IceInSpace Terms of Service (TOS)
IceInSpace Forum Terms of Service

As the site and forums have grown, we feel it has come time to devise a set of guidelines that outline what we expect of this community, and what the community should expect of each other. No set of guidelines is going to be perfect, and we realise that we will never be able to please everyone.

The following Terms of Service (TOS) apply to all forums at IceInSpace. Any additional forum-specific guidelines will be posted in a sticky thread at the top of that forum.


Breach of Guidelines
In most cases, a violation of these rules will result in a warning. A repeat violation may result in you being banned temporarily (for a day or two), or permanant ban in the case of serious repeated incidents.
While this may sound harsh, our aim is to build a community that people feel comfortable participating in, an open forum where people can exchange ideas and have spirited discussions, while treating people with respect and being treated with respect.


Moderators and their Actions
The moderators are volunteers, and will do their best to enforce the guidelines as they see fit. That may include deleting posts that break the guidelines, locking, splitting or moving threads. They will also be expected to use their own judgement where something falls within a grey area, and the moderators are chosen for their common sense, patience and maturity. Also remember that they are also only human, and may make mistakes from time to time.
Publicly disrepecting a moderator, or failing to follow instructions given by a moderator, is a serious offence and can result in serious action as outlined above. If you disagree with the actions of a moderator, PM or send an email to "iceman" to discuss it.


1. Inappropriate Material
  • It can be expected that children as young as 15 may visit the forums. Please don't post material that would not be appropriate for a 15 year old.
  • Please avoid profanity, we're trying to encourage a family atmosphere and sense of community. Please don't try to bypass the profanity filter by substituting a letter with a number, intentionally mis-spelling the word, etc.
  • Posts that do not adhere to these rules may be edited or deleted.

2. Respect
  • Please show respect for others in the community, as you would expect to have respect shown to you.
  • Please avoid posting something that is intended to cause a reaction. Don't call people names or attack them or their character.
  • No racial slurs will be tolerated.
  • Think before you post. Think before you press submit. Re-Read the original post and read your reply before posting.

3. Posting Topics
  • Please avoid topics about global warming, race, politics or religion. These can be very sensitive topics, and people are usually very polarised about these issues; it can be very easy to take things the wrong way, creating arguments. Threads about these topics often end badly - usually being locked, with posts being deleted, or with people being upset.
  • Threads about these topics may be locked or deleted, especially if they are intended to simply incite a reaction or cause arguments.
  • Please keep threads on-topic and avoid spam or "chit-chat" within the specialised forums. The "General Chat" forum should be used for all off-topic posts that don't belong in the specialised forums. Off-topic means posts about stuff that isn't related to astronomy.
  • "Spam" is a post with no useful content, no purpose except to get other people to reply with spam, and to increase your post count. Spam is not welcome anywhere on the forum.
  • When creating a new thread, please ensure the thread title is descriptive of the content of the post.
  • If a thread is deleted, posting a "Why was my thread deleted?" topic will likely also be deleted. PM a moderator if you wish to discuss the action taken.
  • Goodbye posts (posts seeking attention when you are abandoning the forums) are forbidden and will likely be deleted. People come and people go. If you need to go—for whatever reason—just go. No parades needed.

4. Vendors and Advertising
  • Vendors are not permitted to post advertising on the forums.
  • Advertising on or behalf of a vendor is not permitted either directly or indirectly by displaying links to a vendor in a member's signature.
  • Vendors are permitted to participate in discussions but not promote or sell their products. That is, they are free and welcome to post in their capacity as an amateur astronomer or stargazer but in their capacity as a vendor, they should only state information in a thread that discusses one of their products. Their signature may include a link to their company website, providing they seek permission from IceInSpace.
  • Vendors are to refrain from commenting on their competitors equipment/products (directly or indirectly). Please restrain your comments to products you manufacture or sell.
  • When discussing a vendor, be careful about what you post as it can be easy for comments to be taken the wrong way and a vendor may take offense. In general, remember to be specific about your experience or opinion, don't generalise and don't play judge and jury. Think and re-read before pressing submit.

5. Copyright and Privacy
  • Do not post copyrighted material, or links to pirated material. If you are posting something that includes material or images from another source or website, credit the original source and include only an excerpt with a link to the original article.
  • Please repect others privacy and do not post e-mails or pm's without the express permission of the other partie(s) involved.
  • Do not post personal information (real name, e-mail, etc.) concerning another user without that person’s express written permission

6. Images and Attachments
  • When attaching images or displaying images in your posts, please keep the size to 200k. The dimensions aren't restricted as a thumbnail will be shown. If you want to show an image larger than this, upload it to some webspace and provide a link, warning how large the image is.
  • Do not hotlink to images stored on other websites. That is, do not use the [ IMG] tag to display inline images in your post. It adds to their bandwidth, and it gives users no choice in loading the image, which can slow down page loads.

