New and improved registration agreement

About This Message Board
1

We have one basic rule: Don’t be a jerk.

Considering the real-time nature of this bulletin board and the volume of messages received, it is impossible for us to verify the information posted. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. Users should be particularly wary of medical, legal or other professional advice posted on the message boards and recognize that it is no substitute for in-person consultation with a competent professional. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of the Chicago Reader, Inc., or any entity associated with it.

You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use the SDMB to post any material that is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, threatening, invasive of a person’s privacy, or otherwise violative of any law. You agree not to post any material that in our opinion fosters or promotes illegal activity. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by the operator of the SDMB, except as permitted by the “fair use” provisions of the copyright laws (in general this means brief excerpts only). You agree to abide by the wishes of the board moderators in interpreting and enforcing these rules. Refusal to cooperate with board moderators or to abide by these rules is grounds for revocation of your posting privileges.

Advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are not permitted. We will notify the Internet service provider of any party posting objectionable messages.

Any user who feels a posted message is objectionable should contact the moderators of the affected forum by email.

Only one screen name is permitted per user. If you wish to change screen names please email an administrator. Use of multiple screen names is grounds for revocation of your right to post under ANY screen name. We reserve the right to refuse postings from screen names we find objectionable.

You are required to submit and maintain a valid E-mail address. If you do not wish to receive E-mail from other SDMB users you may so indicate in your user profile. However, we retain your E-mail address in our database and reserve the right to have SDMB staff contact you.

Vandalism, tampering, or any other abuse of the site is grounds for immediate banning. Violators will be reported to their Internet service provider and law enforcement.

We reserve the right to delete any message for any or no reason whatsoever. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Chicago Reader, Inc. (the operator of this BB), Jelsoft Enterprises Limited (the makers of the bulletin board software), and their agents with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s).

The Chicago Reader, Inc., reserves the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from your participation on this message board.

By posting on this board you grant the Chicago Reader, Inc., a nonexclusive irrevocable right to reuse your posting in any manner it sees fit without notice or compensation to you. Please remember that postings on this board are visible to anyone with access to the Internet, and are retained in a database indefinitely. Please do not post personal revelations or other information that may come back to haunt you. In particular, do not post your home telephone number or address.

The Chicago Reader, Inc., and its agents, including the administrators and moderators of the Straight Dope Message Board, are in no way responsible for anything associated with any real life meeting of our members. While we permit SDMB users to post announcements and other discussion of meetings and events on the Straight Dope Message Board, we don’t organize, sponsor, endorse, approve, or have any formal association with such events or any activities that may occur at them. We don’t vouch for any individual or group organizing or participating in an event. Attend at your own risk. SDMB moderators and administrators who attend events do so as private individuals and not as representatives or agents of the Chicago Reader, Inc. We encourage all attendees at these events to obey the laws of the jurisdiction in which they are held.

One last thing. Please remember that you are our guest here, and that we reserve the right to exclude you at our whim, for any or no reason whatsoever. By registering and using the board you acknowledge this right and agree to abide by our rules and to submit to their interpretation and enforcement by our moderators and editors.

=====

Next up for revision: the FAQ. This document will be listed in the FAQ so you can refer to it at any time, In the meantime, it’s sticky here.

your humble TubaDiva
Administrator

2

It’s been a long time since I read the original; what’s changed about this one?

3

The next most recent version I can find in ATMB is from December 2001, when moderator bibliophage posted the then-current version of the agreement: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1894510&highlight=jerk#post1894510

The agreement may have been updated after that and before now.

There aren’t any real surprises. The biggest difference is the elimination of the language restricting religious proselytizing to GD. The policy remains stated on the main page, however.

Some other differences:[ul][]Added requirement of a valid email address.[]Added a reminder not to post home address, phone, and similar info.[]Added “real life meeting” disclaimer.[]Various editing, rewording, and shifting text around.[/ul]

4

This is a tough job, but some of the legal references seem vague to me. For example does “otherwise violative of any law” makes me wonder what jurisdiction’s laws we need to follow – I’m pretty sure some of the board posts have violated current laws in Singapore, North Korea and Saudi Arabia. Also, " ‘fair use’ provisions of the copyright laws" has different meanings in different jurisdictions – does this means “fair use as defined by the U.S. courts”? “You agree not to post any material that in our opinion fosters or promotes illegal activity.” Again, according to which jurisdiction’s laws? Are we prohibited from promoting Falun Gong, because it is illegal in China?

5

My understanding of the word “profane” requires something(s) to be considered “sacred” in order to be “profaned”.

Is this really the sense intended here?

6

In the last few decades, “profane” has been gaining acceptance as a synonym for “vulgar,” or even “obscene.” The noun sense of “profanity” fell from grace, (so to speak,) first-- it was only a matter of time before “profane” got sucked along with it.

Probably the only people who are put off by this are word-nerds who feel compelled to touch themselves when they’ve got access to a complete OED. (Myself included.) :slight_smile:

I hate it when words develop counter-intuitive connotations, or wander too far from their etymological roots. C’est la vie.

7

The board’s servers reside in Chicago, Illinois, USA, so everything on the board must comply with the laws of that jurisdiction. I imagine that posters are also expected to comply with whatever laws apply to them specifically. But a USA citizen in the USA is under no obligation to follow Chinese laws, unless those laws happen to be the same as the laws in Chicago or wherever the citizen is.

8

BUT, a Dutch poster cannot post links to websited that sell pot just because it’s legal in his country: the Illinois and US laws always prevail.

9

The agreement seems okay to me; I realize I’m a guest here and I try to act like a welcome guest. But I’m troubled by the admonition not to be “vulgar”. Quite a few topics on the boards caters to those of weak minds who take pleasure in reading about poop, technicolor yawns, farts, and laugh like pre-schoolers (myself included). I hope this doesn’t mean all my favorite TMI threads will be deleted.

10

As for the legal stuff, I would say:
Don’t break the laws of any entity that has jurisdiction over you, and don’t put stuff on the server that would be in violation of any laws that would apply to it.

11

The version of the agreement posted in this thread has been superseded by one in the sticky post at the top of the list.

12

I just want to remind everyone that although being a jerk is prohibited here, you are not precluded from continuing to be a jerk in your real-life relations, at your job, in traffic, and so on.

I am sure this comes as a great relief to many of you.

13

Indeed. As I’m gonna do a little Christmas shopping this weekend. I’d hate to banned for elbowing that pregnant lady away from the last pair of ferret slippers.

14

That’s sweet! Buying slippers for your ferrets!

15

Unc has always been uncommonly charitable to rodents.

16

I don’t think anyone would dare to ban UncleBeer from anywhere. They’d be afraid that he’d curse their alcohol.

17

Uncle Beer, don’t look for those at Dillard’s. We stopped carrying them when we took over from Lions. :wink:

18

I have a feeling there’s an element of inter-mod banter going on in this statement, but remembering a variety of MPSIMS threads from the last couple of years, I’d have to say that it’s the absolute truth. :slight_smile:

19

I’m happy to go with US laws. If we went with UAE laws, 99% of all posts here would be jailable offences. Probably :wink:

20

… and other spiny mammals.