RAT - Must login to browse the MarketPlace

[stevesarak]

Hey Jasper,

Just thought I'd let you know that every time I try to access the marketplace, it take me to the login screen. This happens in Netscape and IE

[Dan Diffendale]

That's a recent change. You have to be logged in to view the Marketplace now.

[mcbishop]

That's a recent change. You have to be logged in to view the Marketplace now.

Which begs the question: why?

Mike Bishop

[Tarbicus]

If a topic in Marketplace is in the Recent Threads list on the front page then you can go directly to it from there.

But yeah; why?

[Robert Vermaat]

Why?

It has to do with recent exchanges in the Marketplace section. Members have (rightly or wrongly) sought to get a solution to their problems with (re-)sellers and manufacturers by posting their problems there.
To be protected against possible allegations of allowing slander against manufacturers, the Marketplace section is no longer visible to non-members.

[mcbishop]

It has to do with recent exchanges in the Marketplace section. Members have (rightly or wrongly) sought to get a solution to their problems with (re-)sellers and manufacturers by posting their problems there.
To be protected against possible allegations of allowing slander against manufacturers, the Marketplace section is no longer visible to non-members.

I appreciate it's a tricky area, Robert. However, the problem (libel, since it's written; slander is spoken) is surely not solved by a partial solution like this; all of the sections are just as vulnerable (and there's been some pretty heated stuff in other sections in the past IIRC ;-) and I would remain much more uneasy about the interpretations of fair dealing/fair use in copyright on RAT than libel in terms of the dangers of lawyering-up. This approach surely suggests that either all sections (in fact, the whole of RAT) become members only (and I have no objection to that in principle as I belong to at least one login-only board), but that a) turns away the casual browser, which I am against ('cos I'm a wooly-minded beardy liberal, amongst other things) and b) doesn't prevent libel within the board amongst its members. More realistically, alert policing of the sections by the moderators (who, it should be noted, collectively do an excellent job on RAT), aided by concerned members, to isolate and remove any such posts (as is done with spam) must be the only way to go. Being seen to act in such a way would surely mitigate against RAT being culpable; if individuals are stupid enough to expose themselves to being sued for libel, that's their problem and they should read the rules for posting.

Mike Bishop

[Praefectusclassis]

Hi Mike,
I firmly believe that is in fact what we are doing. I made the Marketplace section (temporarily) read only because of the debate going on there last weekend. I did this with past experience in mind. I'll leave it at that here.