Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
It’s amazing to think we are headed into Huskerboard’s 13th Husker signing day. I can remember the first one, taking the day off of work with Blackshirt, scanning any website we could get to to see who committed and post it on our site to the nine or 10 members we had. Funny thing was half of those members were him and I, doing everything we could to get this site off the ground. To think, I wasn’t married, no family and living in a one bedroom apartment beginning a career. Now I’m pushing mid-life, going bald, grey hair and shuttling mi familia around in the minivan.
Now that is all an afterthought due to the tremendous support we have from many of our members who bleed Husker red and only want to help their fellow fan. Information is posted here quicker than ever. People are thankful they have a free place to view, participate and discuss their beloved Huskers. We are well over 10,000 members strong and there is absolutely nothing else out there like this message board that doesn’t cost a dime. This is something our whole team, members, moderators and administrators are very proud. Simply awesome!
It takes a lot to keep this thing afloat. It’s not just financially, but much more the time to keep things running smoothly. To think of all the generosity that has been handed over to this site it’s really phenomenal. Just last week Zoogies and AR Husker Fan amongst others freely donated their time to fix our malware intrusion. If we had to hire a private firm we’d be looking at a bill of several hundred if not several thousand dollars. Or when there is a potentially theft of ad space, someone trying to post for the competition, Knapplc is right there “Johnny on the spot” to cut them off. How about Mavric spitting out one tweet after another as soon as it leaves the recruits finger tips? We also have huskeraddict, who provides us with so much of the graphics that give Huskerboard its look, not to mention the yearly Schedule wall paper. BIGREDIOWAN and Rawhide and all the Moderators that keep the site clean from spammers. You can’t ask for anything more, certainly not anymore time. Every single one of these moderators has a career and obligations outside of this message board.
There is also the financial burden of running a board with this much whipping past us on a daily basis. We are almost our own worst enemy so to speak. We have grown so large it simply cost more to keep it up. This site is no cash cow by any means. There have been several months where Blackshirt and I have put in our own money to get to the next month. We are desperately looking for advertisers. We have recently purchased software to allow a very quick transaction to take place to get advertisers up and running on the board. Please reach out to me if you want to know more.
Of the recent bans, let me try and help.
What gets someone banned? I think it's simple, act as if you are face to face with someone meeting them for the first time, not as if your actions have no consequence because you’re sitting behind your computer. If you do, there is a chance you’ll be asked to leave.
Huskerboard is a public medium of communication. We provide a forum that allows members to post their thoughts, pictures, videos and related material. Because it is a public forum, it rests with the members to utilize it responsibly. While Huskerboard is not responsible for the content submitted by members, we also strive to provide a forum that is accessible, civil, and lawful. For that reason, Huskerboard Admins have a direct responsibility to monitor all forms of communication that occur within the domain. As a single example, should a member post child pornography, Huskerboard bears no responsibility. But as the material is illegal, we will do what must be done to remove it. Other examples include threats or harassment. We exist in a litigious society. The threat of litigation, even when there is no chance of success, is to far too great to act otherwise.
Our responsibility not only obligates us to be accountable for communication within public threads, but also within the PM system, including direct member-to-member conversations. If it's on our domain, we must take every step to protect ourselves.
With that said, we cannot be everywhere, nor do we wish to be. We have only and will only review PM messages when we have grounds to suspect that the system is being misused, such as when another member makes an accusation of threats occurring within their PM conversation.
This particular incident occurred from a PM conversation between three members and an Administrator. It subsequently was broadened as a result of a member sending us quoted comments another member sent them via PM. To verify the authenticity of the claim, we had to verify with our own eyes to ensure there was no fabrication. We determined these were libelous and/or offensive comments that had to be addressed. Again, regardless of the fact that Huskerboard is not legally responsible for what members post or say, we must protect ourselves from the threat of litigation. Further, we will not stand by and allow other members to be threatened or bullied and look the other way.
With that said, we have no interest in playing Big Brother and monitoring all PM conversations. We respect member privacy and will only take this step when verifiable proof is required to make a decision on an accusation or misconduct or abuse of the system, threats, or similar situations. I want most of my time consumed with talking Huskers.
