I No Longer Autojoin #Techrights

I've been autojoining the #techrights channel on IRC for ages, but last night I've decided I can no longer be there. I am not going to waste my time where trolls are welcomed and the IRC policy is a piece of creative writing. Confused? Read on.

A few months back one of the regulars got to the point where he knew he could behave however badly he wanted with no punishment. He'd been banned multiple times for the same behaviour pattern, name shifted to get back in, he's been kicked many more times for the same stuff, and finally after having to lay out the obvious to Roy, Ryan finally got banned.

I predicted the day where I'd join and see Ryan happily chatting away again that day. I specifically nailed Roy down on exactly what he meant by "permanently banned" and was assured "as soon as he's recognised, we kick / ban him". This is fair enough, sometimes people are able to sneak in and you don't recognise them until they give themselves away. It was also the day the IRC policy was created, and the trigger for it.

A little while ago it turns out that Ryan is back chatting away, under his old nick, with no attempt to name shift, chatting away with Roy and others, so the whole "if we recognise him he's banned" is as accurate as a LibDem election promise.

When asking Roy exactly how that fits with his word from before, he suddenly switches into politician mode, not understanding the problem, or trying to redefine what he meant before, in a desperate attempt to not honour his word, but claim that somehow he is. Roy is an intelligent bloke, he spots that evasion in others and rightly calls them on it. To chose that approach as a response means he adds the label "hypocrite" to the mix.

Apparently it's now "menacing and threatening" behaviour that counts, and that since he's not done that, he shouldn't be banned. Within hours of coming back (that I saw anyway) he was already in full blown Ubuntu bashing mode, which continued the following day, so that must be ok then. Even the other day Roy had to say to Jono (Ubuntu's Community Manager) who Ryan seems to be fixated with attacking, that "if Ryan annoys you just ignore him, others want him banned but I don't want to do that".

The other interpretation which is probably just as accurate, is that Roy is a nice guy and he wants to try and give Ryan another chance after the dust has settled down. The problem is that Ryan has had more chances than I've had hot dinners, he has shown no indication that he's even aware that he has to change, let alone making an effort to change. He knows that Roy will constantly weaken and that he can count on being allowed back regardless of what he does.

I left the #techrights channel in disgust months ago because of Ryan's behaviour and Roy's complete abdication of responsibility in properly addressing it. I only came back after the IRC policy was created, and I was assured that a "permanent ban" meant "he's not allowed back; ever". As such I can no longer join #techrights.

This does present a little bit of a quandary, in that I'm part of a group project with Roy, this may change too. One of the concerns I have with TechBytes in the way that it has been running up until now, is that it's part of the Techrights feed, part of the Techrights content. As such it implies that at least myself and Tim as regular hosts endorse Techrights, it's methods and policies. I don't.

I don't endorse the real IRC policy of "everyone is welcome, including the trolls, we don't ban anyone, the policy is just for show". What is allowed to happen with impunity in IRC reflects back on Roy.  I don't endorse Roy's use of intentional misnamed names, company names and product names. To me that comes across as childish and petty; it undermines the rest of the posts. Roy is Techrights. While TechBytes sits within the Techrights brand, what Ryan does and is allowed to get away with reflects back on me and Tim. As such I feel it's important that TechBytes is an independent show outside of our separate sites.

We have issues to discuss, decide and plan in regards to TechBytes, both myself and Tim autojoin the (as yet unannounced) show channel for that project. It'd be nice if Roy joined us outside of the short window while recording. The evolution of TechBytes is rapidly grinding to a halt  in a cloud of frustration while only myself and Tim take part in the discussions.