Current VCA Website and Forum Posting Policies

Status
Not open for further replies.
V

VCA Forum Staff

Guest

Viper Club of America Website Policies







To maintain an enjoyable, civil, yet informative and fun environment, the VCA Website Committee has established a Posting Policy, which may be amended from time to time as appropriate applies everywhere on the site, unless explicitly mentioned otherwise in a forum specific rule. Posting on the VCA Forums is a privilege and Users may be moderated or suspended at the discretion of the Moderators. Any User Account that is Suspended, Banned, or placed in Moderated Status will also have the site software feature to PM and or E-Mail other Users deactivated.


The purpose of the Viper Club of America shall be…
1. To help members have more fun with their Vipers. To encourage and promote the admiration for and the ownership, care and maintenance with safe and courteous operation of the VIPER automobile.
2. To be a unified voice for Viper owners. To serve as a medium of exchange of ideas, information and parts for owners of the VIPER, to aid in preserving these automobiles in the original likeness.
3. To act as liaison between Dodge/SRT and Viper owners. To provide an organization for club members to meet, socialize and maintain the spirit of good fellowship and to participate in activities including the use of their VIPER both regionally and as part of the VIPER Club of America (VCA).
4. To actively pursue ways to participate in charitable events including car shows and via monetary donations from the club treasury.
5. To further the interest of owners and drivers of the VIPER and to promote the safety and enjoyment of motoring in all phases.
6. To operate within the scope of the law.
7. The club shall be a non-profit organization.
8. The club shall be non-sectarian and non-partisan

In accordance with the Club's purpose, the following policy is in effect for the VCA Website. Moderator actions include editing, deleting, moving posts into the appropriate Forum and approving a maximum of one account per User. Personal responsibilities include not assisting others who are attempting to knowingly violate any policy.

1. All posts must conform to a standard that is acceptable in content to Prime Time Broadcast Network TV (TVPG http://www.tvguidelines.org/ratings.asp). ******, *********** or profanity (this includes "unique" spelling of profane words) will not be tolerated. Posts not maintaining this standard will be subject to deletion.

2. Personal assaults, threats, stalking, defamatory statements, promotion or suggestions of illegal activity, use of copyrighted material, fraudulent statements, or comments derogatory to any social group or individual will be subject to deletion. Vendors that demonstrate this behavior on other websites may have their posting privileges on the VCA Forums moderated or suspended.

3. Posts attacking other posters rather than disagreeing with the post will be subject to deletion.

4. Posts or messages that taunt or disparage any of the moderators or the administrator are not permitted. Additionally, posts implying derogatory meanings whether by "double entendre" or inference will be subject to deletion.

5. Attempts at thread hijacking (malicious posting in a fashion to a topic, with intent to change the initial focus) will be subject to deletion.

6. Speculative posts relating to future SRT products or other Viper related items will be subject to deletion.

7. Redundancy, Spamming or flooding the board with post after post just to annoy people, bumping a topic to bring its' position to the top of the forum, or multiple new threads, and posts that in the sole opinion of the moderator, may tend to annoy or disparage another user will be subject to deletion. Please do not post any topic that disrupts the peace and harmony of the forums.

8. Posts asking why a post was removed, and posts asking why a warning/strike/ban was or was not issued to a user will be subject to deletion. If a post was removed, a moderator felt it violated one of the policies.

9. Negative statements about vendors, customers, or others must be first hand, and substantiated. Furthermore, we reserve the right to hold negative posts until substantiated, and to give the parties reasonable time to work it out.

10. For the protection of our Viperclub.org users, any advertiser or non-advertiser/vendor with repeated-documented evidence of inappropriate business ethics or repeated site policy violations, can be removed from Viperclub.org, including "blanking out", or removing entirely, the use of the company's name/owner(s) (including any other firm name in which the offending business owner is a principal, partner or licensee) from any and all past or future postings."

