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RWO is nothing more than a domain name. There is no business. The site generates no income, only costs. It has no monetary assets.
The owner of this site is the person in whose name the domain name is registered and who currently pays the bills. When that person decides they no longer want to administer RWO, they hand the domain registration to whoever puts their hand up to take it on. That person is then free to do what they like with the domain - whether that be keep the forum going, close it down, or use the domain for some other purpose. We have been very fortunate that people with the necessary technical skills and patience have been willing to take on the responsibility each time an owner (or owner group) has decided their time is up, and has decided to maintain the forum pretty much unchanged. The future of RWO is entirely dependent on the time and goodwill of the likes of Steve and Des, Frog and Scott, and now Danzar. Don't take it for granted.
We may refer to posters as members of the site, but they are only members to the extent they have a registered (and current) user ID. Anyone's ongoing participation is at the absolute discretion of whoever owns the domain name, and sets the participation rules. Some posters may have made voluntary financial contributions in the past to help cover costs, but on the basis that this gives them no rights. Dan has chosen not to do a whip-round for a couple of years now. That's his choice. Other than those voluntary contributions, no poster pays anything to register or participate.
If anyone were ever to sue RWO (for copyright or plagiarism or for defamation) they might first try to identify the person who actually made the offending post, but if that's too hard or unrewarding, they would likely come after the personal assets of the owner and likely moderators too. If sometimes it seems that we are ultra-cautious regarding legal risks, you can probably understand why.
Re the disclosure of suspensions, that's Dan's call. If we were to have a vote on it I'd vote against it. I don't think it's anyone else's business. It's not hard to work out when someone is suspended and I daresay it never comes as a surprise. Dan did make an announcement when the first incarnation of a certain person was permanently excluded, and that created just as much discussion as not announcing the second time around. People come and go all the time, whether voluntarily or otherwise, and we all move on even if we might miss some contributors.
The owner of this site is the person in whose name the domain name is registered and who currently pays the bills. When that person decides they no longer want to administer RWO, they hand the domain registration to whoever puts their hand up to take it on. That person is then free to do what they like with the domain - whether that be keep the forum going, close it down, or use the domain for some other purpose. We have been very fortunate that people with the necessary technical skills and patience have been willing to take on the responsibility each time an owner (or owner group) has decided their time is up, and has decided to maintain the forum pretty much unchanged. The future of RWO is entirely dependent on the time and goodwill of the likes of Steve and Des, Frog and Scott, and now Danzar. Don't take it for granted.
We may refer to posters as members of the site, but they are only members to the extent they have a registered (and current) user ID. Anyone's ongoing participation is at the absolute discretion of whoever owns the domain name, and sets the participation rules. Some posters may have made voluntary financial contributions in the past to help cover costs, but on the basis that this gives them no rights. Dan has chosen not to do a whip-round for a couple of years now. That's his choice. Other than those voluntary contributions, no poster pays anything to register or participate.
If anyone were ever to sue RWO (for copyright or plagiarism or for defamation) they might first try to identify the person who actually made the offending post, but if that's too hard or unrewarding, they would likely come after the personal assets of the owner and likely moderators too. If sometimes it seems that we are ultra-cautious regarding legal risks, you can probably understand why.
Re the disclosure of suspensions, that's Dan's call. If we were to have a vote on it I'd vote against it. I don't think it's anyone else's business. It's not hard to work out when someone is suspended and I daresay it never comes as a surprise. Dan did make an announcement when the first incarnation of a certain person was permanently excluded, and that created just as much discussion as not announcing the second time around. People come and go all the time, whether voluntarily or otherwise, and we all move on even if we might miss some contributors.
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