"[censored]" - What is it?

[kimhollamby]

Re: English nitpicking

Yes, our involvement does increase our exposure. But the flip side of that is the only way in which we could be seen as less involved is not to be involved at all, which would leave us open not only to potential legal minefields but also to ones concerning abuse of users.

My choice of words may not have been precise but we are very much aware, from actual events, that to get your facts wrong is one thing, to make it look as though you are gilding the lily with malicious spice is quite another...the penalties if you get embroiled in the latter are generally much worse.

There's also another issue here, namely do I want to get involved in a court case for six months on something that is unnecessary and avoidable? Answers on an e-card please but no prizes for guessing the correct one from:

a: yes
b: no

Associate Publisher ybw.com websites kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[davel]

Re: \"[censored]\" - What is it?

What a great thread.

Must stick my twopeneth in the argument in support of Sunsail though. I learnt to sail through them and have used them regularly, mostly overseas but a couple of times in the Solent. On all occassions I've found their service to be top rate and their briefings prior to charter to be thorough and professional.

I now sail my own boat in the Solent and have, once or twice, experienced the bad side of some Sunsail fleets - "I'm racing" and rowdy behaviour in marinas etc. But I've also experienced the same behaviour from many other boats/parties and I pin the blame on the individuals not the company.

The fact is that the Solent is a pretty popular place to sail and you get a rich mix of plonkers from all sides of the scale, ranging from beginers who don't know better through to "experienced" sailors who should know better.

Returning to the matter of censorship, I'm more than happy to accept that if Kim, in his position of forum owner (in the sense that his company pay for the facilities that we all enjoy using here), decides that a particular post has overstepped the mark, it should be pulled. If it happens too much (and I've seen no real evidence of this) then folks will stop visiting the site, YBM will lose their audience and advertising revenue will dry up. It's a natural check and balance system!

 

[Guest]

Re: English nitpicking

I take your point about test cases but I don't think there's any doubt that material on a website/bulletin board would be regarded as 'published' and would therefore be classed as libel. Broadcasters are subject to libel rather than slander laws (as mentioned in my original post) because they are deemed to have made a permanent record. Certainly a cartoon would be deemed to have been published, whether it was the words or the pix that were objectionable - aren't the two inseparable?

Could you clarify what you mean by most libels being verbal? I don't understand, unless you are referring to TV/radio. I hope you are right about it being highly unlikely that YBW could be successfully sued - I think, regardless of pedantry, that is the last thing any of us would want to see.

Kim - were you ever a hack in the conventional sense before getting mixed up in this online business? Is there still by any chance an ancient, outdated and disintegrating copy of McNae's Essential Law for Journalists in your bottom drawer?

 

[kimhollamby]

Re: English nitpicking

Oh yes, if you have the patience for it my bio (click on my username) reveals all. But no, there's nothing left in my bottom drawer...living in the virtual world it's all tucked up in e-mail archives and hard disks now (found that out when I moved offices recently only to discover that I didn't need the usual set of 30 Pickfords crates any more).

As a freelance journo (see, I've been reading your bio too) you know that the biggest problem with any legal action is the amount of time it consumes. Despite the odd flare-up, I very rarely have to intervene on posts here on the ybw forums, which says something for the responsibility of people who actively use them. The information shared is all the better for that too. But we would also want to be seen to be responsible with what can lapse into a highly misleading tool.

Associate Publisher ybw.com websites kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[Guest]

Re: English nitpicking

I wonder if the alleged general attitude of solent yachtsmen to Sunsail could be tinged by that old British vice of class? You know the sort of thing........ "yachting hasn't been the same old chap since the oiks started chartering".

I've used Sunsail in Greece a couple of times, and I've found the attitude of their un stuffy young staff to be excellent. OK - they were relaxed about the occasional brush with another charter boat, but so what.

Whenever I sail in the Solent, I always turned the vhf off. Yes, I know what the collregs say, but you cant keep a radio watch when the channel is clogged solid. All those radio checks by people really wanting to say "look at me, I'm out on the water, isnt that clever".

 

[BrianJ]

Re: \"[censored]\" - What is it?

Its just because no one can understand you he he he
BrianJ

 

[kimhollamby]

Re: English nitpicking

Good news for you is that the colregs don't demand a VHF watch and the MCA positively discourage contact by VHF to sort out close encounters (advice ignored by most ships in the Channel). Radio watch is much more about listening for distress calls - those punctuation marks in the Solent that break up the solid sentences of (unnecessary) Ch16 radio check requests

You are not the first person I have heard of say that the VHF remains off between the Needles and Selsey Bill.

Associate Publisher ybw.com websites kim_hollamby@ipcmedia.com

 

[bedouin]

Re: English nitpicking

I did say I was nitpicking.

'Verbal' means 'In Words' - which can be written or spoken.

The word you wanted was 'oral' meaning 'by mouth'.

 

[PhilipStapleton]

Re: \"[censored]\" - What is it?

As I understand it, someone saw the opportunity to make a pun on the name of a company who specialises in chartering its boats to groups of people whose primary purpose is to have fun, and who are typically less experienced than the readers of this forum.

The punned name could well be offensive to both the company and particularly its charterers, so the owner of this site has decided to censor any use of the word. However, instead of just replacing any occurances with the real name of the company, he has openly acknowledged that he has censored it.

So what's all the fuss about. The pun was funny - once. The company introduces people to sailing who might otherwise be driving powerboats (or even worse, jet skis) and if even one converts.... Sometimes, the crews are very experienced (I've participated in an "Industry challenge" on their yachts and all the crews there contained a high proportion of regular, competent sailors and were in it for the match racing). All forums have a responsibility to their users and to the world at large to prevent abuse (racial, sexual, libel).

I'd hope Kim would remove any scurrilous references to me (no, don't try it), so why shouldn't a company have the same protection. Its reputation is probably more valuable than mine anyway.

Finally, if people have real, substantiated complaints about a company (or individual), then this forum is a good place to share them - but with the courtesey of referring to them by name.

 

[Guest]

Re: English nitpicking

My earlier comments were more than a bit billious, but in an era when yacht clubs struggle for younger members, and yachting still suffers from an image of exclusiveness, it seems to me important that we support the channels of recruitment into the hobby - and Sunsail et al are major ways in

I have many younger friends who do not own boats because of the work / cost / time involved, but who sail on a regular basis with the charter companies. They might not be boat owners, but they certainly are yachtsmen. And the spreading of ownership costs via a charter company means that more of them can afford to come sailing each year.