Quote -
It's interesting to see that there is a fair amount of people whom people have such a flippant attitude about internet, and think that all of a sudden all rules of life and social behavior and interaction should suddenly dissapear. 

Oh, that's easy to explain.

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Quote - Oh my, the tired old: "Unless you are in EXACTLY the same situation you aren't allowed to have an opinion".

Which is of course complete rubbish.

That's not what I said. What I did say was, unless you're willing to practice what you preach, kindly do not preach that someone has "no spine" for not doing something you yourself will not do.

Thorne has balls of URANIUM for holding out as he did for five years in this legal climate. Seeing someone who hasn't walked the walk so flippantly claim that he is cowardly for his decision to stop fighting after all that time? Let's say that it's abrasive reading. You owe the man an apology.

It all boils down to a question: Under what provenance do you have the right to demand that others do what you yourself have not done or will not do?

Quote - Actually what disappoints me most is that there is not a single discussion over there.

Maybe they're adult enough to figure out that they don't want to spoil a beautiful place with such discussions? After all, one certainly doesn't stand up and start debating (much less shout) in a restaurant just because the chef decided to remove something from the menu.

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Quote - are one gigantic NDA.

It's not about any NDA - it's about respect.

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Quote - Sorry, but to me a forum is not a "private propety".
To me it's what "the commons" are in the real world.

No. The Commons in most towns are government-owned entities held in public trust.

Websites can be private businesses (think "coffee shop"), they can be private assemblies (think "volunteer group") but all non-governmental sites are indeed private property, and they can set their own rules as they please.

If I run Poser on a laptop in a coffee shop, and the owners/employees are highly offended at the content, then I would be rightly asked to leave. Standing there shouting about my 'rights' is not only stupid, but can be illegal if I refused to leave. If the other patrons take umbrage at my being thrown out, then they can leave as well.

It is up to the owners to determine what is best for their enterprises - not you, not me. Persuade them if you can, but they have the final say. If their business or enterprise collapses, that's their problem - and not ours.

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Quote - If you folks are all content to let someone else make the decision for you, I'll let it drop...

If I'm not content and it's not my site, I'll ask them. If they hold to their decision, then I let it drop and decide whether or not to stay or go.  If I feel that strongly about it, I'll go start my own site. Faeriewylde, PoserPros, 3DCommune, Renderotica... all of these sites began because their owners did not like this or that policy on an existing site.

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Quote - I think alot of the things were discussing here are in fact very acceptable in public places.

Question is, which public place? I'm not asking as an argument, but to posit that unlike the physical realm, the Internet is a conglomeration of public places, all wrapped up into one, with a paradox: Social mores differ among many physical places. Some deal with it by the 'highest common denominator' theory. Everyone else gropes around in the dark and tries to figure out an acceptable norm.

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Quote - The religious right in the US are dictating morals for all of us.

Actually, every political group in existence is trying to dictate morals for all of us - left or right.

/P