Preamble
In order to pursue a friendly and healthy atmosphere for this forum, I have created the official Terms of Service. The Terms of Service is a set of rules that everyone that is a member of the community must abide by. Any violation the the Terms of Service will result in an immediate ban.
Principle Guidelines
I have created the Terms of Service to provide a basic understanding of what is allowed and what is not allowed on this forum. The following are the principle guidelines.
* Ensure a friendly atmosphere to our visitors and forum members
* Ensure the privacy of our members and that of others
* Comply with existing laws
* Encourage responsible use of our forums and discourage activities which disrupt our community and reduce the value of our services to our visitors
* Encourage the freedom of expression and exchange of information in a mature and responsible manner
Unauthorized Access
The following actions are strictly prohibited:
* Accessing, or attempting to access, the accounts of other users
* Exploiting, or attempting to exploit, bugs, vulnerabilities, or loopholes; whether they are disclosed or undisclosed
* Penetrating, or attempting to penetrate, security measures of this forums software or hardware, or electronic communications system
All intrusions will subject all your forum accounts to immediate termination, regardless of whether or not the intrusion results in the corruption, loss, or theft of data.
Users are responsible for the security of their CFG accounts. Users may not share their passwords or transfer – via any means – their accounts to others without the express permission of the CFG Forum Management Team. In addition, users are responsible for all activity made by him/her or anyone the user allows to use his/her account.
Usernames
Usernames must not be in violation of the TOS.
DO NOT PERSONAL ATTACK ANYONE
Spamming
Unless a thread or forum is designated as an area ok for spamming, you may not spam. Spam includes, but is not limited to, the following:
* Excessive off-topic threads
* Posting nonsensical messages
* “Flooding” the forum with similar meaning messages
* Post-Count farming
* Inciting a forum war or riot
* Outwar-style links
* Blatant advertising
* Messages without content
* Fraudulent activity (Pyramid schemes, chain letters, etc.)
* Free-____ links (i.e. Free iPods, Free PSP, etc. etc.)
Piracy
“Piracy” is the illegal copying and/or distribution of copyrighted content including, but not limited to, games, software, music, movies, pictures, ROMs, abandon-ware, and leaked software. “Cracks” are programs that disable copy-protection technology; “Multiplayer Hacks” are any programs, patches, files, modifications or information exposure cheats that allow a player to gain an unfair advantage over other human opponents in a multiplayer game; a “Key” is a combination of numbers and letters that is required for software installation and sometimes used to validate users for online play; and “Key-Generators” are programs that generate valid Keys.
You may not encourage, post in support of, link to, or discuss activities, methods, and/or techniques involving piracy, cracks, multiplayer hacks, keys and key-generators. In addition, the following are grounds for moderator action on your post and/or account:
* Seeking help to create cracks, multiplayer hacks and key-generators
* Seeking missing files that are supplied with installation CD(s)
* Admitting to possess pirated materials, cracks, multiplayer hacks and key-generators
* Admitting to distribute pirated materials, cracks, multiplayer hacks, keys and key-generators
* Admitting to the use of cracks, multiplayer hacks and key-generators
* Uploading any such files to CFG sites
Generally breaking this rule will result in an instant permanent ban. However you may be given a warning for a first offence if, in our opinion, you are a new forumer who doesn’t understand why this is such a strict rule – this will be explained to you; any subsequent offences will result in a permanent ban.
Forgery or impersonation
Attempting to impersonate any person, including staff, using forged headers, instant messenger names, similar usernames (i.e. “GiIIB”, “Gi11B”, “Angel GillB”) in an effort to deceive or mislead is prohibited.
Profanities
You may not use profanity or bypass the software-based censor. In addition to words included in the censor list, sexual remarks and slang may be considered profane when used in certain contexts.
A word about what is considered to be bypassing the software-based censor: Anything done to avoid the default *'s provided by the censor is considered to be a bypass of the censor. For example, if the word “angle” was in the censor (it is not), then all of the following are considered a bypass of the censor and thus in violation of the TOS:
* A****
* ang1e, angl3
* anglë, añgle
* a n g l e
*
Angle
* a<!-- a -->ngle
* <img src="http://www.example.com/93QrsteaV/angle.gif"> (links to image containing the word “angle” used in a demeaning context)
The list of words automatically censored by our filter is available upon request.
Harassment
You may not use terms or audio/visual materials referring to ethnic/national origin, ideological/religious beliefs, gender, or sexual preference in a demeaning context.
