h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well said Frogbit

I at least got an email as to why one of my posts was hidden.

But still can't get a sensible answer to why when im logged into H2G2 do i then need to login/register on TGD!

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mmmmmmmmmm

You can say anything you like you just can't insist that the BBC publish it. The BBC is our publisher not our mouthpiece. We have a right to freedom of speech not a right to have our speeches published. I suspect that DNA, as a author, would have been well aware of what it is reasonable to expect your publisher to do for you.

You can say anything you like - in the place provided or on your own website.

That sounds on the surface perfectly sensible. Remains to be seen if it's indeed just that, a publisher exercising his right to determine his policy, if in a slightly inconsistent way, or if this is going to be symptomatic for Freedom of Expression in Europe in the near and more distant future.

Slightly inconsistent? I bet there's a lawyer somewhere in the BBC trying to convince people that the consistent, logical way forward would be to close down all the discussion boards including the dna sites. Thank goodness for slight inconsistency.

Of course, at this crucial time the time of the moderators and staff is precious. It would be such a waste of their time if they were to start having to plough through acres and acres of postings from someone who has given a cast iron undertaking NOT to conceal the recipe for sarin within them, just on the off chance...

H.

Ok, then, my fault. h2g2 did hithertoo give the impression to the uninitiated that it was a place where one was free to say anything, as long as it wasn't vicious or disgusting.
No need to close it down though, it seems effectively muzzled already, which is a much less conspicuous measure, and as efficient.

The difference is that unlike a commercial publisher, h2g2 is funded by the BBC which is funded by licence-payers, i.e. US. Therefore we have some rights to say what we want. I'm a refugee from the 606 website where the censorship is draconian and I thought I'd found a nice here where I could express myself more freely. Now I find the same bloody thing happening.
Once you introduce censorship to a site, several things happen:
1) You get arbitrary decisions about what gets to appear
2) Guidelines tend to be interpreted as strictly as possible
3) The moderators tend to get less responsive because their workload has increased, because people have more questions and complaints. Eventually you start receiving 606-style responses, saying: "We're too busy to answer your question. Please read the House Rules again"
4) The whole atmosphere of the board turns sour because the people at the top can't or won't answer questions.

"1) You get arbitrary decisions about what gets to appear"

Check. And how.

"2) Guidelines tend to be interpreted as strictly as possible"

I think you're flattering them that they're doing any interpreting at all.

"3) The moderators tend to get less responsive because their workload has increased, because people have more questions and complaints."

No kidding...

"Eventually you start receiving 606-style responses, saying: "We're too busy to answer your question. Please read the House Rules again"

Yeah. No specific answers, so no clues as to what Rule you've broken or how. It's classic dictatorship.

"4) The whole atmosphere of the board turns sour because the people at the top can't or won't answer questions"

Well, I wouldn't like to see that happen. I really wouldn't. Still, if this continues, as you say, that might be what happens...

H.

Yes, it would seem that at least the licence payers should have a say in the matter?
Not being a BBC licence payer myself, maybe i should shut up about policy matters, take it, or leave it, but what about those non-Britons who have invested far more time and effort than i have to make this an interesting community?

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Your licence fee buys you the right to operate a certain type of equipment it doesn't give you publishing or broadcasting rights. Are you going to turn up at Broadcasting House and demand to be interviewed on News at Ten? If you write to the Radio Times do they have to publish it?

Taken to its logical extreme your 'rule' would deny your so-called rights to anyone who doesn't pay a licence fee.

This is not censorship. It is editorial control.

We do not 'say' things on h2g2, we publish them and the increased workload you refer to is solely due to people failing to understand the difference.

Does this censorship, sorry, editorial prcoess extend to our personal spaces and journal entries too? There, we really should have the right to say what we want, unless it's obviuosly grossly insulting to anyone of course.

"Your licence fee buys you the right to operate a certain type of equipment it doesn't give you publishing or broadcasting rights. Are you going to turn up at Broadcasting House and demand to be interviewed on News at Ten? If you write to the Radio Times do they have to publish it?

Taken to its logical extreme your 'rule' would deny your so-called rights to anyone who doesn't pay a licence fee.

This is not censorship. It is editorial control.

We do not 'say' things on h2g2, we publish them and the increased workload you refer to is solely due to people failing to understand the difference."

I don't think people have a problem understanding the difference, Amy. There are house rules that govern most situations, and when special situations come along, they change. If we had been informed that for the duration of the forthcoming conlict, conversation on a certain subject was not going to be allowed, then we'd just have to swallow it. What *I* and I think most other H2G2ers object to is being told *where* and more importantly *when* we can have our say. It would also be unworkable because there would be no backlog, so you wouldn't have a clue what anybodies stance was, other then their last posting - and things can get heated. I'd be happier with a total ban - we know where we are then. Being informed that we *can* have our opions published, but only in a specific place and a specific time is in some ways more intrusive.

You don't have the right to say. If you want the right to say take a soapbox down to the nearest street corner. If you want the right to publish, start your own website or magazine or newspaper. Otherwise all you have is the privilege of being allowed to publish here within the House Rules. But it isn't a right.

BBC gets free content from it's subscribers. There are numerous web publishers who would kill for such content but must pay for it.

Without the subscribers, BBC would have nothing here at all. Therefore, BBC should at least consider giving something back like respect for people's free expression eh?

Analiese... I agree with you

Plus the BBc owns copywrite of what we write, which doesn't happen with a soapbox I suppose.
Yes I'd almost be happier if this conversation wasn't here anymore, because I can't really see what 'might' be said that isn't already logged over the last 7 months.
People will still be coming here, as I did , and 'accidently saying the 'wrong' things because they missed the earlier notification.
Horrifyingly what has happened here is an indication of how deep we are all in this thing.
I can't see the possibilty of loose lips costing lives and not much that has goe before has been offensive in my opinion, so whose sensabilities are the BBC protecting?
I also find that the people who write here are very sensible to the rumour machine and tend to challenge it rather than accept it .

The BBC do not own copyright of what is put on here. The copyright remains with the original author - they after all wrote the piece.

What the BBC has is clearly stated on the House Rules.

"It's important to note that you still own the copyright to everything you contribute to h2g2. This means you are perfectly free to take what you have written and re-publish it somewhere else.All you do in contributing to h2g2 is to grant us the right to publish. In other words, anything you create on h2g2 is done under the condition that you grant us a non-exclusive licence to distribute and edit the material in any way that we want, and in any media. (See the Terms and Conditions for the full terms of our rights.) As we may wish to distribute the Guide in various formats over time, we need to be sure that we have the right to publish everything that's on h2g2."

As this says the BBC has licence to publish - it does not own the copyright!