Code of Conduct for The Silver Screen Oasis

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Code of Conduct for The Silver Screen Oasis

Post by SSO Admins »

Welcome to our community!
This community was started in order to provide a lively place for classic film fans to discuss the cinema, the media in general and classic film related topics. We hope that you will enjoy spending time here with us!

To ensure that this community is a pleasant and enjoyable experience for all, it is necessary for all members to observe a few rules. This document lists the rules you will be expected to follow while a member of this community. Continuing to post on this site signifies your acceptance of these rules and your consent to follow them.

Things You Can Do

Topics for Discussion:
As long as you don't violate the rules below, you're welcome to discuss any topic that you like - there's an appropriate forum for every topic that you could think of, and maybe even ones you hadn't considered. As there's sometimes a bit of confusion over certain kinds of topics, here are a few notes on these:

Multiple Threads:
If you'd like to post on a topic, you might find that using the Search feature that appears at the top of each page on the site may be helpful. You can determine if there is an existing thread pertinent to your subject and add to it. While an effort should be made to locate recent threads that relate to a particular film or personality you wish to post about, members will not be required to go to undue lengths to locate and ‘bump’ old threads in order to discuss a topic. Please note that Admins are able to merge relevant random posts together and will do so when it seems advantageous to stimulating and logical discussion.

Criticize:
One of the joys of a community is the exchange of ideas. Our goal is to share our enthusiasms, discover new aspects of film and media, and create a atmosphere that promotes diversity without sacrificing civility. It's fine to say a certain aspect of a film is bad, as long as you don't insult the people who think otherwise, and as long as you actually back up what you say. Jumping in and shouting "That film sucks!" is not an acceptable form of constructive criticism.

Choose Words Carefully:
If you want to post about something that you are vehemently opposed to, do yourself a favor. Before replying, take a step back for a moment, take a breath, and ask yourself: "If I read what I've just written, how would I react?" It might be useful to remember that the spontaneous nuances of speech can get lost when seen in black and white print, and without meaning to, may hurt rather than enlighten others when perceived differently than intended. Continuous pursuit of an argument repeatedly is not conducive to civil exchanges. Name calling or negative stereotyping of others in a way that is likely to cause pain or further intolerance will not be tolerated.

Things You Cannot Do

Most of the things that you cannot do on the board are pretty obvious. However, in order for each community member to have a clear understanding of what is expected of them, here is a list of the things you cannot do, together with notes on what will happen if you do them anyway.

Multiple Accounts:
In order to prevent abuse, you may register only one user name. Should you want to change to a different user name, PM or email an admin and they will change the name on your account. If you are found to be posting with a second account, the second account will be closed. The moderator may decide to give you a warning, and any warnings you received while posting with the second account will be added to your original account and included in any calculation of earned bans.

Registering a dual account in order to circumvent a temporary or permanent ban will result in an immediate and permanent ban from this community.

Account Sharing:
Under no circumstances is it permitted to allow a banned member to use your user account or post yourself on their behalf. Account sharing is generally discouraged unless one is on vacation with no access to one's own account. It is preferable to use your own account when at all possible. The moderator may decide to edit out the content. If account sharing is detected, the moderator may decide to give you a warning.

Adult Content:
In order to protect those posters who are minors, you cannot post NC-17 or R-Rated material anywhere on the site, or link to such material. Material identified as obscene or objectionable by a moderator will be deleted. The moderator may decide to give you a warning.

Language:
To develop a comfortable environment for all members of varied ages and tastes, we encourage you to be sensitive to the fact that there are those who are offended by strong language. In general, we ask you to restrict yourselves to language permissible on U.S. network TV.

"Filter dodging" (the use of symbols or deliberate mispellings to avoid spelling out an offensive word) is frowned upon. An exception may be made when quoting a public figure, but again, we ask you to use your judgement.

Flaming:
You may disagree with someone's opinion, but you may not attack that person for posting that opinion. Insulting another person, whether it be a mild flame (as in "idiot" or "moron") or a more severe one will not be allowed. Don't respond to a flame with a flame. You cannot flame people and then claim to have been just defending yourself. If you have a complaint, please notify a moderator rather than responding yourself.
If you are found to have engaged in "flaming", a moderator may decide to give you a warning.

Illegal Content:
You can't post material that contains threats, or invades a person's privacy, or is posted without permission of the owner. Illegal content cannot be posted anywhere on the site. Don't expect any moderators to be lenient with regard to this issue. Your material will be edited out, and the moderator may decide to give you a warning. If the issue is severe enough, an immediate ban could result.

