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Forum threads and posts - who actually owns them?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I was a member on a forum(not here!) for almost 3 years. Never had a bad word said against me, never had a warning or even a friendly prod regarding my behaviour.
I queried why someone was banned, my thread was locked without an answer or resolution. I posted again, my account was deactivated and the thread locked.
I have asked multiple times to have all my posts and threads removed, as I can no longer participate in the forum. But I haven't had any responses whatsoever.
"All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of xxxxx xxx xxxx, nor Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message."
The above clause is in the registration process, and must be agreed to before forum membership can take place. Does this mean that I am the owner of my comments made on the board? If so, where would I stand if I were to wish to take legal proceedings to have my account, and all inherent data, removed?
I know it sounds like a total over-reaction, but I'm a man of principles. I've spent a lot of time on this particular site over the last few years, mainly trying to help other people(with advice, offers of free-use of my spares to try and isolate problems, etc). I'm disgusted with how I've been treated, and don't feel I'm being unreasonable in wanting my previous postings to be removed...
Thanks for any help.
randomchap.
I queried why someone was banned, my thread was locked without an answer or resolution. I posted again, my account was deactivated and the thread locked.
I have asked multiple times to have all my posts and threads removed, as I can no longer participate in the forum. But I haven't had any responses whatsoever.
"All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of xxxxx xxx xxxx, nor Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message."
The above clause is in the registration process, and must be agreed to before forum membership can take place. Does this mean that I am the owner of my comments made on the board? If so, where would I stand if I were to wish to take legal proceedings to have my account, and all inherent data, removed?
I know it sounds like a total over-reaction, but I'm a man of principles. I've spent a lot of time on this particular site over the last few years, mainly trying to help other people(with advice, offers of free-use of my spares to try and isolate problems, etc). I'm disgusted with how I've been treated, and don't feel I'm being unreasonable in wanting my previous postings to be removed...
Thanks for any help.
randomchap.
0
Comments
As we understand it and although the jelsoft terminology implies ownership on your part in fact the law would see the publisher of the content and it's owner as the website themselves. That's why during a libel case it would be us, for example, rather than the poster who would be prosecuted - the owners of the forum are the publishers.
The bit of the rules you mention is more about expressing what a forum is rather than proof of ownership. It's usually followed by something like -
'The owners of TheSite.org boards have the right to remove, edit, move or close any threads or posts for any reason and without notice.'
Which implies ownership and rights to posts aren't yours.
However we always err on the side of protecting the rights of posters which is why we agree to delete users accounts when asked (though we may ask for a reason for our own piece of mind or that people think about it for a couple of days).
If this website isn't up for that then the best course of action may be to discuss the implications of the data protection act with them (assuming they are in the UK). If anything you've published could identify you (and IP addresses are regarded as information that identifies a user) and especially if anything could be considered sensitive data (anything about health, race, religion, sexuality) then they would really need to prove why they won't delete it, rather than you having to justify it's removal.
This is obviously pretty untested ground so don't quote me on this but I'd definately consider contacting The Information Commissioners Office (the body that enforce and oversee the DPA) to discuss the situation further. To be frank it's the kind of thing that could probably get them some attention and clear up some grey areas in law so who knows, they may be very interested in helping.
Their website is -
http://www.ico.gov.uk/
and they have a helpline -
"ICO helpline: Our helpline is open between the hours of 9.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday.
08456 30 60 60
01625 54 57 45"
Thank-you. I shall take a look over their website, and hopefully get in touch with them.
ETA - details submitted. Thank-you for the pointer. I will update here with an outcome.
Thanks again.
randomchap.
The response I received - thanks for your advice!
RandomChap.