To the admins who run this site.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
We expect people to discuss topics like adults.

There's a reason ATS is the world's #1 conspiracy website.

I suggest you read the T&C.

I agree. The T&C may seem like your enemy at times if you get a warning or action taken against you, but more often the T&C is your friend.

Many other boards on the internet are cesspools of so called "freedom" where civility and decorum aren't enforced and less real communication takes place in that environment. So the T&C can be really helpful in making ATS the good site it is. If that's not for you, you can always go to one of the "cesspool" sites, there are plenty out there, and regarding cursing, it's also a family site. Kids may be reading the posts here, I'm not aware of any age limit or restriction for the site.

And they do have to enforce copyright restrictions, or risk getting the site shut down if they don't, which you may not appreciate, but that's life.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
Yeah, you might not be use to a place online that has rules, but trust me, it makes this place so much better than the other sites.

We want intelligent debate and conversation here, not chest slapping, fear mongering and name calling within threads. This is why you see things removed.

We expect people to discuss topics like adults.

There's a reason ATS is the world's #1 conspiracy website.

I suggest you read the T&C.

As far as who is in charge of this site. NSA, FBI, CIA, pick one of the 3 letter agencies. Or talk to the " 3 Amigos".

Although the last guy who asked this many questions dissapeared...

.

Where's the tin foil hat emoticon when you need it..

~Keeper

I agree the rules they have laid out are fairly simple and straightforward, besides they don't charge you $$ to join or contribute so I'd say the balls in their court on deciding whats fair and appropriate. The thing that chaps my aspirin is when certain people are singled out in a thread and flagged warned whatnot and all the rest go by with not a mention. That creates an air of bad feelings making people feel singled out. And it happens all the time. Perhaps it would be in the higher ups best interest to have a meeting with their staff and remind them that if they are going to crucify one person they damn well better make sure posts above and below get the same treatment.

Originally posted by bluemooone2

Originally posted by machines4200 if you could tell me the whole story behind ATS thad be even better...
.

I second this! i would love to read a brief history of how ATS came to be. The behind the scenes stuff like how the 3 amigos met and such . If such a thread exists I would love a link)

Well, one day, there was a CIA Agent named Alfred, a reptilian skinwalker named T'salka, and a illuminati high member only known as SkepticOverlord...
they got to talking about a great deception to herd the sheep into their fema camps...and ATS was born.


at least, thats how it was told to me, but I am skeptical about the CIA Agent bit...I mean..who names their kids Alfred that isn't 120 years old by now...
the rest makes sense.

Originally posted by jaynkeel
Perhaps it would be in the higher ups best interest to have a meeting with their staff and remind them that if they are going to crucify one person they damn well better make sure posts above and below get the same treatment.

They may be just responding to a complaint about one post when they remove it, and that's no guarantee they will read every post above and below it. If you feel they failed to remove another post that should have been removed, you can alert them to the post that you think should also be removed. There are just way too many posts on this site for mods to read them all...they rely on people like you to help notify them when action is needed.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


Then someone must be headhunting me because it was several posts in the same thread. Like I said I comply with the TOS, I agree with them, so it frustrates me to no end when I get put in the corner for time out. And I respect what they must go through on a daily basis. But I feel it can be worked on to make it so things like that don't happen.

reply to post by SaturnFX

.....illuminati high member only known as SkepticOverlord...

Shhhhh.....methinks I have sleuthed, and uncovered yet another (earlier) moniker to apply to yon "SkepticOverlord".

But, I'm not tellin'!! I found it, using the stealthy ATS Search feature.....and inferring a little, here and there.

But, I DID learn a bit more about "ATS History"....like a trip in a time machine, it was......

OP I apologize if this is too off topic but does anyone know what happened to the "this thread is moderated by ....... " at the bottom of the threads? I know that used to be handy if a problem arouse to know exactly who to contact.

reply to post by jaynkeel
The problem I see with that is, if someone U2Us one of those mods, that mod may be away for the next 20 hours so that's not the best way to handle the complaint. So I think it's better to just use the alert form than to try to u2u one of the mods directly from that list that used to be there, which seems to have disappeared with the new format.

So I never used the list for alerts, it only served to satisfy my curiosity about who moderated the forum, but I can live without that knowledge, and get a feel for it anyway in the forums I frequent just by seeing which moderators are posting.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


Thanks for the info, as I am not one to have to use any of those features on any regular basis.
Thanks again.

well unfortunately only a few members in this thread knew where i was coming from where the rest apparently think im just trying to change things... im not trying to change anything.. personally its quite lame when people try and pull the whole "this is a serious site for intellectual conversations bla bla bla" im aware of this.. as i wouldnt have become a member of such community.

