- Joined
- Jun 18, 2002
- Messages
- 28,544
Tags: RPG Codex
As many of you know, we have fairly lax moderation practices here at the Codex. We also try to adhere to a philosophy of "freedom of speech", perhaps best summed up by a user who once said: "You know, this is what I love about the Codex. Most people ban the trolls. Here we give them enough rope to hang themselves with and then poke them with sticks."
The combination of those two principles has lead to the Codex developing a certain user base over the thirteen years since it was founded in 2002. As a reader, you either love us or hate us for it. You love it because it means this is the one site where the latest AAA release is probably going to be called a steaming pile of a turd, and then generate a flurry of debate where users pick camps and argue the pros or cons of a given feature or game. But you also hate it because it means some of the things people say on here are down-right offensive, in some cases deliberately so. And they're not necessarily talking about RPGs.
When we were a small site that cost all of $50 a month to keep online, it was pretty easy. But adhering to these principles as time has gone by has not been without its challenges. Particularly in a global environment where some countries are making it a criminal offense to post offensive things on the internet. Coupled with the realities of raising tens of thousands of dollars for various KickStarters, which created a whole bunch of issues just to even setup the PayPal account to handle all of that.
But we've tried. I've always taken the attitude that as long as I'm around, I'll try and do the best I can to keep the Codex an eclectic mix of free speech, oddball community nature, and open discussion about topics by users that would probably make plenty of people elsewhere shudder. And as much as there have been times when I've wanted to delete half the user-base, I've tried my best to resist.
Because at some point, you have a right to your opinion. Even if your opinion is stupid and wrong, and you suck for sharing it. Also you're a horrible human being and I hope you die from cancer. Cancerous Aids. In your testicles.
But as I have said, it's not been without its problems. From time to time, we get some users who push things too far. We also have some users who post far too much information about themselves than is probably healthy in an online environment with a bunch of people you don't really know. Not to mention we also have some users who have mental health issues.
Genuine ones.
All of that leads me to the events of the last couple of days. To keep a long story short, a user was posting information about a personal situation he was going through, in one of our forums that is deliberately not public (all our forums used to be public, but when we found that attracted more problem users than users who were here to discuss RPGs, we restricted them to certain membership requirements only).
That thread ultimately resulted in Management Action™ being taken, after it was realised said user had revealed a little bit too much and people were finding, and linking, photos from his Facebook page. The thread was moved to our "Dumb shit goes here to get buried and forgotten about" forum in the hopes that we could all move on and not make this any more serious than it already was.
Some users didn't though, and so another thread was created. Now I'm happy to discuss issues that arise on the Codex. I may not always be entirely serious, but I'm happy to discuss it. If you have a complaint, by all means, have a whine about it. Just understand I'll probably have a whine back.
That thread resulted in me warning some specific users, again that this stuff was just simply not on. I know full well that once something is out, it's out, and some of you here can have all sorts of fun with that - but the message was clear: Don't.
One user, in his response to that warning, gave me the distinct impression that the message had not gotten through. Specifically, he said that all that information was public anyway, and then he mentioned my first name. Now my first name isn't a huge secret (anyone with a bit of googling can find it) but that action made it clear to me that said user had not gotten the message that dropping people's personal details and Facebook accounts is not the right thing to do. Even if that shit is all over the internet and really easy to find.
Now this particular user has a long history on the Codex, as someone who has been raised as a problem user by the staff several times, on several different occassions, for several different issues. One of which included jokes / threats to doxx everyone on the Codex who's details he'd managed to locate. To date, we had not taken any direct action against that user. But it was clear to me that it was time to draw the line.
So in reply, and in order to make a point, I mentioned his first name.
My intent was simple. It's not nice, don't do it. Forget about it and move on because I don't want to have ban you.
Now as an Administrator of the Codex, I'm obviously privy to information that very few of you have. I know IP addresses, email addresses and I have no shortage of individuals who are happy to tell me everything they know about another user, usually in some attempt to stir up trouble.
I also have access to information in the PayPal account. It's necessary. You're effectively making a financial transaction with me, there are certain details we need in order to prevent fraud, and supply whatever it is you may have ordered and / or won depending on what it is we're raising money for.
