Are we an RPG Discussion website or a Free Speech website?

[Jenkem]

Ok voted RPG since that's the purpose of the site. Free speech can go somewhere else I guess.

 

[Atlantico]

I take note of the subtle implication that we will either have free speech or discuss RPGs.

That "implication" is subtle like a brick to the head.

Which is why you're just about the sixtieth person to mention it.

Self-absorbed dumbfuck.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I take note of the subtle implication that we will either have free speech or discuss RPGs.

That "implication" is subtle like a brick to the head.

Which is why you're just about the sixtieth person to mention it.

Self-absorbed dumbfuck.

Yes, and you will read it and memorize it. Because that's your purpose. Read and memorize every dumbfuck post.

 

[Atlantico]

Yes, and you will read it and memorize it. Because that's your purpose. Read and memorize every dumbfuck post.

No need, your posts are all the same kind of Dunning Kruger drivel.

Seen one, seen them all.

BTW is that delirious brainfart supposed to be a snappy comeback? You are really one of a kind retardísimo

 

[AwesomeButton]

Yeah, whatever, just stop screeching already.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Now kiss.

 

[RNGsus]

Hating a game is an alt-right dog whistle or some bullshit so just move the site to another country entirely.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

DarkUnderlord

What is it YOU want to do?

It's not about what I want to do but about what I may have to do.

The choice in the poll is clear, because that's what the choice is. As numerous people here have pointed out - and know from experience - once you go down the censorship rabbit hole, where does it end? Right now we have one word. What about all the other words people can use? Where do we stop?

It doesn't. It goes right into turning the forum into another RetardEra. At which point we may as well shut the whole lot down.

As has been alluded to, the Australian High Court made a ruling recently which effectively means I (and the staff) may be responsible for the shit most of you idiots post.

Facebook defamation ruling by High Court exposes all page owners to lawsuits, not just the media

As much as social media has helped us to stay connected, especially for those stuck in lockdown, it has also become a home for vile and questionable commentary.

The High Court this week weighed into that issue, in a way, when it ruled that media companies are liable for any comments from the general public on posts they put on Facebook.

The case before the High Court directly involved some of the nation's biggest media organisations, but the consequences reach far beyond Australia's newsrooms.

If you're the admin of your band's Facebook page, or the local football club, or your own small business, it will matter to you too.
[...]
the court found that the media organisations were in fact legally responsible for comments on their pages, even though they played no part in drafting the remarks, because they had effectively facilitated the comments being posted.
[...]
The message from the High Court is that if a company wants a presence on social media, it's also responsible for moderating the content made in response to its posts.

"Any organisation which administers a social media account could also be liable for defamation on the same basis — for example, businesses, sporting clubs and community groups," he told the ABC.

"The decision gives potential plaintiffs such as Mr Voller the choice of tracking down the 'anonymous' person who made a specific defamatory comment and taking action against them, or going straight after the publisher — ie the owner of the Facebook account.

And that's Facebook. Where you're required to post under your real name. What are the greater implications for us?

As Roguey said: DU's been clear for years that he's not so much "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" but "Say whatever you want up until the point where it becomes a legal inconvenience for me."

The Codex has always been a fun hobby. And now, we have a bunch of "free speech" proponents who run the minute shit gets serious and expect me to die on a hill for them.

If you want to post shit on the internet, that's one thing. But if you expect me to take a bullet for that shit, while you scurry off under your fake name and proxy account, that's entirely another.

If you want to be "free speech", that's fine. But you can damn well put your name next to it and stand by what you said.

And how are those crying "free speech" going to feel when I'm ordered to hand over your identifying details to law enforcement authorities? You expect me to refuse and go to jail on your behalf?

Over an RPG website?

We know that a large number of the shit-posters register with free dodgy email accounts and use proxies. Are you going to tell me they're really here to discuss RPGs?

How would you feel if I require personally identifying information in order for you to post on the Codex? Enter your credit card details here so I know who you are, just in case someone decides to play games over some shit you posted.

But even then, that's not enough. They can come after me now. They don't have to care about you. And knowing half the shit-posters and trolls we have here, I guarantee you someone's already thinking about how much "fun" they can have with this.

We already had someone try to shut us down earlier this year.

On one hand, I could argue the likelihood of that is small. Who's really going to take it to court, and sue for defamation in Australia and actually take it that far? It's not entirely an easy process.

But on the other, it's a worrying trend. It's only a matter of time before someone tries it. And all we need is for one person to give it a go and suddenly, we have some very big problems.

Over an RPG discussion website.

 

[Ehrenmann]

DarkUnderlord I've heard Idaho is real nice

 

[Alphard]

DarkUnderlord

What is it YOU want to do?

It's not about what I want to do but about what I may have to do.

