Thanks for the kind words. To answer a few questions that have come up:
The forums aren't hosted in the UK but it doesn't matter, as the legislation lays claim to UK users, irrelevant where the servers may be. A theoretical solution would be to block all UK IP addresses, but this is flawed and may still expose me, personally, to ridiculous legal claims. So even Geo-IP blocking is no use, not to mention it'd be quite a hindrance to a large part of our userbase.
But lets not get into amateur legal discussions here, as that can go on forever with no productive outcome. Unless you're a UK lawyer specializing in these matters and have some good advice on the problem!
I have no special connection to Bavaria the company. If they were interested in running an owners forum, they'd have one. However, it wouldn't be the same, as it would be in the hands of their marketing department and thus not an independent place for open discussion.
There probably already is a Facebook group for Bavaria owners, I wouldn't know, I worked in IT and had a client collaborating with Facebook and thus know better than to have an account there. If it's not finally become apparent in the recent past, those companies are not your friends.
Sure, it would be possible to found a company and make this into a commercial undertaking, but that would mean either paid membership or cluttering everything up with dumb advertising, and I have no interest in either, nor the time for it, plus hopefully everyone is blocking ads anyways!
Your best bet is probably resorting to the forums at YBW.com, although I'm not sure how they are planning to deal with this legislation, I wouldn't be surprised if they're making their own announcement in the near future.
Making the forums private would exclude all future members from seeking help with their boat problems. We'd just dwindle away slowly.