To maximize members’ privacy, as we have always done, these actions will be recorded & securely logged by the owners of Huskerboard, but will not be shared with anyone for the sake of privacy unless legally compelled to do so, such as a subpoenaed in a court of law.
A formal privacy policy and update to the terms outlining these policies will be posted within the week.
We understand that this response will elicit a number of different views. Some will be satisfied (although its human nature to want to know all the details); others will not. For the latter, it is their decision to stay or go. We sincerely hope they stay, but if they elect to leave, we understand and appreciate the time they have spent on Huskerboard. We ask two things. First, and foremost, that any discussion concerning this message be civil. Second, please confine that debate to here. It is certainly on-topic here; it is not elsewhere.
Again, we did not do this lightly. This is the third time in our history that, unfortunately, these steps had to be taken at this length, but for the good of the board, it was necessary.
This is the first time in over two years I personally felt someone had to be asked to leave. I hate doing it, it’s the worst part of this and I hope we can all get back to discussing the reason we are here. That is our love of all things Huskers.
Something else I’d like to touch on. In a document recently circulated, I stated that the use of a term, in response to a personal attack, sounded “gay.” I did say that, and not I’m not running from it. It was an attempt at levity, especially since one of the members I had met face to face. I try and bring humor to these things and my attempt at using a Seinfeld reference came off as an insult to some. Please accept my apology, I screwed up and I apologize.
Please realize we cannot and will not be able to be everything to everyone. We cannot and will not be able to be everywhere and see everything. Be our eyes and ears and lead by example. Huskerboard.com is proud to be the Heartbeat of Huskernation. Our members are excited and many want to promote their passion for the Big Red. Do it here, do it loud, and do it often.
We set-out to make Huskerboard the most welcoming discussion forum online, allowing ALL opinions not just ours - and aim to keep it that way.
The State of the Board is in excellent shape. I’m overwhelmed at what we have accomplished in the first 13 years, and excited to see what the next 13 have in store for us.
A big thanks to all of our active members & regular visitors for being such an important part of this, and hope you continue to be involved in the board.
Thank you,
Eric the Red with Blackshirt and Ar Husker fan
Now that is all an afterthought due to the tremendous support we have from many of our members who bleed Husker red and only want to help their fellow fan. Information is posted here quicker than ever. People are thankful they have a free place to view, participate and discuss their beloved Huskers. We are well over 10,000 members strong and there is absolutely nothing else out there like this message board that doesn’t cost a dime. This is something our whole team, members, moderators and administrators are very proud. Simply awesome!
It takes a lot to keep this thing afloat. It’s not just financially, but much more the time to keep things running smoothly. To think of all the generosity that has been handed over to this site it’s really phenomenal. Just last week Zoogies and AR Husker Fan amongst others freely donated their time to fix our malware intrusion. If we had to hire a private firm we’d be looking at a bill of several hundred if not several thousand dollars. Or when there is a potentially theft of ad space, someone trying to post for the competition, Knapplc is right there “Johnny on the spot” to cut them off. How about Mavric spitting out one tweet after another as soon as it leaves the recruits finger tips? We also have huskeraddict, who provides us with so much of the graphics that give Huskerboard its look, not to mention the yearly Schedule wall paper. BIGREDIOWAN and Rawhide and all the Moderators that keep the site clean from spammers. You can’t ask for anything more, certainly not anymore time. Every single one of these moderators has a career and obligations outside of this message board.
There is also the financial burden of running a board with this much whipping past us on a daily basis. We are almost our own worst enemy so to speak. We have grown so large it simply cost more to keep it up. This site is no cash cow by any means. There have been several months where Blackshirt and I have put in our own money to get to the next month. We are desperately looking for advertisers. We have recently purchased software to allow a very quick transaction to take place to get advertisers up and running on the board. Please reach out to me if you want to know more.
Of the recent bans, let me try and help.
