[Discussion] Charter

Time Magazine

Right, things have settled down a bit so it's time for a charter.

Any ideas or suggestions welcome. Stolen and adapted from the Economics forum:

Welcome to the Investments & Markets forum.

General
This is the Investments & Markets forum. This forum is for the discussion of all things pertaining to investing and markets, both global and local. This charter is a guideline of the rules and is not all inclusive.

FINANCIAL ADVICE
Disclaimer: This is not a financial advice forum. Any opinion offered, in any guise, is to be taken as opinion, and nothing else. That means that if somebody proposes a particular investment, this is not to be thought of as financial advice. In the event that a poster says they are qualified to give such advice, neither Boards.ie Ltd., nor any of its affiliates, accept any liability for any loss or damage arising therefrom. In other words, members can assume that nobody who posts in this forum is qualified to give financial advice. BY POSTING IN OR READING FROM THIS FORUM, YOU AGREE TO THIS DISCLAIMER. Any financial advice sought or given will result in an immediate week long ban. Second offences result in an indefinite ban.


Flaming
Posts containing personal attacks on another user will be edited/deleted. Attack the post, not the poster. Minor infringements will warrant a warning followed by a ban. More serious infringements and/or intentional flaming will receive an automatic ban.


Advertising
Topics/posts that are adverts/spam will be both deleted and the user permanently banned. This is a site-wide rule and offenders will face site-wide bans. If you wish to buy ad space, contact DeVore. If you wish to advertise vacancies or anything pertaining to the forum topic that could be of use to its members, you must PM a moderator in advance.


Spamming
Topics/posts that are just complete nonsense will be deleted and the user disciplined.


Racism
Topics/posts containing such will be edited/deleted accordingly and the user disciplined.


Other
As per boards.ie rules, distribution or aiding the distribution of illegal material is completely forbidden. All other standard boards.ie rules and guidelines stand.


Reporting Posts
If you feel any post contravenes this Charter or should be brought to the attention of the moderators please use the Report Post function by clicking on the logo in the bottom right-hand corner of all posts that are not your own.


Any queries should be directed to Ibid or xebec

A Random Walk

Ehrm, what's the definition of "financial advice"?

Boards isn't a regulated entity, so I'm somewhat ensure what it is you're basing your legal concerns on. If anyone is liable to get sued, it would be an individual poster. I would take the disclaimer re advice from the legal forum and post it in bold letters at the top of the forum.

Rest looks good.

Time Magazine

A Random Walk wrote:

Ehrm, what's the definition of "financial advice"?

It's a bloody hard thing to define is what it is . You go to a solicitor and he offers you legal advice on what to do. Apply this logic to finance and you have the jist of it.

Boards isn't a regulated entity, so I'm somewhat ensure what it is you're basing your legal concerns on. If anyone is liable to get sued, it would be an individual poster.

If only. Why do you think there are MCD stickies on every forum? Essentially, MCD sent letters to boards.ie, not to the poster whose comments upset them. This area of law is not defined and Boards wants to stay out of trouble. Radio stations are liable for defamatory statements said by callers on air and Boards are afraid something similar could happen to them.

If someone says "I advise you to invest in Elan, it's a sure bet", somebody goes and invests €10,000 in Elan and loses their money on advice issued through the medium of Boards, stranger things have happened than Boards being in trouble.

I would take the disclaimer re advice from the legal forum and post it in bold letters at the top of the forum.

Excellent idea.

A Random Walk

Ibid wrote:

Why do you think there are MCD stickies on every forum?

As I understand it (and obviously told not to discuss it), that was due to content and not due to advice being given i.e. the difference between saying "xyz ltd selling apartments in Bulgaria are a shower of thieves" versus "Don't buy apartments in Bulgaria as you will lose your money". The former I fully understand is potentially defamatory & should be deleted, the latter exposes boards to minimal legal risk of advice being acted on (but then I can happily say that not being the owner). "Why yes Judge, I invested my grandmothers inheritance in Arabian hogs based on the advice of one Bigjugs34" - you'd be run out of court.

If someone says "I advise you to invest in Elan, it's a sure bet", somebody goes and invests €10,000 in Elan and loses their money on advice issued through the medium of Boards, stranger things have happened than Boards being in trouble.

Is that any different to anything said on any other forum? I suppose I don't see how the investing forum can exist if "advice" is banned, because pretty much everything we discuss is advice.

Time Magazine

A Random Walk wrote:

As I understand it (and obviously told not to discuss it), that was due to content and not due to advice being given i.e. the difference between saying "xyz ltd selling apartments in Bulgaria are a shower of thieves" versus "Don't buy apartments in Bulgaria as you will lose your money". The former I fully understand is potentially defamatory & should be deleted, the latter exposes boards to minimal legal risk of advice being acted on (but then I can happily say that not being the owner). "Why yes Judge, I invested my grandmothers inheritance in Arabian hogs based on the advice of one Bigjugs34" - you'd be run out of court.

Boards.ie once thought that no companies would complain once any potentially libelous content was deleted. They changed their mind.

You would indeed be run out of court on those grounds. However if "official" Boards members (admins, mods) turned a blind-eye and even encouraged free exchange of financial advice they could get themselves in trouble. If, on the other hand, conversations like this are had in the open and sections like the above are included in charters, one would expect Boards would make itself fairly immune from trouble.

Is that any different to anything said on any other forum? I suppose I don't see how the investing forum can exist if "advice" is banned, because pretty much everything we discuss is advice.

Actually it's opinion. Massive difference. I know exactly where you're coming from and I completely agree it's a pile of piss. If somebody comes online and doesn't take "advice" from bigjugs34 without a large serving of salt they flipping deserve to lose their money. Nonetheless I don't want to take any chances. Furthermore it's been instructed by the owners to not take any chances. If you go here you will see the description of the forum as "Discuss movements in the markets, new investment opportunities, and present areas of investment that are available. Not to be used for giving financial advice." This is a private site and ultimately we're both here at the grace of the owners. This is what they want and it's what they're entitled to.

Of course the good side is that it's not going to affect our forum in any shape or form. Change "Put your money into Elan" to "I'd put that money into Elan", or perhaps more realistically simply include the disclaimers in the charters, and we're all fine and dandy.

Since all the legal hoo-ha Boards have essentially appointed an in-house law-checker. I'll double-check with him what's allowed.

Time Magazine

Bump. I'll be making this the charter in the next couple of days unless there's any objection.

Charter now created with a little addition on reporting posts. Locking this thread now.