Leveller - have you ever read a school anti-bullying policy?

You and I are lucky that we are confident articulate men who can stand up for ourselves. We have no way of knowing how a 'cyber victim' might feel - but I see plenty of evidence of people being quite badly upset on this forum at times - not often, admittedly, but sometimes - and it makes me queasy.

I know you think it's all just fun. I can't agree. I do think you can have fun without anyone getting hurt, and I don't think that discouraging aggressive behaviour would in any way diminish the scope of the discussions. It would most likely have the exact opposite effect and encourage more people to join in - for the benefit of everyone.

I'm not advocating the nanny set-up on the BBC (though that is preferrable to what we had there before, given the nature of that site). We are not comparing like with like. The BBC has some other constraints as a publicly-funded body, and the function of the forum is very different.

Joe asked a question (though perhaps it was rhetorical) and I'm doing my best to answer honestly. I take your point about churlishness (which is why I have never made my position clear before - I know how it makes me look), but I'm also thinking of the many MANY people I know who would love to join and use mudcat if only something was done about the bullying and fighting.

I also take Joe's point about prissiness, and I'm well aware that I often come over as Mary Poppins. But if I said what I really thought, my career would soon be over!

All the best

Tom