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barbarossa2 -> RE: Matrix Is Awesome for Freedom of Speech! (3/10/2009 8:53:46 AM)
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Judge and Sterckxe,
haha... sure. Of course we can't claim we have a right to say anything in here, which is what has impressed me over and over again about Matrix. Of course, they don't have to allow ANYTHING to be said in here. Especially not some of the negative commentary which emerges at times. They COULD simply take it all down, ban you, and more. But I think they see it as being true that a company which allows for the free flowing exchange of ideas--even "flaming" can improve its products better than one which stiffles such debate (as the company I recently had my problems with does).
No, "Freedom of Speech" is not a right on a site like this. BUT, it is the principle which counts. However, you need to be aware of the fact that defamation laws are NOT nearly as forgiving as "posting policies" for companies with good relationships with their customers. Try speaking like this in public about doctors or hospitals and it will quickly get you in a court room. Believe me, I have read through about 40 cases dealing with defamation law in the USA and Europe now.
All of this secrecy and desire not to let people speak about it in free flowing forums like this one is perhaps one reason why the health care industry kills more people than it helps in my pure opinion*. They don't want to hear these things. But Matrix and its game companies also have their "livlihoods" on the line. Just like doctors and hospitals, but Matrix values giving its customers a say. They don't have to. Believe me. They should be lauded for the openness allowed here.
Sterckxe, I made my comments about a company and a politician on YouTube.
-barbarossa2 (by the way, a reference to the German Emperor, not the invasion of Russia)
PROVIDED TO COVER MY ASS:*In full-blown doctor's strikes lasting 3 months in Israel in 2000 and again in 2003, when the entire health care system went on strike, many sources in the media (including the British Medical Journal) reported that the first people to complain were the morgues. 20 percent fewer people died. Yes. Fewer. Only one hospital was shown to be helping its community. In my opinion, the scientific studies and principles which are developed in laboratories for use in the medical field probably work, but the problem then becomes translating this to effective use in the field under the tremendous pressure to make money and grow businesses. Corners are cut, little white lies are told, people who are less educated or the wrong race get singled out for the riskier procedures (in one study I saw, doctors peform the lowest numbers of back surgeries on lawyers and other doctors, in another, African Americans suffer from malpractice disproportionately), and then, often, people die. Of course, the health care industry does not want people to be reminded of these things. In another posting, Erik Rutkins indicated that at one time I mentioned I had problems with a product, then I said it was with a politician. This is because I had problems with the politician's health care "product" and with his understanding of health care (after I interviewed him and wrote up the results, a man who rehabbed some of America's greatest athletes called this notion of health care, "medieval"). He didn't like me saying that.
And that ends my discussion of the medical aspects of this because this is not a site about medicine. But I felt the example would help underscore some of the issues in defamation law which my fellow gamers here need to know about in their daily lives. Do NOT apply the kind of language and discussion you see in this forum as a template for your concerns about other products/companies/people, because you can and very possibly WILL be sued by people who do not hold the free exchange of ideas to be a good thing... people who are not as committed to getting feedback from their customers as Matrix is.
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