At the time, I posted his first name purely from memory, not as a result of looking up any specific information. My problem is, I don't recall where I got this user's first name from. As he was a known trouble-maker who had been reported several times, it could have been from anywhere, as I routinely run a range of checks on users who are deemed more problematic. I had believed he had previously revealed information about himself which had allowed him to be tracked down publicly, which I thought is where it came from.
But I can't be sure.
Regardless of where it came from though, what I did was wrong.
While it had the outcome I wanted (he got the message and finally understood that shit's not ok), the ends do not justify the means. I also accept that the manner in which I posted his first name may have looked like a threat that more information would be revealed if he didn't STFU. That was not my intent. But I accept it could be viewed that way.
Effectively doxxing someone (potentially with privileged information that I was entrusted with) even if that person has doxxed and has threatened to doxx other users, is not on.
Shortly after dropping the user's first name, it was removed. And after discussion with the user in question, his account was deleted at his request.
However, there are now a number of other issues that have been raised as a result, including:
As a result of all of this though, I am speaking with lawyers to clarify the legalities. At this stage, it looks like that will at least result in an updated Terms and Conditions / Terms of Service. But the idea is to resolve these issues with a clear legal sounding, so that they don't become problems again. And so that everyone is clear on where yourselves as users, and the Codex as an entity, stand.
For now, I'm sorry for dropping the user's first name. It was the wrong thing to do, regardless of the legalities or otherwise. I have always tried to treat the information I have access to with the utmost respect because I know damn well, it's all fun and games on the internet until someone contacts the FBI (Yes, believe it or not, someone did that once. And no, it wasn't funny).
If there are any users who feel that as a result of this, they no longer wish to have an account on the Codex, all they need to do is PM me and it will be deleted. Note that at this stage, we will not be deleting or wiping any posts until the legal issues around those have been clarified. All an account deletion will do is remove your email address from our server and free up the username.
If you have donated to the Codex in the past, your financial information (real name, address) is stored on PayPal where I have no ability to remove or delete it. The information kept on the Codex is the amount you donated, what fundraiser you donated to, and an invoice number so we can look up the payment in PayPal if there are any issues. We are legally required to keep that information for our own financial records.
And if any of you would like to discuss this further, that's what we're here for.
As many of you know, we have fairly lax moderation practices here at the Codex. We also try to adhere to a philosophy of "freedom of speech", perhaps best summed up by a user who once said: "You know, this is what I love about the Codex. Most people ban the trolls. Here we give them enough rope to hang themselves with and then poke them with sticks."
The combination of those two principles has lead to the Codex developing a certain user base over the thirteen years since it was founded in 2002. As a reader, you either love us or hate us for it. You love it because it means this is the one site where the latest AAA release is probably going to be called a steaming pile of a turd, and then generate a flurry of debate where users pick camps and argue the pros or cons of a given feature or game. But you also hate it because it means some of the things people say on here are down-right offensive, in some cases deliberately so. And they're not necessarily talking about RPGs.
When we were a small site that cost all of $50 a month to keep online, it was pretty easy. But adhering to these principles as time has gone by has not been without its challenges. Particularly in a global environment where some countries are making it a criminal offense to post offensive things on the internet. Coupled with the realities of raising tens of thousands of dollars for various KickStarters, which created a whole bunch of issues just to even setup the PayPal account to handle all of that.
But we've tried. I've always taken the attitude that as long as I'm around, I'll try and do the best I can to keep the Codex an eclectic mix of free speech, oddball community nature, and open discussion about topics by users that would probably make plenty of people elsewhere shudder. And as much as there have been times when I've wanted to delete half the user-base, I've tried my best to resist.
Because at some point, you have a right to your opinion. Even if your opinion is stupid and wrong, and you suck for sharing it. Also you're a horrible human being and I hope you die from cancer. Cancerous Aids. In your testicles.
But as I have said, it's not been without its problems. From time to time, we get some users who push things too far. We also have some users who post far too much information about themselves than is probably healthy in an online environment with a bunch of people you don't really know. Not to mention we also have some users who have mental health issues.
Genuine ones.
All of that leads me to the events of the last couple of days. To keep a long story short, a user was posting information about a personal situation he was going through, in one of our forums that is deliberately not public (all our forums used to be public, but when we found that attracted more problem users than users who were here to discuss RPGs, we restricted them to certain membership requirements only).
