Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

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mrix2000
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Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by mrix2000 »

Hello all, unfortunately I have had a long term member who got upset over something and has explained he wishes to have his account deleted and all his topics posts removed :shock:
He has had countless hundreds of posts and deleting would cause a fair bit of damage amongst threads as you can imagine.
I don`t mind deleting his account but would really like to retain the posts, how do I stand regarding laws if I decline not to delete these posts?????

Cheers all
mrix
Last edited by mrix2000 on Sun Jan 02, 2011 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by AmigoJack »

mrix2000 wrote:how do I stand regarding laws if I decline not to delete these posts?????
Depends on the land you're living in. Mostly the owner (you) allows all users to use the board (usage agreement). So he (the owner) also decides what to do with the content.

However, switch positions in mind and check if you also wanted others to delete your posts once you wish to. Considering informational self-determination you should delete all of his posts if he demands it. I had this situation a couple of times and friends also. Mostly all board owners refuse to remove all posts with the account, also because of the content which will be lost to others. Based on the threshold of originality every post can be seen as an original and thereby its rights are held by its creator.

I would delete all posts (since I also want other board owners to follow my wish of deleting all posts).

Additionally this is quite unrelated to phpBB.
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EvanP
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by EvanP »

You do not HAVE to delete their posts, once they are made they are your property, and it does say that somewhere in the default phpBB Terms and Conditions, unless you edited it out by any chance.
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by KevC »

No they don't.

The terms cover things about what people shouldn't do and that the admins have the right to edit, move topics etc but it doesn't say anything about who 'owns' the posts after they're made.
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mrix2000
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by mrix2000 »

Any more input on this matter as it could effect anyone one who creates a forum?
Cheers all
mrix
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by PlanetStyles.net »

mrix2000 wrote:how do I stand regarding laws if I decline not to delete these posts?????
From experience, a Web Host won't act on any copyright infringement complaints filed against forums who won't delete a users' posts (unless the content within those posts is protected by some 3rd party copyright). It's possible they'll contact the site owner and encourage the two parties come to some sort of compromise, though they won't force a site owner into removing the content.

So essentially if you continue to say no and keep the posts, you should be fine. Do let us know if it develops any further. To avoid this happening in the future, what I'd suggest is changing your board's user registration agreement stating any posts made become property of the board and you have the right to move, edit, delete them etc etc... . If you did this, you'd also need to make some kind of announcement letting members know that from a certain date, any posts made would belong to the board if they accepted the terms of service. If they don't accept the terms of service, invite them to leave.

..that's how I'd do it.
mrix2000
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by mrix2000 »

That`s great info big thanks :)
Where would I have to go to edit the registration agreement ? is it a file I have to edit?
cheers
mrix
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by stevemaury »

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Popp Singh
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by Popp Singh »

Think again .

It all depends on the laws of the country where the server is . In holland for exqample one can ask for posts to be deleted and the site owner must delete them except if it ruins the flow of the site . That means that single posts must be deleted but if you have started a thread your starting post wont be deleted .

The idea about putting things in the site rules that say that the content belongs to the site owner or that the site owner has the right to decide if he deletes post are useless if the law of the country your server is in says something else . Laws come before site rules .

In germany the laws are diferent than in holland and one has more rights but as in holland one might have to go to court to get ones rights . Going to court is VERY expensive and is often risky because the laws aplying have often not been tested in court and one needs a REALY good soliciter that is up to date with national , and in europe EU , laws and court desissions ..

How do i know ? Because i did what you should do and that is get competent legal advice .

On the other side If the site where your posts are is a PHPBB2 site its VERY easy to delete ALL your own posts with a simple trick . I am not sure if that trick still works with PHPBB3 .
NeilUK
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by NeilUK »

