Spirit of the Board Rules
Welcome.
By posting on the forum you are agreeing to be
bound by these rules.
MR2ROC is ostensibly a motoring club with a
particular affiliation with the MR2 Roadster and is run primarily for the benefit
of its members. MR2ROC organises events and encourages members to arrange
regional meets enabling MR2 Roadster enthusiasts to meet likeminded people. It
is also, however, a place for online socialising. We do our best to strike a
balance on the forums between having a laugh and avoiding offense. We like a
laugh on MR2ROC, and while this can mean content that is 'close to the bone,'
there are limits. Please think before you post. As a contributor to this forum,
you are an ambassador for the club. Post with consideration for your potential
audience.
Please place appropriate warnings in thread titles
if you believe the content is not suitable for all members - of course if you
need to put a warning in the title then maybe you need to reconsider whether
the post is suitable for MR2ROC. Moderators are charged with ensuring
reasonable and appropriate behaviour is maintained.
Illegal and inappropriate content will be removed.
It is hard to fully define what is inappropriate
as the context of a post is often the critical factor. There are generally
accepted guidelines of good taste that we would ask you to respect.
For example, aggressive attitude, harassment and
bullying would be bad; friendly banter between friends should be OK.
Private messages (PMs) are considered private
between the author and the recipients and their contents should not be made
public on the forum without consent from both parties.
All we really ask is that you respect the
decisions of the moderators if they decide to remove something. Of course if
you constantly post content that is outside what is considered acceptable then
you will probably find your posting rights removed temporarily or eventually
permanently.
Removing posting rights :
this really only happens if you find and cross the limits of what is acceptable
and annoy the moderators, committee, or general membership to a level at which
our online life would be much better without you. It's not something we want to
do. Play nice and it won't happen.
Bringing the club into disrepute through this or
any other public forum is not tolerated. Such breaches are considered very
serious and may result in immediate expulsion.
Board
Rules
General
1.1: By posting on the forums you commit yourself
to posting within the spirit and rules of the forums.
1.2: Hateful or illegal content is not permitted.
1.3: Dual accounts are not permitted, unless first
agreed with Committee.
1.4: You must have your name and valid e-mail
address in your profile so a forum moderator or administrator can reach you.
1.5: It is required to have your location in your
profile, it doesn’t have to be your house number and street, but your town is
useful if people are going to offer help.
Avatars
2.1: Avatar content should be tasteful.
2.2: Advertising images or advertising texts as an
avatar are not permitted unless an affiliate or commercial agreement is in
place and prior approval has been received from Committee.
2.3: Hateful or illegal images are not permitted.
2.4: All avatars must be no larger than 80 pixels
wide and 200 pixels high.
Signatures
3.1: Images are not permitted within signatures
and text should be kept minimal to keep signatures from dominating a thread and
interrupting other readers' enjoyment of it. To that end, moderators may
request that any signature be changed.
3.2: Advertising banners or advertising texts as a
signature are not permitted unless an affiliate agreement is in place and prior
approval has been received from Committee.
3.3: Hateful or illegal text is not permitted.
Content
4.1: Any material which is false, abusive,
defamatory, inaccurate, hateful, harassing, or otherwise in violation of any
law, is not permitted.
4.2: Any material that is specifically posted with
the intention of bringing the reputation of MR2ROC into disrepute is not
permitted.
4.3: Posting of copyrighted material unless you
are the copyright owner or unless consent from the owner of the copyrighted
material has been given is not permitted.
4.4: Spam, flooding, chain letters, pyramid
schemes, and solicitations in any format are not permitted.
4.5: Unless an affiliate agreement is in place
commercial advertisements in any format are not permitted.
4.6: Any content included in threads be it by link
or other means that is deemed inappropriate by the forum moderators may be
removed or edited at the discretion of a forum moderator.
