POSTS REMOVED DUE TO COMPLAINTS

[Coxy]

You will have noticed a few threads have been removed from Broncos Talk this morning. As the owner of this site, I was contacted this morning by legal representatives of several people of interest today over what their clients have complained are slanderous and defamatory statements about them.

Their concerns are that:
a) The identities of people in the allegations are clearly recogniseable
b) That no reliable source has been named
c) That those making the allegations are anonymous

They advised me that members of this forum contacted people connected to the complainants trying to get a confirmation that they were true, which then led them to this forum. At least one private message has also been emailed to these legal representatives as evidence.

This issue isn't over. I have asked the admins to delete the threads (Thank you Russo) as the immediate first step, but they have asked me to meet with them in the next day or two and to bring any identifying information of offending posters that I have available.

I will be seeking my own legal advice as to what information I am compelled to provide.

What happens next depends on what these lawyers say, and ultimately that comes down to how far the people complaining want to take it. I don't think having BHQ shut down is beyond the realms of possibility.

More information to come when I have it.

(Admins, can you please mark this as a GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT) please.

 

[Russo]

Done.

Some on here really do need to take a good hard look at themselves. Time to have a re-read of the forum rules guys.

Coxy you have our full support and backup.

 

[Bannermania]

With you 100% Coxy.

 

[QUEENSLANDER]

We are being opressed!! :P

nah cool, i already removed my khunt sig

 

[Anonymous person]

Is this cause I said Stu Kelly is horrible? I can back that up with video evidence if need be.

 

[Coxy]

Fellas, this is genuinely serious.

The Admin team are now under instructions to remove ANY speculation and discussion about Broncos players and staff that is not directly football related.

Please abide by this, as the next step open to us is to have enforced moderation on the Broncos talk forum, meaning any post has to be cleared by an admin before appearing. And who wants that?

We will also apply this harder stance on all areas of the forums, even general talk, where there is often potentially slanderous stuff discussed.

Don't really have a choice.

 

[Professor47]

yeh look, fair enough. Gone are the days of just people on forums having fun I guess.

I'm cool with it.

 

[Coxy]

As far as I'm concerned I have no problem with people still having fun. But when it's even remotely slanderous we just don't have any choice but to remove it.

I for one don't want to risk being sued, and ultimately if I can't identify the actual person posting then as the site owner I'm liable.

 

[Nashy]

Please also be aware that these rules apply to the chat aswell. As the chat does not require registration, I will have to ban you from the entire server, that means any sites on the server, including BHQ.

 

[ningnangnong]

So we're now under the same censorship laws as China then? icon_smile

Nah, it's all good. Interesting to see what happens in the next few days.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Fair call everyting on here has been pretty crazy this week.

 

[mrslong]

Good work guys, thanks for getting on top of this and allowing us to remain open!

Looks like whatever is going on at the Broncos had started to affect the performance of fans too!

 

[OXY-351]

Looks like whatever is going on at the Broncos had started to affect the performance of fans too!

Too right. Real fans wouldn't start some of the threads that have come up on here lately. That most recent "rumour" thread was pretty discraceful and distasteful. I'm guessing that was probably the straw that broke the camels back.

 

[Coxy]

Also just for everyone's information, at the request of the complainants, Hammoz has been banned from contributing to this forum indefinitely.

 

[Browny]

I was expecting this to happen and didnt really help with all the jokes about it.

 

[Bannermania]

Can we still call them rubbish if they have a weak game?

 

[Nashy]

Yes. Michaels is still useless.

 

[Aeetee]

yeah of course you can bag them if they have a bad game..... just can't say stuff like I heard from a matethat x player is gay and roots dogs....or so i heard.....I suppose common sense comes into it. But then again everyones version of common sense is different.