11. Event posts to the forums by non-VCA Members will be subject to deletion. If you wish to announce an event, please contact the regional president for that area and coordinate it accordingly. Event posts are allowed only by paid VCA members/officers and should be posted in the appropriate regional forum where the event is to take place.

12. "Group buy" posts are only allowed in the Special Group Buy forum by current VCA Members and only on behalf of paid site sponsors. All other "group buy" posts will be subject to deletion

13. Posts, uploads, links, or specific descriptive mention (by declaring their name, even if it is not an exact link) of material or web sites that do not meet the policies set forth in the policy guidelines, or that use licensed or copyrighted material without permission are prohibited and will be subject to deletion

14. The Viper Club of America and its sponsors do not condone illegal street racing. As such, there will be no posts promoting or reporting such activity. This includes descriptions, pictures, or videos. The VCA encourages you to "take it to the track" and drive safely.

15. Any suggestions, ideas, or discussions regarding the VCA web site should be posted to the appropriate (web site suggestions) topic area. We welcome your input.

16. If a post violates the Posting Policy and has been removed, the entire thread or topic will be subject to deletion.

17. A moderator may turn off the account, for a short term, of someone violating the Posting Policy.

18. Classified ad posts to the forums will be subject to deletion. Non-Viper Commercial posts will be subject to deletion with the exception of approved commercial posts by site sponsors.

19. Site Sponsors /Non Sponsors: Site Sponsors shall be able to initiate or respond to posts in areas appropriate to the topic.
The VCA encourages contributions of information by Site Sponsors while at the same time maintaining a balance of opportunity among them. Attempts by any Site Sponsor or collective attempts of customers to dominate the Forums, as determined in the sole discretion of the Website Committee, is not permitted and will result in the loss of posting ability or an automated daily post limit placed on the User Account.

Posts by Site Sponsors that are negative comments about other vendors or the products/services of other vendors will be subject to deletion. If a Site Sponsor has a legitimate issue with another vendor or User, they should bring it along with specific, factual information, to the attention of the Website Committee.

Posts by Users that are in the business of providing Viper parts/services that are not Site Sponsors, and are posting to gain exposure for their business, or whose posts contain information about their own products or about the products of any other business providing Viper products/services, are subject to deletion and the User may have their ability to send a PM or e-mail through the Forum software disabled at the discretion of the Administrator. Such Users may also be subject to being placed in a “moderated status”.

Posts by any User that directly or indirectly encourage people to buy a product from a company/person that is not a Site Sponsor will be subject to deletion, however, moderators may elect to leave a post in place for limited, casual mentions of a business ie: a locking gas cap from Autozone. Posts promoting any User or business the VCA has suspended or terminated business relations with violate the Site Policy and will be deleted.

Site Sponsors shall not post criticism of VCA Business Policies, VCA Website Policies, another Sponsor or a Sponsor's products in any Forum. Any such comments shall be made in the VCA Suggestion Box or directly to the Website Committee for review.

VCA Members occasionally develop something for the Viper. So long as they are an Active Member in the VCA, posts may be allowed to reside on the VCA Forums to promote and sell the item(s). This is for Members that produce such items on a casual basis from time to time, have demonstrated a desire to support and promote the VCA, are not the typical Viper parts vendor, nor sell the items through a parts vendor. Eligibility, policies, and cost to advertise will be reviewed and determined in the sole discretion of the Website Committee.

20. The VCA Web Committee may, with a majority decision, have any User Account into placed into a "Moderated Status." Users with a Moderated Status may post, but each of their posts will be reviewed by a moderator prior to the post showing up on the forums. A Moderator will determine and take the appropriate action without explanation within 24 hours. Possible moderator actions include: Approving the post "as is", editing, deleting, or moving the post into the appropriate forum. User Accounts in a moderated status that are spammed by the User will be deactivated.

