NationStates Jolt Archive

Hi,

On the 7th and the 18th of this month I did send the following e-mail:


Questions surrounding IP ban & UN ban.‏
From: xxxxxx (xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxx)
Sent: Fri 3/07/08 5:32 PM
To: admin@nationstates.net; salusa@nationstates.net


My dear Sir/Madam,

About two days ago I had the honour to receive this message;

"Access Denied
Your IP address has been banned from NationStates.
Forbidden
You don't have permission to access /cgi-bin/index.cgi on this server."

Because I was flabbergasted about this, I logged in with a different IP. Before you jump to any conclusions; I had no intention to commit any IP fraud or something but I just wanted to know what was going on. I only found this message in Nitwitium's TM box:

"For repeated offences, you have been permanently banned from the United Nations. This is a permanent ruling and applies to all of your current and future nations. If you believe this ruling to be in error please either submit a request through the Getting Help Page or email Salusa@nationstates.net or admin@nationstates.net."

I was happy to experience that today it was again possible for me the log in so my IP ban was not in effect any more.

So, my questions are:
Huh?
Why?
How?
When?
Whom?
Where?
What?
Glitch?
Punishment?
Help?

I am looking forward to your answers because I am under the impression I've been punished? Well, I am not sure about that but my behaviour in the recent past does not exclude that option. But if I was punished I would like to know why. In my humble opinion it is inappropriate to prosecute and judge a player without giving him/her some sort of notice. And executing punishment without notice is even more inexcusable whatever the severity of the crime committed would be. I am a foolish mortal, I can misbehave but from the institute I receive judgement from one expects some sort of professional ethics and conduct.

Furthermore, how can a foolish mortal like me, learn from his mistakes to prevent more foul behaviour if he is excluded from the reasons surrounding his punishment?

I hope somebody has the professional courtesy to answer my, in my opinion fair and balanced, questions.


With the utmost regards,

The MetaCognitieve Qleutzakken of Nitwitium.

Note: I hope you'll excuse my rather poor English, It's a while back that I wrote it frequently.

I never had the honour to receive a reply or even a confirmation. So, a cat got your tongue? Conscientia interruptus provocatus?

The admins didn't have anything to do with your ban or reinstatement. When they get such requests, they usually pass them on to the moderators for explanation and/or judgment. We have a published Appeals process in the One Stop Rules Shop, and they ignore anything that doesn't use the proper process first. That UN email is outdated and shouldn't have gone out. We'll make a note to change that to point to the Appeals process.

IP banning incorporates automatic permanent bans from the UN as well. If you wish to rejoin the UN with Nitwitium, that ban has been cleared.

As to your IP ban, it was created shortly after one or more of your puppet nations stated that you intended to keep harassing a region regardless of their or mod wishes (not my ruling, so I don't have the details on the tip of my tongue). I believe that several of your puppets had been advised to "Knock it off" before this. The ban was the direct result of you ignoring that "request".

On review within the next couple of days, it was decided that an IP ban was overkill in this instance, and it was removed. The removal being self-evident, there was no need to track down your myriad puppets and explain that it had been removed.

Records on your nation indicate that you had been informed about the offenses, so your public posture of utter astonishment doesn't play particularly well. In any event, it appears to me that all the ill effects have been reversed, and apart from the inconvenience of the UN ban you are none the worse for wear.

Does that resolve the issue to your satisfaction?

Ah, communication between homo erectus, at last.

As to your IP ban, it was created shortly after one or more of your puppet nations stated that you intended to keep harassing a region regardless of their or mod wishes (not my ruling, so I don't have the details on the tip of my tongue). I believe that several of your puppets had been advised to "Knock it off" before this. The ban was the direct result of you ignoring that "request".

I most certainly did not ignore that request. But the issue about if the IP ban was legitimate is not the issue at hand so it can remain mute.

Records on your nation indicate that you had been informed about the offenses, so your public posture of utter astonishment doesn't play particularly well. In any event, it appears to me that all the ill effects have been reversed, and apart from the inconvenience of the UN ban you are none the worse for wear.

Yes I was informed with a warning and my behaviour and actions stopped right after that first "request".
However, no, I did not receive any message about my alleged continuous misbehaviour, or any acts of sentencing or punishment following the alleged misbehaviour. Therefore, my feelings of surprise where, and still are, sincere because of the severity of the initial punishment (the IP ban) and about receiving such a heavy penalty without warning or opportunity to appeal to this punishment. And even more, yet pleasantly, surprised that my IP ban was revoked.

However;
I do not wish to lengthen a discussion more than strictly necessary. I thank you for lifting my UN ban and your honest statement that your initial ruling of a IP ban was a bit harsh. One of my acts of misbehaviour was, if I recollect events correctly, that I made some remarks about today's NS moderator's and moderaters in the old days. I apologise because through this encounter I'll have to re-evaluate my opinion's about the moderating team. Damn, life was so simple...

Thank you for your time,

Nitwitium.