Thanks Mark for your comprehensive reply.
It really is up to members of this AMIPP forum to answer your message.
However, please see my replies in bold below.

Mike

cathcam Wrote:
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> I think we are confusing my personal preferences with the needs of the community. I'm trying to respond to discussion points, it seems like you are writing requirements and epic users stories :)
a. My apologies if I implied that.
>
> If I were starting a pensions forum, to discuss IBM UK Pensions, policies and legal issues surrounding these, then I'd definitely want to do
it as you've listed. This would provide ME with he maximum protection with the minimum risk, especially as I'm in the USA.
b. I have no personal interest in what the "new" forum covers. Although from what I have read in this thread it would not be restricted to IBM UK Pensions.
>
> However, since I made the offer of help, I've seen only a few comments that suggest real name registration, even where the real names are kept private, was not considered ideal for existing employees; there were comments about data, courts etc.
c. In sure that your offer of help is appreciated.
In http://www.amipp.org.uk/phorum5/read.php?1,10978,11043#msg-11043 perhaps "3. I'd be willing to be listed as the owner; be an admin; and on would consider funding agreed expenses to get the site up and running. My advice would be to require a small charge, not via paypal, to authenticate membership. I know how/who can do this pretty simply." was interpreted as members real names being disclosed by such authentication.
>
> My suggestion about private hosting was purely to alleviate fears about the data being released to the courts. Hosting in Russia or elsewhere is a mostly pointless exercises in my opinion. Either the data needs to be kept really private, or it doesn't.
d. Is there a danger of loss of service if the person who provides the private hosting becomes unable to continue through an accident, illness, death...?
>
> Sending it to Russia or elsewhere just puts into the hands of unknown/untrusted 3rd parties, it's security by obscurity of the worst kind. Blackmail anyone? Yes, thats extreme, but if you imagine getting into the realm where IBM would apply to the courts for the data, I'd assume getting blackmailed would come either before that, or soon after.
e. Was that not your concern about e.g. hosting in Russia stated in another message?
>
> In my opinion, if you want the real privacy, then real name registration is a pre-requisite. Otherwise you have no real security out of the gate if you do not know who has access. Real name registration has a number of legal advantages.
f. Please see c. above.
> FYI. I created a PDF of this website, including all the forum posts in just 5-mins tonight. Admin1 should be able to see this from the server logs.
g. I notice that the website was hammered from about 04:30 to 06:00 GMT today. http://www.amipp.org.uk/hammering.png
>
> I've already had a discussion with Michael of http://www.grackledesign.com/ - He is more than willing to do the setup we need, I just have to agree pricing and the scope of the effort.
>
> My concern over a forum with a wider remit than just IBM UK Pensions is that it would soon attract the "nut jobs" those that want to rant about stuff that is of little or no interest to me. I'd guess it would, if successful, soon venture down the path of discussing products (which takes us into an entirely different legal realm.
>
> If this is something people feel is worth doing, ie anonymous registration for a broad, internationally based, IBM discussion group, with little limitation on topics, then you are right, I want nothing to do with it.
h. Thank you for making that clear.
>
> If however, if members here want to be the admins, start the forum to discuss IBM UK Pensions then branch out, I am still willing to have this setup for you on a hosted server.
>
> So, I think the questions that have to be answered are:
>
> scope? < What is the forum for?
> scale? < Who are the users?
> Privacy? < How private is the data and the users?
> Do we collect IP addresses?
> Security? < How secure does the data/posts need to be?
>
i. Perhaps members of this forum will answer those questions.