Author: Peter Skinner
Date: 08:47:44 02/13/06
The last 24 hours has been very discouraging to say the least. I expressed my opinion on the way engine authors have been treating the CCC with regards to commercial sales posts and comments, and while Rybka was the reference used, it was not the only target. I tried to explain this, but no one could see past their convictions that I had done something absolutely horrible, or as one former moderator insinuated, I had breached some sort of ethical line by sharing my opinion as a moderator. Ok… I am not allowed to share my views and opinions now as a moderator. Where the hell does it state that? I then removed a thread where it was clear the author was polling current and possible future customers on the idea of a subscription fee service for his program over a per release purchase. THIS WAS A CLEAR COMMERCIAL EXHORTATION! He even comes back to asked for the replies to the thread before I deleted them so he can see the feedback from such proposal and when I challenge him on it, he of course refuses to reply. Yet I am still in the wrong… I asked a simple question: “What about rule #4 do you not understand?” This rule has been in place since the CCC began and in recent times there have many challenges to it, and all have been refuted. I am sure we all remember Gothic Chess, or how Fruit was stifled from promoting in the forum. Yet when it comes to Vasik and Rybka, suddenly everyone turns a blind eye. Even more, they treat me like I have done something wrong for simply asking what he did not understand about a rule in our charter that has been there from the very beginning, and one I read when I JOINED nine years ago. Now just to clarify that Vas understands rules and so forth, it has been made very clear that he uses a Yahoo Group to distribute his program. Now I know he can read and follow rules, but let me ask this: “What do you not understand about rule #6?” Yahoo! Groups Guidelines Yahoo! Groups give Yahoo! users a place to meet, interact, and share ideas with each other. Just like a real community, you may have different opinions than other Yahoo! Groups users. The Yahoo! Groups experience is best when people remember a few rules. Yahoo! sets out the terms and conditions of your use of our services in the Yahoo! Terms of Service, our Guidelines, and in other rules that we may place on our site. For your use of Yahoo! Groups, some of the key things to remember are: 1. You may not harass, abuse, threaten, or advocate violence against other members or individuals or groups. 2. You may not post content that is harmful to minors. 3. You may not post content that is obscene, otherwise objectionable, or in violation of federal or state law. 4. Stay on topic. Although all groups are different, most groups appreciate it when you stay on topic. If you constantly stray from the topic you may be moderated or removed from a group altogether by its owner. 5. You may not add members to a group without their permission. 6. You may not use Yahoo! Groups for commercial or advertising purposes. 7. You may not post content which infringes the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of third parties. 8. You may only post adult-oriented content in age-restricted areas. You must be 18 years old or over to access these areas. 9. Some content may be more appropriate in some contexts than others. Yahoo! reserves the right to remove content that it determines, in its sole discretion, to be inappropriate and in violation of our rules. For example, discussions or depictions of bestiality, incest, excretory acts, or child pornography may be inappropriate if placed in a sexual or otherwise exploitative context. 10. You may not use Groups solely for the purpose of storing and archiving files. Ok, I am still the bad guy. I will have to accept that. After all, the people have spoken. And Vas clearly follows the rules anywhere he goes when it comes to his program and marketing/commercial ideas. Let’s move on… There were comments made through out this whole fiasco that really made me think about the direction that I wanted take, or see come from this situation. In the following post Uri Blass stated: http://www.talkchess.com/forums/1/message.html?486203 “I thought that the intention of the rule not to have advertisment is to prevent having the same commercial advertisement repeat again and again because it is boring. I cannot see a demage from the fact that posters get new information in this forum. Unmfortunately you want to stop us from getting information by not allowing posters to post new information. I think that it is a good reason not to choose you as a moderator next time. With moderators like you people are going to prefer to read a different forum. There is no special need for this forum and it is possible to use other forums for information. I do not think that steve lose money because of Vasik's posts. It is possible that Steve will have to close this message board but I do not care about steve and it is possible to post in another forum if posting in this message board costs too much to steve(for example the winboard forum). Uri” The above is a perfect example of why our forum is failing. We have high profile users trashing this forum when they know there is another just around the corner. Uri even clearly states he could care less about the money and time that Steve has output for this forum because “There is no special need for this forum and it is possible to use other forums for information.” Yet I am a bad guy for simply stopping a commercial author from using this forum as a sale pitch, tech forum, and polling station.” Well doesn’t that just say it all? Then I get an influx of emails over night where users clearly bash me on the forums for what I have done, but then email me to state they agree with it and if I were to run as moderator again, I would get their vote. Or I get the emails that state they will try to influence people to withdraw or persuade others not to participate in CCT8 based on my actions on the CCC. Of course we have the overly exuberant that just call me names and so forth. So, this leaves me with only one decision as I see it. I am resigning my position as moderator on the CCC. I have informed Graham, Robert, Tim, and Steve as to my decision. Also I am resigning as TD or CCT8. I do not want my actions here to reflect poorly on that tournament, and as such will provide all the website materials and password to the CCT8 TD account on ICC to the person that will take up the task. Please contact me if you would like the role as CCT TD. My mind is made up on these decisions, and I will not be answering this thread. I will however thank those who showed support for me and the moderation team during this whole situation. It was encouraging to see. Peter
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