Music forum "shortcomings"
 

To respond to benedict, and to hopefully gain some clarity from other mods:

I was taking issue with the fact that macnorton was seemingly suspended for talking about having heard an as-yet unreleased new album from Slipknot. Rypro was obviously in the wrong by boasting that he had the album and anyone that pm'd him could receive a link to download it as well. macnorton was only agreeing with his sentiment that the album was indeed good and he was enjoying it. At no point did he offer a link to download it, field pm's to receive it or mention anything regarding illegal filesharing.

Why then was he suspended? For talking about having heard a new record? Maybe people should start being suspended that have seen films prior to their scheduled release date? I've heard the record as well. Does that mean I should not discuss what I think about it until the release date comes?

I don't know about this particular issue, but the debate regarding leaked or unreleased material has been brought up quite often with people making it no secret that they're obtaining albums early through alternative and less then legal methods.

There's a difference between those members that we know are members of the media or business and frequently see screenings of early films and those that obviously are downloading songs early via torrent. Frankly, I'm glad people are finally getting suspended for talking about it. Use some tact people!

As for macnorton, it does seem vague since he doesn't specifically cite where he heard the album, but posting right after Rypro saying "yeah I got it too!" seems to allude to the not so legal way.

Yeah, there needs to be a rule clarification on this one.

I'm pretty sure in the past, it has been okay to talk about the new music before it is released, as long as there is no mention of links or how the music was obtained.

I'm pretty sure the mods have even stated as such. I'd search for it, but, well....

I'm guessing there is more to his suspension than that, but regardless, the rule needs to be cleared up if this is the case.

Posts 4, 5 & 22 in the sticky thread below should go some way towards explaining where I was coming from:

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Music Talk DOs and DON'Ts

In particular I would refer you to the comments regarding the need to crack down on "bootleg discussion threads". My view was that the thread in question was threatening to turn into a bootleg discussion.

In this case there was the initial problem post, followed by one which began: "I just got it as well". I made my judgement as to what this meant and acted accordingly.

As we always say, it is impossible to be 100% consistent across or even within the various forums. Not all threads or forums are checked as closely as each other. So I cannot comment on your points regarding films seen before their release except to say that I'd expect similar action if posts were made along the lines that a pirate version had been viewed. Aargh.

Unfortunately, it may be that there will be some "collateral damage" when one attempts to enforce the rules. However, you can rest assured that I explained to "transgressors" where I was coming from and ensured that sanctions taken were weighted in line with the deemed "offence". Of course, you'll not be informed by me as to the precise content of such communications between myself and fellow-members because, frankly, it isn't any of your business.

Circumstances dictate that I'll now be unable to view this thread again for several days. Hopefully my response will be taken in good spirit and there'll not be too much here to worry about when I return.

And, of course, there are all those lucky folk with access to the Japanese version of the CD shipped supersonically to their (or a friend's) doorstep on or before the day of its release who'll be free to comment legitimately about the bought and paid for CD they've been able to enjoy prior to its US launch....

Benedict,

I fully understand where you are coming from. I wasn't concerned so much with macnorton being suspended (I'm not trying to defend him by any means) so much as I was concerned about what appeared to be a nebulous guideline. I've heard the new Slipknot album and, regardless of how that was possible, I wanted to be sure I wouldn't be in jeopardy of being suspended simply for talking about it. That was what appeared to happen to macnorton, so I was asking mainly to cover my own ass and the asses of anyone else that might have been concerned. There may be some members here that are known to be media people that have early access to movies/music, but we can't assume to know of ALL those people and then assume all others are doing it illegally. I think a more strict guideline is necessary in situations such as this. I believe that as long as the discussion isn't going in the direction of posting download links or talking about how to obtain something illegally then the discussion should be able to continue.

Just my 2 cents. Thanks for your time.

There's a guy in movie talk who always says "Oh yeah, I just saw this movie on ________" and he types an abbreviation of a file sharing site. How is that any different?

I've reported him numerous times because discussing bootlegging sites is against forum rules, and nobody ever does a damn thing about it.

Send me a link to one of those posts.