"Each person who breaks a particular rule should get the same "punishment" as anyone else who does the same. For example, personal attack, first violation equals 1-day suspension, with maybe time off early for a convincing apology."
The problem I find with a consistent punishment for a specific violation is that Ihub is a community of words. What exactly is a personal attack? If I state that you are ignorant, do I get jailed for implying that you are stupid, or do you praise me for bringing to light that you are not aware of the facts?
Even more importantly, what exactly can one get away with? If I were to comment that "your statement is moronic", am I attacking you or your statement? How about my favorite, "I feel sorry for your husband" am I attacking you or showing compassion for the one nearest and dearest to you? How about those who consistently bicker with each other but never rise to the seriousness of "personal attack" as outlined by the rules. Will there be a specific number of posts that one can bicker with another before they are fined? I was thinking 23 is a good number. After all, 23 little personal attacks should equal one really good personal attack for sure.
How about a sliding scale on penalties. Calling someone a goof = 45 min in jail, barely toilet trained = up to 2 hours, thinking impaired = 2-3 hours, scum sucking fecal matter incapable of truly enjoying KKD donuts = life.
How about implied attacks based on race, religion, sex (or lack thereof), and social status having a greater penalty? I was once asked what I was smoking. Now if I was smoking homegrown, I may be terribly offended that someone was criticizing my social status since I cannot afford the good stuff. Which brings me to varying the crimes based on the thread. After all, speed limits change based on the area you are in... Those of us who are financially impaired should be in a protected class - especially on a thread such as a stock trading board. Some of us can be driven to irreparable mental damage caused by the wealthiest 1% of the Ihub community when discussing our lack of ability to purchase certain stocks. When posting to the corner bar, our lack of wealth may actually be seen as attractive.
Would you consider hearing from the victim before sentencing? Could be a bit more fair. If someone can show financial or emotional distress based on someone's posts, I believe the penalty should be more severe. It an effort to keep this post brief, I will wait til later to discuss pain and suffering and punitive damages.
Upon further thought, I believe that in all fairness, you should post all the phrases and words that are not to be used when attacking someone. Also, maybe if you sent new members a booklet describing exactly what you can say, would be of big help. For instance, I know we cannot support Dunkin Donuts, but what if we promote their Boston Creme donut without mentioning dunkin donuts? This one has always made my posting day difficult.
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