The MN Mail Column - what we think, and what we plan to do next... part 2

[whataboutthisone]

Firstly, I am a regular but have created a new name for this.

My thoughts about what I know so far:

1. In a much earlier post there was a discussion about a change in T&Cs and whether they are valid or not. Several years ago I took a company to court for a breach of their T&Cs. Their argument was that they had changed T&Cs and my complaint was therefore no longer valid. However, the judge said that because I had not specifically been asked to accept the new T&Cs, I was entitled to rely on the ones I had accepted and therefore I won my case.

1. I choose to post on MN in the knowledge that the details I give are probably just obscure enough to anyone I may know in RL who also posts, so that what I say still effectively remains private. However, that doesn't mean that the same could be said of, for instance, my mother, who reads the DM (!) There is probably just enough about my circumstances that would enable her to put 2+2 together. I would like the option to choose whether or not I let my Mum ( or anyone else in RL) in on certain areas of my life, and there is a real possibility that this hack, has taken that choice away from me.

1. I have never ( and now will never) post asking for advice, but I will also be very careful about offering advice in the future. I, along with many others, occasionally use examples from my life to explain where I am coming from. If I continue to do that, as I said earlier, it is possible that some people would be able to work out who I am. Now, I am not so big-headed as to believe that any advice I offer is worth taking, however, there are many fantastic posters on here who do give amazing and insightful advice based on their own experiences. It would be a real shame if that was to stop because they, like me, do not want to share some of those experiences with the folk they are close to in RL. It would also be a real tragedy if others were prevented from asking for help for the same reasons.

I am very disappointed that any MNer would feel it is acceptable to violate the trust we place in each other on this forum. I do not know who she is. I do not want to know who she is. But I hope she is hanging her head in shame for breaching the trust that has been placed in her by everyone whose words she has stolen to make a few bucks!

Is it my browser or are some of the comments being removed??? The Tunbridge Wells one seems to be gone.

Perhaps someone could cut and paste the remaining ones here for our edification before they're gone too.

Or would MN be sued by the DM for nicking its content?

They have all gone - looks like the dm don't like it when MN go and play around with their site then?

here are some more examples of fair usage:

In my opinion this is just another example of the 'Nanny State' that is Britain. You can't even decide what your own child eats without it being held up as an example of over indulgent parenting. If ham is all you have then presumably you are teaching your child a valuable lesson about eating what they are given. What a sorry state of affairs.

• Barbara, Edinburgh, 20/8/2009 11:07

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Guidelines from nurseries are to stop the types of parents who send their children in with the worst foods. I have worked in various childcare settings and we have some children aged 3 or 4 come in with a sausage roll, a cheese string and a cake bar. Its too stop things like that happening for the parents who appear to have no common sense!

• anon, england, 20/8/2009 11:05

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Policing children's lunch? It's PC gone mad!

Then again if they were being looked after at home by their mothers as they should be it wouldn't even be an issue.

It's a sad refection of society that so many women have time to whine on internet message-boards when they should be busy nurturing the next generation. How will they ever grow up to be decent taxpayers when Mum shoves them in nursery so she can waste time on the "net"?

• Mr N, Dorset, 20/8/2009 10:47

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Whilst I fully agree that it's so very important for children to eat the correct foods, I don't think that forcing parents to fill lunchboxes with something different every day is going to help. Many parents live on a tight budget and are reluctant to spend more money than they have to for lunchbox meals. A pack of ham will make enough sandwiches for a whole week, so that's what I'll do.
When I was a child, my parents did one shop a week and our lunchboxes always reflected how far into the week we were: at the beginning of the week, we would have nice sandwiches, a bag of crisps and a chocolate bar, an item of fruit and a juice drink. by Friday, we'd have buttered bread, a raw carrot and two cream crackers. (water provided by the school).
We have to feed our children according to what we can afford, not what is dictated to us.

• Tro-la-la, Medway, Kent, 20/8/2009 10:24

Click to rate Rating 4 Report abuse Hummus sandwich?

Dear god, I would HOPE that any child of mine would turn its nose up at such a piece of vegetarian nonsense.

• Pauline, Caversham, 20/8/2009 10:18

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Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1207788/What-SHOULD-childrens-lunch-boxes.html#ixzz0OidF2O Ni

all the comments have gone

Love the fact that the DM have apparently now twigged that the comments aren't real!

Maybe that'll teach them to mess with Mumsnet!
[flying pig emoticon]

The problem is those messages are real in sentiment.

I think the comments are just being updated that's all

Lol - yes I am sure they are quaking at the sting of our wrath

I'm particularly roffling at "vegetarian nonsense".

I can see comments

Who is Marjorie Dawes then? Still laughing at dust sandwiches.

"Everyone knows that healthiest sandwich filling is dust. My children love a dust sandwich.

• Marjorie Dawes, Dover, 20/8/2009 11:28"

well done!

Hurrah for fair usage Mrs D.

Do feel a bit sorry for poor old 'anon' having his/her post removed, that one may have been genuine. Though on the other hand there is mention of fruit drinks...

please could someone link to the comments page?

here

I thought the DM sandwich of choice was paedophile sperm?

Ewwww.

They haven't published mine .

The hummous comment is particularly funny- that must have been a mner...

Hi all

Thanks again for the feedback - we are listening and we are taking what you say on board. It's impossible to answer every query but just to come back on a few things/reiterate:

We did not set off to "start a relationship/get into bed with/ partner up etc" with the Daily Mail and were only alerted to the first article when someone reported it to us. We know some folks will never believe this but it's the truth.

In response to Aitch (and others) who have expressed frustration and we quote:

"MNHQ has once-and-for-all exposed the fact that as an organisation it's not going to use their right to Fair Use to prevent our words being lifted and re-printed elsewhere."

As Justine said early on, noone in their right mind wants to start getting legal with the Daily Mail and certainly at the moment with half the team away we just wanted to open communication with them and see if we could get the things that most worried Mumsnetters - namely editorial content and identities - changed.

As I said in my epic post yesterday "there remains the discussion about whether or not Mumsnet should be associated with the Daily Mail at all/ what we can do if we are still unhappy, but that's a discussion that will have to wait until everyone's back from hols" - which will be early Sept. So we're not saying that the conversation is over, just that for the time being, until we're back to full strength, we just wanted to mitigate and address the immediate concerns.

Sorry if we keep repeating ourselves - we just want to let you know that we're not ignoring you/the issue.

Anyways, keep your thoughts coming...even the MNHQ are evil, money grabbing, two timing, no-balls-eejits thoughts...we can take it...

oh right so you get a months or so regular plug in the daily garbage and then you may actually realise that any tpe of relationship with them whether started by them or you isnt really what some mners would like. then youll go oh well been running a month now xxx new members joined x member left were happy.

carrie - I'm not somebody that particularly objects to the DM column. But if you did decide that you wanted it to stop then I would have thought you'd now be on pretty shaky ground.

You've entered into negotiations with them and by early September they will have run - what? -six instalments. I'd say that's as good as giving permission.

Well, if that is good journalism then I must be a genius mathematician! I can still remember my multiplication tables from school.

Does this all boil down to the fact that DM are going to run in, mn can do bugger all about it [due to shady legal stuff and the sheer size of DM] and so mn are trying to be nice and tug their forelock to DM so they are at least friendly and hopefully stay away from the potentially very upsetting threads?

If the mn towers posts are code for that, then just say it. We can take it, and I'm sure the DM can too.