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Forum rules and regulations

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Forum rules and regulations

Postby Stu » Sat Dec 10, 2005 9:22 pm

All users of the forum, registered or otherwise, are bound by the following posting guidelines, and any posts made on the forum constitutes acceptance of these guidelines.

GENERAL POLICIES

The Frasier Online forums strive to provide a flame-free, spam-free environment for discussion of the TV Series 'Frasier' in the Frasier Discussion forum, and any other topics in the Off Topic forum.

We do not preview or approve content for posting. We therefore accept no liability for whatever content is posted to our forums, although we reserve the right to remove any content, which we deem to be inappropriate. All content is subject to administrative review upon our receipt of complaints. We may also, at our discretion, modify or remove content without prior notice. Your participation in our forums, either registered or unregistered, grants to us all rights and privileges to modify or delete your content in accordance with the guidelines set forth here. Your participation also grants to us immunity from all litigation for comments made by others, which you deem to be damaging, misleading, or in any way defamatory.

Forum administrators and moderators are volunteers. As part of their normal functions, forum moderators may, at their discretion: intervene in topics to ensure that discussion communities do not depart from our policies and guidelines; and/or seek second opinions from other Frasier Online forum administrators and moderators. By participating in our forums you agree to accept the decisions of our moderators and administrators regarding the content you post.



YOUR RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES

The Frasier Online forums are used by many people. Nonetheless, they are privately owned and operated forums. You have been extended a revocable privilege of participation. Do not assume that your freedom of speech, as protected under the law, allows you to barge into a forum and say whatever you please in any manner you deem appropriate. You are OUR guests and you agree to abide by OUR rules and judgment.

Your privacy is of paramount concern to us. We will not disclose your private information to third parties or use it for promotional purposes. If you register with our forums, you will have certain options available to you, which can help ensure your privacy. However, although we take what we feel are reasonable precautions against unauthorized access to our database, your registration in our forums grants to us immunity from all prosecution for violation of your rights in the event that an unauthorized access occurs.

We may, at our discretion, permit registered members to use signatures in their messages, custom avatars, custom titles, or other small boons. Such privileges are revocable and are subject to our priorities. The suspension of these privileges should not be deemed a consequence of abuse, as we may have other administrative reasons for doing so.



HOW TO DISAGREE

We encourage and appreciate a diversity of opinion. We also understand that two parties in any dispute may both be presenting valid if incomplete sets of facts. Arguments and disagreements are permitted in our forums, provided they do not descend into exchanges of personal recriminations or subtle attacks and provocations.

It is acceptable to be blunt and direct, as when you say, "You're wrong", "That is not so", "There is contrary evidence", "Your information is incomplete", "I disagree", "I don't see it that way", etc.

It is not acceptable to disagree by saying things like: "You always think you're right".

It always helps when you are expressing your opinion to make it clear by saying things like: "in my opinion", "I believe", "I think", "I conclude", etc. While it may be obvious to you that you are only expressing an opinion, it may not be so obvious to others. They may respond by attempting to undermine your remarks with "proofs" that you are only expressing an opinion. You can help keep a discussion going by clearly admitting you are stating an opinion or disagreeing with the other person.

Although it is not necessary to support every statement of fact with a link or citation of some sort, you will certainly strike people as being more credible if you do so. You stand a better chance of convincing others to accept your point of view if you provide complete and well-thought-out arguments.

Simply offering sweeping generalizations or statements of fact often invites a contrary reply which may be detailed and filled with citations.

Do not be intimidated by the other person. Try not to feel defensive or put upon. If you think the other person has crossed the line, REPORT THEIR MESSAGE TO A MODERATOR. DO NOT RESPOND to provocations. DO NOT FOLLOW-UP to abusive messages. DO NOT FAN FLAME WARS.



