really? what part?

 

Yes, there is such a thing as free speech. The Constitution protects that. Point to - Pam.

Internet communities, newspapers, etc. can print what they want, ban what they don't. Point to - AF "Ban"-ers.

If nothing else, Pam gives forum readers a chance to express some well-thought retorts. Sort of like the Devil's advocate, without even trying. Point to - draw

Does Pam contribute anything on other AF boards, such as technical knowledge, brand news, etc? If so, Point to - Pam. If not, point to - "Ban"-ers

Bottom line, stupid comments should not be a cause for an outright ban. He sounds like he is young, spoiled, and dumb. Probably describes alot of people here at some point in their lives. While I don't feel it is the responsibility of AF members to nurture his sorry A**, I feel it would be big of us as a community to give Pam a chance, put him on double secret probation, and ban him the first time he says something wrong. Not just a stupid comment, cuz we can all offend, even unintentionally. Just call him on those and put him in his place. He gets a legitimate complaint (not just someone trying to get him banned), he is gone.

And I, like alot of people here, think he is kinda fun to pick on. Think about it: were it not for Pam, we wouldn't be having this frank and open discussion of what we feel is best for our beloved AF. For that he deserves a pat on the back. If he doesn't appreciate it, we'll knee him in the groin.

 

Ok, I know many were waiting for my vote since he is most certainly is my "antagonist". Being a police officer I must contend that he does have the right to free speech. Am I a big fan of Bob, of course not, but in my profession the one thing that we are taught is to have the upmost patience with people. His anti-police postings do not bother me at all, if I were to arrest someone who said an unkind word to me on a call simply because I am a police officer I would spend half my life in court. His recent posting in the thread about the young men killed in the M5 accident was completely out of line.
Many say block him, but we all know block is only so good because people can still quote him and his posts will be visible to those who blocked him. I was going to vote probation for him in this case, but I am quite certain that bob is the type of repeat offender that probation would be a waste on. Many else are also waiting for bob to post his piece to represent his side of the story. This has been posed before in a previous ban bob thread and I voted no. I waitedfor him to post something well thought and representative of himself, butmy wait was in vain.

We also need to consider that this is a forum, which is defined as

1.place to express yourself:a medium in which the public may debate an issue or express opinions, e.g. a magazine or newspaper

but also

3.Internet discussion group:an Internet discussion group for participants with common interests

Under definition one I find Bob well within his right, however under definition two I find that Bob rarely IF EVER posts topics that we can build on, or contributes to many threads. In fact many of his posts tend to ruin the thread and steer it in the wrong direction. My main concern is that he represents us in a way when the public reads our forum and he puts out a bad image. I will have to sit on this one for a bit.

 

Yeah, you'll want to do a little soul-searching for this one.

I can't believe that you guys are putting any thought into this at all! Just ignore him if he bothers you (I don't mean YOU in particular)...you're not obligated to read or reply to anything from him. That's the nice part of an online community...none of the normal social negotiating is necessary and EVERYTHING is optional.

 

Yeah, the guy's a douche; but he has a right to speak his mind. Of course, his mind tends to be obnoxious more often than not. And usually his posts are antagonistic, and usually serve to spin a thread completely off topic and into an argument or insult contest or name-calling-fest. Also, it seems worth mentioning that he usually posts only once or twice, and then everyone else just goes nuts yelling at him for two or three pages. I get the impression that he's young and immature, and simply doesn't know how to properly conduct himself.

He's annoying as hell at times, and apparently dumb as a brick,but he is also a fellow Audi driver (let us not forget that). I'm definitely not a fan of his, but I'm also not convinced he's done anything that fully warrants a ban. Everyone seems to be presenting him as a ten-ton elephant in the room, when he seems to be more along the lines of a rather large fly that keeps buzzing in people's faces. Let us not forget, common houseflys have an average lifespan of approximately 24 hours. I say ignore him until he goes away, or shuts up, or grows up.

As for his comments being potentially damaging, or a bad influence on impressionable visitors/members, I think it should be considered that our responses to his comments carry equal weight in that manner, and generally cancel or balance out any effect his comments may have.

So thatsaid, I'm with Notahondaowner on this one. I'm just going to sit on it a while.

 

Soul searching hardly, I decided not to vote. I think this thread only builds him up, why ban him? He's an *** just ignore him like I do. If I were to vote it would be no, I decided that these anti bob threads are a waste of everyone's time. We all know who he is and what he stands for, this is what he wants and you are all giving it to him. The kid practically gets off to these threads, this is what keeps his behavior up. I would be willing to bet if people didnt reply to his posts he would settle down, even if he didnt F him who cares.

Sineo I put thought into everything I do and say, that's my job. I understand your stance on this.

 

I would like to hear his side as well, so I vote to put him on a 30-day probation. This way the mods can keep him on a leash, and he can defend his posts. Like the others have said above, this site is a place where people with similar interests (everything Audi) can come together as a community and ask questions, get feedback, or just simply post your thoughts. I haven't posted in TPAM in months, so I haven't read many of his posts. After all, Off Topic is a section where "almost anything goes". However, it's ultimately up to the moderators to keep control of the threads, and to judge what's appropriate & what's not. From what I've read above, he may have crossed the line in some areas, posted stuff he shouldn't have posted, pissed some people off, etc..., but I think that he should get one warning. And one warning only.

 

persoanlly, I do not think PAM will deign to honor us with his comments, in thsi thread. Not hi sstyle. He prefers to inflame and irritate, cause controversy, and move on.

I also agree that a "PAM1526374859" thread is somewhat of a waste of bandwidth, but, as I mentioned,SEVERAL of you have PM'd me, requesting that PAM987654321 be banned. Enough that I felt this was a free-speech vs. community debate.

I don't liek him. Hell, there are several of you I don't like, but that doesn't preclude me from intelligent discourse with you. It doesn't even mean that I always disagree with you. Same with PAM192837465.

Bottom line: AF is a part of a private company (http://www.autoforumuniverse.com/) with a publically accessible forum, not a public entity. If enough people want him gone... It won't prevent him from returning (from a different IP, for instance), or from us finding out he's back and banning him again (lather, rinse, repeat).

Vote your conscience.

 

couldnt he technically just get a new user name everytime he is banned what good would it do in the long run?

 

i'm just glad that my priceless contributions and endless knowledge keep mein high regard and adoration with my loving forum friends.



i voted.