The Rules

[Melisande]

These are the rules of the forum:

Respect your fellow posters: Personal attacks, trolling, and flaming are not allowed. Any such post will be removed by the moderators. In the case of repeat violations, the offending poster will be banned.
 
Report disrespectful postings: If you see a post that violates the first rule, please report it to a moderator. Don't encourage such behavior by replying in kind. Doing so might result in you violating the first rule. Likewise, if you have an issue with another poster's behavior, report it to a moderator. The community as a whole determines what is acceptable. Repeated complaints will result in action (warnings or banning) against the offending poster.  

Keep personal arguments off the board: If you have a personal issue with another member please keep it private by taking it to email or personal message. Don't post the contents of personal messages without the author's permission. This includes disagreements with a moderator--handle them by private message.

Stay on topic: An occasional off-topic post or two is no biggie. When it's habitual, or when a new idea changes the subject for several posts, it's time to suggest a new thread, or move the conversation to an existing thread.

Do not post nude or pornographic images: If you must post such a thing--because of non-prurient value--post a link, but clearly mark it as Not Safe for Work. (Consider how many people check out the web at work. You can cause someone a lot of trouble if you fail to warn them.)

Avoid redundant posts: Try to avoid it, don't make it excessive, that's the general rule. If it gets really excessive, we'll ask you to stop.

Do not post articles in their entirety. "Fair Use" copyright law allows you to quote a few paragraphs that convey the nature of the article. Always provide a link to the entire article.

Profanity, and gratuitous, graphic sex chat: It's OK to swear on this site. And you are welcome to discuss Jack & Ennis’s sex scenes, and their implications in the appropriate threads. But this site isn't about getting your rocks off--if you are, you can bet you're making a lot of other people uncomfortable. Keep the gratuitous sex stuff to a minimum.

No hotlinking: Do not hotlink to images from a site that is not your own. Hotlinking is posting an image by directly linking to it from a server which you do not control. This includes avatars, signature images or pictures (allowed only if the site owner agrees). Hotlinking is bad netiquette: it robs the website owner of bandwidth and could even increase their bill.

Keep signature banners appropriately sized.  Oversized banners, in pixel size or in image size, quickly graduate to being obnoxious, particularly for users who have lower resolution screens.  Please keep your banners to a maximum of 50 pixels by 600, and no larger than 40 KB in size.  Animations are generally discouraged, but are allowed, within reason, only in chat threads.
 



Those are the rules most of you will ever need. The rest should go without saying. But just in case, we have a few more, below. And then Dave has a few words on interpretation in the third post:

[Dave Cullen]

I didn't want a laundry list of rules above, because frankly, most of our members are great and rarely need ANY rules, thank God. And I think our rules-list should reflect that. I refuse to try to make up a rule for every single thing a person could possibly do wrong. You don't want to read that; I don't want to write it.

So the golden rule:

Unethical, abusive or disruptive behavior will not be tolerated, regardless of whether it is addressed by any specific rule.

Look: most states and countries have a criminal code that runs literally thousands or tens of thousands of pages long trying to come up with every possible thing a person could do wrong. We're not going to attempt that here. We know a problem when we see one, and if you're causing a problem, we're going to tell you what it is and that you need to stop, and whether or not it's enumerated in the rules has nothing to do with it.

We hardly ever throw anyone out just for being a total dick. But if you act like a dick, or an ass, pick your metaphor--or something less than an ass, but unethical, abusive or disruptive--we'll ask you to leave. And the defense that "member x was a bigger ass" will be laughed at. (Yes, people have actually tried that. We try not to laugh. But it's laughable. Did that actually work in high school?)

---

And grudginly, here is a short laundry list of more technical items which go without saying for most people, but have come up enough times that it's probably best to say them:

The You Really Need A Rule For This? Rules:

Don't reveal personal data on others:  Do not post any personal data about the actors, crew, moderators or board members. This includes, but is not limited to, telephone numbers, addresses, license plate numbers, birth certificates, etc. Do not post illicitly gotten nude or offensive photos. Posting of this type of information or photo will be removed immediately and the poster may be banned from the board.

No selling/promotion: Promote ideas freely. But selling merchandise or posting to promote commercial ventures is prohibited without the express consent of Dave Cullen.

