Date
Instituted: October 18, 2001
Last Updated:
October 18, 2001
NetShrine.com
is a private organization and the NetShrine Discussion Forum allows
posts by registered members who choose to abide by our standards. If the
guidelines reflected here do not meet your ethical or moral standards,
then NetShrine.com encourages you to find a community that more closely
reflects your values. There are many other forums on the Internet that
may be more appropriate for you.
The
NetShrine Discussion Forum is dedicated to developing and maintaining a
friendly online community where members feel relaxed and comfortable.
Like any community, the NetShrine Discussion Forum has certain
standards. Members of our forum must agree to abide by these rules.
Being a member of this community requires a considerate and respectful
attitude toward fellow members, within the guidelines outlined below.
Repeated violations of these standards may result in a member being
barred from entry or participation in the NetShrine Discussion Forum.
Disagreement,
debate, and strong opinions are encouraged. Certain topics evoke strong
passions, and the NetShrine Discussion Forum aims to provide a safe
place for the free expression of those passions and differing views.
Members must provide respect to other values, opinions, and ideas even
if they strongly disagree with those ideas.
When
posting, members should remember these three basic concepts:
-
The
written word carries none of the inflection of voice. Sarcasm,
humor, irony, etc. may not be evident from the written word, even if
liberally sprinkled with smiles. It is best to avoid nuance and go
for clarity.
-
Getting
everyone to agree is not a healthy goal. If there are differing
viewpoints, members must recognize when to stop advancing a point of
view and let a discussion stand, as is.
-
The
NetShrine Discussion Forum is a worldwide forum. The primary
language used on this site happens to be American English, but we
have visitors from many countries. Some members composing or reading
a post may not have English as a first, or even second, language.
All members should be sensitive to the fact that posts may be
misinterpreted.
Members
may not post telephone numbers or addresses that are not their own. For
safety reasons, NetShrine.com recommends that members avoid publicly
posting their personal information. Members may not pretend to be
someone they are not. Members may not impersonate any person or entity,
including but not limited to, a NetShrine.com official, employee,
volunteer, contractor, and/or affiliate.
While
the NetShrine Discussion Forum encourages a wide range of opinions,
members must keep their posts focused on the topic of the forum in which
they are submitting their message. Each forum has a different topic, so
what is appropriate in one forum or thread may not be appropriate in
another. Any member desiring to discuss a topic that is not
related to the topic or forum in which they are participating, should go
to another topic or forum or create a new topic.
Members
shall not post on these forums any content which (a) is libelous,
defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, harassing or threatening,
(b) contains viruses or other contaminating or destructive features, (c)
violates the rights of others, such as content which infringes any
copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or violates any right of
privacy or publicity, or (d) otherwise violates any applicable law.
Members may not post on these forums any links to any external Internet
sites that are obscene or pornographic. Members may not use these forums
for the solicitation of funds or goods and services or to solicit
members to join competitive online services.
NetShrine
Discussion Forum members are not permitted to harass, bash or
"flame" other members. They may not post or transmit any
unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar,
obscene, profane, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise
objectionable material of any kind, including, but not limited to, any
material which encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal
offense, violate the rights of others, or otherwise violate any
applicable local, state, national or international law. Members must
note that this also includes the posting of taunts in a forum solely for
the purpose of deriding that forum's topic and/or members.
It
is illegal for a member to post any content that is copyrighted or
trademarked, unless they hold the copyright or trademark. Any material
protected by copyright may not be posted in the message boards without
the expressed permission of the author or owner of the copyright on that
material. This includes reproducing the full text of news stories,
articles, etc. It is acceptable to provide a link to copyrighted
material, to post brief excerpts, or to paraphrase other works, though
NetShrine.com strongly encourages members to cite the original source
whenever possible.
It
is permissible for members to mention services or products that are
provided by them or the companies with which they are affiliated, as
long as they obtain written approval from the forum moderator before
making any mention and the members state their affiliation with the
company in the content of the message. This policy applies to posts in a
forum as well as content in “signatures.”
Forum
members are allowed to embed images in their messages (for example by
attaching an allowed file format to their posts). In addition to the
copyright restrictions mentioned above, members should also refrain from
embedding any images of a sexual or offensive nature. If a member posts
a link to an image and they are uncertain as to whether or not the image
is acceptable, they must also post a warning with the link (that it goes
to a page that some may find offensive). Any links to clearly offensive
or pornographic materials will be removed immediately at the moderator's
discretion.
Members
of these forums are solely responsible for all content that they post on
our site. NetShrine.com shall have the right, but not the obligation, to
correct any errors or omissions in any content, as it may determine in
its sole discretion. NetShrine.com and its affiliates further reserve
the right, in their sole discretion, to delete or remove any member
content from the site and to deny the access of any member to all part
of this site, at any time for any reason without prior notice or
liability.
Any
member who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to
immediately contact a NetShrine Discussion Forum moderator. Moderators
have the ability to remove objectionable messages and we will make every
effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if determined that
removal is necessary. This is a manual process so please realize that
the moderator may not be able to remove or edit particular messages
immediately.
Posting
actions made by moderators and administrators are made to ensure the
health of the community. Members may be provided a reason for deletion,
but this is not guaranteed. Decisions about deleted posts are not
subject to debate, though an administrator may provide clarification if
they feel it is appropriate.
NetShrine.com
reserves the right to refuse membership or access to anyone who we feel
is abusing the service or exploiting it in a way that is detrimental to
the NetShrine Discussion Forum or our members. We will terminate access
at our discretion. NetShrine.com may attempt to provide members with
guidance as to why their access has been removed, but we will not
guarantee that a reason will be given.
NetShrine.com
retains the rights to exclusively determine what violates any of the
standards or conditions and may make changes to them at its discretion
without notice.
If
members have a problem or a complaint, they may not make it a public
issue. Complaints must be privately directed to the NetShrine Discussion
Forum administrators and/or moderators. They will then take the
appropriate actions accordingly.
Anything
posted to the NetShrine Discussion Forum is treated as non-confidential
and non-proprietary and posters waive any claims with respect to their
submission. These submissions may be used by NetShrine.com, its
partners, and/or affiliates for any purpose. Furthermore, posters
automatically grant NetShrine.com the royalty-free, perpetual,
irrevocable, non-exclusive and fully sub licensable right and license to
use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative
works from, distribute, perform and display such content (in whole or
part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form,
media, or technology now known or later developed. This content may not
be copied or reproduced in any manner without specific written
permission by NetShrine.com.
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