Message posted on Stardate 01061.3 at 1413 hours
Posted by Scott Dale Robison (President).
Edict 9
Several issues have come to my attention recently and I intend to deal with them all in one post in the form of formal warnings. Hang on kids, it might get a little bumpy. In no particular order:
First, Brandon Stoll lodged a complaint several months ago that he was receiving unsolicited email from Emily Stephenson. At the time I did what I typically do and said it was private email between two parties, and that it really didn’t warrant presidential consideration. I told him to tell her to take him (counts the pronouns) off the list and if not … well, not much of anything. The emails were never harrassing or threatening in nature from what has been described to me, just forwards to a list of people.
Last week yet another email was sent to Brandon from Emily. I, and a number of other STFers, received the same email (perhaps even in violation of the Terms of Service which specifically forbids gathering email addresses for spamming purposes). I don’t know if anyone else on the list besides Brandon was receiving email after having been asked to be removed from her list. I know I never requested to be included in these mass forwards, but then again I get so much garbage in my mail that it’s easier for me to simply delete it and not worry about a formal request, as most spam I receive is from people who don’t use legitimate return addresses anyway. But I digress.
Brandon reached the end of his rope and sent the email back to Emily 61 times with a message that he didn’t want that type of email from her. Brandon informed me of this after the fact, and as a person who receives too much junk email, I had to chuckle at his solution, to be perfectly honest. However, a complaint has been lodged by Emily against Brandon for spamming her in violation of the Terms of Service.
In short, Brandon sent one email to Emily 61 times, and Emily sent to Brandon a number of emails over a 12 to 18 month period. Neither denies this. Further, Emily doesn’t deny that Brandon asked to be removed from the list, but that it was an accident, that Brandon’s email was clicked instead of someone elses. Accidents happen. And people get frustrated and take it out on others. I can’t condone what either party has done, yet because it was private email and not directly related to the WeBB or #Star-Fleet in IRC, I don’t feel that I should take too strong an action against either party at this time.
Second (perhaps not chronilogically, but for the purposes of this narrative), Brandon has in the past acted improperly in other areas, once in IRC, once in the F1 mail list. The former was punished by a month ban from #Star-Fleet, the other was dealt with privately in the form of a warning. I mention these only to illustrate that this isn’t a first offense of ‘improper behavior’.
Third, Mike Rouse-Deane & Emily Stephenson got into a heated argument in IRC over issues on the Olympic where she XOs and he GMs) apparently related to a voided post, which quickly spread beyond that simple issue. It got to the point that Mike called Emily a name repeatedly over a period of several minutes (and got kicked repeatedly for it, and a private warning from the IDept over channel conduct). Emily in her frustration used some language that was inappropriate, and she got a warning for that. At the end of that incident, Mike told her he would be ignoring her from that point forward (something that Mike appears to be quite good at from all indications).
Unfortunately, that is not the end. Emily felt the need to speak to Mike about several issues, the important one for our purposes being Olympic business. Mike however refuses to communicate, which bothers Emily greatly, to the point of threatening Mike with being sent the same email from multiple accounts in an effort to get him to pay attention to her. If at this point you are thinking to yourself ‘that seems like what Brandon did’ then I like the way you think. The main difference would be that Brandon just did it, Emily premeditated it. However, I still don’t think any deliberate malice was intended in either case, just frustration rearing its ugly head.
Both parties acted improperly in #Star-Fleet, one repeatedly, the other more forcefully. Both were warned at the time (or within days of it, as the timing wasn’t the best in the world for those in authority to act). And as for the email incident, as before, it wasn’t directly related to the WeBB or #Star-Fleet, so I don’t feel that I should take too strong a action.
Finally (again, perhaps not chronilogically), Mike Rouse-Deane has been derelict in his duties as GM of the Olympic in refusing to communicate with the ship’s XO for purposes of ensuring the smooth running of that ship. People are permitted to have disagreements and differences of opinion. However, when one permits them to interfere with a position, that is unacceptable. I’m not here so much to punish Mike for this, as to take note of the fact that while Emily’s actions in threating Mike about email were inappropriate, they were certainly understandable to some extent.
In conclusion:
Brandon Stoll has acted in a manner unbecoming an officer on three occasions (once in IRC, once in the Fleet 1 mailing list, and by spamming Emily). Let this serve as official warning that should another incident be reported and substantiated during my term as president, it will result in a ban from Star-Fleet. Further, I would advise future presidents to take note of these actions if another incident occurs after my term as president expires.
Emily Stephenson has acted in a manner unbecoming an officer on three occasions (failing to stop sending unsolicited email, once in IRC, and threatening deliberate spam). Let this serve as official warning that should another incident be reported and substantiated during my term as president, it will result in a ban from Star-Fleet. Further, I would advise future presidents to take note of these actions if another incident occurs after my term as president expires.
Mike Rouse-Deane has not formally violated the Star-Fleet Terms of Service. That being said, he has certainly annoyed and bothered people in IRC and via Project Omega. However, he has in my opinion been derelict in his duties as a GM, to the point that I felt compelled to report the matter to his CO & FComm, Stuart Coll, for appropriate action. Whatever Stuart feels is appropriate at this time will be acceptable to me, as Mike has already been warned about his other actions. While one might debate the maturity of the actions, I do not believe they measure up to a Terms of Service violation.
Scott Dale Robison
President