"Crime & TMP Membership" Topic

This matter has come up in another discussion, and I am raising it here for further consideration.

If someone is convicted of a crime, and it became known to the TMP membership, should that ever be grounds for expulsion from TMP? Or in other words, are some acts so heinous that the TMP community would not want to be associated with these people?

Or, on the other hand, is TMP (and the hobby) a place where all wargamers can meet? Would we even reach out to incarcerated felons and encourage them to wargame, and join us in our online discussions?

Would any felony be grounds for banishment, or does 'white collar' crime get a pass? Would Bernie Madoff be OK, but Charles Manson not so OK?

I thought it would be useful to explore this issue proactively, rather than wait until such a decision is sprung upon us by circumstances.

If they are convicted. I would imagine they would only be on TMP after serving their time. At that point they have paid their debt to society.

I would say TMPers could respond to their posts or not, but TMP doesn't need to ban them.

?

If they are convicted. I would imagine they would only be on TMP after serving their time.

They could be out on appeal, I suppose. And I believe some prisons allow internet access.

What's with all the banning? I guess it could be worse! it could be Banner…

angry now!

So, kind of like adding a punishment above and beyond those meted out by the various justice systems? And we are an international community; how about people convicted of crimes that are not crimes n other countries? Do we expect the entire TMP population to live by American laws?

No, I don't think this idea has any merit…

What comes next, random drug testing?

If you are a politician in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it's only matter of time before you are convicted of a major felony.
Perhaps we should ban all politicians, just to be safe.

No. Editor's pejorative, you've set perameters for acceptable behaviour. Otherwise how do you deal with vexatious claims etc. using only the evidence that is posted?

Considering that we have members all over the world, whose laws are we actually worried about?

The stifle button is the universal means of turning off anyone you don't want to listen to.

What if you are arrested with an "I love TMP" T-shirt on?

If they've paid their debt,I have no problem.This is,after all,only a hobby site,and they've got enough stigma out in the real world.

What are the odds that someone who is a criminal has been revealed to the membership?

Roll a percentile dice. 1% is the chance… would be my guess.

Will TMP members win a prize for turning in other members with criminal records ? How about a special star next to criminals?

Then when we have finished that we can require that all members identify themselves as to age, race, religion . ethnic background, political affiliation … and again all coded on their profiles . This way we can be assured that no one will be upset by having to read posts from someone who they may want to dislike.

Hey people this is a HOBBY SITE- chill out

There are statistics that say 6.6% of Americans will spend time in prison at some point in their lifetime. There are currently 31,769 TMP members. It therefore stands to reason that about 2,100 of the members are criminals or will be at some point.

Seriously?

I've ben a policeman for almost 20 years, and I could care less about the past of someone who's screenname I read on a website. It's not like we are at the park with our kids.

Why don't you judge a person based on their behavior HERE rather than their behavior at a place and time that had no effect on you or our ONLINE gaming/hobby as a whole.

What if the crime is wargaming related? Miniature pirates, failure to pay for mail order good, or failure to ship them? How about a war criminal? Maybe they should be allowed if they gave their insights on how they could be incorporated into a warame?

I would think that anyone with Internet access can make up a name and be here without any of us noticing who they really are, so it seems to me to be a solution without a problem.

Mike "Bunkermeister" Creek

bunkermeister.blogspot.com
sgtsays.blogspot.com

If they can offer me tips on painting or scenery or information about a question I may have I care not for their criminality, race, religion, handicaps or even their politics.

Crime against who?

We have soldiers here on TMP that have killed whilst on active duty.
It was not a crime for them to kill the enemy as far as their home nation is concerned but I bet the nation of the victims will say according to their law it is a crime.

ah, just saw this>

Considering that we have members all over the world, whose laws are we actually worried about?

What he said.

Ooh the problems with doing this are amazing. So from what jurisdictions would a conviction count? China? Iran? Or just those 'we' approve of – perhaps we could have a poll for each one like "should someine convicted of taking a photo of a public building with a flag on it in Kenya [yes that is a crime] be banned from TMP?"

Some one has either:

a) seriously lost the plot and needs to get out for some fresh air.

or

b) is enjoying a major laugh posting the most outrageous stuff just to wind people up and increase hit counts.

The juries still out and so am I from all these silly tmp threads from now on.

Good idea, I am going to turn off most of the boards and just see the ones about gaming.

Define crime? Worldwide definitions are different. Also, privacy considerations abound, particularly here in Australia. Better to ban sanctimonious windbags in my opinion………

Cheers
Jon

As a victim of crime associated with wargaming, I have to say that my opinion is …

No. I think anyone should be able to post on here until banned/DH by the Editor for reasons given.

I have started to wonder if we should however have an appeal jury to appeal dog housing. Let the editor randomly choose 12 members in good standing, and if more than 10 of them believe the punishment was harsh or unjust the person can be freed from DH early? If the Member chooses not to appeal – admits its a fair cop and apologises etc then they get back at the appointed time, if they say its a stitch up, appeal and lose then the time for the DH is increased by a week, and any future DH is increased by a week for one year from the date of DH.

DH – should be an oportunity for the miscreants that troll the web and this site to learn that their actions will not be tolerated.