The choice in the poll is clear, because that's what the choice is. As numerous people here have pointed out - and know from experience - once you go down the censorship rabbit hole, where does it end? Right now we have one word. What about all the other words people can use? Where do we stop?

It doesn't. It goes right into turning the forum into another RetardEra. At which point we may as well shut the whole lot down.

As has been alluded to, the Australian High Court made a ruling recently which effectively means I (and the staff) may be responsible for the shit most of you idiots post.

Facebook defamation ruling by High Court exposes all page owners to lawsuits, not just the media

As much as social media has helped us to stay connected, especially for those stuck in lockdown, it has also become a home for vile and questionable commentary.

The High Court this week weighed into that issue, in a way, when it ruled that media companies are liable for any comments from the general public on posts they put on Facebook.

The case before the High Court directly involved some of the nation's biggest media organisations, but the consequences reach far beyond Australia's newsrooms.

If you're the admin of your band's Facebook page, or the local football club, or your own small business, it will matter to you too.
[...]
the court found that the media organisations were in fact legally responsible for comments on their pages, even though they played no part in drafting the remarks, because they had effectively facilitated the comments being posted.
[...]
The message from the High Court is that if a company wants a presence on social media, it's also responsible for moderating the content made in response to its posts.

"Any organisation which administers a social media account could also be liable for defamation on the same basis — for example, businesses, sporting clubs and community groups," he told the ABC.

"The decision gives potential plaintiffs such as Mr Voller the choice of tracking down the 'anonymous' person who made a specific defamatory comment and taking action against them, or going straight after the publisher — ie the owner of the Facebook account.

And that's Facebook. Where you're required to post under your real name. What are the greater implications for us?

As Roguey said: DU's been clear for years that he's not so much "I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" but "Say whatever you want up until the point where it becomes a legal inconvenience for me."

The Codex has always been a fun hobby. And now, we have a bunch of "free speech" proponents who run the minute shit gets serious and expect me to die on a hill for them.

If you want to post shit on the internet, that's one thing. But if you expect me to take a bullet for that shit, while you scurry off under your fake name and proxy account, that's entirely another.

If you want to be "free speech", that's fine. But you can damn well put your name next to it and stand by what you said.

And how are those crying "free speech" going to feel when I'm ordered to hand over your identifying details to law enforcement authorities? You expect me to refuse and go to jail on your behalf?

Over an RPG website?

We know that a large number of the shit-posters register with free dodgy email accounts and use proxies. Are you going to tell me they're really here to discuss RPGs?

How would you feel if I require personally identifying information in order for you to post on the Codex? Enter your credit card details here so I know who you are, just in case someone decides to play games over some shit you posted.

But even then, that's not enough. They can come after me now. They don't have to care about you. And knowing half the shit-posters and trolls we have here, I guarantee you someone's already thinking about how much "fun" they can have with this.

We already had someone try to shut us down earlier this year.

On one hand, I could argue the likelihood of that is small. Who's really going to take it to court, and sue for defamation in Australia and actually take it that far? It's not entirely an easy process.

But on the other, it's a worrying trend. It's only a matter of time before someone tries it. And all we need is for one person to give it a go and suddenly, we have some very big problems.

Over an RPG discussion website.

Thank you for clearing up the situation. I can understand your difficult position. I'd say if the choice is to conform to PC and become another generic NPC full forum or shut it down the whole thing, go for the second. Better to die as a hero etc. I couldnt tolerate RPGcodex go full decline in few years. It's better to remember as it was , a place full of autists and edgelords and incels, with a good heart (and some unavoidable reatrdness).


BTW thata said, have you tought stepping down, and handing your powers to someone trusted that doesnt live in a totalitarian shitole? Or the situation is not that simple?

 

[Ehrenmann]

 

[Twiglard]

As has been alluded to, the Australian High Court made a ruling recently which effectively means I (and the staff) may be responsible for the shit most of you idiots post.

Transfer the domain and the server formally to someone from the US. Keep it running as normal other than that. Is this doable?

 

[Parsimonious cook]

DarkUnderlord

Snip

OK, I get all that. The thing is (and I speak as someone who doesn’t know shit about Australian law) - does saying "nigger" (or for that matter "kike," "gook" "faggot" etc) actually count as "defamation?" Because if not (frankly I cannot imagine someone would try to sue you over seeing a "bad" word on your forum) then the solution isn’t really a word filter. I haven’t really seen anything outright illegal posted here (granted I read only small percentage of what is being posted though), but you could simply put up some general disclaimer that people aren’t allowed to "deny holocaust" or "declare support for terrorism" etc and simply crack down on people who do that (if anyone actually does shit like this here, it definitely isn’t a significant percentage of people).


