Back in the halcyon days when the internet was all shiny and new, revealing the contents of a private email on e.g. usenet without the sender's permission was considered the height of bad manners.
 
"Private communication" does not equal "copy it wherever you like" because if it's intended for everyone to see it would have been posted on the forum in the first place.
 
Obviously there are exceptions - e.g. someone using PMs to send abuse. Though copying that kind of thing to the forum is likely to just fuel a flame war. Hopefully the moderators would step in if notified about abusive PMs and take suitable action.
 
I've seen private messages made public ruin more than one forum/newsgroup, especially if the quotes from that communication are selective.
 

BobF
It's bad enough already with folks able to hide behind anonymity.  I'm a firm believer in the idea that people shouldn't say, write or do anything to each other that would embarrass them or their families if printed in the local paper.  If somebody gets embarrassed by their behavior, maybe they'll learn something from the experience.

 
There can be all kinds of good reasons for anonymity and not wanting the world to know who you are, on a forum like this that includes being a child (children and teenagers are often advised to protect themselves from the risk of abuse by not using their real names) or being someone really famous. And if we only say in private communications what we'd be happy for the world to know that would pretty quickly terminate all kinds of support groups - health related, sexuality related, abuse and bullying related...

I didn't say anonymity is all bad.  There is no doubt that anonymity is a shield for BAD and good reasons

tlw
 And if we only say in private communications what we'd be happy for the world to know that would pretty quickly terminate all kinds of support groups - health related, sexuality related, abuse and bullying related...

I have thought this particular forum is for a bit different discussions
 
Now seriously. What you have mentioned is already regulated by International and Local laws and policy. At least in Germany, it is not allowed even save private information (name, address, etc.) without explicit permission. I am sure Cakewalk already respect common rules.
 
But "posting PM is considered a violation of the TOS" means that posing ANY information you have received in ANY PM is a violation. And that is something I do not like at all.
 
For example you have received a PM from someone asking for help with the content "As soon as I connect my BadStyle3S mouse, Sonar is crashing and I start whining...". If you publish "Mr. X from Flowers Street in Bern start whining every time his Sonar crash", that is already a violation of common rules. But if proposed by OP rule is introduced, just quoting "As soon as I connect my BadStyle3S mouse, Sonar is crashing" with the question "Does someone else has observed that?" will not be allowed.

It really comes down to common courtesy and good judgement. Granted, some people possess neither to any noticeable extent, but a TOS is not going to change them.

I do not write "from theory". I periodically receive Control Surface related questions in PMs on my forum or this forum. I do not think authors want hide something, some people just do not like "open" discussions. But I use the information from these PMs, sometimes to ask someone else in public forums, sometimes  as "tips" (for my plug-in). I respect privacy, I do not publish names or nicks and I do not "steal" ideas without asking before.

I agree with Dave on this. But be warned there is no private in private messages. They belong to CW and can be used by them any way they please. Further, does anyone really believe for one New York minute that anything on the internet is private? To me it seems everyone and his brother is reading everything posted anywhere and everywhere. Between the hackers, the government and foreign powers, to believe something is private involving the internet is preposterous. Just saying!  

John
Between the hackers, the government and foreign powers, to believe something is private involving the internet is preposterous. Just saying!  

For some reason, the men in black don't seem to opening everyone's paper mail.  I wonder why not.  They're not shy with everything else.
 

Hi-
 
If I got an abusive PM, I wouldn’t post it on the public forums, since the general membership can’t do anything about it other than commiserate with me (or not.)
 
As far as reposting info from tech support or from another member with a solution to a problem, I said in my OP "unless both parties consent." I would assume that in the vast majority of cases where the content is helpful or informational, both parties would consent. [BTW, many, many, many years ago, emails from Cakewalk tech support ended with boilerplate text to the effect that the contents of the email weren’t to be made public. There might be a few here who remember that!]
 
I’m not sure how this turned into a FOIA debate! I was surprised to see what was clearly intended to be a private message posted publicly on the forum. It was the first time I’d ever seen that. That was pretty much the impetus.
 
In the way back olden days, that would have been a major faux pas. I know times have changed, but I still don't understand why anyone would feel the need to post the content of a PM on a public forum unless both parties agreed to make it public. Obviously, CW can use the content any way they please and thanks, John, for explaining privacy on the Internet to me!
 
All I was really trying to say is that IMO, carrying a personal disagreement into the public forums by posting the contents of a PM conversation without the consent of both parties shouldn't be okay.
 
Thanks-
 
Susan

I agree with your point just as Dave did. Nor was I explaining anything to you in particular. However the whole notion of privacy on the internet is a delusion.  What some people do is based on their value system. Sometimes it isn't much of one. 

I admit I laughed at the "...carry a personal disagreement into a public forum..." Most start right there and do not even have the courtesy of a PM. Some exchanges fall into the realm of "mob mentality meets Romper Room."