... I said, this is a "public" forum and I don't have to. Can you spell A.C.L.U.?
The laws governing the opperation and use of a public forum can be quite strict. Google it and I think you'll be surprised. Don't think for a second the people at AH don't know and fully understand the laws governing this BBS.
Expamle:
"In Kansas, a law specifically prohibits people from making "indecent comments" online.
In Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, North Dakota, and South Dakota, state laws covering phone calls have been expanded to include computer communications, so it is now a criminal act to send email that is obscene, vulgar, offensive, or causes annoyance (the exact wording varies from state to state).
Even if you don't live in one of the states listed above, you can still be prosecuted for sending such a message to someone who does. State decency laws have been used to harass owners of bulletin board systems and at least two Internet sites.
Many BBS owners, and some small Internet service providers, have started censoring their content in self-defense.
New state laws are still being passed, criminalizing the free speech of Net users all over the country.
If we go beyond harassment and look at state obscenity laws, the situation is even worse."
The article here:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.04/es.states.html