Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 11/12/2008 11:27 AM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 02/05/2011 12:59 PM
Expires: 01/01/2013 12:00 AM
:
Reminder....."Rules of Engagement on ThePineTree.net" When Making Comment's
As our loyal viewers, we ask that you please try to follow our Rules of Engagement" when commenting on ThePineTree.net....We here at ThePineTree.net have and always will believe in Freedom of Speech. Occasionally, some of our commenter's have crossed the line. We enforced our Rules of Engagement quite some time ago. People who want to post comments on ThePineTree.net are going to have to follow our rules. No libel, slander, no lying, no fabricating, no swearing at all, no offensive slang, no insulting groups or individuals, no ethnic slurs and/or epithets, no religious bigotry, no threats of any kind, no....
bathroom humor, no comparing anyone to Hitler, Stalin or Pol Pot. We expect heated, robust debate, but comments should be polite and civil. We consider this to be public space so behave and write accordingly. And PLEASE STAY ON TOPIC OR DO NOT COMMENT AT ALL.
There are plenty of other sites you can go to gripe about healthcare, politics and more. Unless of course, the story is on the above.
Yes, what is not allowable is subjective. ThePineTree.net absolutely reserve the right to remove posts we think break any of the rules or the spirit of the rules and we reserve the right to ban individuals from commenting. We will use language filtering programs to block certain words and we will use human editing also.
Comments should be limited to the topic of the original posting. This is not the place for private conversations, no matter how innocent.
VERY IMPORTANT: if you see a comment that you feel is inappropriate, let us know by emailing us at news@thepinetree.net, as we sometimes get busy and unfortunately do have alot of time to read the comments throughout the day:)
(The above rules are similar to that of cbsnews.com...who to learn from but one of the best)
"Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship or limitation. The synonymous term freedom of expression is sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, such as on "hate speech".
The right to freedom of speech is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and recognized in international human rights law in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The ICCPR recognizes the right to freedom of speech as "the right to hold opinions without interference. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression". Furthermore freedom of speech is recognized in European, inter-American and African regional human rights law.
Freedom of speech and expression are closely related, yet distinct from, the concept of freedom of thought.
The right to freedom of speech and expression
Freedom of speech, or the freedom of expression, is recognized in international and regional human rights law. The right is enshrined in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
The freedom of speech can be found in early human rights documents, such as Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789), a key document of the French Revolution. The Declaration provides for freedom of expression in Article 11, which states that:
"The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law."
Based on John Stuart Mill's arguments, freedom of speech today is understood as a multi-faceted right that includes not only the right to express, or disseminate, information and ideas, but three further distinct aspects:
* the right to seek information and ideas;
* the right to receive information and ideas;
* the right to impart information and ideas.
International, regional and national standards also recognize that freedom of speech, as the freedom of expression, includes any medium, be it orally, in written, in print, through the Internet or through art forms. This means that the protection of freedom of speech as a right includes not only the content, but also the means of expression." by wikipedia.org.
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