SpearMax
02-26-2007, 07:54 AM
THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Spearboard is a rapidly growing center of the sport of spearfishing on the Internet. The domestic USA growth and the expansion into various international areas necessitate the maintenance of order on the board. Therefore, a set of “Rules of Engagement” has been established as follows:
1.) PERSONAL ATTACKS - Do NOT attack other Spearboard members personally. If you must argue with someone, please keep it civil and polite. A lengthy personal attack policy has been created at the following thread:
http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=27005
Another possibility if the personal attacks involve several people is the use of the "Steel Cage" which is a private-access-only, conflict-resolution forum. The Steel Cage forum on Spearboard is intended for groups to resolve differences out of view of the public forum. This private forum allows members of groups temporarily to see or participate in the discussion. After the debate has subsided, the participants will be "released" from the steel cage.
2.) PHYSICAL THREATS - The threatening of physical violence on another Spearboard member is an especially serious offense which may result in you being temporarily or permanently banned from the board. Management reserves the right to implement this and any other action without prior warning.
3.) ATTACKS ON THIRD PARTIES – The personal attack policy concentrates on relations between members of Spearboard. In the past there has been some personal attacks on outsiders like dive industry manufacturers, fisheries scientists and government regulators to name a few. It is OK to criticize outsiders, but please do so in a reasonable manner . For example, if you have a complaint about a manufacturer, please contact that manufacturer first and seek satisfaction before posting your complaint on Spearboard. Please refrain from attacking outsiders personally like calling them obscene names.
4.) THREAD DE-RAILMENT – This is a difficult subject to define as some wavering off track for a few posts often happens. Please try to keep a thread on point and do not de-rail the subject started by the original poster. If you must digress, please consider starting a new thread of your own.
5.) SEXUAL AND VULGAR AVATARS & SIGNATURE LINES – Please do not use crude sexual or vulgar avatars or signature lines. These travel with you wherever you go and will be seen by all. You will be asked by Private Message or e-mail to take them down. If you do not do so, we will do it for you.
6.) OBSCENE IMAGES OR TEXT – Please do not post or describe obscene activity or subjects. This includes links to pornographic matter and descriptions of vulgar sex acts, violence, depravity or perversion. Again, enforcement of this will have to be a judgment call for the moderators and administrator.
7.) TRIP REPORT PHOTO POLICY – Please do not violate the photo policy for trip reports shown here http://www.spearboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39913
We do not want our spearfishing catches to be used out of context by the enemies of spearfishing. The exact wording of the policy is as follows:
“Please do not post photos of fish, lobster or other catch that exceed the recreational one day limit for the number of people in the photo. The recreational limit is for the time of year when the fish were caught and based on the laws and regulations of the geographical area fished. The camera operator may not be counted as one of the people catching the fish or lobster. Should there be no people in the photo, the recreational limit shall assume only one person fished. Photos that do not comply with this policy will be taken down. If the photo requires a judgment call, the moderators have the sole discretion to do so. This policy also applies to the PhotoPost Members Galleries section of Spearboard in addition to the main forum.”
8.) BIKINI THREAD RULES – The board has had a tradition of allowing a “Bikini thread” in the “Off Topic” section. Please abide by the following guidelines as posted at the beginning of that thread:
“Please keep these simple guidelines in mind when posting on the "Spearboard Bikini Section":
1. Please keep bikini photos clean and tasteful.
2. Please post only full body shots and fully clothed in bikinis. Read...Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue type of modeling. Please don't post lingerie photos.
3. No Embedded URLs, copyright or photo credit text to pornographic sites.
4. No see-through bikinis.
5. All excess commentary will be deleted.
This is a family site and we want to keep it as such. All other pics will be removed.”
9.) PRIVATE MESSAGES – By their nature, private messages are intended to remain private. No one else can see them, not even the moderators or administrator. Prior to posting any portion of a PM (Private Message) in the public forum, please acquire permission from the sender of the PM.
10.) SHOW TOLERANCE – There are many diverse people on spearboard with a wide spectrum of viewpoints. As Spearboard continues to widen its appeal into the international community, the diversity of the opinions expressed by our members is also expected to expand. Please allow members to express their viewpoints and show tolerance for those who might not be as experienced, knowledgeable, or as eloquent as yourself. We want to keep Spearboard a “wild and woolly” place without excessive moderation and control. To do that, we need your help by showing an attitude of acceptance of other people’s viewpoints.
11.) UNAUTHORIZED PROMOTION ON SPEARBOARD - Substantial resources have been and continue to be invested in Spearboard to maintain its leading role as a free resource to spear fishers throughout the world. Spearboard's leading role also means we need to take steps to protect our name and reputation with a worldwide audience. The use of Spearboard avatars, signatures, body text, images and/or links to promote products, services, media, technology, events, raffles, contests, tournaments and other ventures without the prior written permission of Spearboard management is generally prohibited. You may be asked to remove your promotional effort, especially if it is of a continuing or repetitive nature. Alternatively, you may be invited to become a sponsor of Spearboard in order to continue your promotional effort in designated forums on Spearboard. Decisions about the implementation of this policy will be in the sole judgment and discretion of Spearboard’s moderators and administrator.
12.) MULTIPLE SCREEN NAMES - Only one screen name is permitted per user (defined as a person, not an email address or account). If you wish to change screen names, please contact a moderator. Use of multiple screen names is grounds for revocation of your right to post under ANY screen name and may lead to banning of the offending user. We reserve the right to block your access to this site or refuse, edit, or remove postings for any reason.
