So, this is my summary of the helpful messages so far:

*Legal context:* by writing in a forum you generally give up the
rights over your posts. There is a general legal principle of
"affirmative contributor agreement" i.e.

"If your forum had some kind of affirmative contributor agreement
whereby posters agreed that the forum owner had a non-terminable right
to distribute the posts, you would have grounds to retain the posts --
but otherwise, I think the author wins." (Peter Kaminski)

*Practical suggestion:* Make this legal context obvious i.e. When
people subscribe they have to click the "I agree" button to the
conditions, which are that moderators can delete messages and ban
people for contingent reasons i.e.

"If there's going to be such a strong interest on the part of the
founder/sponsor of the forum that moderators will be so empowered to
control the conversations, then people should be warned loudly at
registration about the conditions under which they will be
participating." (Cliff)

*Community advice:* There is a fine balance between feeling part of
the joke and feeling part of the community. This needs to be closely
moderated i.e.

"I don't know whether it applies to the community you were referring
to or not, however I can't help noticing how some persons can go on
and on about inside jokes without having the slightest idea of the
potential they have for originating feelings of exclusion in whoever
isn't part of the joke." (Rosanna Tarsiero)

*Positive thinking:* Being banned from a community offers an
opportunity to start another i.e.
"it appears that the Moderators have created an untolerable
situation for the community members. Rather than feeling sadness, you
might want to thank them for allowing you and the other community
members to start your own new community with reasonable and fair
moderation." (James Abert)


There's something you said that I didn't understand. Rosanna:

"I'm sorry for the feeling of injured identity, but I can't help
thinking that as long as we (generic) decide to engage in community
exchanged our own identity doesn't all belong to ourselves only any
more. It becomes a *negotiated* concept, therefore it doesn't depend
on the subject only anymore, it depends on the group as a whole."

What does that mean concretely? I understood the first bit to say that
while we discuss in a forum we are giving up any "ownership rights"
over our posts. But I didn't get the second bit - what is the "it"
that "depends on the group as a whole" and how does that manifest itself?

Cheers
Bev

Beverly Trayner
Web page: http://btrayner.info
Blog: http://btrayner.blogspot.com