The free speech doesn’t need to encompass shit that is outright illegal and I don’t think anyone was really arguing for that anyway. It does encompass me being able to say "nigger" or to point out that forced homo/tranny characters in CP2077 are shit. If the later is no longer possible in Australia then yeah, either move or close this place down, nobody needs the Codex to be a generic vidya forum #45562888663.

 

[Tacgnol]

As has been alluded to, the Australian High Court made a ruling recently which effectively means I (and the staff) may be responsible for the shit most of you idiots post.

I thought this might be the case. The openness is appreciated.

I would guess practical options are:

1. Hand over the site to someone in the states. Though judging by how things are going, the US may end up with similar legal issues in the very near future.

2. Kill all political discussion, though hopefully we can still allow some reasonable discussion of woke silliness in gaming. Though I've no idea how broad "defamation" is in Australia.

3. Kill the site and go out on a high.

That said, I think 2 and 3 are ultimately the same outcome. Number 2 will just be a slower death.

 

[IDtenT]

Give the Codex to a Pole.

 

[Tacgnol]

Give the Codex to a Pole.

All hail our new overlord Roxor.

 

[Ladonna]

DarkUnderlord

Fair enough. I understand where you are coming from. But why the mysterious polls? Why not come out and say this in the first place?

And how would splitting the forums help you? Has someone offered to host them overseas?

Does this only cover defamation? Or does it cover state/other laws eg hate speech laws, etc?

And what happened earlier in the year?

 

[Tacgnol]

And what happened earlier in the year?

There was talk that jcd had reported the site. I'm guessing there was fallout from that?

 

[IDtenT]

Jcd is one ugly mutherfucker.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

Give the Codex to a Pole.

Honestly with all the "prejudicial hatred" shit that is being pushed in EU right now, basing the Codex in Poland would hardly be much better than the current situation in Austrailia. In the Czech Republic we already had people sentenced to years in jail for "supporting terrorism" by making shitposts on Facebook about Tarrant giving the mudslimes the taste of their own medicine and I dont think its all that different in Poland. The only defence would be that nobody would likely give a fuck about a gaming forum (plus nobody gives a fuck if you say "nigger"), but there is no telling when things might change on that front.

US would be a safe option at least for the time being.

 

[Ladonna]

And what happened earlier in the year?

There was talk that jcd had reported the site. I'm guessing there was fallout from that?

Right. Was that the guy that made comments that the site was out of date, and tried hacking it? I remember Taxalot started posting stuff from GD on twitter too.

 

[Tacgnol]

And what happened earlier in the year?

There was talk that jcd had reported the site. I'm guessing there was fallout from that?

Right. Was that the guy that made comments that the site was out of date, and tried hacking it? I remember Taxalot started posting stuff from GD on twitter too.

Yeah, jcd was claiming he could easily access admin functions iirc.

I seem to remember when he was banned (again), someone mentioned that he was trying to report the site.

 

[prengle]

tfw codex boomers are starting to experience something awful-style troll's remorse

it's not 2014 anymore, you're not going to get pity points from blue checkmarks for being on the right side of history and you're not going to make patreon money by grooming 14 year olds with your weasel fursona and your disingenuous brand of idpol like hbomberguy, live with the fucking consequences of your actions. also, move the fucking servers out of australia and the us before the cia pozzes your ass to death jesus fucking christ this should've been made self-evident years ago

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Give the Codex to a Pole.

Article 10 – Freedom of expression

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.

Art. 256.

§ 1. Whoever publicly promotes the fascist or other totalitarian system of the state or incites hatred on the basis of national, ethnic, racial, religious differences or because of lack of religion, shall be subject to a fine, the penalty of restriction of liberty or the penalty of deprivation of liberty for up to 2 years.

§ 2. The same punishment shall be imposed on anyone who, for the purpose of dissemination, produces, records or imports, acquires, stores, possesses, presents, transports or sends a print, recording or other object containing the content specified in § 1 or carrying fascist, communist or communist symbols or another totalitarian one.

§ 3. The perpetrator of the prohibited act specified in § 2 does not commit an offense if he has committed this act as part of artistic, educational, collector's or scientific activity.

§ 4. In the event of a conviction for the offense specified in § 2, the court shall order the forfeiture of the items referred to in § 2, even if they do not constitute the property of the perpetrator.
Art. 257.

Whoever publicly insults a group of the population or a particular person because of their national, ethnic, racial or religious affiliation or because of their non-denominational status or for such reasons violates the physical integrity of another person, shall be punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years.

 

[Alienman]

Sounds like it's basically over then. What I don't understand though, removing GD, curtailing "free speech", so we can have our precious RPG discussions - what does that even mean?

Is it suddenly going to be a Eurogamer like forum, where it's enough to mention something negative about a woman or god forbid non-white character to get you timed-out?