I had the curiosity at some point last year as to how far back in people’s history did the rules apply (see A couple of quick questions related to forum rules). The answer was that there is no delimited timeframe for rules to apply.

If I recall correctly, my curiosity was aroused when I checked the forum rules to see when rule 33 had been written:

- It was present at round November 2016 (rule number 33): https://web.archive.org/web/20161121133329/https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0
- But not in May 2016: https://web.archive.org/web/20160506061123/https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=703657.0

Of course, these rules are basically a privately applied based guideline, and obviously can apply to whatever timeframe the Forum wishes, with disregard to the fact that the rule infringement may have been committed prior to the rule being stated.

The fact that the rule on plagiarism (for example) seems not to have been introduced until somewhere between May and November 2016 could be controversial with regards people being banned for plagiarism committed before that period. On the other hand, we could understand that all rules are fully retroactive and that’s it. I personally would prefer a 3 year timeframe or so, but that’s all it is, a personal preference.