ChowChow.org - Terms of use
By accessing “ChowChow.org” (hereinafter “we”, “us”, “our”, “ChowChow.org”, “http://forum.chowchow.org”), you agree to be legally bound by the following terms. If you do not agree to be legally bound by all of the following terms then please do not access and/or use “ChowChow.org”. We may change these at any time and we’ll do our utmost in informing you, though it would be prudent to review this regularly yourself as your continued usage of “ChowChow.org” after changes mean you agree to be legally bound by these terms as they are updated and/or amended.
The “ChowChow.org” forums are a public forum and, while we encourage a free flow of information and ideas on the forums, we also ask that you follow a few basic rules. By using or participating on the “ChowChow.org” forums, you agree to the Terms of Use as stated below.
- Moderation
- The “ChowChow.org” forums are a moderated forum. However, the moderators cannot be everywhere and see everything. If you see something that is against the Terms of Use policy, please report it on Forum Issues. Note that the moderators have the final say-so in any situation that you report to Forum Issues. They will evaluate the situation on a case-by-case basis and take appropriate action where needed.
- What Is A Moderator?
- Moderators are volunteers who generously give their time to help forum members with questions about our site and forum. They also are the peacekeepers and are here to ensure that all visitors enjoy their stay. This means enforcing the Terms of Use policy.
- What Do Moderators Do?
- Moderators monitor board posts and respond to complaints to keep posting free of undesirable content as described in the “ChowChow.org” Terms of Use policy. They enforce the board rules, and can delete posts, edit posts, give out user warnings, as well as remove any user’s ability to visit the boards. If a moderator lets you know you are close to crossing the line, take heed of the warning. After 2 warnings they will issue a ban. Likewise, if your thread was deleted or locked by a moderator, do not repost or unlock the topic. They deserve respect and appreciation for their time.
- Bans
- If you are banned and you log onto the “ChowChow.org” message boards, you will receive a message saying that you have been banned and for how long the ban will last. If you would like to be unbanned before the ban expires please submit an unban request to chowchow@chowchow.org with your forum username and wait for a “ChowChow.org” Administrator to get in touch with you. Bans are private matters between the moderators and person banned and will not be discussed publicly or through third parties. It is not acceptable to return to the boards under another username. If you do, your ban time may be extended. Length of bans are; 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, 1 day, 7 days, 2 weeks, 1 month or until a specified date and permanent.
- What If I Disagree With A Moderator?
- Moderators are not perfect and are only human. Disagreements occur. Try to communicate with them first on a respectful level and settle your disagreement. They are not targets for your obscenities, flames or general insults. If you do not agree with a decision, you are not entitled to start a thread arguing about the verdict or flaming any of the moderators. Any such messages will be removed. This extends to Private Messages and unban requests as well, and you are not entitled to insult moderators via either of these methods. Also note that bans are between the user banned and the moderators, and moderators cannot respond about bans publicly. Any correspondence about ban length and reason will be handled through unban requests. If you feel a verdict is unfair, please contact another Moderator or Forum Administrator.
- Copyrighted Material
- “ChowChow.org” board users 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 photos and pictures.
- Flaming, Bashing, and Trolling
- Hate posts and personal attacks will not be tolerated on the “ChowChow.org” forums. Treat others on these message boards as you would expect them to treat you. Talking trash about another user or posting topics specifically to provoke a negative response from an individual, a group or an entire community is not acceptable on the “ChowChow.org” forums. These posts will be deleted and may result in having the privilege of posting on the boards revoked.
- Profanity
- Offensive language is unacceptable. While we may let you get away with anything you might hear on network television (no, NOT cable) or radio, don’t go overboard. Simply editing a few letters with an asterisk or other symbols isn’t allowed, either. All letters of an offensive word will be replaced with the following *Censored Word*. A simple rule to follow is: "when in doubt, leave it out." You don’t have to use excessive profanity to get your point across, and it’s usually better to avoid it altogether. Repeat offenders or those who use excessive profanity may lose the privilege to post on the “ChowChow.org” forums.
- Spam
- Purposely spamming a message board with senseless, vacuous, or empty messages to gain more paws is highly frowned upon! This includes such things as party posts, chain letters, two-word "I agree" or "me too" responses, continually posting the same topic on a particular board, posting the same question across several boards and using the Quote feature without contributing anything new to a thread. On a similar note, participating in spam attacks (post riots, etc.) on the “ChowChow.org” forums or planning a spam attack on the “ChowChow.org” forums or any other Web site is unacceptable, and these actions will be reported to your ISP.
- Impersonating Other Users / Accessing Another User’s Account
- You may not impersonate another board member or create an account specifically for the purpose of provoking other users. Also, accessing or using someone else’s account or attempting to access another poster’s account is strictly prohibited. If you engage in this type of behavior, you will be barred from the boards permanently.
- Altering Board Code
- Altering or changing “ChowChow.org” code and/or exploiting code bugs for purposes other than what the message boards were intended to do is strictly prohibited. On a similar note, using automatic scripts on any part of “ChowChow.org” is also not permitted. Hacking, altering board code, exploiting code bugs and using scripts are all grounds for an immediate and permanent ban.
- Posting Huge Images/Signature Pics
- Out of respect for your modem brethren, please let them know if your thread contains a number of large images. A simple **56kers Beware!** in the subject line will go a long way in helping those who are broadband-challenged know not to open a thread that might bring their web browsing to a crawl. Also, if you must use signature pictures, please limit it to one 15k or less image since huge pictures slow down the boards for everyone.
- Questionable Content
- Since we can’t have a rule to cover everything, this is the rule to, well, cover everything. These are public boards, so act like you would if you were in a public place. “ChowChow.org” reserves the right to choose the guidelines of objectionable content based on its knowledge of users and policy. These issues are left to the discretion of the individual moderators, but may include any material that is knowingly false and/or defamatory, misleading, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, harassing, obscene, racist, sexist, profane, sexually-oriented, threatening, invasive of a person’s privacy or that otherwise violate any laws be it of your country, the country where “ChowChow.org” is hosted or International Law or encourages conduct constituting a criminal offense. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned, with notification of your Internet Service Provider if deemed required by us. The IP address of all posts are recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions.
There are hundreds of posts each day on the “ChowChow.org” forums, so we can’t always promise you’ll receive a warning every time action has to be taken. By registering at the “ChowChow.org” forums, you agree that “ChowChow.org” and its moderators have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic and/or post at any time should we see fit. “ChowChow.org” also has the right, at its sole discretion, to revoke board privileges at any time without notice or reason. As a user you agree to any information you have entered to being stored in a database. While this information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent, neither “ChowChow.org” nor phpBB shall be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised. Think of these rules as a forewarning and, if you break them, you’re taking your account status into your own hands.
“ChowChow.org” has the right but not the obligation to monitor and/or moderate the “ChowChow.org” forums. “ChowChow.org” reserves the right to change any or all other parts of this terms of use agreement at its sole discretion and without notice, including but not limited to implementing terms of use and/or other measures.
Also note that the Terms of Use extend to all areas of the “ChowChow.org” forums system, including but not limited to Private Messages, Signatures, and Unban Requests. This also includes asking for or offering anything against the Terms of Use via Private Messages.
“ChowChow.org” is not responsible for messages posted on the “ChowChow.org” forums or the content therein. Unless expressly stated otherwise, this includes messages posted by “ChowChow.org” personnel, agents, representatives et al. “ChowChow.org” reserves the right to reveal the identity of or whatever information we know about any user in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by said user.
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