Censorship on the forum and the right to reply

[aqua_sax]

I have now been banned from the Lithium Positive and Negative Insurers thread (despite being the OP), and have had a post deleted, presumably for posting about a certain business model. This seems like censorship to me, and contrary to the principles of free speech. It also means I cannot respond in that thread to certain posts, notably:

"The standards are both available. You have to pay, just the same as you would have to pay for a book detailing how to carry out any technical installation.

You claim that you will carry out a "competent DIY installation" yet you don't know what any of the standards are. A little knowledge is dangerous and i suspect that some of the insurance conditions are in place to protect the insurance companies from DIY installers who think they know best."

and

"This is the really scary thing. The guy that thinks he is competent but is unaware of standards and complains when he has to pay for them, so probably won't bother and carries on oblivious to the risks."

Both of these comments are disingenuous. I am not unaware of the standards, I am just making the point that it is against the public interest to put them behind often expensive paywalls. That said, there are also questions about applicability from one country to another, because of different usage patterns. Nor is there any question of me arrogantly and stupidly thinking I know best when I don't. I am more than capable of reading up on what is in the public domain, and designing and installing a competent installation. I also have a more than adequate 'I'm out of my depth' alarm, and will take any necessary steps if it goes off. As I have pointed out before, my primary aim in getting the installation right is not to satisfy any number of arbitrary codes or insurance requirements, it is instead to ensure boats and people don't get harmed.

 

[ylop]

This seems like censorship to me, and contrary to the principles of free speech.

What makes you think that on a private internet forum you have a right to free speech! If you want to set up your own forum then you can say what you like (within the law) but on here you accepted the T&Cs when you signed up. Mostly they are actually pretty sensible, despite people who used to enjoy bigger arguments claiming they are draconian. Although I've had posts pulled and others seem to go unhindered despite clearly stepping over the line. Its not clear to me why your post got pulled or you were locked out the thread - did you mention bypassing the copyright protection on the standards or something like that?

BTW for good reason the moderators don't usually take well to having their editorial policy challenged and people starting new threads on topics they were banned from so you may find you have a period of unexpected shore leave coming if you persist.

FWIW whilst I understood the general point of your thread I don't think it was particularly well thought through: generally, people would be better to get the latest input direct from their insurer rather than use a partially curated list which inevitably has scope for misunderstanding and bias. It is useful to know which insurers are comfortable with DIY LiFePO4 installs but as the thread showed an insurance company may have different underwriters with different views, and can change the approach for new/renewed policies overnight.