I find it difficult to believe that the SJ thread was deleted without giving Nicolas a chance to defend himself. It was OK, to close it but not completely delete if from the forum.

Take a look at post #10:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...767&forumid=26

Can it be that the person Nicolas was talking about was the same person that posted the other message with a fictitious name?. It is mighty funny that they all registered the same day.

The thread might sound bad but IMOH, it should have been left open for reference.

What do you guys think??

Tough call as always...problem is leaving it up any longer would merely propogate what appeared to be clearly a false allegation. I have had private emails with Nicolas after the thread was deleted about this.

Problem comes that if a thread exists even if totally false it can cast a negative light on a company still. The posters were given a few more hours to come into the thread with any evidence to back this up and nobody did so it was removed. Of course if any poster ever wants to post their opinions on a company and back it up with more than simple hearsay they can certainly do it. Even if somebody had facts to bring forward on this specific issue a new thread could be started but to leave that one up where bashing seemed to be the motive was not in my opinion the right thing to do in this particular case.

Not necessarily an easy call to make ... and I think it needs to be done on a case-by-case basis.

Sometimes, leaving a thread out there does good - just look at how BV came out smelling of roses recently, in a thread that seemed designed to show him in a bad light.

Conversely though, even if there are some good posts in defense of the person/company being talked about, having blatantly false information remain "active" can be bad because e.g. a search engine may find that post while not finding the posts that refute it. Of course, that same argument could be stretched to the point where it precludes any posts that contain ANY negative information - and that would prevent us from airing genuine grievances.

Tough call, but I think marc does an awesome job of keeping the garbage out without resorting to the extreme of draconian censorship. Thanx Marc.

Last but not least, even if that one thread was deleted without Nicholas responding to it - there's presumably nothing to prevent him from making a thread of is own in which he may counter some of the allegations, as long as he does so in a reasonable manner... ?

Gordon

BVM always comes out smelling like roses, he has a ton of acolytles always willing to rush to his defense. Good on him, he can take any bash, no worries.
Marc, you did the right thing, no question.

thanks guys...edits or deletes are always given lots of thought. There are always "signs" to look for like a guy who comes on and has one or 2 posts only and then never comes back...this was exactly the case this time...poster had one test post in test forum..then his bash thread which was all hearsay and then never comes back to add to it or provide evidence or anything. Enough evidence to the contrary was already provided and none supporting the original posters position.

Again as said above if any new info came to the surface on this or any thread there is always the "new thread" button and as long as it's not pure hearsay we try to validate it and if reasonable we let it run and users typically chime in for or against what was said (again the BVM thread was a good example). Speaking of the BVM thread...there is one I missed in a way...totally false claim and it could have been pulled...a phone call from me to Bob or a rep could have invalidated that and put it to bed. In the end the thread did make BVM look good and I'm sure was interesting reading for many but the upshot was that in that one no harm was done. Even if Bob did crash a plane what harm would that cause him or his company? We all crash at some point...especially a jet as it is so complex with so many points of potential failure eventually Murphy's Law will try to take your baby from you...

Gentlemen,

It is correct I did not see this thread ; I got on my mobile phone 22 calls that day, which I did not answer as it was Ascension day and one of the very few holidays I have to spend with my family.
Without any doubt, many people tried to inform me about it.

I regret I haven't seen it, and could reply like would have been fair.

It is also correct that the power of such medium like this RCU forum can have a vast effect -often ignored for the good or the bad- and I agree that everyone has the right to come and say here what can be useful to others in the respect of the jet community, under condition that the content is factual, correct and in good faith. Many customers are using this 'tool' to express their unhappiness towards RC suppliers, very often with success and were able to speed up a final agreement which satisfied all parties, or blew up the whole trade.

And indeed, the administrator(s) must make up for their own what makes sense and delete what has no other intention than to bash anyone.

I believe that good common sense must prevail, after all we are all human beings and no one is perfect. Nobody can be the perfect prince on the white horse for everyone. But at least we can try to make the best of this variety making life so interesting.
As for me, I am not perfect either, but I am trying to do my best just like I would expect from others.

I am going to start another thread today ; perhaps it will be one of the most striking ones after the turbine flame wars of four years ago and the one of the Golden Hawks of last year. I leave it up to the good common sense of everyone reading the forums worldwide to make their own conclusions or to react to that thread.

Best Regards,
Nicolas.