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Forum Terms of Service

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 10:01 am
by Ken Crippen
Rules and Guidelines The do's and don'ts of the PFRA Message Board…

Welcome to the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) Message Board. This board is a place for football fans everywhere to discuss the good and bad factors, personalities, and happenings with our favorite teams. A wide variety of people read these notes, so proper decorum is required.

Hard Rules:

Posts that contain the following material will not be tolerated and will be removed promptly (and depending on the nature of the offense - your ISP may be notified of these violations):

Do NOT post: Advertisements
Obscene material
Links to obscene material
Foul language
Personal or harassing threats
Libelous or defamatory information
Spam Messages
Personal "crusades" (posting the same information/opinion in an excessively repetitive manner. We want posters to share opinions not bludgeon others to death with them.)

Softer Guidelines:

Activities that are frowned upon: Excessive Private Discussions Solicitations Volume Abuse (excessive posting - every thread need not contain your thoughts)

New posters - Turn off the caps lock! Words in all capital letters means you are shouting.

Buying, selling, trading of football-related material should be directed elsewhere.
Personal information should be handled via PM when possible.
Courtesy is contagious - Just become someone doesn't share your opinion - doesn't make them an idiot.
If you post breaking news - reference your sources!
When in doubt about posting a Message or Response - apply the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!
And failing that - just use some common sense...

The PFRA always reserves the right to remove posts that don't enhance the discussion on the board. Contact the PFRA Moderators if you feel a poster has violated these guidelines.

The PFRA does not endorse and is not responsible for any post or claim made on any TBD message board.

Disclaimer: The PFRA hopes to foster a healthy exchange of views about pro football history.

Considering the real-time nature of this service, it is impossible for the PFRA to review all messages or verify their accuracy either before or after they are posted. Even if the PFRA could review all of the posted messages, it could not investigate to confirm the accuracy or truthfulness of the messages, whether the users had the right to post the messages, or to otherwise determine if some user might find the messages objectionable.

Please remember that the PFRA does not monitor the contents of every message on the message boards. Any message that remains on the boards does not indicate approval of that message by the PFRA. The PFRA is not responsible for any messages posted. The PFRA does not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not the views of the PFRA. Any user who thinks that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact us immediately at email.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use the PFRA to post any material which is false and defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violating of any law. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by the PFRA.

Although the PFRA cannot review all the messages posted and are not responsible for the content of any of these messages, the PFRA reserves the right to delete any message for any reason whatsoever. Advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are inappropriate and shall be removed.

You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the PFRA and its agents with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s). While, as a general rule, users of this bulletin board are not required to identify themselves to participate in bulletin board communications, the PFRA reserves the right to reveal your identity in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you.

The PFRA strives to attract a high quality readership. Intelligent discussion goes hand in hand with minimal moderation. Moderators are on duty to handle occasional conflicts and occasional lapses in judgment. If, over the course of time, a poster's online personality or behavior develops in a way that they become a source of continual conflict, then the PFRA reserves the right to restrict the posting privilege of that person. It is up to individuals to conduct themselves in a manner that is socially acceptable to the community at large. The PFRA does not allow mischievous activity from disruptive posters that would result in decreased readership or a devaluation of the product.

Re: Forum Terms of Service

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 3:34 pm
by Reaser
So youtube videos of games are allowed or no?

Note: Never post them myself but I do remember when the FBI was contacted years ago in regards to a situation about copyrighted film. So I don't want any members to inadvertently get in trouble (even though it seems that past 'rule' hasn't been enforced on our forums in a couple years.) ...

If anything, it's probably the only thing that would really apply to our group so probably need a clear 'ruling' on that.

Re: Forum Terms of Service

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 3:41 pm
by Ken Crippen
Reaser wrote:So youtube videos of games are allowed or no?

Note: Never post them myself but I do remember when the FBI was contacted years ago in regards to a situation about copyrighted film. So I don't want any members to inadvertently get in trouble (even though it seems that past 'rule' hasn't been enforced on our forums in a couple years.) ...

If anything, it's probably the only thing that would really apply to our group so probably need a clear 'ruling' on that.
NFL Films/NFL may or may not own the film. So, to be safe, no links to videos.

As far as the FBI, we did not contact them because of the video. They were contacted because the person was so enraged that he was not allowed to post the video that he repeatedly threatened violence.

Re: Forum Terms of Service

Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2015 7:16 pm
by BD Sullivan
Ken Crippen wrote:
Reaser wrote:So youtube videos of games are allowed or no?

Note: Never post them myself but I do remember when the FBI was contacted years ago in regards to a situation about copyrighted film. So I don't want any members to inadvertently get in trouble (even though it seems that past 'rule' hasn't been enforced on our forums in a couple years.) ...

If anything, it's probably the only thing that would really apply to our group so probably need a clear 'ruling' on that.
NFL Films/NFL may or may not own the film. So, to be safe, no links to videos.

As far as the FBI, we did not contact them because of the video. They were contacted because the person was so enraged that he was not allowed to post the video that he repeatedly threatened violence.
Even when not taking PFRA's vulnerability over this into consideration, linking to those YouTube videos here will undoubtedly speed up the process of getting them yanked off the service. That's because I have to imagine someone with some connection to the league has interest in the many fascinating things that get posted here, and will end up seeing the link and inform the Powers-That-Be.