Amiga.org Vs Amigaworld.net........Give us your views!

[DonnyEMU]

You have to respect other point of view if you dont agree gust tell them politely and offer an alternative.

Respect online is a good thing (used to be called Netiquette). However I think some moderators are too quick to censor if they don't agree with you on something.

I got in trouble at said site for suggesting something to the effect that "ANYONE" if they thought the AmigaOne would out sell Windows PCs in the next year was living in a fantasy world. Which ended up being a factual statement. Holy Obvious statements Batman!.

Also (defending people in fantasy worlds), many people live in a fantasy world. Mine, at the moment is a game called Fable. My point is the comment wasn't aimed at anyone specifically but they took it as an insult directed at everyone, which wasn't what it wasn't intended at anyone. I was threatened with being removed from the site if I ever brought it up again with another site operator.

The problem is, I am used to sites in the USA that allow for totally free speech and I realize that when I am in a website that is not in the US I am subject to their rules and regulation of the owner of the site. That fact should be mentioned in big text on the page I believe, as their rules and terms of service would be better understood.

I honestly believe in totally free speech though, and if someone wants to be nasty or look that way they should be allowed to say what they want. People aren't stupid and see things for what they are and react accordingly. You don't have to moderate that (with the exception of killing a topic that becomes a flame war).

 Differing opinions aren't wrong as long as you aren't slandering someone or maligning someone. Just because you don't agree on a point doesn't make either party wrong, it's opinion after all and isn't that the point of discussion anyway...

While polite etiquette is important, these are international sites and I believe moderation should be as light as possible to allow for free contribution because I think that makes for a better more diverse environment including sometimes a more humorous one.. Everyone has different standards for what's appropriate content.

It's like the story of the "Ugly American" who follows his own rules in another country,and offends everyone. If you come to the USA and follow your own rules we probably would respect them as we are a melting pot of many nations over the years. Airing on the the side of leniency is more diplomatic when dealing with different cultural norms and standards..

You have to be able to be open enough to see the other side of the coin.. I guess it concerns me when a site names itself after a famous USA based Amiga magazine and has different rules that wouldn't fly with people in the USA then maybe they need to make their rules better visibility so expectations of people of that culture are respected as well..

[DonnyEMU]

You mentioned totally free speech. You mentioned totally free speech.
That is not possible in Europe.
Germany, Turkey and a few other countries here has laws against denying or mentioning some historical events, breaking those laws can lead to prison sentences.
Here in Sweden a site owner was recently sentenced for posts the members of his forum had made, which he did not moderate, and so on.
So basically aw.net can not allow as much "free speech" as Amiga.org can, the server is in France, and thus the French laws apply.

That's really sad to hear. Our history in our country tells us that banning ideas and people's feelings even for ideas we hold to be wrong and not in the interests of the country are still within our free speech amendments.

For instance a few years ago in a local area was subject to a hate group rally. The police didn't stop them from marching due to their rights to free speech even though people in the country hold their beliefs and hatred of specific groups of people to be dangerous. The police ended up coming in to break up violence by other groups when they clashed with them and counter demonstrated.  

It was actually pretty cool to be in the general vicinity of all of it happening and to see the ideals of free speech in action. Mostly because we know that even with radical ideas in play, my nation and it's laws still work. Needless to say the group found the free speech protest useless to their cause and hasn't been back to the area..

Maybe people need not be afraid of radical ideas and notions if the laws in their country support a system of governing that really allow for freedom of expression of it's peoples. They should work to change their laws to allow for the free expression of their people's views.

Either way: I can't see how any "Amiga" based discussion however that might really violate the current in place laws.. I would hate to think that this could be used to justify censorship either way.