DISCLAIMER, RULES, PRIVACY POLICY & SUBSCRIPTIONS

[Marc]

DISCLAIMER, RULES, PRIVACY POLICY & SUBSCRIPTIONS

By using the forum or any other feature(s)/software or by simply being registered at the domain uspoliticsonline.com you agree to the following in whole:


DISCLAIMER:

You agree to NOT use this site or its affiliated sites, services you may have access to as a result of being a member here (subscriber or otherwise), to post items (images, textual material, etc.) that are pornographic in nature, illegal in the United States and/or the country you reside in, support or encourage illegal activities (e.g., terrorism), advertise for your own personal profit, or send unsolicited messages (i.e. SPAM) to members or non-members.

--AND--

You agree that if any clause or component of this document is found to not be legally binding in a court of law of proper jurisdiction then the remainder of this document shall remain as fully binding and in full force.

--AND--

You agree to NOT hold Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. (makers of the forum software), uspoliticsonline.com, sites affiliated with uspoliticsonline.com, its administrator(s), its moderator(s), others associated with its operation, and its owner(s) liable for any and all of the following (in whole or in part):

1. Personal insults/attacks by other members.

2. The content posted by other members, whether directed at you personally or a label/classification you associate with. This includes remarks you consider to be libelous or slanderous in any way.

3. Any financial or time loss due to your participation here or as a result of something you read at this site, including posts/PMs by other members and feature(s)/software available at the domain uspoliticsonline.com.

4. The dissemination of any personal information about you as a result of either your negligence (e.g. staying logged into a computer that others have access to) or willingness to post such information on a public forum. This includes using your real name or other details that could allow other members and/or the general public to determine your true identity. You are prohibited from using your real name on these forums, either as your username or in posts / PMs you write.


FORUM RULES:

1. Freedom of Expression and Respect

First, is the free exchange of ideas. This is something that I believe strongly in and why I started the site in the first place. Following are some simple guidelines:

The most effective political discussion involves the exchange of ideas and concepts, as well as the critiquing of other people's ideas.

It does not involve personal insults and attacks!

Simply because you do not agree with another person's ideas does not mean that the person is bad or deserves to be insulted. We all come from different perspectives and these perspectives help shape and determine how we see things and what our thoughts are on specific topics.

You may not understand why a person has a certain opinion or does not agree with your own because it is so logical of an opinion to you. It is important to remember that it is their opinion and their experiences in life have helped to shape that opinion, experiences you may know nothing about.

As such, it is not fair to attack the person for having ideas/views that differ from your own. The United States was founded on the principles of liberty, one of which is the right to free speech/expression. I strongly support that right, whether you reside in the United States, Russia, France, Germany, or elsewhere. Therefore, in order to allow people to maintain that right on this forum it is imperative that the environment continue to be inviting to such liberties.

Political discussion/dialogue/expression is the means to which people should agree/disagree/debate, not personal insults and attacks. That accomplishes nothing and only makes the person using such methods look like they have ran out of arguments to further their point of view on the issue.

In order to make certain that this liberty continues to be enjoyed by all that post here I will not tolerate continued personal attacks and insults aimed at the poster or another member here at U.S. Politics Online. If a member does continue to violate this simple request then he/she will no longer be given the privilege to post here as it is infringing on the rights of the rest of the members.

While members may resort to personal insults/attacks at times against other members, it is impossible to examine every post. Nonetheless, we will review every post that is reported as being in violation of the forum rules. You agree to take responsibility for reporting such posts when you come across them. Simply click on the triangle outlined in red with an exclamation mark in the middle (!) to report that post. That post may or may not be deleted. If a post is deleted any other post that has quoted it will also be deleted as well as any dialogue on the personal insults/attacks in that thread. The point is to restore the integrity to the original thread topic; this is the only way it can be done.

Ignore Feature: If you believe another member is simply out to get you please ignore them. They may bait you, they may egg you on, but you need to be the better person and ignore them. You don’t want to let them drag you down and end up making you violate the forum rules in the process. If you are simply unable to ignore another member that does this then please place them in your ignore list. You will not be able to see PMs from them or posts they write.


