Forum Rules -Read First!

[Rick Savoia]

Note: This was originally posted elsewhere but was somehow lost. I am officially reposting it prominently here to ensure it stays put and everyone can find it easily.

THE FORCE FIELD FORUM RULES

Comments on the site and in the forums are welcome. However, there are rules. The rules are simple.

1. Be nice. This is a professional site for professionals. Be excellent to each other.

2. Networking between members is encouraged, however there are guidelines that must be followed. No spam! This means no drive-by posts with ads for prescription medications, MLM, schemes, scams, porn or anything else that is not related to B2B networking between professionals. This is not craigslist. Keep it legal, keep it ethical and keep it clean.

3. No offensive, derogatory, illegal, pornographic or otherwise inappropriate content, images, audio, video or innuendo allowed. If in doubt, do not post it.

4.You may post audio and video streams in the forums, provided they are relevant to the discussion and are within the forum rules. If in doubt, read rule 3.

5.  No plagiarism. Do not steal content from anyone else and/or post it. Do not post entire articles or any content to which you do not personally own the copyright. You may post limited quotes according to Fair Use as long as you make proper attribution to the source or author, however posting articles in their entirety or any other violation of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act is not acceptable. You may, however, link to the article in the post as long as the item linked to is in accordance with Rules 2, 3 and 4. You are responsible for your own posts and you post these items at your own risk.

6. No double posting.

7. If you post avatars they must be no larger than 76x76 pixels and may not contain anything inappropriate. If in doubt see rules 2,3,4,5 and 6.

8. Posting items or issues that violate a specific company's NDA is discouraged. It puts you at risk of legal confrontation with that company. For everyone's protection do not post anything that violates a company's non-disclosure agreement in a public forum! This is especially true of items, such as work orders, which may contain data on customers or other third parties such as phones numbers, addresses, other contact information, etc. If NDA related topics must be discussed, please do so only in the private areas set aside for those specific companies. In any case, never post any personal or contact information or data regarding a customer or third party. This is just common sense.

9. We reserve the right to edit or remove any and all posts that violate these rules. Repeated offenders will have their membership to theforcefield.net revoked.

10. No spam!

Penalties for Violation of The Force Field Forum Rules

The Warning System

Warnings are based on a point system. Over time those points are removed. However, frequent infractions over a short period may result in an accumulation of points that will automatically place the user under post moderation or temporary suspension of your account. Frequently ignored warnings may result in a permanent ban.

Remember!

The Force Field Forums is a place for Service Providers  to gather together and network with their peers and vendors. It is also a place to discuss issues related to their profession. It is both a gathering place and a support group.

Forums can become somewhat heated in general and some topics can be a volatile in particular. You are not within the confines of any vendor, contractor or  company here so good or bad, you are free to speak your mind within the limits of the forum rules. Although this is a sanctuary of sorts, it does not shield you from contractual agreements and it does not shield you from local, state and federal laws. The Force Field is intended to help you protect yourself from getting abused, unfairly treated or ripped off. It is not intended to "protect" you from the law. Conduct yourselves accordingly. Abuse of these forums is at your own risk and will not be tolerated.

The Force Field is not part of any vendor, contractor or other company  and is truly neutral ground, so both praises and rants are allowed as long they are within forum rules. Be professional, be decent (no profanity or inappropriate content) and be nice to each other.

Flaming or insulting other members will not be tolerated. This is a professional forum, so please conduct yourselves accordingly.

Thanks!

Rick