Censorship on one of the other websites...

[fishin_magician]

I was on another popular fishing website (not going to name names) when the owner messages me and tells me NOT to post any fishing reports from anyone else other than just my own personal reports...

So..if I have 3 fishing reports based on a a survey of my friends/acquaintances who run charter operations on a given day...when I choose not to fish...that's not worthy of being reported according to him--he asked me not to post them. In fact he removed the post! That's a bunch of BS...

Also, in addition, his website advertises for a local firm, whose reports he posts-- (incidentally it so happens that his advertiser who files the report is just getting on the water more frequently now..like 2 charters a week if that.....not 6 or 8... Funny thing is that the reports aren't even accurate!..I mean...this charter guy doesn't hook very many fish relative to other charter boats..and he's on the water less than half of the competition! What the heck gives?..that's a poor choice of advertiser if you ask me.

And I'm being censored from posting accurate and true fishing reports based on a first hand report from professionals which in the terms I express and report them WILL help the pleasure craft and weekend saltwater anglers get out and CATCH fish....needless to say I won't be posting on his website except for select circumstances....

What's anyone else's take on this?

 

[scott craven]

sounds like one of two things...
the guys are buddies and the site owner is protecting
buddie's interests or...
the charter guy is paying to have prioity on the website
by some means ?
either way it's not ethical

scotty

 

[fishin_magician]

Thanks Craven. The Guys on that website are mainly freshwater fishers..and think that the fishery revolves around their conservation efforts etc..there's not a whole lot of salties over there and those freshwater folks seem to think they're holier than thou over there.

Incidentally, you could probably guess which website it is....since their reports count bullheads and mutant flounder as fishing reports...

 

[Charter Tofino]

Uh its his site??? He should be able to do what he wants with it. I dont see whats wrong with him posting a charters report and advertising because more than likely the charter pays for it. This is how websites make money. I dont see any problem there

 

[fishin_magician]

Uh...like NO Kelly. It doesn't say in his user agreement that I was in violation of anything including posting a report that I wasn't fishing ...ever heard of the charter of rights and freedoms? In fact what I did was NOT violation of the VERY SOLE MISSION of his website, as a matter of fact it we to the "T" a good post.

Furthermore...as for the joker that PAYS for his report to be posted..his reports are INACCURATE.

It's called censorship...because I mentioned the name of one of the firms that WAILS on the firm which advertises on his website. In fact, for the dude that censored me and erased my post and fired me a private message, he was just trying to save his advertising revenue and not tick off his customer.

Ultimately, what it comes down to is...MONEY is more important that free speech for the owner of the website..not the informed information which will improve the productivity and experiences of anglers out there. SO if you PAY HIM $$$$, he won't censor your posts????? like is that not ridiculous or what?






Edited by - fishin_magician on 04/09/2006 20:07:20

 

[Charter Tofino]

Doesnt sound that ridiculous it sounds like a buisness and that is what his site is. as for"ever heard of the charter of rights and freedoms?" Ever heard of its his site? You cant swear on this site so are they violating ur freedom of speech? No its just what they want on their site.
"Furthermore...as for the joker that PAYS for his report to be posted.." sounds like good advertiseing to me does it not? Fishing magician why you are complaining on this site when you are still posting on the other. I dont see the point of your post.

 

[fishin_magician]

May as well complain on this site where my complaint will be heard instead of censored!

Honestly Kelly...if that website is designed to "make money" than maybe he should change the user agreement to reflect that and add the terms and conditions that your post may be removed if at the owners discretion for whatever reason he sees fit doesn't like it.

By the way..what the owner didn't like about the report I posted was that it didn't mention his advertiser..whose report I chose not to cite because I believed the report to be inaccurate and/or insufficient based on knowledge obtained through speaking with the authors of other reports and other charter operators. If through my knowledge and research I know or believe that I would be doing a disservice to fellow anglers ONLY by being able to post in a restricted manner I would be perpetrating the injustice and UNSPORTSMANLIKE behaviors. Why would I tell angler X to fish at location Y when there are known to be fewer fish than location Z where many more fish are being caught? Why would I refer angler X to a report which isn't as well written?

At any rate, notice that I don't mention any names on my recent thread posting over there, and I did post just what my results were based on my observations. I witnessed the charter operation return to the dock on Friday afternoon, Saturday morning, and 2 boats this morning with multiple keepers.

At any rate, what the true intent of deleting my post and censoring what I could post over there was to protect his advertisers and direct all website traffic towards his advertiser...rightly or wrongly...

I did NOT do a disservice to his advertiser. All I did was post other sides of the story about local fishing and fishing in the saltwater in Vancouver, Nanaimo, the Gulf Islands, Victoria, Sooke, to Port Renfrew. In no way did I criticize his advertiser.

At any rate, basically your justification of what he did to me was "it's his website, he can do whatever he wants, his website is designed to make money, and he can censor posts and delete them to serve his purposes" even if it is contrary to his user agreement and purpose for having established the website."

So..to draw the parallels..."it's my property, I own the property, you deliver the mail and you're trespassing on my property but I'm trying to have the best grass around...and now I don't think delivering the mail is acceptable cuz I don't want the mailman walking on my grass, yet I have a visible mailbox on my porch with a sign that says "come on in and deliver the mail under these circumstances and conditions" which the mailman doesn't violate, yet I'm going to shoot him with my elephant gun anyways because even though I've said it's ok to deliver the mail, and I invite him by putting up a visible mailbox and a sign that says enter under these conditions which the mailman is in full compliance with" I can still get an elephant gun and shoot the mailman because I have this gun, It my land, and even though the user agreement says it's legal, I can change my mind at will cuz I have the gun and it's my land".

See the parallels?

Basically, I'll post over here freely, and I'll continue to post over on the other site too since I have friends over there who benefit from my posts and me from theirs.., I'll heed the other website owner's pro forma warning and post only with my personal results in the same post.

Also, for the record, consequently I am NOT a subscriber to his website nor will I ever be under those pretenses since I disagree with how he chooses to do business and legitimize his behaviours in the pursuit of the almighty buck. Sportsfishing and helping fellow anglers catch fish has never been about MONEY, and the user agreement of his website should be changed to reflect his attitudes and intended purpose of his website which his website or at least the owner has now decided to have his website masquerade under something else..as that in my opinion, is only what I can assume given the lack of Explanation on his part.

At any rate, I'm here to help people catch fish, and offer my insights, experiences and knowledge to assist others in becoming better fishers and anglers, and if the owner over there decides he doesn't like my opinions and chooses to revoke my registration if he disagrees with my little grievance and tirade..so be it. At any rate at no point have I done a disservice to his website as I have not named his website on this board.

Enough BS about the crap, let's get down to fishing.