Why Was My Board Taken Offline? Please Advise

[redsock]

Forum URL: meateaters.proboards.com

I went to check on my board and found this message:

"In accordance with Section 25(a) of the ProBoards Terms of Service, this forum has been taken offline."

I looked at Section 25(a) but I have no idea why the board was removed. Could someone please address this?

The board is restricted - about 20 members - and is not public in any way.

Thanks.

Allan
[e-mail]

[Brian]

Hi, redsock.

You'll need to contact [e-mail] by email for any disputes related to a Terms of Service deletion. The staff of ProBoards Support do not have any involvement in forum deletions.

As an additional note, regardless of whether your forum is public or private it must still abide by the Terms of Service.

[redsock]

Thanks for the quick reply.

[Erik Mouse]

Actually, it doesn't say that on my end, it just gives me a page saying the following.

Uhhh...

We were unable to locate the forum you are attempting to access. This may be due to an angry bear, or maybe you just typed the URL wrong.

Are you sure that you typed the correct URL?

For help, please visit the ProBoards Support Forum.

Which suggests to me the forum doesn't even exist like the name hasn't been used yet.

[redsock]

Now ProBoards is refusing to say why they removed my board, which had been running for two years. Section 25(a) is "just because".

So the lesson here is that any anonymous crank with a grudge can apparently destroy any board he wants by filing a complaint - and ProBoards will believe the complaint 100% and simply destroy the message board.

I was given no reason and accorded no opportunity to refute the complaint - or even know what it was.

What a poor service model.

[Nscalerr 🐺]

It looks like the correct url is:- meateaters.boards.net/ and this one comes up with the information saying it has been taken offline.

[Kami]

For the record: ProBoards is not in the habit of arbitrarily removing forums. Their revenue is generated through ads, and forums that are removed from service do not generate any revenue. As a rule, forums that are removed without warning either a) violate the TOS as a whole, as in the purpose of the forum is contrary to the stipulations in the TOS; or b) violated the TOS in a specific area but it was not rectified in the allotted time frame stated in the issued warning. All reports are thoroughly investigated; "anonymous cranks with a grudge" cannot arbitrarily influence the TOS department to delete the forum.

Since you say you received no warning, it's highly likely that, if your forum was removed for a TOS violation, then your forum as a whole was found to have violated the terms of the TOS. Obviously I am not staff so I cannot confirm or deny if this is the case, but this is what I have noticed over the years.

Also worth noting: a vast majority of internet services have similar stipulations. It's the internet equivalent of "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone". ProBoards is not obligated to give you a warning, as the TOS is your warning about the content that is and is not allowed on ProBoards, which you agreed to adhere to be registering. The warning is a courtesy, and it's not applied to every single case of forum removal.