Who does this board belong to?

Just an interesting question I posed myself.
Do you think the board belongs to Malcolm as he is the creator?
Or do you think the board belongs to all of us as we are the ones who shape it and make it what it is?
Maybe you might think the board belongs to the Mods as they have the power to censor us?
Please give full reasons who you think the board belongs to!
Love to hear your opinions

I think it's Malcolm's. He made it, he runs it, he owns HOP, he chooses who the mods are, etc.

He's also an amazing man and he lets us play here. Doesn't make any money running these boards, either.

I think it belongs to everyone who posts. Whilst Malcolm is the host and the Mods help to keep it running smoothly, without the input of each and every person who has ever posted here it would not have evolved to what it is. Therefore, it must belong to us all.

Fantastic question!

I fanatically believe that it belongs to Malcolm not as the creator necessarily, but as the person paying the rent. I'm always amazed at people crying "freedom of speech!" whenever censored. You absolutely do not have the right to spraypaint whatever you like on my living room floor claiming it legally protected by free speech.

I believe that Malcom has every right to censor it as arbitrarily as he feels. His ethics and character would never let him do that but I believe that he has the right as this site is his property.

Though, perhaps the server has some rights as well. I know that some providers won't allow certain types of inappropriate websites to exist on their server.

But in essence, I feel that Malcolm has ultimate rights over all within this site.

Though I am open to listening to other arguements...

Wow I am amazed when I posted this I expected everyone to say it belonged to everybody. However I have thought about it a while and I truly cannot make up my mind.

On one side I see this as a forum and the real essence of it comes from the people who post here so in affect it is up to all of us to make it the place it is. However as you say Malcolm pays rent for the site!

But to turn the question on its head and what makes it difficult for me to decide is.
If this place closed down would the spirit of this forum live on in perhaps another domain or perhaps in a more metaphysical way?

[ 22. November 2002, 11:44: Message edited by: Jez ]

I believe that it belongs to everyone. I view ownership in some very different terms.

Malcolm has financial ownership of this board, and we do have to respect that. His livelihood, his gift to us in this board , this board is many things for him. And we have to respect that and behave accordingly.

But at the same time we have created something that goes beyond the physical board, we have created a community that we both belong to and have an ownership of. When a new person arrives, they carve out a niche, a territory, a place of belonging in that community. You only have to look at what people have done with their various intro threads.

This too needs to be respected. This type of ownership is not a "this is mine, keep off" type of ownership. Rather this is about having a stake in something, having responsibility for it. We all have ownership of, and responsibility for this community and the direction it goes in.

personally I can't cope with other communities. Even ones populated by HoPers.

They just don't have the same vibe.

Nowhere else (to me) seems like a community.

Jez you've been here longer than most of us that have posted thus far. What are your thoughts.

M3! It belongzorz to m3! I 0wNz J00...

hmmm - maybe not as funny as I thought - but hey you get that...

Nah really I think it belongs to Malcolm, and he lets us play here (Like Mike said).

I don't think the Mods come into the ownership argument because they are just other members that are responsible enough to clean up behind the rest of us.

I dn't think 'own' is realy the right word to use here.

Who OWNS a group of friends? Who owns a language? Who owns an art?

Malcolm, legally, owns the medium through which we interact, and, I guess by proxy, whatever we contribute to it or directly to him.

But, this board is an evolving community that owes it's thanks to Malcolm for providing a medium with which to interact with.

It can't be owned in any way that I use the word. I prefer to say this community is SUPPORTED by Malcolm.

In my own hopeless opinion, I think that is the best way to desribe the relationship between M and HoP...

At first (3 years ago) I thought I owned and ran HOP. But it has grown into a marvelous thing through the input and sharing of so many others.

The board is a community of people.

I do not believe anyone can claim to own a community.
We are all part of a community and each of us play our own little part.

Some make sure the site runs smoothly
others make sure it is a safe place for all to share
Some make us laugh and some make us cry
others open our minds to other ideas and possibilities
I am sure we all learn and grow from this sharing

If you say "it belongs to whomever pays for it" then...
Money from sales in the HOP shop is what pays for site development and the bandwidth of the community. So in effect it is you who owns it and I work for all of you.

That's what I think anyways

I have otters if anyone needs any . . .

::looks at Malcolm with an evergrowing feeling of love and respect::

you are an amazing soul, Malcolm...

SHINE ON
Cassandra

Malcolm....

You brought a tear to my eye!

Cheers for being so nice to everyone!

Much love to you darling!
Drome

Wow what a response Malcolm!
I never expected that!!!

You never fail to surprise!