[Firestar.chkn]

Hey KarlM,

I hear what you're saying, and I agree to a certain degree.

However, there are certain cases where this is an invaluable feature. My users are made VERY aware that I can, and will, read any PM's I suspect of breaching my forum rules. I have 4 rules that I am not negotiable on, and those 4 rules I enforce with an iron fist. Everything and anything that happens on those forums, are my responsibility. If someone uses the PM feature to post child porn, I want to know about it before it actually gets read by the other party. I therefore installed another hack that traps PM's where certain specified keywords are triggered. Most of the times, I don't read any other PM's of any other users, except where those keywords are triggered, though.

To me, this function is absolutely necessary, simply because I'm held liable for anything that happens on my forums. I also run an online business from my site, and because of that, it's even more important that I control what gets said on my forums.

I do see how this is a moral issue, though. But IMO, it's only a moral issue when users are not aware that they are being "snooped" on. If they are aware of it, and they don't agree, they are more than welcome to not make use of the PM system. It's as easy as that.

Cheers
Firestar