No All Caps: ALL CAPS IS UNIVERSALLY CONSIDERED THE WEB EQUIVALENT OF SHOUTING! Ugh. Don't.

No garish or distracting signature blocks or animation: We want the focus on the content. Please keep signature blocks to 10 pt max--which will match the page--and free of large pictures. Please refrain from distracting animations. Animations are appropriate in the chat threads: The Diner, Fan Fair, and Le Bar Slash.

The rules will be expanded as the few troublemakers invent new ways to make life unpleasant for the many. In general, though, we won't invent a new rule, we'll just point to the golden rule and ask you to leave.

[Dave Cullen]

INTERPRETING THE RULES:

Some of those rules are categorical, others are deliberately imprecise.
 
The Supreme Court was wise enough not to define obscenity, and we're not going to enumerate body parts or behavior that are off limits. Who wants to live by those limitations, when most members can police themselves most of the time, and moderators can address individuals or groups when they get carried away?

I don't want a bunch of rigid rules. I want flexible rules, arbitrated by wise moderators. I have asked each of these people to moderate, in consultation with my chief moderator, Melisande. They have my complete backing.

Which brings us to . . .

MY RULE #1 -- Which I wanted to come directly from me:
 
RESPECT YOUR MODERATORS.

You don't have to agree with them, but you do have to respect them. (More on that below.)

Anybody who has been to moderated and unmoderated sites knows that the latter tend to devolve pretty quickly, and turn into places none of us cares to hang out at.

The moderators are performing a great service, and they're great people, who I personally chose, along with my chief moderator Melisande. And they are volunteers. Working for you.

If you disagree with a mod, send him or her a private message and talk it over. And if the disagreement has brought tempers to a boil--or they stepped in because tempers had already boiled over--take a breath first. Think about calming down before you write them, and then writing them calmly. Treat them the way you would want to be treated.

If you don't like the answer, you're free to take it to Melisande, the chief moderator. If you don't like her response, take it to me. I appreciate you following that chain of command, and I am going to insist on it.

MY BEST ADVICE: TAKE A BREATH.

This seems like the place to say how glad everyone has been so well behaved. Most of the time, we don't even need rules. Your mothers all brung you up right.

But now and then, misunderstandings happen, and disagreements get carried away. I know passion can sometimes spawn other emotions, not all of them pleasant. If somebody does start to make you angry, try to remember to take a breath. A long, deep breath. If you're still angry, think about . . . sleeping on it, maybe. Or sincerely wondering why he/she got mad enough to get you so mad. Luckily it doesn't happen here too often.

[Dave Cullen]

As things change, so do we. We've resisted the urge to add many rules, but this one is necessary:

Our forum has  suffered considerable acrimony over one topic of discussion: Speculation about Jake's sexuality.  We have allowed well over two years to discuss this topic, so members have had a vast opportunity to make their points.

We will no longer allow speculation about Jake's sexual orientation on this forum.

Not speculating includes not making supposedly subtle jokes and hints. This means photocaps, too.

Serious discussion of heterocentricity can continue in the "Is Society . . . " thread, or you can suggest a new thread for the Gay/Bi area if there is interest.

Photos or reports about or discussions of Jake's actual life are fine. It's the speculation about hidden or alternative meanings behind what's going on that we are putting to rest. You can talk about what is there, not what we imagine might be there.

[gwyllion]

Recently, an image with a copyright marking was posted on the forum. This resulted in Dave Cullen being contacted by the attorney of the photographer who owns the rights to the image.

A lawsuit is now possible, with the maximum fine against the forum in the amount of $150,000.00.

It is vital that no one posts copyrighted images on the forum. It is stealing.
The posting of copyrighted images cannot and will not be tolerated, and anyone knowingly posting copyrighted images and putting the forum in jeopardy this way will be banned.

Usually, a copyrighted photo will have this familiar symbol on it: ©

If you come across an image that his this marking on it, it has a copyright on it, and can't be used publicly unless the poster pays for it. Another way to tell if an image has a copyright, when you search the images on Google, when you select the image, instead of selecting  "view image" click on "visit page". If this  brings you to a page with the image and a list of prices, the image carries a copyright and you need to pay to download it. To download it without paying for it is stealing.

Thank you.
Dave Cullen