21. Classified Ads: Please note that classified ads, in our classifieds area, are FREE to VCA Members and enjoy a Casual Use Exemption from being charged for ads. The intent is to provide free ads for a Member that is looking to buy or sell items for their personal use. What that means is that VCA Members who use the classified ads as part of their buying and selling in a businesslike manner, as reviewed and determined by the Website Committee will be subject to standard classified ad rates.

Title, Signature, User Name, User Profile & Avatar Policy

Contents must not violate the Posting Policy

Title: The primary Titles are: VCA Member, Site Sponsor, and Enthusiast. Sponsors in good standing with the VCA shall have the Title of Site Sponsor in their profile.

Signatures: Three lines of plain text, maximum 125 characters, and no images. Signatures that include a corporate entity, business reference, or contact information, including website links, are permitted only for Forum Level Sponsors of the VCA. Linked websites are subject to complying with the standards of the VCA Site Policies.

User Name: User Names are subject to approval by the VCA Website Committee. User Names that include or promote a corporate entity or business are permitted only for Forum Level Sponsors of the VCA. User Accounts of Users that are in the business of providing Viper parts/services that are not Site Sponsors many not have their business referenced or contact information visible in their Profile.

User Profile: User Profiles of Users that are not Site Sponsors and are in the business of providing Viper parts/services may not contain any contact information and the User Account may be subject to disabling of the PM and e-mail features of the forum software.

Avatars: Avatars are available only to VCA Members and are subject to approval. Avatars will be Dodge Viper themed. Avatars that include or promote a corporate entity or business are permitted only for only Forum Level Sponsrs of the VCA and subject to approval of the Website Committee.


Suspension Rules:

These are in place for those who consistently violate the Posting Policy or violate it in an extreme way. Moderators will issue warnings, attempting to guide users away from unacceptable posting practices. Repeated or severe violations will result in a strike.
1. A two-strike rule is in effect. Violators of the Posting Policy may be assessed "Strikes" in accordance with the Suspension Rules.
2. A post deletion is not necessarily a strike and a warning is not necessarily a strike.
3. If a User posts in a manner that a moderator believes merits a strike, the moderator will send a request for a strike to the web committee. The committee will vote within 72 hours and a majority decides. A Strike or Banned Notice will be sent to the email address in the User's profile.
4. The First Strike carries a 2 week suspension of access to Member Only areas and loss of all posting privileges on the VCA website.
5. The Second Strike eliminates access to Member Only areas and loss of all posting privileges on the VCA Website indefinitely. Reinstatement of privileges may occur at a point in the future. The process is through a request for reinstatement made only by the violator to the web site committee.
6. Although not the intention of the VCA to limit the accessibility of this site to anyone, exceptionally vile behavior may warrant an immediate and indefinite suspension of access to Member Only areas and all posting privileges.
This policy applies to ALL areas of the Viper Club of America Web Site: forums, chat, signatures, galleries, classifieds, calendars, user names, PM's, etc.

As part of the User Agreement for use of the VCA website and forums: "I acknowledge that in its sole and absolute discretion, the Viper Club of America may expel or suspend any member or user and suspend certain privileges for disruptive conduct, or for conduct detrimental to the welfare or good operation of the Club including, but not limited to, behavior on the VCA Web site. I further expressly agree to abide by the Site Policies and expressly acknowledge my awareness and acceptance of all such governing principles."

Copyright 2012 © Viper Club of America - All rights reserved. By posting on this forum you grant the VCA and its successors and assigns a nonexclusive irrevocable right to re-use your posting in any manner it or they see fit without notice or compensation to you. No material contained in this site may be republished or reposted without express written consent of the VCA except that message board users retain the right to republish or repost their own work. The VCA does not claim ownership of content you submit or make available for inclusion on the site. However, with respect to content you submit or make available, you grant the VCA a world-wide, royalty free, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable and fully sublicensable license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, publicly perform and publicly display such content (in whole or in part) and to incorporate such content into other works in any format or medium now known or later developed.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Forum statistics

Threads
153,139
Posts
1,681,565
Members
17,640
Latest member
SDViper
Top