What gets someone banned? I think it's simple, act as if you are face to face with someone meeting them for the first time, not as if your actions have no consequence because you’re sitting behind your computer. If you do, there is a chance you’ll be asked to leave.
Huskerboard is a public medium of communication. We provide a forum that allows members to post their thoughts, pictures, videos and related material. Because it is a public forum, it rests with the members to utilize it responsibly. While Huskerboard is not responsible for the content submitted by members, we also strive to provide a forum that is accessible, civil, and lawful. For that reason, Huskerboard Admins have a direct responsibility to monitor all forms of communication that occur within the domain. As a single example, should a member post child pornography, Huskerboard bears no responsibility. But as the material is illegal, we will do what must be done to remove it. Other examples include threats or harassment. We exist in a litigious society. The threat of litigation, even when there is no chance of success, is to far too great to act otherwise.
Our responsibility not only obligates us to be accountable for communication within public threads, but also within the PM system, including direct member-to-member conversations. If it's on our domain, we must take every step to protect ourselves.
With that said, we cannot be everywhere, nor do we wish to be. We have only and will only review PM messages when we have grounds to suspect that the system is being misused, such as when another member makes an accusation of threats occurring within their PM conversation.
This particular incident occurred from a PM conversation between three members and an Administrator. It subsequently was broadened as a result of a member sending us quoted comments another member sent them via PM. To verify the authenticity of the claim, we had to verify with our own eyes to ensure there was no fabrication. We determined these were libelous and/or offensive comments that had to be addressed. Again, regardless of the fact that Huskerboard is not legally responsible for what members post or say, we must protect ourselves from the threat of litigation. Further, we will not stand by and allow other members to be threatened or bullied and look the other way.
With that said, we have no interest in playing Big Brother and monitoring all PM conversations. We respect member privacy and will only take this step when verifiable proof is required to make a decision on an accusation or misconduct or abuse of the system, threats, or similar situations. I want most of my time consumed with talking Huskers.
To maximize members’ privacy, as we have always done, these actions will be recorded & securely logged by the owners of Huskerboard, but will not be shared with anyone for the sake of privacy unless legally compelled to do so, such as a subpoenaed in a court of law.
A formal privacy policy and update to the terms outlining these policies will be posted within the week.
We understand that this response will elicit a number of different views. Some will be satisfied (although its human nature to want to know all the details); others will not. For the latter, it is their decision to stay or go. We sincerely hope they stay, but if they elect to leave, we understand and appreciate the time they have spent on Huskerboard. We ask two things. First, and foremost, that any discussion concerning this message be civil. Second, please confine that debate to here. It is certainly on-topic here; it is not elsewhere.
Again, we did not do this lightly. This is the third time in our history that, unfortunately, these steps had to be taken at this length, but for the good of the board, it was necessary.
This is the first time in over two years I personally felt someone had to be asked to leave. I hate doing it, it’s the worst part of this and I hope we can all get back to discussing the reason we are here. That is our love of all things Huskers.
Something else I’d like to touch on. In a document recently circulated, I stated that the use of a term, in response to a personal attack, sounded “gay.” I did say that, and not I’m not running from it. It was an attempt at levity, especially since one of the members I had met face to face. I try and bring humor to these things and my attempt at using a Seinfeld reference came off as an insult to some. Please accept my apology, I screwed up and I apologize.
Please realize we cannot and will not be able to be everything to everyone. We cannot and will not be able to be everywhere and see everything. Be our eyes and ears and lead by example. Huskerboard.com is proud to be the Heartbeat of Huskernation. Our members are excited and many want to promote their passion for the Big Red. Do it here, do it loud, and do it often.
We set-out to make Huskerboard the most welcoming discussion forum online, allowing ALL opinions not just ours - and aim to keep it that way.
The State of the Board is in excellent shape. I’m overwhelmed at what we have accomplished in the first 13 years, and excited to see what the next 13 have in store for us.
A big thanks to all of our active members & regular visitors for being such an important part of this, and hope you continue to be involved in the board.
Thank you,
Eric the Red with Blackshirt and Ar Husker fan
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