Why would someone do this?

There have been many debates on this from both sides and there are reasons for and against. In the end, it is up to each individual Admin as to whether they want to have this option or not.

As an admin overseeing a site with almost 12,000 members, this is exactly how I see it...

PMs are not email... and while they are a form of 1-to-1 communication like email, they are contained entirely within the site and are subject to the same terms of use as the rest of the site.

I also look at it this way... past employers do have full right to snoop through their email and police it against personal use/abuse. I have always felt that PMs should be the same way, in that there should be a tool that allows us to police against abuses (spam via PM, flaming, illegal activity, etc.). In fact, the prevention of illegal activity on the site alone justifies my having this addon, as it introduces a level of liability to me as the operator of the site should any occur. While it may not prevent the illegal activity itself (they will likely take it elsewhere), it will at least allow us to keep our site clean, and to have documentation that we did not turn a blind eye to it and that we stopped it where we did should authorities get involved and question us.

At the same time though, I do not abuse it where I deliberately spy on members private conversations. I only use it when it is justified (member complaint, suspicious behavior, etc.).

Seems like some sort of perversion. Are you so kind as to post this ability/activity in your terms of agreement?

It's in our TOS and has been since 2003 (because most of our members do follow it literally)...

http://www.thrillnetwork.com/tos.php...ds#privmessage

We had to implement the solution, which included this hack, when we started getting complaints of spam and flaming via PM. Since we could not necessarily rely on having them forward the PM (they can be altered), and we actually record all evidence related to a suspension of an account in case it escalates, we needed to be able to go to the original source on our own. With two people who are comfortable with SQL (myself and my assistant techie), this tool is necessary.

Plus, when you think about it, a private message isn't necessarily private, especially when admins can just go into the necessary table, and we have never made any bones about it not being private, especially since members can (and have) taken content from PMs and pasted them in public, even against the sender's will.

Lastly, if you are a busy like we are, you do not have time to even think about snooping on PMs, and I'm too focused on other parts of the site to where my contact is email only, and when I am in the admin CP, it's mostly in the members (for bans and account fixes) as well as the templates to make a minor change to the look of our site or to prepare for an upgrade.

Spam and flaming via PM? The solution seems worse than the offense. But, to each his/her own.

I think perversion is a little strong and derogatory. Please use something else next time.

No problem, but there are many meanings to the word perversion. Here is the way I meant it: "incorrect or improper use." That was from the dictionary. I appologize if I offended, it was not my intention.

I do agree somewhat, StevenTN, it is clearly in there and people can make the choice not to join. I like your home page too.

No problem. I understand how it was meant, but there are those here who wouldn't. ;)