Hi Wolvies,
I like you. A lot. You're one of the nicest customers I've worked
for to date, and I'm glad to see that you're here often. It really
hurts to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I think I'd be doing you a
grave disservice if I didn't provide you an honest answer. I hope
you'll forgive me for the inability to tell you what you want to hear,
and sincerely hope you'll consider *not* shooting the messenger:
The fact of the matter is that you cannot force the owner of an EZ
Board to allow you to post:
"First, let me say this clearly.... ezboard does not control and will
not control what ezOps, admins or mods do at their boards unless it
violates our Terms of Use.
The ezOp of any board is has the last and final say of who gets to
post, period. It's his or her board, and ezboard will not tell them
how to run it. If you want to know why you were banned, contact the
ezOp and ask."
I've Been BANNED - Why and what can I do about it?
http://beta.ezboard.com/fezboardfrm73.showMessage?topicID=53.topic
EZ Board's Terms of Use are here:
TOU
http://www.ezboard.com/corporate/legal_termsofuse.html
The terms of use are very careful to point out that by using the
system, you agree that each person is responsible for his own
postings:
"You understand and agree that any Content posted on the Service is
the exclusive responsibility of the person who posted or uploaded it,
and that you will be solely responsible for any Content that you
upload, post, email or otherwise transmit via the Service. You
acknowledge that ezboard is not responsible for, does not control,
does not endorse and does not verify the Content posted to the Service
or available through the service, and that it makes no guarantee
regarding the reliability, accuracy, legitimacy or quality of any such
Content." [ Section 4 - Content Accessible on The Service ]
The legal department rather tersely informs us that if you've been
banned for any reason other than that your account was stolen and it
was the actions of the thief that got you banned to begin with, the
ban will stand:
"Little note from ezLegal: The ONLY reason a global ban will ever be
overturned is if the banned account was previously stolen, and the
thief's subsequent actions got the account banned. If this is not the
case, don't bother with the email to legal."
I've Been BANNED - Why and what can I do about it?
http://beta.ezboard.com/fezboardfrm73.showMessage?topicID=53.topic
In other words, EZ board will not censor communities, and they won't
force anyone to let you in, either.
Although we are certainly granted the right to speak freely in the
United States, no matter how ugly, stupid or revolting our opinions
might be, we are *not* granted the right to force others to listen -
which is essentially what you're seeking.
The EZ Board community you've been banned from is a private community,
and has the right to accept or decline members as it chooses. At it's
simplest, they don't have to allow you to post in their community
(listen to you) if they don't want to. They are guaranteed this right
by EZ Board's TOU. Compare it to making a phone call. If the fella
at the other end of the line doesn't like what you have to say, he can
hang up. You can keep calling him back, but he doesn't have to
answer.
Additionally, while the existence of their community may be repugnant,
their right to speak as they will is, as Pinkie pointed out, protected
speech in the United States. As such, as long as they are not
violating EZ Board's TOU, they can't be forced to stop posting their
opinions in their community, no matter how vile and offensive they
are.
Wolvies, there is no reasoning with the hateful and closed-minded. I
fear that even if you *could* find a way to post in their community,
it wouldn't help. The hateful and closed-minded do not listen, they
only speak. I think it would be an exercise in extreme frustration
for you, and I'm sure that you have many more interesting and
entertaining people to interact with (like us!) than a group of people
whose minds are not going to be changed by anything you have to say.
Racism and xenophobia aren't illegal. They're just ignorant and
pointlessly hateful and offensive to the open minded. Perhaps it is
some small comfort to you that the groups who complain the loudest
about their freedom to speak, and demand the most vociferously that
they not be censored, are the very groups who are quickest to suppress
dissent.
Though they refuse to listen to you, Wolvies, they're not preventing
you from speaking. You can still speak freely on whatever topic you
choose in a number of communities, and even allow others to comment on
your posts:
The Open Diary ($20 for a 6 month subscription. No ads.)
http://www.opendiary.com
Free Open Diary (supported by ads)
http://www.freeopendiary.com
Live Journal (free and paid subscriptions, with varying functionality.
No ads.)
http://www.livejournal.com
Blogger (free and paid subscriptions, now owned by Google)
http://www.blogger.com
...or go 'em one better, and start your own EZ Board:
EZ Board - Build Community
http://www.ezboard.com/registration/build_registration.html
I know that you wanted to hear that the community in question has to
let you in. I'm sorry I can't tell you that. But I do hope that the
information I've provided is helpful, and I hope you'll take my
suggestion and either join a journaling community that encourages the
freedom to talk about whatever's on your mind, or start a community of
your own that does the same.
Please don't hesitate to ask for any help at all with this - if you
choose to join or create a community, I can walk you through the setup
easily.
I wish you much luck.
--Missy |