4.7: Items for sale should only be posted to
Private Sales. An entry in Private Sales must be for personal items only, and
owned by the member advertising unless an affiliate agreement is in place. Any
threads created in a forum specifically to promote items for sale in Private
Sales are not permitted. A price must be stated for any item for sale, and
linking to external advertisers or auction sites is not permitted. Private
sales will be monitored by moderators, if members appear to be acting in a
commercial activity rather than a personal sale of goods no longer wanted or
needed the member will be challenged. If sales are proving to be of commercial
status (goods bought by a member with the explicit intention of selling on to
other members) then that sale will be deemed to be commercial and the member
will be advised to advertise in the Commercial Sales section, with due
agreement from Committee. Full sale rules are posted in the For Sale Rules
topic within the Private Sales forum.
4.8: Posting in a Sales
thread by a member not interested in the item is discouraged, and any posts
unrelated to the item will be moderated.
4.9: No investment advice of any kind is allowed
to be published on the forums. Posts requesting or offering specific investment
advice are not permitted.
4.10: Without prior consent no party may add
internet links to the site with the sole intention of diverting traffic to
another internet site to the detriment of the club or for Commercial gain. Such
links will be removed without warning and if repeatedly added the club will
take action to restrict that person’s ability to do so.
4.11: Cars for sale should only be posted to
Vehicles for Sale. An entry in Vehicles for Sale must be for personal use only,
and owned by the member advertising unless an agreement with Committee is in
place. Any threads created in a forum specifically to promote items for sale in
Cars for Sale are not permitted. A price must be stated for any car for sale,
and linking to external advertisers or auction sites is not permitted. Full
sale rules are posted in the For Sale Rules topic within the Private Sales
forum.
4.12: Personal grievances between members, between
members and moderators, or members and Committee must not be posted or alluded
to on the forum. If a member has a personal grievance or concern over other
member’s conduct they should respond with a communication to the moderation
team or the Committee. The airing of personal grievance on the public forums is
damaging to the club in that it is off-putting for potential new members. They
will receive the impression that the club is a closed and argumentative circle.
Additionally, it is unpleasant for existing members who use the forums and
online social element of the club. Inflammatory posting that is seen to
exacerbate an existing situation will be considered to be damaging to the club.
Action may be taken if deemed necessary, appropriate to the situation.
4.13: The language of the Forum is English, and to
that end excessive use of abbreviations, text-talk, shouting (by posting in
Capital Letters) or any other pseudo english
style is not allowed.
Moderation
5.1: At their discretion moderators will if
necessary amend thread content, move threads to a more appropriate forum, lock
threads or remove threads completely. Moderators may also issue short term
suspensions at their discretion at any time. The moderators will endeavour to
send a PM to the member to notify them if their post has been removed or
substantively edited. A moderator’s decision should not be publicly challenged.
5.2: Should the moderation team find a member’s
posts often qualifying for caution, the moderation team may decide to escalate
the matter to the Committee who may choose to issue a suspension or ban on the
basis of cumulative behaviour.
5.2: Anyone associated with hateful or illegal
text or image content in any way will be liable to immediate suspension from
posting.
5.3: Suspensions will be reviewed by the committee
and may result in a temporary ban. No member will receive more than 2 bans: any
third will result in expulsion. Please note that some serious offences may
result in immediate expulsion.
5.4: Expulsion of Members. It shall be the duty of
the Committee if at any time they shall be of the opinion that the interests of
the Club so require to invite any member, by email, to withdraw from the Club
within a time specified; and in default of such withdrawal to submit the
question of expulsion to the Committee within 1 day of such email. Committee
shall be given at least 2 days to discuss the withdrawal or expulsion. The
member whose expulsion is under consideration shall be given at least 5 days
notice and shall be allowed to offer an explanation of his/her conduct via
email; and if the majority of the Committee shall then vote for expulsion,
he/she shall immediately cease to be a member of the Club.
Terms and Conditions
6.1: The Board Rules are issued in addition to the
Terms and Conditions of Use and as such
they should be read in conjunction with each other. Overlap does occur but if
there are any differences the Board Rules will take precedence.
6.2: These Board Rules may be altered at any time
by the Committee, and members will be advised accordingly. At all times the
latest published version will be that which applies.