I have been a member of this forum for more than sixteen years....

[Gudmundur Ingolfsson]

I have been a member of this forum for more than sixteen years and always liked it.
Recently however it is ruled by guidlines and run by moderators like a division of the GESTAPO.
Censorship is the rule of the day. I thought freedom of speach was guaranteed in most western constitution.
I seriously think we need Frank Petronino to make a revolution !

[rich815]

Shhhh. Just go about your day...

[Kevin Crisp]

No constitution guarantees you freedom of speech on a private forum.

[Ralph Barker]

Gudmundur, this forum has always been ruled by guidelines, even when it was part of the lusenet forums. Admittedly, the guidelines have become more complex over time, as the increase in membership has resulted in more people finding "creative" ways of getting around the rules. The increase in membership has also resulted in more people who don't think there should be guidelines at all, even though they agreed to abide by them when they registered.

FWIW, Frank tried to run his own Leica-oriented forum, with essentially no rules, for a while. He gave up and closed it, as it quickly got completely out of hand.

[domaz]

If you want to see what a free speech, no rules forum looks like it, browse some YouTube comments someday..

[Jim Jones]

This is the most informative photographic forum that I visit. This will be diluted if it becomes a bully pulpit for those with little to say, and not enough wit to be entertaining.

[jp]

Gudmundur: Making a beeline for Godwin's law here!

[djdister]

We all want Moderators moderating in moderation, don't we

Seriously though, any democratic forum can have a tendency to veer from a under-moderated to an over-moderated state (or vice versa), as it is a process that is in a state of continual self-evaluation, based on a wide-ranging variety of feedback. Reaching that perfect middle ground, as we all know, can be challenging. Given the overall quality of the forum members and the forum moderators, I believe we are on the right path. Don't give up...

[Argentum]

if people keep to discussing photography then there's little if anything to get worked up about. It's only when the discussion turns to religion (aka the zone system) do things get nasty. There is always some jerk trying to push their agenda with regards to the ZS.

Yours,

Guilty as everyone else.

[Mark Sawyer]

First they came for the digital photographers, and I didn't say anything because I didn't shoot digital...

The moderation isn't perfect, but I don't demand perfection. And I don't call people the Gestapo for trying their best to keep things civil. Better to leave the Nazi-name-calling to the presidential candidates, I think, but that's just me...