Cyprus-Forum.com

[Admin]

Hello,

I don't have enough time to erase posts. So I am sorry but democracy is temporarily suspended.

If you find yourself baned don't complain. Here are some other forums for you to visit:

http://www.kibrispostasi.com/forum/
http://www.cyprus-forums.com/
http://communities.msn.com/CyprusForum

More exist.

[Admin]

Forum closed for repairs.

[Admin]

I am going to repost the forum rules here:

Personal attacks are not allowed - Don't attack others. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully without insult and personal attack.


No advertisements or affiliate links - Do not place your advertisements through the discussion forums. This will be considered SPAM and could result in the loss of your Cyprus-Forum Membership. Affiliate links are not allowed within the forums.


Do not cross-post - If you have something to post and you're not sure which board it belongs in, do not post it in more than one board. If the administrators or moderators think it would fit better in another location, it will be moved there. Duplicate threads only serve to create confusion.


The administrators and moderators have the final word - If you have a problem or a complaint, direct it to the administrators and/or moderators, not to the boards. They will then take the appropriate actions.

Cyprus Forum Policies
In addition to our rules ( http://www.cyprus-forum.com/rules.html ) these are some policies that forum members should respect.

1) Members with less than 5 posts are not allowed to have a URL in their profiles. (this is to avoid spamming)
2) Promotion of anything illegal is prohibited.
3) English is the only language allowed. You can post phrases or words in other languages but in this case an accurate translation should be provided.

Posts that violate any of the above will be deleted. Members that repeatedly violate these rules will be banned.

Also, some brand new rules:

- Do not "copy & paste" anything more than 3 sentences. Give a link instead.

- The "Cyprus problem" forum is not a forum for jokes.

- In the "Politics" forums only good posts with substance will be allowed. One liners and such will be deleted. For lighter "chat" please use the "General" forums.

Members that repeatedly violate these rules will be banned with no warning.

Thanks.

[Admin]

Nobody got banned (yet)

I started to "clean up" but it is quite a mess. So I just locked several threads. I hope this will be enough and banning of members will not be required.

Please avoid the following:

1) We all know Google and how do use the internet.
This forum doesn't need to carry duplicate content that exists elsewhere on the net. This is a forum, not an online newspaper. If you want to discuss an article you can do it. Post a link to it, maybe include a small quote and say your opinion about the article in more than just one-two lines.

2) Don't waste your and our time by posting 100 useless one line posts. Instead use this time to write a well thought post that would be a valuable contribution.

3) Swearing, derogatory comments, mocking etc is not exactly quality content. So if you can not make a post without the above "ingredients", then don't post at all.

4) "Chatting". If you want to have light conversations please do so in the General forum, using private messages, or by going to a chat room. The "politics" forums are not suitable for this kind of chat.

Before you press the post button think: "Am I violating any of the forum rules?", "Am I adding something valuable to the discussion?", "Is what I am about to post on topic?". If the answer to any of these questions is "no" do not post.

This forum has many members that proved that have the abilities to write content of very high quality. Unfortunately non, with the exception of Alexandros, is trying to keep the quality high in all cases. If you notice a bad post, don't reply to it. Send a PM to the Admin (me) and if the post is indeed a bad one it will be erased.

I am sure most of you have other interests apart from the Cyprus problem and politics. So you can write your one-two quality posts whenever you can, and then you can write 100s more if you want in the "General" forums were the "strict" rules do not apply

P.S This is the "Cyprus problem - how can we solve it". So it is not about "wining" an argument. "Winning" arguments will not solve our problem.

[MicAtCyp]

Sorry but I dont feel free to express myself with all these rules anymore. Furthermore you locked threads where we want to reply? Why?

[insan]

Thanks Admin for his/her wide tolerance.

[erolz]

Sorry but I dont feel free to express myself with all these rules anymore. Furthermore you locked threads where we want to reply? Why?

Firstly we must all recognise that this forum does not belong to us. We are guests here and should accept this and behave appropriatley. Certainly indivdual posters create much value with their posts but the forum remains the property of those that created it and run it (and pay it's bills)

Secondly the role of 'admin' on any discussion forum is a very difficult task that rarely attracts any praise or thanks and often attracts critisim - on a forum about Cyprus this diffculty is even more pronounced. To moderate such a forum is a difficult and thankless task. In my view the admin here does an admiral job walking the fine line between 'censorship' and keeping the forum opperating in a way that attracts quality well thought out posts - from any point of view. As before I would like to thank him (her/them) for all the effort they have put into these boards in their creation and in their day to day running.

