I'm curious, I thought about this the other night.

But before I begin, Mike or Jaime, if your reading this.... I mean no disrespect whatsoever.

I find it ironic that we are so worried about what the Gov't COULD do to us by filtering through our email, that we post about it on a forum we don't control, run by perfect stragers who could VERY easily go through our PM's.

Why is one cause for concern and the other not? Is it because we are on a first name basis with Mike and Jaime? Is it because we THINK we know M&J? How do we REALLY know Mike doesn't sit in front of his computer eveynight, reading other people's PM's, with a beer in one hand and an evil grin on his face?

Wouldn't our right to privacy be invaded as much if Mike went through our stuff, than if the gov't did? Fundementally.....yes....

If someone here made a threat to someone else via PM, Mike could easily catch this, report it, and the wrongdoer could go to jail. Just as if the Gov't catches a terrorist by reading his email.

I fail to see a real difference here.

*****************

So, what reason WOULD Mike or Jaime have to rumage or not to rumage through our stuff? Time is probably a big one. Lack of interest, lack of desire, the very thought it probably overwhelming, and we only have a few hundred people....America has a few hundred million.

I think it's safe to say that M&J wouldn't do that. But I think the Gov't won't do it for the very same reasons.

Mike, Jaime, or anyone else care to clarify or add to this?

Again, M&J, no disrespect, malice or negative insinuations intended

--cheers

Fundamentally, no.

There is a HUGE difference. AD is a private entity, the government is public. I feel like I am always reminding people that it is their hard earned dollars surrendered in the form of taxes that makes our government work. The question should be: are we in the business of paying to spy on ourselves?



Not true. Mike could provide a better technical answer, but I can SWEAR TO ALL OF YOU that we do not "easily catch" any information in PM's. We do not have an "easy administrators access" to any PMs.

I see no disrespect whatsoever. I also see no comparison

Digital Patriot-

I understand what you mean. I, of all people, understand that the extremes must be displayed to prove a point. No disrespect, malice or negative insinuations taken.

Let me hit the forum aspects first:



"Very easily" is certainly an understatement. There is nothing easy about it (for me at least).



That's an easy one: I don't drink beer.



I guess if I really wanted to, I could write a script that flags PMs that contain words like "kill" and the like, but I have no interest in doing that. If a member sends a threatening PM, and another member had a problem with it, I would (as I have before) request the member forward me the PM.

The only way I know if you send something harassing through the PM system is if someone reports it. The only statistics I get from the PM system is a total number of PMs sent per day.



We have so many reasons not to do that, including the reasons you already mentioned. If a member believed we have compromised their privacy, we could easily be branded as snoops. Our site-- our passion-- could suffer as a result, as would our integrity. It would be foolish.

And now the differences between us and the Patriot Act:

1. You do not pay us (we are not funded by tax dollars).
2. We do not hold the ability to put you in jail.
3. We do not hold the ability to continue to jail you without counsel.
4. We do not force anyone to participate (i.e. the tax system and now government surveillance).
5. We have entered a legally enforceable agreement stating the following:



I can go on and on, as the differences are vast... Maybe I'll make this into its own thread...

Mike