For some reason which i double checked and re-read my OP...it seems most people thought i was trying to discredit ATS..which after double checking nowhere did it really seem that way to me....am i not allowed to question how this came to be...and why they censor what they do? if swearing is so unruly and you say we should be able to have a smart conversation without swearing...if i was reading a thread about Kim Jong Ill it would just be out of this world if i posted *Snip* that thats really going to upset someone here?

with that being said, my point is should rude comments be dealt with...ofcorse.. between the users yes... but its put in a manor thats showing how people feel...who cares....

All these comments saying i should read the T&C your wasting your time... like i said not once did i try and discredit ATS and say they were doing anything wrong... the first post was basically asking who they are..and why they made this site.... plenty of people agreed that they want to read about it to and they have been here longer than i have... So the T&C is totally useless to refer me to but thanks.. they all make sense and i agreed to them all when i created an account... i never once asked if we can do anything that was clearly stated that you couldnt when i signed up.....asking why is no crime.

By asking about censorship not once did i say that this site should just roam free and spammers can rape this board dry with ads... yes i think that should be taken care of... but iv seen and heard of people simply trying to link a site in a thread which even though he didnt specify right in the message what it was about, it was absolutely within subject but obviously got deleted.

So if you think swearing is just so out of this world in expressing yourself then wut ever....

if you think its a crime to ask how this all came to be ....then wut ever....

if this site is for conversation then lets converse ...but not every one converses like you do.

simply asking why things are the way things are around here....and iv yet yo read any comment or answer from an admin or mod.



With all that out of my head now... i still love this site and respect yea all... like i said...i never dislike a good argument / debate. And again all comments good or bad were appreciated.

would still like to hear from the mods and admins though..apparently im not alone on that.

Mod Edit: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.

The rabbit hole goes deep. If you try to enter it too far we'll never see you again.
Tread lightly.

reply to post by machines4200


Not a mod or admin, but within the T&C's lay the answer to your query:

15). Posting: You will not Post any material that is knowingly false, misleading, or inaccurate. You will not solicit personal information from any member. You will not use information gathered from this website to harass, abuse or harm other people.

15a) Offensive Content: You will not Post forum posts, private messages, PODcasts, blog entries, videos, images, and other supported content, links to images or use avatars and/or signatures that are unlawful, harassing, libelous, privacy invading, abusive, threatening, harmful, hateful, vulgar, obscene, and/or disruptive. You will not use text, images, avatars or link to images or domains that contain gore, mutilation, pornography or illegal content. Doing so will result in removal of your Post(s) and immediate termination of your account.

15b.) Profanity: You will not use profanity in our forums on the Websites, and will neither Post with language or content that is obscene, sexually oriented, or sexually suggestive nor link to sites that contain such content. You will also not use common alternative spellings or net-speak alternative for profane words.

15c.) Intellectual Property: You will not Post any copyrighted material owned by others, material belonging to another person, material previously Posted by you on another website, or link to any copyrighted material without providing proper attribution*, as defined by TAN, to its original source. You will not Post any material that infringes, misappropriates, or violates any patent, trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary rights of TAN or any third party. You will not use your Postings on the Websites to promote your own personal website or any other website with which you may be associated without first receiving permission from TAN.
* Proper Attribution for the posting of copyrighted material owned by others is defined as posting a relevant snippet of the online content not to exceed 10% of the entire piece, a properly formed link back to the source website, and a clear indication of the name of the source website. The posting to these websites of any copyrighted material owned by others that is not found elsewhere online is prohibited.

15d.) Cross-Posting: You will not cross-post content from other discussion boards (unless you receive advance written permission from TAN or their agents). You will not post-by-proxy the material of banned members or other individuals who are not members, but have written a response to content within a thread on these forums.

15e.) Recruitment/Solicitation:

i) You will not use your membership in the Websites for any type of recruitment to any causes whatsoever. You will not Post, use the chat feature, use videos, or use the private message system to disseminate advertisements, chain letters, petitions, pyramid schemes, or any kind of solicitation for political action, social action, letter campaigns, or related online and/or offline coordinated actions of any kind.

ii) You will not Post, use the chat feature, use videos, or use the private message system to collect or ask for the personal information (data mining) about forum members, including email addresses and "real life" names, in any manner whatsoever, or for any reason whatsoever.

iii) You will not Post, use the chat feature, use videos, or use the private message system to solicit members of the Websites on behalf of another message board, online community or competitor. You will not attempt to use your membership to encourage or lure other members in any way to other websites or discussion boards in competition with TAN. Doing so will result in removal of your Post(s) and immediate termination of your account.