We have no tolerance for discrimination. You are in violation of this rule if the nature of your post discriminates, promotes hate, promotes violence or advocates hatred or discrimination against individuals, groups, races, cultures or organizations because of their ethnic/national origin, skin color or culture.
DEROGATORY TERMS
If you use any terms in an offensive context against a person, race, culture, group or organization, as determined by our moderators, you are in violation of this rule.
Please note that words carry different meanings in different cultures, and that while a word may be acceptable use in one part of the world, it may not be in another. In addition, any one can invent their own derogatory terms, unfortunately. Because of those factors, we will evaluate the context in which the term was used to determine whether a violation has occurred.
Porn/Sexually Offensive Materials
You may not post or link to pornography or sexually offensive materials. If you are unsure whether what you wish to post may be in violation of this rule, please consult a moderator first before posting.
Offensive Images / Shock Sites
You may not post or link to shock sites, or any such excessively obscene material. If you are unsure whether what you wish to post may be in violation of this rule, please consult a moderator first before posting. Blatant violations of this rule will result in a permanent ban on your account.
Illegal Use
You may not use our forums for illegal purposes, in support of illegal activities, or encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, as determined by the laws of the United States of America and the State of Illinois. Such activities will guarantee a ban. We reserve the right to cooperate with legal authorities and/or injured third parties in the investigation of any suspected crime or civil wrongdoing.
Non-Disclosure Agreements
We will delete posts containing materials in breach of active Non-Disclosure Agreements. We reserve the right to cooperate with the companies in the investigation of any NDA breach.
Privacy
* You may not post any form of real life information of a user unless the user has first permitted it by express consent. Examples of real life information include name, address, IP addresses, and phone numbers.
* You may not distribute any form of real life information, email address, private/email Messages, and Instant Messenger messages (“Chatlogs”) with intent to harass or in any demeaning manner as determined by a moderator, regardless of consent.
* You may not disclose a user's unpublicized email address unless the user has first permitted it, either by actual consent or previously releasing said information.
* You may not post any form of real life information if you are 13 or under.
Signatures
Signatures, whether facilitated by the forum software or by the user, may not exceed the following restrictions:
* The signature may not contain more than 6 lines including blank lines
* Signature images may not be larger than 300 pixels wide by 75 pixels high
* Signature images may not be larger than 7 kilobytes
* The signature must not violate any part of this TOS
Official Language
English is the official language of our forums because it is the common language between our moderators and users. Because we can not moderate conversations in a foreign language, you may not hold a conversation in the forums in language other than English.
Foreign languages are allowed in forum signatures as long as
a.) it is not in violation of the Code of Conduct,
b.) not in a different character set, i.e. áíúúíá éáéä,
c.) a correct translation is either included in the signature (which should not take the signature beyond the current 6 line limit) or is in the 'About Me' box of the user's profile.
Email Addresses
* You may not harvest email addresses from our forums for any purpose
* You are required to keep your forum account's email address up-to-date. If a warning sent to the email address on record bounces, your account will be banned and you will have to fill out an Unban Request Form to have your account unbanned
Moderation & Bans
* You may not evade a ban. Doing so will drastically lengthen your ban. If you believe your actions were not in violation of this Code of Conduct, you can appeal your ban by filling out the Unban Request Form.
* You may not publicly complain about or demand a reason for another user's ban, the deletion of a message, or the deletion/closure of a thread. Any discussion about warnings, bans, message deletion, thread deletion and thread closure should be done over private email between the person concerned and the moderators
* You may not re-edit a message that has been edited by a moderator
* You may not post a message on behalf of a banned forumer.
Miscellaneous
* Do not post negative posts and discussions that are repeated over and over and over with no other purpose than to disrupt conversation. If you feel the need to say something, say it once and then move on. Do not disrupt multiple threads in order to get your view out.
* You may not bait/troll users. Bait / Trolling is defined as posting with a clear intent to provoke anger, incendiary posts, and behavior that results in other users violating the TOS.
* You may not bait, insult, flame, or otherwise abuse a staff member. Staff members have to follow the same rules, and should you have a problem with a certain staff member, please contact a moderator or the Forum Management Team.
* You may not abuse your ability to post in HTML in HTML-enabled forums
* You may not post graphically-disturbing images as inline images (such that the images are displayed when users view your post). However, you can link to the images with a warning stating that the images are graphically disturbing
* You may not post in a manner that is harmful to CFG. For example, “HG forums suck. Go here!” or posting confidential HG documents. If you do, the post will be deleted and you will be banned.
* You may not register multiple accounts with intent to violate any part of this TOS.
* You may not link to the forum logout page, disguised or not.
-Admin Sam
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