Important questions regarding the forum.

[swede]

Hi I have some general questions that I think everyone should know the answer to. Perhaps it should be pinned, idk.


1. Who owns the forum?

2. Who pays for the forum?

3. Who are the admins and why are they admins?

4. Who are the mods and why are they mods?

5. Who owns the rights to images/content posted to the forum?

6. Who has legal responsibility for the content on the site?

7. Is the site affiliated with inf-fni in any way?

I think these questions are really important, and if anyone has any similar questions. Please comment and I'll add them to the post.

I'll also quote the mods answer below each question.

Best regards!

[Sunlover]

No. 4 is especially interesting for me, as I perceive this site being perfectly moderated / administrated with one increasingly worrying exception.

[It’s only me]

No one ever asks "how are the mods"

[Octavia]

To paraphase a Guardian of the Galaxy: "I'll do you one better, when are the mods?"

But seriously these are good questions the thread raises, transparency is always important.

[Buzzulepuff]

Google owns everything these days don't they? Do you feel you are being fedposted.

[Wesley]

We have updated the forum FAQ, and it also covers some of the questions asked here.
https://internationalyn.org/forum/index.php/topic,110.0.html

All of these questions seem to have been previously answered / talked about in various topics in this forum category too. If you're interested, I suggest you browse through those.

[nakedreader]

1. Who owns the forum?

5. Who owns the rights to images/content posted to the forum?

6. Who has legal responsibility for the content on the site?

I also think these are important questions.

That bothered me from the start that you don't know who is behind this forum.
That doesn't make a serious impression.

[swede]

We have updated the forum FAQ, and it also covers some of the questions asked here.
https://internationalyn.org/forum/index.php/topic,110.0.html

All of these questions seem to have been previously answered / talked about in various topics in this forum category too. If you're interested, I suggest you browse through those.

you really only answered the question regarding IYNOs (non) affiliation with inf-fni and who owns the rights to content. Those questions were answered quite well. Especially regarding the content.


But the rest are not, especially regarding who owns/runs the site.

[Delta]

He also answered the questions about moderators and administrators in the FAQ update:

Who manages the forum?
The forum is managed by the staff team, consisting of moderators in several groups (that we call divisions). Each staff member helps out in areas they are knowledgeable in, and the overall responsibility of maintaining the forum is shared by us as a collective team.

Most boards have dedicated 'local moderators', and there are staff members specialized in account management as well. If you have any questions, always feel free to message someone!
You can view the full list of staff members here.

The staff team is expanded occasionally whenever the team sees the need to expand. Throughout this process we are always aiming for a healthy balance; we don't need a large team to maintain the forum, but as the forum is a leisure activity for us all we spread the responsibilities amongst multiple members.

The question of "who" is answered by the staff list (link found in the top menu bar or the FAQ), the question of "why" is answered by the last paragraph: They are volunteers who have been recruited by the existing staff when additional help was needed, in a line dating back to original founders like Pisco or Danee.

As for the ownership/funding situation, that question was asked before, and an answer can be found on page 2 of the FAQ board: https://internationalyn.org/forum/index.php/topic,28262.0.html
I fail to see the importance of that information, though. The financial and formal support of this site is not tied to any managerial roles, all day-to-day operations are handled with equal authority by all active staff members.

[climbing]

No one ever asks "how are the mods"

@Mods How are you all doing? 

[Longingtobenude]

As for the ownership/funding situation, that question was asked before, and an answer can be found on page 2 of the FAQ board: https://internationalyn.org/forum/index.php/topic,28262.0.html
I fail to see the importance of that information, though. The financial and formal support of this site is not tied to any managerial roles, all day-to-day operations are handled with equal authority by all active staff members.

I don't really see an answer there. Just conjecture about the site being funded by @Pisco.  Its never confirmed. 

I think its perfectly reasonable for people to wonder about it.  The saying "If you aren't paying for it, then you are the product." comes to mind. 

[swede]

@Delta the post never comes to a conclusion. It shouldn't be hard to explain the financial situation of the forum.

It is highly important to know who pays, because that person de facto owns the site.
And if the site one day isn't live anymore it would be nice to know who to call.

The thread comes to a close with ///// saying that the topic has been discussed enough and locks the thread. But the discussion never came to a close. Nothing was concluded. Her shutting down of the conversation makes the entire ordeal seem very hush hush.

[DrgHybrid]

@Delta the post never comes to a conclusion. It shouldn't be hard to explain the financial situation of the forum.

It is highly important to know who pays, because that person de facto owns the site.
And if the site one day isn't live anymore it would be nice to know who to call.

The thread comes to a close with @Brendarella saying that the topic has been discussed enough and locks the thread. But the discussion never came to a close. Nothing was concluded. Her shutting down of the conversation makes the entire ordeal seem very hush hush.

Staff has all that covered. We don't have to disclose every detail of how the site is ran to the forum. Staff jointly runs it and there isn't just one person that has access to the backbone. Believe me, we have all that planned accordingly.

Also, Brendarella isn't staff so not able to shut anything down. I don't know why you tagged her.

[swede]

@Delta the post never comes to a conclusion. It shouldn't be hard to explain the financial situation of the forum.

It is highly important to know who pays, because that person de facto owns the site.
And if the site one day isn't live anymore it would be nice to know who to call.

The thread comes to a close with @Brendarella saying that the topic has been discussed enough and locks the thread. But the discussion never came to a close. Nothing was concluded. Her shutting down of the conversation makes the entire ordeal seem very hush hush.

Staff has all that covered. We don't have to disclose every detail of how the site is ran to the forum. Staff jointly runs it and there isn't just one person that has access to the backbone. Believe me, we have all that planned accordingly.

Also, Brendarella isn't staff so not able to shut anything down. I don't know why you tagged her.

Sorry, tagged the wrong person BellaJordan I believe.

Yeah but you reallyhave to disclose the financial situation of the site.

And "belive me" isn't very reassuring.

[DrgHybrid]

No, we really don't "have to" disclose the financial situation of the site.

There is no rule, law, code, or guide that says we have to. IYNO is a privately ran organization. The people that need to know all the ins and outs do. The whole forum community doesn't need to know everything about the website.

Would be like going to any website and saying..."You HAVE to tell me and give me a copy of the coding for the site." You see why that doesn't make any sense.

You can't go in and demand the right to know the inner workings of something that doesn't belong to you. We don't have to have everything on the face value so everyone can see exactly how everything works.