PROHIBITED POSTS

Certain types of posts are prohibited. The following definitions are provided for your convenience, but we reserve judgment in all matters to ourselves. All decisions by moderators, or forum administrators may be appealed to the senior administrators. Appeals decisions are final.

These forums may not be used to present personal complaints about individuals, nor for belittling other people, spreading poison pen campaigns, rallying the masses against your worst enemies, or inciting general warfare among otherwise calm and peaceful people.



FLAMING AND PERSONAL ATTACKS

We regard flaming to include insulting or derogatory language to refer directly or indirectly to any other individual (including celebrities), either participating in this forum or not. Name-calling, implying the unfitness or inferior quality of another person, maligning another person's reputation, and singling someone out for abusive and harassing comments, complaints, or allegations are not permitted.

Poison pen campaigns are strictly forbidden. Attacking the character of another individual is flaming. Character attacks take many forms. We generally look to see if remarks are made about the other person or what the person has written. Any message which obviously seeks to discredit an individual or group of individuals by any means other than direct citation and refutation of arguments will most likely be deemed a personal attack or poison pen message.

Any attempt to harass people is unacceptable. If you cannot disagree without attacking the other person, find another discussion to participate in. Or go somewhere else. Attempts to provoke angry or emotional outbursts will be deemed at harassment.

In general, if you say or imply anything bad another person, we will probably regard your comments to be inflammatory. You may be asked not to engage in such behavior again. Your comments may be edited or deleted. You may be banned. You may be reported to your Internet Service Provider for abuse of their acceptable use policy. And we reserve the right to bring suit against habitual, malicious people who repeatedly abuse our policies, forums, and/or communities.

The moderation staff will strive to refrain discussing individual behavior in the open forums. Where we deem it necessary to do so, such comments are exempted from this policy, but concerns may be addressed to the administrators.



SPAMMING AND SOLICITING

We define spamming to be posting the same or similar message repeatedly, either in the same forum or across multiple forums. The content of the message is irrelevant. On rare occasions, we may allow a regular participant in our communities, who in our judgment has a clear record of abiding by our guidelines, to post several announcements. It is better to ask a moderator in advance than to simply post the same thing over and over again. Multiple posts are subject to immediate removal without appeal.

We define soliciting to be any of several behaviors, including posting commercial announcements, links containing affiliate codes for merchandise on e-commerce sites, requests for private information, etc. Under no circumstances will we permit messages which request ages or contact information from minors (people under the age of 18) to remain in our forums. We may, at our discretion, report requests for such information to police agencies, if we feel there is sufficient cause to be concerned. Under no circumstances will any of our moderators or administrators ask anyone to post their age or contact information in our forums. Such information is to be provided on a voluntary basis and should be confined to personal profiles.

Messages requesting money, or messages requesting reposting to other forums, will be removed immediately. Anything remotely resembling a pyramid or ponzi scheme, where people send money to a small group of people on a list and then add their own names to the list, are strictly forbidden in our forums.

From time to time, members of our communities may post information about online petitions. As our forums are intended primarily for discussion, our moderators may delete petition announcements or impose restrictions.



FORBIDDEN DISCUSSION TOPICS

We may from time to time, at our discretion, forbid or restrict the discussion of selected topics. Such bans or restrictions are intended to help maintain the focus of our communities, as well as the sense of community we have fostered here.



DISPUTES WITH MODERATORS

We do not permit community members to argue with moderators in the forums. All of our moderators and administrators may be contacted by email. Messages which question or disagree with administrative actions are subject to editing and/or removal. It is our desire to see the forums used for discussing the topics they are devoted to. Administrative disputes will be handled via private email. Refusal to contact moderators or administrators privately will be deemed abusive behavior.

If you cannot reach an understanding with a moderator, or if the moderator advises you to contact the administrators, you should cease communication with the moderator and contact our administrative staff. Sending harassing or threatening messages to forum moderators will be deemed abusive and your privileges will be subject to revocation. We may also forward copies of such messages to Internet Service Providers or other appropriate bodies.