I have never been critical of people, but I have been critical of gaming systems, and the rigid adherence of some (zealots/converts/acolytes) to certain closed gaming systems (normally those that have expensive themed figures and only allow a certain (TM) (c) manufacturers figures to constitute 75% of a figure or more of any figure on any base in an army (normally a small company in number at best) at the pay to enter tourney).

I am a wargamer, the toys represent real people/things going about the art of war on a tabletop under the control of the rules and sometimes the gamer. Any resemblence to real war is intentional, and the debate that good strategy, or a fortunate event that results in victory, provides fodder for the drinking and talking session that should follow any good game.

Lets get it all out there, rather than hitting on everything, one issue at a time.

First, politics is a no-no here, you should ban everyone who has participated in politics, that includes everyone who has ever voted or ever will vote in am election.

Religion is a no-no too, so ban everyone who has ever had,participated in or chooses to be linked to religion.

Mosquitos, any member who is a mosquito should be banned, mosquitos just bite.

Members who put pineapple on pizza, that's just wrong, they shouldn't be allowed.

Dallas Cowboy fans, even though I like some of the cowboy fans here, they need to be banned.

The fuzzy nut chuckers that live in the tree outside my back porch, they should be banned, 'cause they are always dropping their nuts on my picnic table. I hate them and their fuzzy nuts.

Knees, or anyone with knees should be banned. Knees are defectively designed, what with ligaments always popping when they are bent sideways and whatnot, we don't want memebers with defective parts on TMP.

Oh, and people with good hair, its just not fair. Matter of fact anyone with hair should be banned for good measure.

And tall people, they always stand around acting so tall and all, they should be banned.

Short people, got no reason… might as well ban them too.

And my neighbor's fangbeast of a dog, the one that drags his truck down the driveway. It should be banned before somebody gets runned over.

People who are offensive, offensive people should be banned.

People who can be offended, we should kick them off of TMP too, because they are offensive.

And lastly, anyone who is intolerant or judgemental, I can't stand anyone who is like that. They just shouldn't be here. Kick them off before it spreads…

Irishserb for ruler of the world!

No – ludicrous idea.

Doug

Nope. I have a ton of speeding tickets and have paid for my crimes of exceeding the speed limit.

I would only vote for banning is if they performed their criminal action on TMP. Such as luring someone to a house to kill them, scams, etc.

Oh Lord..

Can we go back to wargaming yet?

Bill, would you not just be happier banning all of us and having all this space to yourself?

Anyone else got the looney tunes theme running through their head on TMP visits lately?

I am with OFM, ban politicians and fat cats who do not play by the same rules (tax avoidence) that us other mere mortals have too.

As to persons with criminal convictions, I am a police officer in the UK and whilst I would not want to associate with persons who abuse children, commit rape etc I would rather spend an hour with a petty crook than with a politician!

Now off to see my boss to be sacked!

All the best,

Mark.

I just put my cup of pee in the mail to Bill.

More pot stirring from The Editor. Lovely.

"It was not a crime for them to kill the enemy as far as their home nation is concerned but I bet the nation of the victims will say according to their law it is a crime."

This is just a cop out. Moral equivalency.

I think I understand Bill's intent and would consider it. The way I'm looking at it is this, would you want people associated with certain crimes to be associated with this site? In other words would you want a news report that said, "Jerry Sandusky's trial on 250 counbts of child molestation started today. Among other hobbies he enjoyed posting on TMP."

Just something worth considering in my opinion.

UK law might be interesting… link

What if I roll dice so badly it should be a crime?

When will the madness end ?

What about someone who belongs to an unpopular polictical party? I often see nastiness directed to a trader who is known to belong to a less than popular UK party.

But I think it should be down to an individual to ignore someone if they really disagree with what that person has done.

And just as an aside – here in the UK, serving time does not seem to excuse your crime if it appeals to the editors of our tabloids, in which case they continue to persecute the individuals for ever (and they are expunged from the list of best selling musical artistes as well :-) )

You cannot ban them , unless they are using TMP to further their criminal behavior ( ie pedophile using games to lurer younger players) . Indivduals have a stifle button to privately "ban" people they do not wish to interact with .

Gays, Republicans, pot smokers, underage dinking, having an unlicensed dog, being behind on your taxes, removing matress tags…

Line them all up and ban them!

ming31 is correct.. if they are "miss using TMP" then they should be banned, as anyone who miss uses or abuses the site.

But just the fact they have a criminal records does not mean they should be banned.
The site rules should set a code of conduct and that keeps civil behavior on the site, or should.

If they are convicted of a felony, I REALLY hope they are not wargaming behind bars.

Sooo…. What was the Florida Zombie guy's TMP handle?

No Bill, leave this alone. Hopefully they won't access TMP in prison.

Must all noble efforts necessarily descend into absurdity?

If you have this much time on your hands, pick up a paint brush.

YouTube link

Really? Really?

This matter has come up in another discussion,

Where?

and I am raising it here for further consideration.

I see no need. If they violate the site's rules, there are procedures for handling it.

Can pedophiles post on forums where minors post?

I'm someone who votes that pedophilia be a death sentence crime.

This is just silly.
If you are going to ban people who are convicted, than you should also ban people who talk about illegal activities.
So any questions about how to recast. Anyone who mentions recasting should be banned.
And, oh yea, anyone who openly supports pedophila (not that there have ever been any instances of that here…)