15f.) Relevant Content: You will not Post messages that are clearly outside of the stated topic of any forums or disrupt a forum by deliberately posting repeated irrelevant messages or copies of identical messages (also known as "flooding").

15g.) Political Baiting: You will not engage in politically-charged rhetoric, politically-inspired name-calling, and related right-versus-left political bickering while Posting in any topical forum or discussion thread on the Websites. You will not alter political candidate names or party affiliations in order to insult or deride the opposition.

15h.) Spamming: You will not Post identical content, or snippets of identical content, to multiple threads in the discussion forums. You will also not create more than one thread for your topic, or create multiple "slightly different" threads for a single topic.

15i.) Language: The dominant language of our users and moderation staff is English. In order to promote a smooth-running environment and fair enforcement of the Terms and Conditions of Use (and the Terms and Conditions of Membership), you agree not to Post or chat in any language other than English.

15j.) URL Links: You will not place a link on any of the Websites that initiates an automatic download or execution of a file of any sort.

15k.) Video links/embeds: You will not embed or Post a link to a video without a reasonable description of its content and why it interests you, is germane to the topics discussed on the Websites or the topic of an existing thread should you post it in a reply to an existing thread.

15l.) [HOAX]: In the event you Post more than three items that are later determined to be of an obviously hoax, fraudulent, or faked nature, your account may be terminated without warning.

15m.) Termination: In the event your account or access privileges are terminated for any reason, your information and Posts will not be removed unless there is a violation of the Terms and Conditions of Use and the Terms and Conditions of Membership. Requests for voluntary "account deletion" and removal of your content will not be honored without a reasonable reason, provided in writing, to TAN.

Source - ATS T&C

There are more detailed considerations involving copyright issues, etc. But that is basically the long and the short of it.

Oh and the profanity rules are in place for a number of reasons, including the fact that there are children who use the site.

As far as "agendas" and the like go... I've been around for several years and have yet to feel as though there is any specific agenda at play... And I've been fairly controversial, at times, with my posts. I have yet to feel censored or unfairly targeted.

I hope this helps you.

~Heff

This And That

reply to post by machines4200

I can't speak for the admins or anyone but myself, but here's my take on things if you like...

Admittedly, first starting off on ATS can be rather bewildering, and let's face it: most people don't actually read the terms & conditions when they sign up. It's pretty much click-click-come-on-let's-go!

Thus some of the more esoteric restrictions may come as a surprise, and understandably so. To help with that, SkepticOverlord (the big cheese around here, aka "SO" for short) wrote up a tl;dr version called the T&C Lite™ which, if nothing else, helps convey the intent behind many of the rules under which ATS operates.

What should never come as a surprise is that some things that should be universal, like basic courtesy, are required and indeed, the most common reason for post removals and account terminations relate directly to that. Likewise, trolling doesn't belong here, because by its nature it drives discussions off topic, which ultimately makes threads unworthy of reading.

A finer point on that spectrum is simply staying on topic, which comes more naturally to some people than others. The need for it is most obvious when you see what the alternative is like. If you're reading a thread to find out more information about UFO sightings, for example, you're probably not going to appreciate an otherwise interesting thread derailing into political rants and people comparing each other to Nazis.

The reality is that ATS isn't really all that different from most discussion boards. The concept of netiquette is hardly new or unique to ATS, and derives from social conventions that are surprisingly uniform among the cultures of the world. Calling someone an idiot in Kazakhstan is pretty much the same as calling someone an idiot in Mozambique, for example, and that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

What does distinguish ATS from most discussion boards is that differing ideas on a wide range of subjects are actively encouraged. The T&C are neutral on pretty much every subject except things that are of direct concern to running the site on a legal and practical basis. Us mods are charged with enforcing those rules as impartially as we can, and our staff of people from several countries around the world does its best to do just that.

Ironically, if such a large percentage of people on the Internet didn't act like they were raised by wolves, had serious psychological issues, were out to scam everyone or felt they were God's GIFT to online discussion, ATS could probably get by with just a handful of mods, instead of about five dozen.

But that's not the world we live in, so we adapt accordingly.

Ultimately, I think the best way to approach ATS is to be patient, recognize it's a very big place with a lot of people contributing, many of whom have strongly different points of view, read (and preferably think) before posting and enjoy it for what it is.

