By Laws and Terms of Use Changes - Input Needed

[Bill S]

One last thing (hey you asked) :-)

I'd like this added to either the privacy section, or the by-laws.

That the vBulletin Admin hack for reading PM's (which is freely available for install by Admins from Vbulletin) cannot be installed on any server running the MAAST bulletin boards without a majority vote by all members.

Also, if that Admin hack is currently installed, the board shall imemdiately notify all members that it has been installed. Finally, since all vBulletin PM's are stored in the databases as clear text (not encrypted) the Administrators of the site will not query into the databases to pull back the texts of the PM's.

This very issue is what I brought to the BOD, and never got a response FROM THE BOARD. I got several responses from Board MEMBERS, but never the Board. Now that I'm a newly crowned BOD, please keep bugging me about this.

[greenmako]

This very issue is what I brought to the BOD, and never got a response FROM THE BOARD. I got several responses from Board MEMBERS, but never the Board. Now that I'm a newly crowned BOD, please keep bugging me about this.

that hack is not installed

[BigKGlen]

Article IX Amendments
a. Any thread that has posts by two or more members that are inflammatory or derogatory ( Including personal attacks) towards other members with be automatically locked and deleted.
b. Any member starting such a thread will be given an infraction and a PM warning.. the second time is an automatic ban.

I've posted my suggestion in another forum, but I'll repeat it here.

The Original Poster (OP) is the one that starts a thread, the OP essentially 'owns' this thread. The OP is the one responsible to maintain order, and if necessary, report any problem posts to a Board member or Moderator. The OP makes the request for the determination on the status of that post. The OP can request to have the forum thread closed when the discussion has run it's course.

If the OP deliberately opens a thread to personally attack any other member, an Officer or Director should contact the targeted member to see how he or she feels about the posting. ONLY WHEN the targeted member agrees/demands to remove the comment, or close the thread, will an Officer or Director take action. Any disciplinary action(s) are still decided by the Board members.
The same should apply towards any member that joins into a Forum discussion and makes questionable posts.
A Moderator should only moderate. They are to report any questionable post(s) to an Officer or Director, allowing them to contact the member.
A Moderator SHOULD NOT have the ability to alter or delete posts.
A Moderator SHOULD remain NEUTRAL, not to become an advocate or defender of any Member.

Any spoken or written word(s) are always open for interpretation. The final decision should be made by the targeted member.

[aggman]

Do you feel that the members should be able to vote on the final implementation of the moderating abilities and duties?

actually i do believe the members should have a great deal of input. so does the rest of the board. hence this thread, any more that are 'in the making'. we are working on 'fixing' the bylaws and terms of use. we plan to complete the revisions soon and post them for all to view, consider, comment tear apart...lol. this would give members enough time to review and bring specific concerns to the board at the open bod meeting in october.

we just got to remember that these two things, bylaws and terms of use, were written by a group of hobbyists years ago at the inception of MAAST. they weren't lawyers of politicians, just simple men and women with one idea in mind...fish forum. so there are bound to be mistakes and misunderstandings and such. patence is the key, just like with our tanks...only bad things happen fast.

~alex

[princer7]

I am glad to see this is going smoothly. Let's keep the ideas flowing.

With the mention of web tools and reading back through the privacy policy, I can see where this document may need some clarification as well - internal privacy of PMs. As stated by Brian, the admins are not using any "hack" tools on the forum.

Privacy Policy:
http://www.maast.org/forums/showthre...050#post381050

[recoiljpr]

that hack is not installed

Good to know, thanks for finally clarifying that. I know honestly nothing short of encrypting the text in the tables can easily stop an admin from seeing PM's. But, honestly at some point trust has to be given to people with Administrative rights.

Brian/Board, who else on the boards have Administrative rights?

[Bill S]

I'm a BOD newbie. But I think Tony also has Admin rights - and he's WAY above board. A professional IT guy.

Also, our hosting company retains Admin rights - just in case.

[recoiljpr]

I'm a BOD newbie. But I think Tony also has Admin rights - and he's WAY above board. A professional IT guy.

Also, our hosting company retains Admin rights - just in case.

I just think it's important that at least someone (preferably the board) knows exactly who all has admin rights. It's too easy to let that get lost in the shuffle. As time goes on someone may do something either accidentally or on purpose.

I know I'm dealing with that now (I manage a IT department) with a company we just acquired. Someone at that company had Admin rights that no one else thought they had and they accidentally wiped out a 8+ year item history table. It took my guys a long time to fix that mess (thankfully at least they had good backups).

We do have backups of everything, correct? If so, how often is it backed up, and what is the retention policy?

[Mr Cob]

Brian/Board, who else on the boards have Administrative rights?

The Board does not have "admin" rights. Brian is the only one with admin rights to my knowledge.

[greenmako]

Good to know, thanks for finally clarifying that. I know honestly nothing short of encrypting the text in the tables can easily stop an admin from seeing PM's. But, honestly at some point trust has to be given to people with Administrative rights.

Brian/Board, who else on the boards have Administrative rights?

Encrypting would not work for keeping admin's from seeing it if they really wanted too, all encrypting needs for decrypt/encrypt is a key and if the person is an admin they have access to the source code...so wouldn't stop it.

as far as who has Admin rights there is: Cartama (owner of our hosting company), Me, and TheAdmin2 (which is the master Admin account and at one point Tony used this account but password has been changed and me and Cartama are the only ones with the password, as Tony no longer wanted to help out b/c of the drama)