CIRCUMVENTING FORUM BANS

We may, at our discretion, ban or restrict the privileges of individuals through their accounts or by IP address allocation. Such bans may not be circumvented through use of other ISP connections or accounts, particularly with the intention of posting harassing or argumentative messages or otherwise displaying your intent or ability to disrupt forums. Circumventing a ban is an invasion of privacy issue, and persistent behavior may -- at our discretion -- be reported to your Internet Service Provider(s), employer, parents or guardian, school, local authorities, or other parties. We may, at our discretion, elect to prosecute you through civil or criminal complaints, as appropriate laws provide for. If the Frasier Online forum administrators choose to ban you from the forums, you are no longer welcome to participate in our communities. Please go elsewhere and leave us alone. Bans may be temporary or permanent. There is no law which grants you the right or license to invade private forums. Do not seek to intimidate the Frasier Online forum administrators, moderators, owners, operators, or community members with threats or defiant arguments. That only makes it more likely we will report your abusive behavior to other parties. You forfeit all rights and guarantees to privacy if you insist on invading our forums.



SCREEN NAMES

The only way to ensure that no one else uses a screen name is for you to register it. We will not reserve screen names for you. We will not attempt to arbitrate disputes over screen names. The registration system gives out screen names on a first come, first served basis. If you really want to use a screen name that no one else can use, then you MUST register one. We may, at our discretion, restrict the number of accounts you are permitted to create. Please do not create multiple accounts. Contact our admin staff if you have problems registering or feel compelled to create a secondary account.



POLITICAL, ETHNIC, OR RELIGIOUS BASHING OR PROPAGANDA

While we accept that a truly international community includes people who may have strong personal feelings about specific divisions or conflicts around the world, we must ask that you refrain from posting hateful or malicious propaganda. We reserve the right to remove or edit messages we feel are intended to slam specific political parties, religious groups, ethnic groups, or nations. It is easily possible to express your disagreement with policies and actions without employing colorful rhetoric which, if directed at an individual, would be clearly identified as a flame.

Do not post messages which are intended to aggravate or infuriate other people. While you may be feeling great anger yourself, our forums are not intended to be used as political weapons or propaganda platforms. Conflicts between nations, ethnic groups, religions, or political parties may be discussed but they will surely not be resolved in our forums. Please do not attempt to sway the masses to your cause through our forums. Share your opinions and insights, but please do not instigate massive hate-threads.



LINKS TO ILLEGAL SITES OR EXPLICIT SEXUAL CONTENT

Links to Web sites which provide illegal content or explicit sexual content are not permitted in our forums. Explicit sexual content includes but is not necessarily limited to images, movies, or stories depicting sexual acts or behaviors, private body parts or functions. Inclusion of explicit language or images in your messages is not permitted.



STEALTH NETWORKS

Use of our forums to share information, either explicitly or via coded message, on how to access illegal sites or participate in illegal activities is strictly forbidden. If we detect such behavior, we reserve the right to report it to the proper authorities without warning or comment.


SIGNATURES

Each registered user in their profile has the ability to create a signature, which is displayed at the bottom of every post that member makes. This signature can consist of any combination of text or a URL with formatting such as bold etc.

Images are not allowed as part of your signature.

To make a URL or to apply text formatting, you need to use tags which get interpreted when you make your post.

Eg: to make text bold put [b] then your text and then [/b] to turn it off again. Equally, use [url]to make a link and then[/url] to turn it off.


AVATARS

These are little pictures which appear under your forum name when you make a post. Any pictures have to meet the following criteria:

- No bigger than 80 x 80 pixels in size
- File size of no bigger than 25Kb
- Image has to be a gif, jpeg or png file
- No animated avatars are allowed


RESERVATION

Frasier Online reserves the right to change any and all of the above forum policies without notice.
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Stu
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Joined: Fri Jan 01, 1999 1:00 am
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