That thread ultimately resulted in Management Action™ being taken, after it was realised said user had revealed a little bit too much and people were finding, and linking, photos from his Facebook page. The thread was moved to our "Dumb shit goes here to get buried and forgotten about" forum in the hopes that we could all move on and not make this any more serious than it already was.
Some users didn't though, and so another thread was created. Now I'm happy to discuss issues that arise on the Codex. I may not always be entirely serious, but I'm happy to discuss it. If you have a complaint, by all means, have a whine about it. Just understand I'll probably have a whine back.
That thread resulted in me warning some specific users, again that this stuff was just simply not on. I know full well that once something is out, it's out, and some of you here can have all sorts of fun with that - but the message was clear: Don't.
One user, in his response to that warning, gave me the distinct impression that the message had not gotten through. Specifically, he said that all that information was public anyway, and then he mentioned my first name. Now my first name isn't a huge secret (anyone with a bit of googling can find it) but that action made it clear to me that said user had not gotten the message that dropping people's personal details and Facebook accounts is not the right thing to do. Even if that shit is all over the internet and really easy to find.
Now this particular user has a long history on the Codex, as someone who has been raised as a problem user by the staff several times, on several different occassions, for several different issues. One of which included jokes / threats to doxx everyone on the Codex who's details he'd managed to locate. To date, we had not taken any direct action against that user. But it was clear to me that it was time to draw the line.
So in reply, and in order to make a point, I mentioned his first name.
My intent was simple. It's not nice, don't do it. Forget about it and move on because I don't want to have ban you.
Now as an Administrator of the Codex, I'm obviously privy to information that very few of you have. I know IP addresses, email addresses and I have no shortage of individuals who are happy to tell me everything they know about another user, usually in some attempt to stir up trouble.
I also have access to information in the PayPal account. It's necessary. You're effectively making a financial transaction with me, there are certain details we need in order to prevent fraud, and supply whatever it is you may have ordered and / or won depending on what it is we're raising money for.
At the time, I posted his first name purely from memory, not as a result of looking up any specific information. My problem is, I don't recall where I got this user's first name from. As he was a known trouble-maker who had been reported several times, it could have been from anywhere, as I routinely run a range of checks on users who are deemed more problematic. I had believed he had previously revealed information about himself which had allowed him to be tracked down publicly, which I thought is where it came from.
But I can't be sure.
Regardless of where it came from though, what I did was wrong.
While it had the outcome I wanted (he got the message and finally understood that shit's not ok), the ends do not justify the means. I also accept that the manner in which I posted his first name may have looked like a threat that more information would be revealed if he didn't STFU. That was not my intent. But I accept it could be viewed that way.
Effectively doxxing someone (potentially with privileged information that I was entrusted with) even if that person has doxxed and has threatened to doxx other users, is not on.
Shortly after dropping the user's first name, it was removed. And after discussion with the user in question, his account was deleted at his request.
However, there are now a number of other issues that have been raised as a result, including:
- "Copyright" of content posted on the Codex, particularly with respect to requests to delete information.
- Issues around deleting information that may be subject to a Police investigation.
- Your legal rights as users.
As a result of all of this though, I am speaking with lawyers to clarify the legalities. At this stage, it looks like that will at least result in an updated Terms and Conditions / Terms of Service. But the idea is to resolve these issues with a clear legal sounding, so that they don't become problems again. And so that everyone is clear on where yourselves as users, and the Codex as an entity, stand.
For now, I'm sorry for dropping the user's first name. It was the wrong thing to do, regardless of the legalities or otherwise. I have always tried to treat the information I have access to with the utmost respect because I know damn well, it's all fun and games on the internet until someone contacts the FBI (Yes, believe it or not, someone did that once. And no, it wasn't funny).
If there are any users who feel that as a result of this, they no longer wish to have an account on the Codex, all they need to do is PM me and it will be deleted. Note that at this stage, we will not be deleting or wiping any posts until the legal issues around those have been clarified. All an account deletion will do is remove your email address from our server and free up the username.
If you have donated to the Codex in the past, your financial information (real name, address) is stored on PayPal where I have no ability to remove or delete it. The information kept on the Codex is the amount you donated, what fundraiser you donated to, and an invoice number so we can look up the payment in PayPal if there are any issues. We are legally required to keep that information for our own financial records.
And if any of you would like to discuss this further, that's what we're here for.
