On Titulia v. OwenMerry (10GC00013) and Moderation in General

by Admin



On June 21, the General Court ruled Owen Merry to pay a fine of T$3.000 for the violation of the Terms & Conditions by excessive profanity. Since the fine was not paid, the Court ordered to convert the fine into a 9 days ban from the website of the Republic.

Owen Merry appealed to the Administrator of the website, claiming he was not given enough time to present his defense. The Administrator allowed him to present his defense, however, he failed to do so in a reasonable time frame.

Therefore:

The decision of the Court is upheld and Owen Merry is banned from this website for 9 days for the violation of the Terms & Conditions, effective immediately.



Comments:

This event highlights the need for better moderation of this site. As the number of users hopefully grow in the future, a complicated court procedure in case of every violation is just not feasible. We admit Admin's negligence in this matter in not moderating the comments in question at the time - we simply were not aware of it.

We would like to remind citizens that we have technically implemented the possibility for the President to appoint a moderator a long time ago, but the people of Titulia chose not to use this feature. Now We will implement a "report abuse" function that citizens can use to notify site administrators who can then act on them appropriately.

Eric said

Lol... give Owen a break.

T J Norton said

Three cheers for the East Titulia Court. Long may money change hands under the bench. ROFL!

Colonel said

Admin: The General Court thanks you for upholding its decision. In a place like Titulia, the production and enforcement of laws are primary activities, as the system currently stands. By supporting the General Court, you assist the legitimacy of the Court, which is undoubtedly a step toward a stabler, more just system for all.

Delacruz said

I am glad to see the future implementation of the "report abuse" function. I hope that will clear up a lot of the spam and abuse in the Republic. Thank you for supporting the decision of the General Court!

Gerry Brady said

Admin, Thankyou for supporting the court and for the addition. I think a "report abuse" function will add to our ability to limit the amount of comment in breach of T and Cs on the site as long as it is not used as a first port of call by every citizen and in conjunction with the court we should be able to limit occurrences of spam and of cases such as "cyber on wheels" in the future.

MC Daddy D said

Thank you, Admin. One point of correction: Merry's fine was first increased by 50% to T$4,500. When he didn't pay that fine on time either, the court ruled that he be banned.

Tom Norton said

It's all a bit too post hoc, Admin. When a comment is moderated it is surely archived.  That information can be used to bring on a prosecution and will end up back on your table in a large number of these cases. Moderation is not absolution of responsibility as Administrator of the Republic - your position is the ultimate enforcer. 

I can't believe I'm saying this but I'm going to stand in defence of the court on one particular issue you've raised that causes some problems.  As immigrants to e-nation .. we are experimenting.  As you are in full awareness thereof .. Titulia has agreed on a variable approach to deciding criminal cases - using Titulian law (Statutes, Constitution and Bill of Rights) and global common law direction whether it be Australian, European, American, etc.

It's a an arbitrary move on your part to dictate to the court what processes it accepts, uses and decides on when you had every opportunity along the way to set the standard yourself.  Now Titulia has found a system you are comfortable - if not with at least in understanding - you have proposed a position (Moderator) that does not a single thing to aide any one of those legal processes.

I'm just one voice .. but it's clear in logic that if a citizen had committed a T&C breach - Moderator or not - that person would have had their day in court regardless of this position's existance or usage.

To come along now and make the suggestion that a Moderator is a judicial version of Jesus Christ - tasked with the prevention of action where crimes have already occurred - your argument makes no sense in understanding whatsoever.

I'm not pushing Owen's cart .. the same could happen to any citizen on the site.  I'm in the middle of being amuzed or amazed that in a vague way you've suggested that the Moderator function would have prevented the court from acting and somehow saved you from having to perform a job.

In the end - you're the Administrator.

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