Wouldn't it be simpler to just do as he/she wishes and move on? All this legal stuff is fine but what is morally right? Surely all this is causing you more problems than simply deleting them, as a Forum owner I treat my members as customers in a way. I'd just delete them for him and keep a quiet life
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by PlanetStyles.net »

oleg-karow wrote:Laws come before site rules .
Nobody in this topic mentioned anything about rules, you'll find "Terms of Service" was the actual phrase used. Obviously if a user agrees to terms which state:
By registering, you agree that any posted content (unless otherwise owned or copyrighted by a third party) and associated rights become intellectual property owned by *sitename*.
...then what they're essentially saying is "Anything I post, you own"...in which case any laws are irrelevant.
Wouldn't it be simpler to just do as he/she wishes and move on? All this legal stuff is fine but what is morally right? Surely all this is causing you more problems than simply deleting them, as a Forum owner I treat my members as customers in a way. I'd just delete them for him and keep a quiet life
Naturally :). Though if the user has a small board and one particular user is making up most of the posts, by removing them all is going to be more costly than constructive.
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by .Victor »

I do not approve a request from a user when he's asking for a deleting of all his posts. It's also in my forum rules: "You're posts are in our database for ever".
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by Popp Singh »

The original poster asked "how do I stand regarding laws" .

"All this legal stuff is fine but what is morally right?"

Moraly in my opinion it should be done but again in the end laws decide and that can be very expensive = to the original poster do you want to put your saveings / income on the line because of the advice of people who are not experts ?

"Nobody in this topic mentioned anything about rules"

You wrote "what I'd suggest is changing your board's user registration" .

"Obviously if a user agrees to terms which state: "By registering, you agree that any posted content (unless otherwise owned or copyrighted by a third party) and associated rights become intellectual property owned by *sitename*." then what they're essentially saying is "Anything I post, you own"...in which case any laws are irrelevant."

You are not a solicitor and you do not have the legal knowledge or competance to give people legal advice . Do you know what country the poster is in ? Do you know what country his server is in ? Do you know the country the member who wants his posts deleted lives in ? Do you know the laws of the country/s that aply to the situation ? In what you said you have not only given an opinion on internet law and personal information law you have also given advice on contract law of wich you are not qualifyed to do .

What i said comes because i have VERY much experience of solicitors , courts and laws in several countrys and had to go to a competent solicitor and the information protection ministry here and find out . The owner of the site that i wanted to delete my posts lives in holland . He had to go to a solicitor to find out the laws there . They are ( maybe were different laws because laws can change and so can the interpretation that courts aply to laws ) not exactly the same . The owner of the site was obliged to delete many of my posts .

I forgot to mention that it may be legaly posible to just delete the personal details of the poster and leave the posts themselves . That could include the avatar and name asociated with his posts . Again that would need to be confirmed by an up to date solicitor who has knowledge of the laws of the country where the server is with the data on it and of the country where the owner lives .

Laws come before rules and the person who owns the site carrys the responsibility for whats on it and any costs that arise will either have to be payed by the owner or by the member depending on how far the matter is taken and what a court if involved decides .

Get competent legal advice from a very good soliciter who has knowledge of the laws that apply before you possibly throw your future away on the advice of people not qualifyed to give it .


To anyone who wants to disagree with what i have said .......... put your money where your mouth is and make a legal contract with the original poster where you agree to carry any costs that might ocure if he follows your advice .


Oleg blows the smoke from his colt , carves another mark in the grip , puts it back in his holster , turns around and walks away ........... and wont reply again to this topic unless someone says something that needs answering .
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by PlanetStyles.net »

oleg-karow wrote:Oleg blows the smoke from his colt , carves another mark in the grip , puts it back in his holster , turns around and walks away ...........
Whilst you're at it, try blowing the dust from your dictionary and having a look inside. ;)
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Re: Member wishes for all his posts deleting ?

Post by ToonArmy »

Christian 2.0 wrote:
oleg-karow wrote:Laws come before site rules .
Nobody in this topic mentioned anything about rules, you'll find "Terms of Service" was the actual phrase used. Obviously if a user agrees to terms which state:
By registering, you agree that any posted content (unless otherwise owned or copyrighted by a third party) and associated rights become intellectual property owned by *sitename*.
...then what they're essentially saying is "Anything I post, you own"...in which case any laws are irrelevant.
That's assuming the contract is legally sound and enforceable. Now considering it wasn't written by a lawyer I'd find that fairly unlikely, and even if it is valid in one country that doesn't mean it's valid in another. Also it generally won't apply to those below the age of majority as they cannot enter into contracts. Further to these problems assigning copyright in some jurisdictions is a fairly complex issue, hence why most sites ask the user grants them a irrevocable license to publish the content.
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