banned for no reason?

sbellos74

New Member
Jurisdiction
United Kingdom
Hi all

I've been on a tabletop wargaming site for approx 5 years without causing any issues whatsoever. Site is about a hobby involving wargaming and modelling. As far as the site's "objectives" i am all in. I play wargames more than everyone else, i travel to tournaments around the globe and i am a hobby "fanatic" in general. Let's just say that i have contributed to the site's agenda a bit more than the average user.
Now, the case. The hobby tournaments i attend have painting competitions. Meaning that organizers suggest the -objectively- best painted set of miniatures and competitors vote for best painted armies/models. Mine are cinsidered to be top notch (as appraised in most famous relevant web sites like coolminiornot) and in every single tournament i attend my army gets nominated for best painted award. In every single one. And i have more than 6 armies, which hobby wise is quite impressive especially if all miniatures are painted to a high standard.
Sadly not winning a single award in UK even when matched by way more inferior paint jobs (it sounds subjective and it might be but this is not the case) i've started to suspect that people vote mostly based on PR. People know each other and since i mostly travel alone i don't get any freebie votes. So, losing 6-7 consecutive times i got frustrated and strongly posted my disagreemnt: I said that i feel my models were much better and i deserved to win. And then hell broke loose. The internet herd (UK community) tried to consume me. I apologize for the strong tone but still was under attack with offensive characterizations insulting my morale, my character, my personality. The crazy part is that the site's administrator instead of moderating this up he threatened to ban me! I pm-ed him that i apologized and why the fass, specifically asking which forum rule did i break and he responded "i dont feel i have to justify my self to you"...This went on as i had a passive aggresive behaviour after forum trolls were continuously provoking me. Guess what. Administrator was still threatening me with the banstick. Eventually, after a pm to him (with absolutely no offensive content) i got banned.
I am furious. I played by the book, at least as it was written at the time, did not break any forum rules and still got banned. All pm's and posts are on line hopefully proving my case. I was fed to the internet herd for standing by my opinion that i was wronged, backing my case with arguments and i received verbsl insults/attacks and administrative bias (they are all buddies).
My personality is offended. I wanna sue BIG TIME for BIG MONEY. Or a huuuuge public apology.
Do i have a case? And if so, where can i attend to ?

Thanks
Sotiris Bellos
 
Sorry, but you have zip. You insulted the winners of a contest publicly and the others in the forum called you on it. The moderator can ban anyone they see fit. If you create a web forum, you can do the same.
 
No the moderator cannot ban anyone he sees fit this is not internet junta. And...how came i insulted someone by saying that i believe my paintjob was better? Err...What?
There are rules and people who break them should be banned. But rules are not created as we go along a conversation. What is this?
Creating a forum by specifying rules is like having a store and inviting people in. Just prior to entering people find specific rules and upon entering these change. Or some other ones are being unrevealed or created.
Forum has either a secret agenda or its "personnel" are under performing.
Do you have a legislation to back this up (that the mod can ban anyone he sees fit without justification?) So if i bought this forum and became mod i could ban you just for kicks? there is a huge gap here. This is not justice and i think i am browsing law.com
 
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"Do you have a legislation to back this up (that the mod can ban anyone he sees fit without justification?) So if i bought this forum and became mod i could ban you just for kicks? there is a huge gap here. This is not justice and i think i am browsing law.com"

Yes
 
There is no law which grants you to right to participate in the forum. It is not much different than accepting an invitation to someone's home for a party. They do not have to allow you to attend future parties if you clash with the other guests, even if it is the fault of the other guests.
 
There doesn't have to be a law giving a forum administrator permission to ban anyone he sees fit. An action is considered legal in the absence of a law that says it's not. So unless you can provide us with a law that says he CAN'T ban anyone he sees fit, he can.

Got one?
 
nope i don't - if i did i would be suing already!
However isn't this behavior insulting to a mans personality ? What i am saying is that there could be a legal framework that above event could get attached to? Also, i don't think it is the same as a persons home. It is more like a public garden where the janitor kicks you out just because he doesn't like your face. Just because there is no law providing him from doing it, this doesn't give him the right to do it. A forum is an ip region, rented by individuals but accessible to the public place or it is advertised as such. Even the word forum depicts it. If admins and mods can do whatever they please then what is the purpose of providing rules, frequently complete walls of text? Simply replace them with a "i am the law" declaration. Banning without rules breaking is insulting in my humble opinion. Can a bar not serve black people just because they are racists? Can a shop not sell to women? Maybe they can but these people can be insulted hence file a law suit.
 
There is a specific law that says you cannot ban black people because they are black. There is a specific law that says you cannot ban women because they are women. There is NOT a specific law that says you can't ban people who are being disruptive in the opinion of the administrator, even if they would find that insulting. For that matter, there is not a specific law that says they can't insult you.

That's the difference. You have no grounds to sue.
 
thank you for that - seems clear. I am obviously unfamiliar with legislation. I'll personally won't give any forum any commitment since rules framework is very important for my life.
Cheers
 
Why don't you start your own forum?

I'm a member of a couple of associations that have done just that when the previous associations got too uppity.

The new associations are doing a lot better than the old ones that lost a lot of members to the new ones.
 
thank you for that - seems clear. I am obviously unfamiliar with legislation. I'll personally won't give any forum any commitment since rules framework is very important for my life.
Many people are under the impression that since they participate a great deal and/or voluntarily contribute to a private enterprise they are entitled to something for their patronage. Let's use a tangible real world example. You frequent a bar, tip the bartenders well, bring in customers and have donated some football club t-shirts or team memorabilia that are displayed on the walls. You get into a heated public political dispute with the bar owner - perhaps you're a democrat and voting for Hillary Clinton and he's a Republican and Donald Trump supporter. As a result of the vocal dispute, he has decided he doesn't want you on his property and in his bar. You have no constitutional right to enter upon his private property. Your years worth of great tips, donated t-shirts and patronage don't entitle you to entrance. It's no different here.

I don't doubt that your paint work might be superior for wargames modeling. My pitiful attempt to paint my Dungeons & Dragons character many years ago is not worth of display. But if you feel that the awards are political and you make accusations of corruption, you have to know you're going to ruffle feathers. These communication issues need to be handled diplomatically and I'm guessing you probably spoke your mind. Now you're out - but you're free to speak your mind elsewhere and let others know what you think of the competition. Unfortunately it's not in the same bar / forum. Good luck to you.
 
I just noticed that this poster is in the UK, where the laws are different. He will need to take it up with a UK forum.
 
I just noticed that this poster is in the UK, where the laws are different. He will need to take it up with a UK forum.
He can certainly try a U.K. law forum but I'm guessing the answer will be the same. From a practical standpoint, cost is high and chances of success are low pursuing a lawsuit against a forum owner to compel access to the forum. This issue presented does not have any clear legal lines of demarcation and will be subject to opinion. Poster believes his interpretation of a long series of events is accurate and compliant with legal and forum rules. Unless you've got at least $7,500 (or £5,000) to plunk down for a retainer fee, this case is going nowhere. And there is no attorney or barrister who would likely take such a case and risk on a contingency fee.
 
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