Plagiarism or copying words written by another person elsewhere should never be posted here without acknowledging and, if possible, linking to the source material. It is not acceptable to use another author's words as your own without quotes and acknowledgement. We welcome and encourage civilly articulated opinions, as well as documented research whenever possible. An effort to indicate where information came from when expressing something as fact may use a title, website, or reference material. Words such as "reportedly," "allegedly" and "some sources claim" should be used when repeating hearsay about a topic that cannot be verified. Hearsay comments should be used cautiously whenever utilized in a discussion, comment or opinion.

Privacy:
To respect the privacy of all members, please exercise caution when posting any details about your real-life online or on this site. Do not post any details of another poster's real-life identity on the board without their express permission. Material such as chat logs, emails, private messages or messages from other message boards may not be posted here without the consent of all involved parties. The material you posted may be edited out.
Violations of privacy may result in a warning being issued by a moderator.

Spamming:
You can't post the same thing multiple times on the board, or post the same thing over and over in a certain thread or forum. Further, you cannot continuously make posts that have no real content or relevance to what is being discussed. Spamming can even just be posting too much - as a general rule, don't start more than two or three threads in a forum within a 24 hour period. Do not post more than twice in a row in the same thread within 24 hours unless you need to update something since that can be misinterpreted as aggressive by readers, however well-intended. If you need to answer more than one person in the thread, please use the quote function.

Any willful attempt to dominate a thread or forum with an excessive number of posts or an excessive number of threads will be perceived as spamming and is prohibited. The extra threads that you posted may be locked by the moderator or the moderator may decide to give you a warning.

Trolling:
Trolling is an internet term that means you're not posting to start or participate in a legitimate discussion, but simply to anger another member or group of members. Posting in order to bait other users, moderators or administrators will not be tolerated. Additionally, following other members around the board, stalking them, and harassing them is prohibited. The moderator may decide to give you a warning and take whatever steps are deemed necessary to protect the integrity of the site and to insure legitimate discussion is allowed to continue without interference.

Images:
Images You should only post inline images that are housed on web space that you own or for which you have explicit permission for use from the web master of the site on which the image is located. This is required in order to avoid costly bandwidth theft to the originating site owner. If you do not own the web space where the image is posted, please post a link rather than ‘hotlinking’ the image itself. The BBS provides image hosting for members to use at http://plasticage.net/gallery.

Also, when posting images, please make every effort to reduce images to a size that will be conducive to swift web page loading. If you post images you don't have the right to, or if they are too large, the moderator may replace the actual image with a link.

If you persist in posting images contrary to the protocol described above, a moderator may decide to give you a warning.

Film Trading/Intellectual Property:
While the trading of films that are not released commercially is allowed, the trading of ‘ripped’ commercial releases is not permitted. Additionally, sales of films or film-related products of any kind are not allowed on this board under any circumstances. Please visit the FAQ area of The Marketplace on this site for more detailed instruction with regard to the issue of film trading. If it is found that you have engaged in a prohibited practice regarding film trading, a moderator may issue a warning.

No Discussion of P2P(Peer to Peer) computer networking will be permitted on this site.

Private Message Use:
Posters who abuse the Private Message (PM) function by using it to harass or verbally abuse another member will be subject to the same rules that would have applied had the individual posted the abusive remarks publicly.

Please Note:
New posters who immediately start trouble may be permanently banned from this community. Any users who the board ownership believes participate in the community in order to troll, irritate, upset or harm the general membership of this website, its administrators or moderators may have their accounts locked without prior notice or announcement in order to protect the integrity of this community.

A Final Note
Of course, the above doesn't necessarily mean that if you meet the definition of any of the above infractions you will immediately receive a warning. The ownership and staff of this board would like this to remain a friendly place where a reasonable amount of flexibility is maintained. Therefore, a staff member may decide to issue a ‘friendly reminder’ to an individual who breaks a board rule unintentionally for the first time.

Warnings and Bans:
To promote a positive, above board community, the administrators and moderators will, when necessary, issue warnings and bans publicly.

One warning will be followed by private message from the moderator to the offender to clarify the behavior that prompted the issuance of a warning and the expected change in that poster's future behavior.

If a member prompts another warning within one month of the initial warning, it may result in a suspension of membership for a designated period. In some cases, a significant offense or a disregard for warnings may result in the immediate ban of a member by this site.

The measures described in this document are intended to respect our members' individual diversity without sacrificing civility here on this website. We hope that you will find it a pleasant and enlightening place to visit.
Thank you.
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