[CarylB]

I have no intention of defending the fact that the ROL list is a private list with a confidentiality requirement. That it is so was agreed by the active list members, and it is by no means unique. I will, however, address and correct some points of fact. Meat said in the not too distant past:
Yes Open Forum, but not sit in my my room and just read words and make up what I want ... THe title says Meat Loaf UK fan Club .... op-ion yes, but putdowns, Lies and just plan being angry over what I don't know I will not tolerate
Like him I like what is being levelled at me to at least be accurate. I like the same to be the case for the ROL list and it's members.

When people join the ROL closed mailing list thay are asked to abide by the following:
Disagreements are fine as long as no-one attacks any other list members
Pictures and what people say stay here and should not be posted to any other person, list or website to invite criticism, and never without the invitation or agreement of the person who posts it.
And we don't indulge in gossip about Meat's personal life, or in debates about whether Meat is better than JIm Steinman or vice versa. Both are great talents in their own right, and both are respected here.
Oh .. and it's helpful if you're changing the topic of discussion to change the subject title of your email :)

The reason given is that:
the list is a relaxed place to be where we can have fun at times, share experiences and thoughts, and sometimes comfort each other when we're down, and to have this atmosphere we need to be able to speak freely without fear of being attacked or of having what we say being posted elsewhere around the internet.

I am going to include one opinion rather than fact here. This does not to me seem to bear any resemblance to the actions of ~~~~~~'s crack killer SS in Nazi Germany, and I think to suggest this is a lamentable thing to do. To bandy such terms about is imo to trivialise a shameful time in history, and is incredibly insensitive given the number of German people in this forum.

FYI Deb, no-one has said anything derogatory about SueW on our closed mailing list until she chose to make her comment about Vicki at the start of this thread. That since then people have commented on her action as being unnecessary and unreasonable is hardly surprising given the fondness which those who post on the list have for Vicki. (And I'll head off at the pass any suggestion that they would not have known about this unless I had raised it. Several of our list members are members of this forum, and had already seen it for themselves)

I have no idea what you mean when you compare this to "the same said people tipping Meat off when anything slightly negatives said about Meat." Who are these "people"? I can only respond for myself, but I have never "tipped" Meat off about something being said on a private mailing list about him.

As to your comment "... saying the things about Caryl that she has Sue on the ROL in the past few days", perhaps rather than make veiled suggestions you would care to say exactly what "things" I am supposed to have said? The ROL archives show that I have made only 5 posts about this issue, and in only two of them have I referred to Sue, and then I have only referred to her actions and not her person.

And David, as you say you agree with absolutely everything the awesome Deb had to say, perhaps you could please take this as a reply to you also. I recall you have said in this forum, comment on the actions and not on the person. I have done that and no more. No-one has been "stoned" on our list, nor has anybody's "good reputation" been dragged through the mud, ever. This week people have merely expressed their view on specific actions taken by two people, one whose name is not known. Common courtesy, respect, fairness, and dignity are precisely what we ask from people who join. People are expected not to copy posts to any other person, list or website to invite criticism, and never to copy posts without the invitation or agreement of the person who has posted it. When someone takes it upon themselves to violate this, people are predictably hurt and angry.


Deb you then made a further post and I would like to comment on these points:
A breach of confidentiality is just that. To refer on a private mailing list to a previous incident is not the same as bringing it up again in a public forum. No-one should infer from what you have posted that I am repeatedly saying things about SueW, because that is simply not the case.

Vicki made it clear that she was posting some points from the chat that referred to Meat. For it to "be turned into a Meat discussion" is imo entirely predictable and understandable on a list of Meat Loaf fans who rarely mention or discuss Kasim. None of our list members are daft enough to think that a Kasm on-line chat would just be about Meat! Vicki just posted some extracts from the chat, and that was clear from what she said.

I'm struggling a bit to understand your final point, and at a loss to understand why you bring the OIFC into this .. if you're suggesting that I say or encourage anyone to say anything derogatory about the OIFC on the ROL list you can, to quote a famous song, stop right there. I don't do this anywhere, and Vee and Wez (both of whom are ROL list members) know this. But in broad terms, yes, people are free to say what they want within the rules of the list. How often have I heard "Freedom of speech" quoted on this forum. And ROL list members should be able to expect confidentiality, ie the only people who will comment on what they say will be others on the list, because it is not a public list or public forum where you can expect any visitor to comment on what you say. (Just as when David/Jules set up a private list last year I am sure they did not expect correspondence from that to be posted publicly, nor passed on to people not on the list without agreement. Indeed this was made clear.) That said, it is not practice on the list to indulge in derogatory discussion about people, save the kind of thing one would expect on any mailing list, eg people expressing disapproval of Bin Laden, anger at someone who has abducted or murdered a child, or (because this is a Meat fan list) irritation at a negative newspaper review.

A private mailing list which specifically makes a condition of confidentiality should be able to expect just that. Ours is not one where people are generally talked about behind their backs, although at times people will get excited about negative reviews or unkind or untrue things said about Meat. In the same way they do not like people breaking confidentiality, nor attacks on other list members