the Strasbourg court as a last resort.


Rehabilitation (penology)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehabilitation_(penology)

Rehabilitation means; To restore to useful life, as through therapy and education or To restore to good condition, operation, or capacity.

The assumption of rehabilitation is that people are not natively criminal and that it is possible to restore a criminal to a useful life, to a life in which they contribute to themselves and to society. Rather than punishing the harm out of a criminal, rehabilitation would seek, by means of education or therapy, to bring a criminal into a more normal state of mind, or into an attitude which would be helpful to society, rather than be harmful to society.This theory of punishment is based on the notion that punishment is to be inflicted on an offender so as to reform him/her, or rehabilitate them so as to make their re-integration into society easier. Punishments that are in accordance with this theory are community service, probation orders, and any form of punishment which entails any form of guidance and aftercare towards the offender.
This theory is founded on the belief that one cannot inflict a severe punishment of imprisonment and expect the offender to be reformed and to be able to re-integrate into society upon his release. Although the importance of inflicting punishment on those persons who breach the law, so as to maintain social order, is retained, the importance of rehabilitation is also given priority. Humanitarians have, over the years, supported rehabilitation as an alternative, even for capital punishment.

[Farnan]

Good thing the servers are in the US then, huh?

And TWC is not a public body.

[Justinian]

Rules that defy belief such as the Clavicle Debacle

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

CLAVICLES

Um the clavicle thing is satire. The Curia would never vote that through.

As for human rights, doesn't that seem a little dramatic for a website? Especially one that already gives its members substantially more rights than most sites?

[Squid]

You have no rights on TWC other than those garb chooses to allow you . . . I think this may have been mentioned before now.

[Comrade the Colonel]

I think we have a lot of good rights. For example the Tribunal. We have the right to appeal an infraction, where some other mod sites may just stick with the moderator's decision no matter what.

[Claudius Gothicus]

Even if TWC does somewhat violate freedom of speech, it also provides many other privileges to poster such as the tribunal, the Curia, etc.
Basically in TWC anyone can make it to the governing system if they try hard enough.

[Comrade the Colonel]

well i also agree with Squid. The site owner is the one in control, and calls the shots.

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

Re: Does TWC violate human & civil rights?

No....I have made many mistakes & had many missteps since I came here. In all honesty I can tell you that I have been treated with fairness that I probably didn't even deserve.

So no....TWC doesn't violate member's rights....

[Yorkshireman]

It may seem an absurd question to pose, but are the Administrators under any Moral obligations to meet the questions asked and ensure our Human and civil rights are met?

Lol, you've got to be kidding right ? No offence but yes, that is an absurd question.

How can you have your human rights abused on a website you freely choose to post on ?

I can understand people making such a fuss about the rules if they paid a subscription to be a member here, but we don't. It's free. I could even understand some of the complaints that always arise about the rules if we were paid employee's of TWC, but we're not.

What I mean by this, is that some members complain, (not you per se) as if they are forced to post on here and follow the rules.

[Pious Agnost]

I think the only obligatory rights we have are of privacy.

Even then I'm not sure

[imb39]

Yes. TWC is evil incarnate. It only accepts views that follow that strict party line and Garb regularly eats babies...

Jeeze.

1) This is a privately owned site. Just like any shop you might enter - it can refuse entry and demand a certain code of BEHAVIOUR. Go into a shop and offend some people there and see how long you'd last there. Similar principle.
2) Everyone who posted here agreed to abide by certain rules.
3) It is somewhat insulting to those who do suffer in the world that people drag this up. Talk about trivialising one of the most fundamental issues in the world...
4) Freedoms come with obligations. The obligation we require is that you follow the ToS.

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

This is clearly a farce.

[★Bandiera Rossa☭]

A privately owned website cannot be considered to violate human rights.. if somebody feels threatened by the site they can just leave.. Plus it is probably one of the least "oppressive" websites on the net.

[Dewy]

yay i'm the only one that voted "I dont really care about it as it does not apply to me!".

[Harry Lime]

I've always thought of TWC as being a virtual representation of Garb's (previously imb39's) house. This is Garb's house by the way.



You see those people outside? They are the guests with their noses pressed up against the windows, seeing but never touching. If they want to come in they have to sign a document that means they will understand and respect the rules that Garb has in place to facilitate access. Once inside the members can run freely from room to room, marvelling at the art, the science, the political debate, the games contained therein. However because Garb's house is very large & impressive he has hired some servants to help keep order and to eject anyone who is stealing the family silver or hiding their stash in his collection of 15th Century Ming vases or shouting at the other members in a rude or obnoxious manner.

Now whereas in most ancestral mansions these wrong-doers would be summarily executed on the spot, Garb (in his enlightened, liberal ways) merely orders them to be escorted outside, to sit on the gravel of the car park until such time as their crime has been deemed paid by the discomfort they feel in their buttocks. Then the miscreants are once more allowed back in to enjoy Garb's hospitality but because character is easier kept than regained the servants/robots/conquistadors will keep a close eye on such prior offenders to make sure they don't repeat their offences to their genial host. Even if they do they still only feel the pain of impacted cheek gravel as they visit the car park once again.

There have been a few members who despite all the precautions taken and flying in the face of socially accepted norms still felt it necessary to draw boobies and genitalia on Garb's original portrait of the Mona Lisa, these members were swiftly taken to the mansion's dungeon, never to be seen again. Some say that their disembodied spirits can be seen at midnight in the ancient Long Room. The chains clanking, moans escaping from their fleshless lips. Tortured souls, they pray for redemption but none will ever come for they are lost between heaven TWC & hell the Org.

[imb39]

Clearly I did not invite you around to my pad. I reside here -



Somewhat less ostentatious than Garb's but I like simplicity.

[La♔De♔Da♔Brigadier Graham]

Clearly I did not invite you around to my pad. I reside here -



Somewhat less ostentatious than Garb's but I like simplicity.

LoL now that is what I call Humour,

Harry dear fellow, simply epic post!

[webMaster412160]

I voted for: No I don't think so.

[Swagger]

best thread ever

[the Black Prince]

*raises eyebrow*

TWC may be many things, but it cannot be said to breach human rights... TWC is private property, coming to TWC is like going to a Cinema, Bar or Leisure Centre. Each establishment has its own rules. It can create whatever rules it likes and so long as those rules don't violate a law, they are perfectly fine, however strange, however strict. The private establishment is then entitled to enforce those rules. By visiting the private establishment, you sign up to agreeing to abide by those rules, whatever they may be, fail to do so, expect to be asked to leave. Human Rights don't come into it. There is no Human Right that says you can do what you want, whenever you want


However, Farnan, the location of the server is irrelevant. English Court's recently ruled that for determining whether English jurisdiction applied to an offence committed on the internet, the location of the server was irrelevant, the relevant jurisdiction was the one in which the act was perpetrated. So TWC could be based in the Cayman Islands, if one of the Admin breaches the Data Protection Act protecting my personal data, and that Admin is anywhere in the EU, he can be brought to justice in England via a European Arrest Warrant...