2. Copyrighted Material

A paramount concern of mine is the placement of copyrighted material on this site. In no way is it my intention to violate any copyright laws or allow members to do so.

The posts themselves should not be simple "copy and pastes" of other people's work. If you have seen something at another forum then I encourage you to contact that person and ask them to post the same ideas/information here. If this is simply not practical, then you may quote from somewhere else, as long as you include the source, author and the URL when applicable.

Furthermore, if you use image tags or other means to have pictures displayed in your post or signature you must have permission of the copyright holder unless you know for a fact that the image is in the public domain.


3. Multiple Posts

Please do not post the same post in multiple forums. People will often visit the different forums looking for new posts. It is a waste of their time to have to read the same post twice.

Also, what about when people decide to reply to it? How is a discussion going to take place if there are two identical threads but different replies? It simply adds confusion, irritation, and wastes people's time, including mine and the moderators.

One person was banned from this site because they would post the same post in several of the forums all of the time. After repeated warnings and requests to cease this behavior, I had no choice but to end his posting privileges.

My interpretation is that either they are not here to debate the issues and do not care about what other people think but only to go around the forums posting their own thoughts/ideas or that of other people; OR they simply have written a post that they feel will not get attention enough to warrant replies unless it is in every forum.

My experience has been that placing the same post in multiple forums has the opposite of the intended effect. It conveys the message that the post is not good enough to stand on its own in a single forum. If this is the case then try to make the post better as placing it in multiple forums will simply irritate people.


4. Off-Topic Posts

Please do not stray a thread off-topic. While occasionally making a comment that is off-topic is okay, please do not continue to respond to off-topic posts in a thread. Instead, start a new thread on what the off-topic post is about if you are interested in continuing that dialogue.

Be advised, that we may simply delete off-topic posts in order to restore the integrity to the original thread topic. While sometimes we will split the thread, this can be quite time-consuming and will be the exception rather than the rule. Thus, if you want to make sure your post(s) do not get deleted, then stay on topic or start a new thread.


5. Shouting in Posts

Do not shout in posts. This includes using all caps, bolding your entire post, increasing the size of your entire post, etc. Whether your intention is to be shouting or not, posting in such a manner is prohibited.


6. Altering "quotes"

Do not alter quotes when quoting another member. You may shorten the quotes by using elipses; however, you may not do so in an attempt to misrepresent the original quote.


7. Propositioning other Members

This site is not a dating service. It is a political discussion forum. Do not send unsolicited messages, posts, etc., to other members in an attempt to have a relationship with that person. Do not sexually harass other members in posts or PMs, etc. If you are not sure if something you write is inappropriate or not then don't say it. Error on the side of caution.


8. Multiple Accounts

You may only have one account at this site. If you are found to have more than one account all accounts will be permanently terminated.


Consequences of continued violation of forum rules:

As with most rules in life, there can be both minor and more serious violations of the rules. If it is considered less serious then the post will be deleted, but no action will be taken (although a PM may still be sent to the member).

If a member violates the rules and it is deemed as a more serious violation by a moderator then the member will be subject to the following consequences as such violations take away the rights of other members here who visit for the free exchange of ideas.

The member will be notified via PM about their violation. If the member is not notified for some reason it does not mean that the violation will not be counted against him/her or that they won't be on suspension. If a member's posting privileges have been revoked and they had not received a PM they can e-mail the administrator, Marc, and ask why.

If a member sends a PM to a moderator or administrator and personally insults/attacks him/her then it will count as a violation even if the PM from the member is in response to a PM informing the member of a violation.

The number of offenses will be reset to (0) on the first of each month if the total number of serious violations of forum rules is three (3) or less for that month.

If it is greater than three (3) then a member can decrease his/her number of violations by (1) for every (8) days that they incur (0) violations once posting privileges have been restored.

First Offense:
A warning will be issued to the member via PM.

Second Offense:
A 2-day suspension will be issued for the member that has violated the rules. At this time the member will not be able to post any messages to the discussion forum.

