I think this comes down to individual expectations of what a Dom/me considers appropriate behaviour from a sub. Ok, we have already covered the fact that many Dom/mes do not mind and sometimes even expect thier subs to act independently when in conversation with others while at the same time showing them the respect due a Dom/me. This may mean being rude to another Dom/me who they may not consider worthy of the title. The way I have always seen the rules in this forum is that they encourage people to talk. Rules about etiquette sometimes get in the way of this communication - as mentioned above, a sub with a potentially useful opinion or question felt that they were unable to comment on a post because they were a sub. I personally would rather have it so that every sub felt that they could comment and contribute without censure and see 'bratty subs' as a minor irritant which is a fair price to pay for this freedom of speech. This freedom of speech also comes with another price - any poster has the right to say what they want about anything, regardless of status, so long as you stick within the rules of netiquette (attack the post not the poster, etc), but they also have the right to do the same to you. This means that no, your collar is not a shield. If you say something that annoys someone, be prepared to get a reply which may annoy you and your Master/Mistress has no responsibility for it and therefore cannot protect you. Basically, I feel that the forums and chatrooms are not necessarily within the same rules as scene events. We all post here as individuals, not as extensions of who owns us and our opinions are not necessarily those of the people we play with/are collared to.

Some sites do set up boards with specific rules in place. For example, one may only for Dominants or subs (and some boards on here do say that but the posting rules are not really well enforced). Some sites may have 'etiquette' boards where particular rules are in place all the time (i.e. subs must be respectful, always use honorifics etc). Many sites in my experience also have a 'no holds barred' board - an anything goes, no rules, one fall, 2 submissions, gouging allowed, many posters enter, one leaves type board. This is there for the really nasty debate which many posters don't necessarily want but some seem to try to provoke. Here we call that the politics board (only kidding, the politics board here is far nastier than that... )