MicAtCyp it is clear that the admin has made a value judgment on this issue. This is what they are required to do on occasion. Inevitably such judgments will not always been seen by all as the 'right' judgment - but the admin has to make them none the less, as well as jugling a 'real' life and within what are undoubtedly sever time restraints.

The fact is we have all posted 'articles' about the Cyprus problem from one persepective or another but no one has done so in a manner similar to that taken by AA in the last day or so, at least whilst I have been participating on these boards. Maybe this is just a matter of AAs 'style' and maybe it was more calcuated than that. Either way it was in my view not constructive and actualy disruptive and damaging and quite possibly designed to be so, to the forum and it's potentail usefulness and value to all.

I am a firm believer in the right to free speech and would defend someones right to that even if I did not agree with what they were saying. I also believe however that with such a right comes reponsibilites and espcially on boards such as these (that are privately owned). In my view AA was excersing their right to free speech but without any regard for how he chose to do this or on the impact such a choice had on the others or the forum in general. His approach to the forum from day one has been less than a shinning example of how to behave on boards such as these. I am more than willing to give this person the benefit of the doubt and assume that this is the result of a certain kind of personality and a lack of expereince of electronicaly mediate forums of interactions.

The fact was that AA's multiple postings in multiple threads within hours of each other of nothing more than copy and pastes of old articles attacking TC was not in my opinion a serious attempt to debate or discuss anything, but merely an attempt (designed or otherwise) to 'overwhealm' the boards - pushing aside the threads of true value and as such was a (concious or unconcious) effort to degrade the value for all that these boards may have. As such I feel that it was necessary for the moderator to take some action.

I would hate to lose your input into these forums MicAtCyp. I can also understand that if you truely belive them to be the product of unfair censorship then you should not participate in them. However I would ask that when considering if this is the case or not here you also consider the difficult task the admin has here and the difficult choices they have to sometimes make. Do not throw out the baby bathwater on this matter. I would not like to see the forum lose your input, but then neither would I like to see it overrun by posters who simply spend an hour or so each day, not reading or commenting on the discussion in hand but just posting thread after thread after thread of copy and pastes from old articles without even making a comment or point whilst doing so.

In summary then to MicAtCyp, cut the admin some slack here. Their record on censorship in the past has been exemplary (imo). They clearly try and keep a 'hands off' approach as much as they can leaving us to behave in acceptable and adult ways of our own choosing. It is only when these rules of 'common curtesy' are ignored by a tiny minority to the deteriment of all that they take action. Chill out a bit, give the forums a break if you want to but do not take offence or umbrage at the admin for doing what they thought best in a difficult and quite possibly no win (for all) situation. They do not deserve such a response (imo) and the forum would lose a valuable member if you chose to do so.

Peace

[cannedmoose]

Well said Erolz, and MicAtCyp, I back up what Erolz said. We might not all agree with one another, but all of us joined this forum because we had something to contribute in one way or another. It would be sad if you felt that your ability to communicate your thoughts was constrained by the new guidelines.

I also agree with Erolz on the role and nature of the administrator. I've been a member of this forum for some time and this is the first time that the admin has intervened in this way. Given the contentious nature of the topic, such a degree of restraint is a testament to the open nature of the democracy that this site represents.

I agree with the new rules on copying and pasting, quite often it is incredibly difficult to keep up with threads because they become so long. Surely it is better the keep posts relatively short, which allows for a free-flowing and pointed discussion. I think we're all guilty of being wind-bags at times.

Anyway, I'm hoisting my own petard here, MicAtCyp, I don't know you but your opinion is valuable, I hope you'll reconsider.

As Erolz said... peace.

[MicAtCyp]

Nice advocating Erolz and cannedmoose. You two guys come from a country full of rules, and it seems you like it.I don't, because like I said it limits my ability to express myself.

Please dear Admin, dont delete my one line post, please, please, I will not do it again. Please do change your new rules.
See what i mean? Its almost childish

[-mikkie2-]

I'd be interested to know who the hidden members are. Insan, are you one of them? Got anything to hide?