My forum has been deleted

[dirtyd]

My forum has been taken offline with a "In accordance with Section 25(a) of the ProBoards Terms of Service, this forum has been taken offline" message appearing. No warning, no email, no PM. Unpleasant.

I believe it is due to a competing forum sending vexatious complaints. It would have been nice to have been informed of why. 

[Scott]

dirtyd, issues of this nature are handled by the Abuse Department. You may contact them via email at [e-mail]

[dirtyd]

Thanks

[dirtyd]

I have just received an email response back telling me what I already know, that the service has been terminated under section 25(a) of the Terms of Service. There appears to be a refusal to provide any explanation whatsoever.

[dirtyd]

A piece a feedback for you - running scared and deleting a forum when you receive a vexatious complaint about it from a competitor forum isn't a good business plan.

Bye

[bigballofyarn]

Jun 12, 2019 14:37:29 GMT -8 dirtyd said:

A piece a feedback for you - running scared and deleting a forum when you receive a vexatious complaint about it from a competitor forum isn't a good business plan.

Bye

A piece of advice for you:

I know you are upset, but try to approach this matter civilly with the abuse department. Forums are NOT just deleted because someone else reported them. Reports are investigated by real people. Most of the time, the administrator is contacted and given the opportunity to correct issues with their forum.  I would recommend instead of pulling a "rage quit" that you ask the abuse department for the opportunity to clean up the offending content. I can't promise you that you'll be given a second chance because I don't work for Proboards, but it wouldn't hurt to try.  Best of luck.

[moonbeam]

Only, that's not 100% correct. They will issue a warning if there's only a small amount of content that is against the ToS. In such cases, the admin is given a chance to rectify the problem.

If, however, the forum as a whole is a problem, or the warning is ignored, that is when they get taken down.

[Kami]

I should also point out that you agreed to the terms of service when registering. The TOS explicitly states that the license PB provides to you to use the service is revokable, and the terms of the termination include, as noted, clause 25(a) stating that the license can be terminated for any or no reason.

From a business perspective, "no reason" is not a great business practice, but seeing as you agreed to the TOS as it is written I do not think that you have much grounds to flounce about bad attitudes considering PB has established zero expectation through their terms (which, again, you agreed to by creating a forum on their service) that they are obligated to provide you reasoning for the termination of the license provided. (And in practice "no reason" wouldn't be the case but the terminology gives arguable grounds that they are not obligated to provide a reason even if one exists)

Regardless of my personal standpoint (it should be noted that I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice or legal interpretation) on this, it is something you agreed to so perhaps in the future it would be beneficial to be more mindful of the terms of services to which you register.

[dirtyd]

Jun 13, 2019 8:53:16 GMT -8 bigballofyarn said:

Jun 12, 2019 14:37:29 GMT -8 dirtyd said:

A piece a feedback for you - running scared and deleting a forum when you receive a vexatious complaint about it from a competitor forum isn't a good business plan.

Bye

A piece of advice for you:

I know you are upset, but try to approach this matter civilly with the abuse department. Forums are NOT just deleted because someone else reported them. Reports are investigated by real people. Most of the time, the administrator is contacted and given the opportunity to correct issues with their forum.  I would recommend instead of pulling a "rage quit" that you ask the abuse department for the opportunity to clean up the offending content. I can't promise you that you'll be given a second chance because I don't work for Proboards, but it wouldn't hurt to try.  Best of luck.

A piece of advice for you:

Making assumptions about someone being "upset" and "rage" when what they are feeling is bemusement and a lack of caring anymore is mistaken.

I did email them asking for an explanation of the issue, but they didn't reply.

[dirtyd]

Jun 13, 2019 10:41:30 GMT -8 Kami said:

I should also point out that you agreed to the terms of service when registering. The TOS explicitly states that the license PB provides to you to use the service is revokable, and the terms of the termination include, as noted, clause 25(a) stating that the license can be terminated for any or no reason.

From a business perspective, "no reason" is not a great business practice, but seeing as you agreed to the TOS as it is written I do not think that you have much grounds to flounce about bad attitudes considering PB has established zero expectation through their terms (which, again, you agreed to by creating a forum on their service) that they are obligated to provide you reasoning for the termination of the license provided. (And in practice "no reason" wouldn't be the case but the terminology gives arguable grounds that they are not obligated to provide a reason even if one exists)

Regardless of my personal standpoint (it should be noted that I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice or legal interpretation) on this, it is something you agreed to so perhaps in the future it would be beneficial to be more mindful of the terms of services to which you register.

I'm well aware of the TOS and I'm entitled to point out its flaws. I had no expectations of Proboards and it seems clear that they're only running the benefit for their own benefit & will do whatever they want with any content. I know they're not obliged to provide me with a reason or allow me to correct the issue, but it would seem sensible to do so rather than flushing the entire forum and its 12,000 posts without warning. 

[dirtyd]

Jun 13, 2019 10:29:01 GMT -8 moonbeam said:

Only, that's not 100% correct. They will issue a warning if there's only a small amount of content that is against the ToS. In such cases, the admin is given a chance to rectify the problem.

If, however, the forum as a whole is a problem, or the warning is ignored, that is when they get taken down.

Neither of your above examples for the whole forum being taken down applied. Of that I am sure. A forum I was previously involved in was taken down due to vexatious litigation by the owner of a competing forum that stalks me (although in that case the reason was made known to the membership), and I'm pretty sure the same thing happened again.

[Alex R Jamison]

It may be time for an admin to lock this since the topic starter wont follow the kind advice of the volunteers here.

[Scott]

Agreed Alex R Jamison.



I'm exercising our forum rule regarding Abuse Issues and locking this thread.