[kSmica]

Thanks for the feedback so far. A reminder here that my own powers are limited and I can't apply any punitive action outside of those powers without consent. At this stage, I just wanted to gather some information about how others feel.

I've been giving it some thought and from my end, I'm actually going to loosen the reigns slightly and try to work with overseas posters instead. It's going to be time consuming but I'm hoping a softly-softly approach will be better in getting the message across (and in the long-term, actually improving the forum).

Some examples of the way I intend to deal with things from my perspective have been made already today. Unfortunately, I don't have the patience Amanda has. On the flip side, Amanda doesn't have the time to constantly moderating so I'm going to have to try and adapt to her style a little more. Let's see how long that lasts!

Obviously, this thread will remain open for further thought. I'd actually like to hear what our overseas friends feel about things. Are the spammers and backlinkers affecting their businesses? How do they feel about their own credibility being compromised by spammers?

Keep adding your thoughts, folks. I'm determined to make this a better place for everybody now I've got the original hissy-fit out of my system.