7. Avatars and Signatures
  • Avatars must be no bigger than 80x80 and 25k in size.
  • Please keep signatures to a minimum, and don't have large blocks of text or images in your signature. Please try to keep them smaller than 3-5 lines in size. Remember that there could be 20 signatures on a single loaded page, and sometimes it's hard to find the post amongst the signatures. Please be considerate and keep them as small as possible. HTML is not allowed in signatures. Use vbCode instead.

8. Disruptive Behaviour
  • The moderators and administrators reserve the right to take action against a poster who deliberately posts with intent to undermine or disrupt the forum or any member(s) of the forum. This includes violations listed in the other rules, but may also include inciting trouble, provoking reactions, generally attempting to disrupt the spirit of the forum and other behaviour not yet foreseen.
  • Members who post simply with the aim of inciting trouble, causing a negative reaction, or trying to get the thread locked, will have their post deleted and further action may be taken.
  • Since this rule is quite general, we will attempt to correct the problem by warning the violator (via PM, email, or posting in the thread) and giving him/her a chance to explain his/her behaviour, and we will take further action only if deemed necessary.

9. Liability
  • The thoughts posted by any IceInSpace member are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts of the IceInSpace Administrators or Moderators.
  • You agree, by participating in this forum and enjoying the benefits of same, that any exchanges between members in any thread and any Private Messages are matters between such individual members for the purposes of any legal obligations that might arise, such as allegations of defamation or statements and representations (such as in the Buy, Sell and Trade section) which may constitute misleading and deceptive conduct under the Trade Practices Act or similar legislation. The administrators and moderators of this forum cannot be held liable for the free actions and posts of members. For abundant caustion, it should be noted that by taking on a moderating role, the administrators and moderators expressly do not take on any responsibility for the content of any contribution or post that any forum member may make.
  • Please note, that because of the threaded conversation-like nature of discussion boards, we reserve the right to refuse a users request for a mass delete of their own posts or a deletion of their account. This includes images and attachments. That is to say, at the time that a member posts any contribution on the forum, they immediately waive all claims of copyright over that work for all time in relation to such contributions appearing on the IceinSpace forum, but not otherwise.
  • By registering to the IceInSpace Forums, or by being registered and participating in the IceInSpace Forums, you agree to the guidelines posted above.

10. IceTrade Classifieds Terms of Service
  • Persons holding out items for sale shall be truthful in their description of items for sale, and shall not be indemnified by the administrators or moderators of the site in respect of any claim that a purchasor may have against such vendor under any trade practices or sale of good legislation.
  • The administrators and moderators expressly have no liability for the transactions which may occur between members of the forum, whether through the medium of the IceTrade Classifieds, or otherwise.
  • Each forum member who purchases an item off another forum member does so at their own risk, and they expressly waive any entitlement to bring any claim against an administrator or moderator with respect to any such transaction.
  • Creating a thread to sell an item on behalf of a third party is not allowed. The seller must register to the forums and list the item themselves.
  • Items for sale on ebay or another auction/for sale site must be listed in full in the IceTrade Classifieds. An ad can not simply be a link to another auction/for sale site.
  • Ads that are sold, or have had no activity for 2 months, will be moved to the Archives.
  • If you've sold your item, please edit the title to include "SOLD". If your ad is older than 2 weeks, contact a moderator to do it for you.
  • If you'd like your ad locked or deleted, simply ask a moderator to do so.
  • Please don't post replies to someone else's ad unless it's specifically related to the item - that is, if you're asking relevant questions about it, perhaps with a view to purchasing.
  • Keep off-topic and spam posts out of the IceTrade Classifieds. It's not going to help someone sell their gear if the threads contain off-topic posts.
  • Think before you post - if it's simply a comment or suggestion or similar, would it be best done via a PM or email?
  • Items listed for sale which breach any of the conditions above may be moved or removed.
  • New members wishing to place ads in the IceTrade Classifieds must be a member for at least 1 month, and have made at least 5 posts in any part of the forum. This does not impact new members' ability to buy items, including replying to threads or sending Private Messages to users.

 

11. Deleting Accounts

  • If you've decided that you need to leave the forum, we are sorry to see you go! We do not delete accounts, since it would wreak havoc on existing threads and discussions.
  • Your options are:
    • Simply log out stop visiting
    • Change your forum password and email address, log out and stop visiting
    • Visit the User Control Panel and unsubscribe from any forums/threads and unsubscribe from the IceInSpace Newsletter to avoid receiving further notices.
  • If you want to delete a new account in order to change your username, send a private message to 'iceman' instead. We can do a one-time username change for you, so you don't have to start over with a new account.


Reporting Bad Posts
If you see a post that is offensive or you believe is in breach of the guidelines, please help the moderators by using the "report bad post" button - it's the "red shield" icon at the top right hand corner of every post. Your actions will be most welcome, and treated with confidentiality.


Rule Additions and Revisions
The administrators reserve the right to modify existing rules and/or add additional rules as they see fit. In many ways, this forum is like a living thing, subject to change. Situations sometimes arise which cannot be anticipated, and thus, rules must be added to accommodate them.


Thanks for your assistance in adhering to these guidelines, and together we'll continue to foster the great sense of community we have here at IceInSpace.

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