General Membership

1. The forum board allows members to "post" messages for general public viewing, and the board allows private communications to take place between members. The public communications system includes the boards main forums and the IRC main channels. Communicating in private can be done through the forum boards Private Messaging (PM) system, the IRC private channels, personal email, and any other paging system such as AIM, ICQ or MSN.

2. All members are required to respect each other's privacy. No member may display for public viewing the content or interpretation of messages received through private communications unless given explicit permission by the sender.

3. At all times members must display respect towards each other - respect is due, it is not earned. Each member is expected to be polite, tolerant and patient, especially towards new members who may have little experience. In order for our community to thrive, we should welcome our newest members warmly and provide as much assistance as possible.

4. Name calling, personal attacks, racist remarks, insults and other forms of intimidation must never happen. Arguments and dispute resolution between members must take place in private, through private messaging or other means, and preferably off the board.

5. Commercial advertising is forbidden, however on-topic not for profit advertising is permitted in limited amounts. Permitted advertising must be non repetitive, considered on-topic, and of general interest to the forum membership. When in doubt, ask the forum moderator for permission.

6. Repetitive and/or off-topic posting (also known as spamming) is discouraged, however, some spamming may be authorized by the thread starter or moderator (but only on a per thread basis), or considered as generally acceptable to the people who are posting in the forums. For example, if you get a poor response to a posted question, you should not repeat the question because repetitive questioning is generally considered as annoying spam. Often posting a joke is considered as acceptable, but not always. Take the time to learn what is acceptable and what is not before posting your "spam".

7. Explicit political discussions are strongly discouraged, and should be moved to private messaging or off the board entirely. There are many public forums available where politics is considered on-topic and encouraged - Bots United is not one of these forums.

8. The use of profanity is tolerated, but is generally discouraged. Consider using abbreviations, or other generally acceptable forms of expressing profanity. Take the time to learn what is acceptable and what is not before posting profanity.

9. Postings which involve the use or distribution of software that has been aquired through illicit means are strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, providing help and support in the use of materials that were illegally aquired, such as executables, source code, and documentation. Bots United is not a place where illegal activities of any kind are to be discussed or encouraged, thus assistance, distribution or support for illegally acquired software is not an acceptable behavior.

10. If anyone feels they have been treated unfairly ("abused") by one or more fellow board members, you are strongly encouraged to try and resolve the issue by speaking directly with whoever caused the abuse. Abuse reports should be sent to a forum moderator only when resolution between parties is unsuccessful. If the abuse was caused by a moderator, or your complaints to a moderator are not being answered, you may report the incident directly to an administrator. In all cases, you must first try and resolve disputes at the source before taking the issue up to arbitration.

Moderators

This section applies to moderators only, however all members are encouraged to read this section.

All moderators are subject to the same rules as other members, but they are given the ability to moderate the forums, and as a result must agree to abid by a few extra rules which limit what they can and cannot do.

11. Moderators and administrators shall not give themselves free reign over enforcing the FBRC. The privilege of moderator status assumes that a high degree of tolerance and fairness will always be applied in resolving whatever issue is in need of attention. Fair warnings must be given before disciplinary action may be taken. Only a serious breaking of the rules, or repeat offenses, can allow a moderator or an administrator to ban a registered member from the forum.

12. The contents of a post is a representation of the views of its author and no one else. A post may be edited by a moderator ONLY when it is in serious breach of the forum rules, and it may be edited ONLY to remove the offending content. It is emphasized that if a post must be edited or deleted, a clear notification must be posted informing readers that changes or deletions have been performed, including the reasons for the edits, and who made the edits. If changes to a post are made, the notification of change must be made directly inside the edited post.