Spearboard is a rapidly growing center of the sport of spearfishing on the Internet. The domestic USA growth and the expansion into various international areas necessitate the maintenance of order on the board. Therefore, a set of “Rules of Engagement” has been established as follows:
1.) PERSONAL ATTACKS - Do NOT attack other Spearboard members personally. If you must argue with someone, please keep it civil and polite. A lengthy personal attack policy has been created at the following thread:
http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=27005
Another possibility if the personal attacks involve several people is the use of the "Steel Cage" which is a private-access-only, conflict-resolution forum. The Steel Cage forum on Spearboard is intended for groups to resolve differences out of view of the public forum. This private forum allows members of groups temporarily to see or participate in the discussion. After the debate has subsided, the participants will be "released" from the steel cage.
2.) PHYSICAL THREATS - The threatening of physical violence on another Spearboard member is an especially serious offense which may result in you being temporarily or permanently banned from the board. Management reserves the right to implement this and any other action without prior warning.
3.) ATTACKS ON THIRD PARTIES – The personal attack policy concentrates on relations between members of Spearboard. In the past there has been some personal attacks on outsiders like dive industry manufacturers, fisheries scientists and government regulators to name a few. It is OK to criticize outsiders, but please do so in a reasonable manner . For example, if you have a complaint about a manufacturer, please contact that manufacturer first and seek satisfaction before posting your complaint on Spearboard. Please refrain from attacking outsiders personally like calling them obscene names.
4.) THREAD DE-RAILMENT – This is a difficult subject to define as some wavering off track for a few posts often happens. Please try to keep a thread on point and do not de-rail the subject started by the original poster. If you must digress, please consider starting a new thread of your own.
5.) SEXUAL AND VULGAR AVATARS & SIGNATURE LINES – Please do not use crude sexual or vulgar avatars or signature lines. These travel with you wherever you go and will be seen by all. You will be asked by Private Message or e-mail to take them down. If you do not do so, we will do it for you.
6.) OBSCENE IMAGES OR TEXT – Please do not post or describe obscene activity or subjects. This includes links to pornographic matter and descriptions of vulgar sex acts, violence, depravity or perversion. Again, enforcement of this will have to be a judgment call for the moderators and administrator.
7.) TRIP REPORT PHOTO POLICY – Please do not violate the photo policy for trip reports shown here http://www.spearboard.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39913
We do not want our spearfishing catches to be used out of context by the enemies of spearfishing. The exact wording of the policy is as follows:
“Please do not post photos of fish, lobster or other catch that exceed the recreational one day limit for the number of people in the photo. The recreational limit is for the time of year when the fish were caught and based on the laws and regulations of the geographical area fished. The camera operator may not be counted as one of the people catching the fish or lobster. Should there be no people in the photo, the recreational limit shall assume only one person fished. Photos that do not comply with this policy will be taken down. If the photo requires a judgment call, the moderators have the sole discretion to do so. This policy also applies to the PhotoPost Members Galleries section of Spearboard in addition to the main forum.”
8.) BIKINI THREAD RULES – The board has had a tradition of allowing a “Bikini thread” in the “Off Topic” section. Please abide by the following guidelines as posted at the beginning of that thread:
“Please keep these simple guidelines in mind when posting on the "Spearboard Bikini Section":
1. Please keep bikini photos clean and tasteful.
2. Please post only full body shots and fully clothed in bikinis. Read...Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue type of modeling. Please don't post lingerie photos.
3. No Embedded URLs, copyright or photo credit text to pornographic sites.
4. No see-through bikinis.
5. All excess commentary will be deleted.
This is a family site and we want to keep it as such. All other pics will be removed.”
9.) PRIVATE MESSAGES – By their nature, private messages are intended to remain private. No one else can see them, not even the moderators or administrator. Prior to posting any portion of a PM (Private Message) in the public forum, please acquire permission from the sender of the PM.
10.) SHOW TOLERANCE – There are many diverse people on spearboard with a wide spectrum of viewpoints. As Spearboard continues to widen its appeal into the international community, the diversity of the opinions expressed by our members is also expected to expand. Please allow members to express their viewpoints and show tolerance for those who might not be as experienced, knowledgeable, or as eloquent as yourself. We want to keep Spearboard a “wild and woolly” place without excessive moderation and control. To do that, we need your help by showing an attitude of acceptance of other people’s viewpoints.
11.) UNAUTHORIZED PROMOTION ON SPEARBOARD - Substantial resources have been and continue to be invested in Spearboard to maintain its leading role as a free resource to spear fishers throughout the world. Spearboard's leading role also means we need to take steps to protect our name and reputation with a worldwide audience. The use of Spearboard avatars, signatures, body text, images and/or links to promote products, services, media, technology, events, raffles, contests, tournaments and other ventures without the prior written permission of Spearboard management is generally prohibited. You may be asked to remove your promotional effort, especially if it is of a continuing or repetitive nature. Alternatively, you may be invited to become a sponsor of Spearboard in order to continue your promotional effort in designated forums on Spearboard. Decisions about the implementation of this policy will be in the sole judgment and discretion of Spearboard’s moderators and administrator.
12.) MULTIPLE SCREEN NAMES - Only one screen name is permitted per user (defined as a person, not an email address or account). If you wish to change screen names, please contact a moderator. Use of multiple screen names is grounds for revocation of your right to post under ANY screen name and may lead to banning of the offending user. We reserve the right to block your access to this site or refuse, edit, or remove postings for any reason.