Third Offense:
A 5-day suspension will be issued for the member that has violated the rules. At this time the member will not be able to post any messages to the discussion forum.

Fourth Offense:
A 10-day suspension will be issued for the member that has violated the rules. At this time the member will not be able to post any messages to the discussion forum.

Fifth Offense:
A 30-day suspension will be issued for the member that has violated the rules. At this time the member will not be able to post any messages to the discussion forum.

Sixth Offense:
The member will be permanently banned from the site.

In addition to the suspensions listed above, if I feel that it is necessary I may also moderate posts once a member's suspension has been lifted for a period sufficient to ensure that the member has come into compliance with the forum rules.

Other options if the above consequences do not seem adequate include placing the member on the global ignore list while on suspension. Being on the global ignore list means that every post you ever posted will not be seen by other members here until you have been taken off of the global ignore list. Individual members may place other members on their personal ignore list if they are simply unable to ignore his/her posts.


Keep in mind that the moderators and I all have certain political beliefs and biases. We will post in threads according to those political beliefs and biases as we desire. However, when applying the rules (moderating) threads/posts we will remain as neutral as possible. If you feel this has not been done you are encouraged to contact me via PM.

Also, as stated many times before...we do not have the time to read every post and as a result will not do so. If there is a post that is in violation of forum rules then it is your responsibility as a member here to report that post and include a sufficient explanation as to why you believe that post has violated the forum rules. I ask that this be done in a respectful manner at all times. Appropriate action will be taken as necessary and your name will remain anonymous.

The administrators and moderators reserve the right to edit and/or delete a post and/or close a thread and/or delete a thread at any time if he/she is of the opinion that the post is too obscene, inappropriate, or has simply ran its course.


PRIVACY POLICY

All information obtained by the end user via the registration process is for internal purposes only and will not be sold to or shared with any third parties.

However, if the end user participates in illegal activities and a court of proper jurisdiction orders U.S. Politics Online to release certain information about said user then we will act according to the law. Furthermore, no information will be released on threat of a lawsuit, attempted or actual intimidation, or due to any other reason except as notated in the first sentence of this paragraph.

Nonetheless, keep in mind that the information we do have is very limited and generally only consists of the IP address a member uses.


SUBSCRIPTIONS

U.S. Politics Online may offer subscriptions to its members to help cover the cost of running the site. As a thank you we may offer other certain benefits to the user that purchases a subscription. For example, we may give the user an e-mail account or two, or perhaps web space. However, these benefits are not guaranteed and by purchasing a subscription you agree to not hold U.S. Politics Online or anyone affiliated with its operation liable for these benefits or lack thereof. In other words, you are not paying for these benefits, you are paying to help cover the cost of running the site. Therefore, if the benefits are deficient in any way, shape, or form, you agree to not hold U.S. Politics Online or anyone affiliated with its operation liable for such deficiencies. Thus, you are forewarned to only use such benefits for personal purposes and not use such benefits in the operation of any business of any kind or in any way that could place your livelihood in jeopardy.

You may not use any of the services received as a result of having a subscription to display or cause to be displayed pornography, terrorist material; nor may you send unsolicited e-mail, advertise for personal profit, or engage in any other activity that is considered illegal in the United States and the country you reside in, if other than the United States.

Purchasing a subscription does not negate your responsibility to follow the rules as outlined above. You will be subject to the same consequences as anyone else. However, if you are placed on suspension and are receiving additional benefits NOT related to posting on the forum, then every attempt will be made to make sure those additional benefits aren't affected.

That being said, I will always try to make sure such benefits are not deficient and that you are pleased with such benefits as we greatly appreciate your part in helping keep this site available to everyone.

[Marc]

This will go into effect on July 1, 2004. Within the next 24 hours or so I plan on adding a field to your profile that you must click stating you agree in whole to the above post. You will have at least a week before I make it a required field. If you have not agreed to it by then you will not be able to post until you do agree to it.

If there are any questions or concerns please post them in the thread that is on this subject matter...not here. Thank you.