Posting and usage rules - Read this before you post

[CopyrightAid]

Terms of use:

1. General:
- Posts should be made in the relevant forum only.
- If you register but do not use your account (make any legitimate posts) within 30 days the account will be terminated.
- Please read the forum description and and any submission rules or guidance before posting.
- Abusive/spam/inappropriate posts will not be tolerated. All posts should be respectful to other users.
- We reserve the right to edit or remove any post or remove any member at any time.

2. Content:
- Please post in a way that is consistent with "normal writing". Excessive capitalization, punctuation or images/icons should be avoided
- Titles of posts should be descriptive; i.e. 'My website has been copied - what can I do?' is far better than 'Help!' and is far more likely to get a meaningful response.

Rights of others:
- Members are required to respect the copyright of other users, sites, etc. The must not post copied content without permission from the copyright owners, nor ask for or provide links or information on warez, etc.
- Post that incite racial hatred, violence, etc. or condone or support such behavior are prohibited.
- Do not use inline ([IMG][/IMG]) image tags to point to data on third party systems unless you have permission to do so.

Spam / inappropriate posting:
- Postings that simply promote a product or service (except if the category explicitly allows this), is prohibited and constitutes spam.
- Postings that are not relevant to this site are prohibited and constitute spam.
- Postings that are not relevant to this topic/category are considered to be spam.
- Posting the same content multiple tiomes is considered to be spam. Post it once in the right place.
- Posts without meaningful content (i.e. "Just saying hi.") will be regarded as spam.
- Post with offensive, pornographic or illegal content, or that include links to such content are not permitted.

Members found making inappropriate/spam postings may have the post blocked/deleted and their account locked. The IP address and content of the post and the user profile may also be recorded for further investigation.
Members are reminded that this forum has a 'zero-tolerance' approach to abusers of our facilities and spam/illegal posts may be reposted to the members ISPs and relevant legal authorities where appropriate.

3. Signatures and avatars
- Signatures may contain up 255 characters of text or code, this may include up to two links and a single image up to 6kb and no larger than 50px high, 300px wide. Animated images are not allowed.
- You may use an avatar from the gallery or to link to one of your own. If using your own, your use should not breach the copyright or any other rights of any other party. Avatars should not be animated and should not be pornographic or offensive in nature.
- All rules in other sections of this page, (i.e. regarding decency, legal issues, copyright, links to inappropriate sites etc.), also apply to text and images used in signatures and avatars.

4. Private messaging and email
- The forum rules on this page also apply to emails and private messaging facility.

5. Reporting issues
- If you notice an issue which contravenes the rules, please bring it to the attention of the relevant moderator or administrator.
- Do not post replies to offending topics, simply report the issue and we will take the appropriate action.

6. Warranties and liabilities
In using this forum you undertake to indemnify the site owners against any claims, legal settlement or financial or other damages resulting from your actions.

7. Legal disclaimer
Please understand forum posts are just peoples views and opinions and that no guarantee or liability is attached - the information on these pages is not a substitute for formal legal advice and does not constitute legal advice, no liability is given or implied about how any information obtained here is used.

[CopyrightAid]

Additional information regarding links to extenal sites:

We welcome genuine involvement on this forum, but have a 'zero tolerance' approach to spam.

Unfortunatley, there are a large number of idiots out there who join forums simply to post links to their sites, (mostly for porn sites, online pharmacy or illegal sites).
Because of the problems we have experienced with spammers, you must have been registered for 5 days and have more than 2 legitimate posts before you can include links in your posts. After this as a valued member your posts may include (tasteful, legitimate and appropriate) url links.

There is no problem in members who include appropriate links within posts, provided it is justified and they are not simply posting to link to sites they are affiliated with. If you want to include a link to your own site, you should include a discrete link in your signature only.

In other words, if you want to contribute to this forum, please join in and we are happy to provide reciprocal links, (the forum has been optimised so that it can be indexed by Google and other search engines). If you are simply looking for a free link to your site - don't waste your time.

[CopyrightAid]

Please understand that information posted on this forum is based on personal opinion and experiences, and should not be regarded as legal advice.

If you require formal legal advice, speak to a solicitor.

[CopyrightAid]

Recent changes to forum code have reduce the amount of SPAM and illegal content that reaches the viewable forum - most abusers of these facilities are now blocked, logged and banned before their first post hits the forum. Although some inevitably gets through I am deleting it as soon as I am able (typically within a few hours). It has also made it easier to track and report abusers of our facility.

Where individuals are repeatedly attempting to post spam or if something objectionable get past the defenses, I am now making it a policy to report the offender to their ISP.