So far, it's been working for me, and I hope it does for you as well.

reply to post by Hefficide


you clearly did not read my last post and the whole section on people referring me to the T&C.....

i read it.. i know what it says... im not gunna speak on that any more than i already did in the last comment so refer to that instead

Source: my last comment.

and buddy before you telling me to tread lightly??? wtf?

Originally posted by Majic
This And That

reply to post by machines4200

 

I can't speak for the admins or anyone but myself, but here's my take on things if you like...

Admittedly, first starting off on ATS can be rather bewildering, and let's face it: most people don't actually read the terms & conditions when they sign up. It's pretty much click-click-come-on-let's-go!

Thus some of the more esoteric restrictions may come as a surprise, and understandably so. To help with that, SkepticOverlord (the big cheese around here, aka "SO" for short) wrote up a tl;dr version called the T&C Lite™ which, if nothing else, helps convey the intent behind many of the rules under which ATS operates.

What should never come as a surprise is that some things that should be universal, like basic courtesy, are required and indeed, the most common reason for post removals and account terminations relate directly to that. Likewise, trolling doesn't belong here, because by its nature it drives discussions off topic, which ultimately makes threads unworthy of reading.

A finer point on that spectrum is simply staying on topic, which comes more naturally to some people than others. The need for it is most obvious when you see what the alternative is like. If you're reading a thread to find out more information about UFO sightings, for example, you're probably not going to appreciate an otherwise interesting thread derailing into political rants and people comparing each other to Nazis.

The reality is that ATS isn't really all that different from most discussion boards. The concept of netiquette is hardly new or unique to ATS, and derives from social conventions that are surprisingly uniform among the cultures of the world. Calling someone an idiot in Kazakhstan is pretty much the same as calling someone an idiot in Mozambique, for example, and that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

What does distinguish ATS from most discussion boards is that differing ideas on a wide range of subjects are actively encouraged. The T&C are neutral on pretty much every subject except things that are of direct concern to running the site on a legal and practical basis. Us mods are charged with enforcing those rules as impartially as we can, and our staff of people from several countries around the world does its best to do just that.

Ironically, if such a large percentage of people on the Internet didn't act like they were raised by wolves, had serious psychological issues, were out to scam everyone or felt they were God's GIFT to online discussion, ATS could probably get by with just a handful of mods, instead of about five dozen.

But that's not the world we live in, so we adapt accordingly.

Ultimately, I think the best way to approach ATS is to be patient, recognize it's a very big place with a lot of people contributing, many of whom have strongly different points of view, read (and preferably think) before posting and enjoy it for what it is.

So far, it's been working for me, and I hope it does for you as well.

Thank you for atleast answering msot of my questions... this was partly the answers i was looking for.

pretend star for you.

which reminds me... not to sure where i would have been told this but whats the flags and the stars for....

Originally posted by machines4200
see... last i checked were all adults and even if you 15.. i dont think your going to quite be offended by swear words... they censored my S - h - i - t into a pound symbol... not the end of the world but again.. i question why the censorship.

The whole point of ATS is to be able to have civil discussions about intellectual topics without them being degraded by someone coming into the thread insulting people saying things like "I don't care what you think, go away child" or degrading the debate into slinging swear words at each other ie: "If you don't like my opinion then just F OFF" ( I censored my own word there - don't get confused).

Personally, I like the way ATS gets rid of the trash.

reply to post by machines4200


Why do you feel that you are so special that you shouldn't have to look for these answers yourself? It's really not that hard to use the search function - rather than ignorantly come on the Board forum and 'demand' answers to questions that have been asked, and answered, a thousand times before.

reply to post by SaturnFX

sometimes its best to simply play by the rules, or don't play the game..but the website will not bend to what -you- want it to be either way...

Au contraire my friend, this website may be strict about its rules, and the owner somewhat bullheaded on occasion, but there have been instances when things were changed if enough people supported it. Whether or not they comply completely or not, they do usually attempt to accomodate the concerns of members to the extent that they can.

It is always worthwhile to make your point or concern, as politely as possible of course.

On the point of this thread, although I have been here awhile, I do find the language thing a bit constricting. In my everyday life I am inclined to use colourful language on occasion and find the restrictions here to be pre-schoolish.

JMHO of course.

Lets be fair on the admins here....Its not a bad site, ok some threads we cant stand, but others we have interest in....Its like and other site that handles privacy..they can only go so far, like the wikileaks guy who is now a wanted man...so thumbs up for the admins for treading carefully..