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

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i'm afraid our reciting of poems don't comply to the house rules,aren't we a naughty pair ,strange how the moderators have only hidden those ones and not the others we wrote,perhaps there not fans of AE Housman

If you put an idiot in a uniform, he'll have more power, but unfortunately, he'll still be an idiot!

guess from your vibes HOON,your angry too

incandescant! I wish these silly people who are supposed to "moderate" content on here actually knew what they were doing!
I was told Houseman's poems was removed because I had posted an entry that "appeared to belong to someone else!" when the author's name was credited under the title!

hummmmm how about that for cheek?

Lack of sense more than cheek!

Perhaps I can help by explaining what has happened to your postings.

Firstly, h2g2 is now a self moderating site. The moderators won't remove anything unless a member of the community or someone just visiting the site, alerts them with the button. The posting then gets temporarily hidden until a moderation decision is made and there's a message to say this. This is called "reactive moderation" and is different from the previous "post moderation" process where everything was read within an hour. So, what this means is that the BBC trusts the h2g2 community, which is a very good thing. Have a look here for more information: <./>DontPanic-Moderation</.>

When a moderator has made a decision (and sometimes at the weekend that can take a few days) the posting will either reappear if it is OK, or stay hidden and a different message will be displayed.

When you join h2g2 or any of the dna sites you are asked to read the <./>HouseRules</.> carefully and agree to be bound by them. You'll really only notice them being enforced if you break one by accident, a member of the community spots it and alerts the moderators. Or, if you break one deliberately and gloat about it. That'll probably get you noticed too, at first by a member of the community and eventually by the h2g2 editorial team. That kind of behaviour is silly because it can end in one or other of the Trangression Procedures, such as pre-moderation, suspension or a ban. See <./>HouseRules-Transgressions</.>

Some of the House Rules are just for the site, others are for legal reasons. In particular, you are asked on the House Rules page to read and agree to be bound by the Intellectual Property Law

Nothing you write in conversation on h2g2 is private. It can be seen by any number of people, either from inside the community or outside. For example the <./>Info</.> page shows the most prolific posters and the most recently updated conversations so anyone can see who is chatting online and what about. Expect your posting to be read by at least 20 people you never knew were there and you'd be about right. If you are really lucky some of the lurkers might join in the conversation.

Phew! anyone?

I'll now get to the point! Although you would never normally know this, I'll identify myself as the community member who referred your poetry postings to the moderation team for a decision to be made and I'll tell you why.

In the House Rules that you have agreed to be bound by, and in particular the part about Intellectual Property Law here: <./>HouseRules-Copyright</.> there is a clear statement that you are not allowed to post anything from someone until they have been dead 70 years. Yeats died in 1939. Houseman died in 1936. Goherty died in 1957. Simply posting the authors name underneath doesn't take away the copyright.

The moderation emails are standard so it may not have been clear to you, but again, you are meant to have read the Rules before you agreed to them, so you should have known. Calling the moderators names; insulting the editorial team for their decision and re-posting material that you are now fully aware is in clear breach of the House Rules really isn't a good idea.

I'm sorry this is so long but if you have any more questions do ask, or take a look at <./>DontPanic-FAQ</.> By choice I wear no badge of an Ace or a Guru but I'm a very long standing member of the community.

A pity no-one though to explain that at the time the posting was deleted! I wouldn't have become so angry then.

I agree with you and so do many others. Moderation e mails leave a lot of information out and don't help you to avoid whatever it was that you did in the first place, which is why I took the time to explain it to you myself.

However, of course, it is assumed that you have actually read the House Rules since you can't sign up to h2g2 unless you agree to them in full. So perhaps it isn't felt that an explanation is necessary since the rules are quite clear.

That may be so, but I haven't got a clue when Houseman died, and never gave it a second thought anyway, as it didn't seem important. All I saw was a note telling me I had posted a work belonging to someone else!