No offence
@lexity but how do you know this ? This could be private individuals who operates this forum with private funding.
No offense taken, Snek. You are the only person arguing in good faith on this thread, at the moment.
I don't think I'm well-informed enough as to Mybb's funding, so can't comment on that. Although I can speak in general terms about how I categorize 'private' vs 'public,' and what constitutes actual violence, and the actual purpose of the State etc.
Mybb is State-regulated. This is not all that contentious as a claim. Most businesses require effective permission from a State regulatory agency of some kind or another to serve their community.
The first tell-tale sign is how they describe their business: '
ICT News Publication'.
That acronym - I'd have to double-check - but it sounds very much to me, right off the bat, like a State-invented acronym. It stands for "Information and Communications Technology".
Part of the State's regulatory infrastructure is the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), which oversees among other things '
ICT policy'.
So immediately, there are strong signals of licensing this online communications/publication organization.
You see at the bottom of the page it subs to an ISP agency. Which on the face of it looks like a standards body tasked with 'receiving notices'.
So. Let's dig a bit more to see if there is any more worth taking special note of.
At some point soon I expect to see the acronym ICASA, appear.
To take this a step further, I'm on a few forums, and there's two particular forums I actually know of the owner, back story, and have direct contact with a moderator etc... and that's all private, of course waaaaaay different to mybb, but nonetheless it's private, there are rules, there's moderators etc
Well, that it is interesting to me. Whenever someone refers to an entity as 'private,' in this mixed-economy, my ears prick up.
I'm interested in comparing mybb's regulatory requirements to those who only operate a forum business.
Are your other forums paid-for, member services? Or are they just free-to-join online clubs that have no formal communication with any State agency?
What is meant by "3rd-party" in this specific context ?
Are you referring to sponsors or funders?
When I refer to 3rd-parties, without the qualifier 'uninvited' then it is the abstract form. So I'm usually heading towards making the distinction between an
invited 3rd-party to any human interaction between 2 willing parties, and one that is
uninvited i.e. one that
compels your association with them.
A simple example would be a shooting range business, who's proprietors will face the full, violent force of the State unless they associate with it by complying - and continuing to comply - with its edicts.
The gun-rights community are a problem for the State because they generally advocate for individuals to take responsibility for their own physical safety and self-defense.
This is already treading on the State's toes. The State's most fervent operators do not like self-defense training that is not under their control. They consider you a threat to their existence.
Again we need to know who are you referring to when you mention 3rd-party?
A 3rd-party is anyone that interacts with two existing parties to a transaction or just some human interaction in everyday human life that occurs between 2 or more consenting adults.
A voluntary transaction between two willing participants ceases to be voluntary, however, whenever an uninvited 3rd-party enters the fray by imposing its own terms and conditions on that otherwise voluntary interaction/transaction.
So, a 3rd-party
per se it not necessarily a bad or harmful party. But an
uninvited 3rd-party imposing terms and conditions(example minimum operating standards)
always is.