Forum Rules [Archive] - Cruising World Forums & Community

bigredfish

12-20-2006, 01:23 PM

Please review our forum rules:

By using this forum, you agree to the rules set forth by the administrators, which are subject to change at any time. You must be aware that forum administrators, moderators and World Publications are not liable for any content present on this forum. We do not actively monitor postings but we want to hear about any possibly offensive or copyrighted content. Our goal is to create an open forum of free exchange and this is only possible if everyone works together.

General Guidelines

Users must be respectful when posting on our forums. Personal attacks will not be tolerated. While open and vigorous debate is encouraged, name calling or defamation of a fellow user or business will be dealt with strictly. In line with this, any thread that degrades into off-topic arguing or name calling will be subject to deletion and the offenders will be confronted.

For your own protection we do not recommend the posting of personal phone numbers, addresses or full names. Please remember that you are posting to the entire world. Even email addresses should not be made public. Use private messages instead to set up communication with fellow members outside the forum.

Posts cannot contain advertisements or links to businesses or web sites for the sole purpose of advertising or publicity. The only exceptions are threads that openly solicit a service or ask for information (Example: “I’m looking for a charter in Mexico” or “Does anyone know how to find out about company/product xyz?”).

Advertisements, business self-promotion, and of course spam, will be deleted without notice.

Obvious off topic spam posts will enjoy a permanent IP and user ban.

We believe that our community of enthusiasts holds itself to a higher standard and we don’t expect to have to enforce these rules very often. They are only here for your protection and convenience. We encourage you to contact us directly with and complaints or suggestions.

Enjoy your time here, and thanks for joining!

Forum Rules

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You hereby grant to the Company, and their respective affiliates worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display any message posted in the Community Areas and/or any e-mail sent by you to the Company (in whole or in part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or later developed.
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2. Trolling is not allowed. If you have nothing constructive to offer, your account will be banned. Spamming links to competing forums or other businesses is considered trolling.

3. General Posting Rules:
· Post topics in the appropriate section. This is especially important for topics that belong in "The Lounge".
· Keep Topic "Titles" Clean. This forum is used by members of all ages.
· Porn is not welcome here. "R-rated." "X-rated" pictures, sites, or links are and will remain strictly against the rules and will be deleted without notice
· Profanity or Defamatory language - Profanity, defamatory, sexist, or any other generally inappropriate content is not allowed in the forum.
· Threats, Racism, Sexism - Threads or replies promoting or expressing intolerant views towards minorities (race, religion, sexual preference, etc.) will not be tolerated.
· Advocacy of violence or suicide will result in an immediate ban
· Sexual Harassment will not be tolerated. Defined as unwelcome sexual advances, sexual suggestions, or sexual content directed at another user, when reported.
· Drugs: Threads/replies promoting illicit drugs/narcotics will not be tolerated.
· Police Bashing: Persistent or purposeful “cop bashing” is not allowed. Referring to a cop, policeman, etc is appropriate but unproven defamatory remarks or titles will not be tolerated
· No political threads! These threads tend to get out of hand really fast. There are plenty of other places on the internet to discuss politics.
· Flames or derogatory insults are strictly against the rules. If you disagree with another member's point of view, do so in a mature and civil manner.

Suggestion: If you are particularly irritated by another member's posting habits, you can click on that person's profile, and select "Add to ignore list." This will make that person's posts invisible to you.

4. Stay respectful. If you feel something negative towards a user/post, please try to state your case in a calm and respectable fashion. Replying to the post just to stir the pot and not offering anything of value is highly frowned upon.

5. Avatars and Signatures:
Avatars and Signatures: These should be "PG" rated as this forum is viewed by all ages. Posting inappropriate avatars or signatures will result in a PM from a Moderator. You will be asked to have the item changed within a 24 hour period. If no action is taken, your avatar will be deleted, changed, or disabled with out further notification. Avatars containing the following apply to this rule: profanity or adult-oriented content, obscene, pornographic, advertisements in avatars and signatures, flaming or bashing other people, websites and/or businesses.

6. Regarding Vendors, Sponsors & Vendor/Sponsor Bashing:
Attacking a vendor/sponsor on the board is inappropriate and will not be tolerated. If you have a complaint with a vendor/sponsor, you may post the information in the appropriate forum and discuss the facts pertinent to the problem at hand. If you do post on the board about a specific problem involving a vendor/sponsor, please remain calm and state the facts. Do not let emotion cloud the issue at hand, make your thread in the appropriate section, state your case, and be done with it. Harassment will not be tolerated.

Members are free to discuss and even recommend the products and services of non supporting vendors; however non-supporting vendors are not allowed to directly or indirectly advertise their services. The moderators reserve the right to edit or delete posts they deem to violate this rule.

We really hope most situations can be resolved off-line however we will not prohibit a statement of fact. But we will control the thread so as to stop the "Hate" or "Me too" replies these threads often generate.

If the situation resolution seems to be totally unacceptable or completely ignored, you should contact the Vendor directly with your situation. This rule is designed to respect vendor/sponsor business practices, their products, and their pricing.

7. Copyright-protected material. Members agree not to post any material that is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right without the express permission of the owner(s) of said copyright, trademark or other proprietary right. This includes but is not limited to magazine, book and newspaper scans, television broadcasts and copyrighted images and photos. You may post a small snippet of an article, but you may not post the full text. Please provide a link (if possible) to the material.

8. You may only have one membership account. Multiple accounts (sock puppets) are not permitted. If you are a corporate user, we will allow a second forums account for personal use. If any member is found with more than 1 account on the board and/or actively uses to spam or deceive staff or board members, both accounts and IP's will be banned without warning

9. Do not post another person's private information that is not otherwise publicly available.

10. Attacking Forum Moderators:
Posting a thread or reply to question or criticize moderator or administrator actions is not appropriate in a public forum. Please utilize the board's Private Message function, or e-mail, if you wish to discuss these issues. As long as you bring up your concerns maturely and civilly to the moderator or administrator in question, we will do our best to address your concerns fairly and promptly.

11. For Sale/Wanted:
· You must own what you are selling. Do not post ads for friends or others.
· No retail sales or spam
· No links to Ebay or other off-site auctions.
· See the "Rules for posting classifieds" thread at the top of the “For Sale/Wanted Forum” for more rules on buying and selling

Warnings, Suspension, & Banning

If a member violates any rules, he or she may be contacted by a moderator with a reminder of the forum rules and a request to keep the rules in mind in the future. Depending upon the severity of the violation, Moderators or Administrators may include a warning that continued violations will result in suspension. Members who have ignored prior warnings or committed a serious breach of their membership agreement may have their membership suspended for a period of time. If necessary a member will be banned from the forum. Also depending on the severity of the action, you MAY NOT receive a warning. Warnings are a courtesy, not a right.

If you violate forum guidelines, in most cases, you can expect the following action from the moderators/administrators:

1. First offense - warning via private message, e-mail, and/or moderator reply in the offending thread

2. Second offense – Temporary ID lock, Suspension, possibly permanent ban

3. Third Offense - Permanent ID lock & Permanent Ban

Please realize that the nature of the offense will determine the action to be taken. If the violation is extreme enough, or has been repeated enough times in the past, a member can have his/her ID locked/banned without a warning. The owners of these forums have the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason.

Threads or replies that do not comply with our guidelines may be locked, edited, or deleted, depending on the nature of the offense. We will make every effort to state why such action was taken via private message, e-mail, and/or moderator reply in the offending thread. For this reason, we ask that you check your private messages often. You can find out whether or not you have received any private messages by logging into your user CP. You can set your options so that the board notifies you when you have received a private message, if you so desire.