LPL Forum Rules And Regulations - Revised November 21, 2011, ***Please Read Before Posting*** Options

[SouthernGirlAM]

LPL New Forum Rules - Revised November 21, 2011

We reserve the right to remove any post or user from the LPL forums at any time. If you find a post has been deleted, chances are it violated one or more of the rules below. Repeated violation of these rules may result in the suspension of your account and posting privileges or a permanent ban from the forums.


Forum Rules

1. Posts are to be made in the appropriate and/or relevant forum. Please READ the forum descriptions BEFORE posting. Avoid off-topic posting.
2. Members should be mindful and respectful of other users. Flaming or abusing other users or the staff in any way will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
3. Members are asked to not act as “back seat moderators”. If members note an issue which violates a forum rule, then we ask that you bring this to the attention of a member of the staff. Please use the “post report” feature to report posts. Do not respond to such topics yourself.
4. Members should remember this board is aimed at a general audience. Posting pornographic or generally offensive text, images, links, etc. will not be tolerated.
5. Additionally, it is illegal to harass or threaten anyone. Threats, harassment and stalking complaints will be taken very seriously. Failure to comply will result in removal of the offending user, permanent ban and further action by the site if deemed necessary.
6. Do not post links to officially released media files or ask others to post such links. See "Media Rules" section below for details. Failure to comply will result in appropriate action taken by the staff.
7. When copying, reposting, or using any thread/topic from any other member, other websites, etc., we ask that you please credit the author, website, etc. as the source. This will give credit where credit is due and hopefully keep rumors to a minimum.
8. Members should post in a way which is consistent with "normal writing". This means users should refrain from creating posts with excessive numbers of images, emoticons, too large/too small or colored text.
9. Members should use an appropriate, descriptive subject when posting a new topic. Inappropriate or poorly written topics will be edited by the staff or deleted.
10. Spam and/or flooding the forums will not be tolerated under any circumstances. This includes repetitive or excessive posting, double posting, and/or any solicitation or recruiting members for your own projects.
11. If you have a problem with another user on the site, please settle your differences in a mature manner through private messages or outside of the site. Do not make the forums a stage for airing personal drama. Disagreements and arguments are going to happen and natural, but consistent arguing needs to be settled in private.
12. Do not impersonate another board member, create alias accounts or create an account specifically for the purpose of provoking other users. Also, accessing another user's account is also strictly prohibited. Engaging in these activities will result in an automatic permanent ban.
13. If you are suspended for any reason, do not create another account to post on the forums with. This will result in an immediate ban of your accounts and IP address(es). No exceptions.
14. The LPL staff reserve the right to edit, remove or queue any post at any time. The determination of what is considered as indecent, vulgar, spam, inappropriate, a violation, etc. of this policy is up to the staff and not users.
15. The above forum rules also apply to private messaging where applicable. Abuse of the private messaging system may lead to warnings (as above) and/or the revocation of private messaging privileges.

Media Rules

Allowed:
1. Audio or video released by Linkin Park including:

Publicly released demos, including those distributed on mp3.com, hybridtheory.com or linkinpark.com in the band’s early days;
Excerpts or snippets of songs released or distributed on linkinpark.com, mikeshinoda.com, MySpace, etc;
Instrumental tracks as released via promotional or radio CD. Excludes the official Hybrid Theory album instrumentals;
Webcasts;
LPTV episodes prior to 2007 and not including the full LPTV episodes from 2007 which were sold on iTunes;
Out of print releases of previous/related bands including but not limited to:
* Xero – Xero tape (demos)
* Hybrid Theory – Hybrid Theory EP
* Snax/Tasty Snax – Run Joseph Run, The Snax (self titled)

2. Fan made recordings in any audio or video format:

Unofficial recordings commonly known as “bootlegs” which are sold in shops and/or the internet but not authorized for sale by the band, it’s label or any other legal representative of them nor are commercially licensed by any other party or entity;
Remixes, alternate mixes or alternate edits of officially released tracks provided they are sufficiently edited so that a majority of the content differs from the official release.

3. Soundboard recordings:

Taken from webcasts, terrestrial or satellite radio recordings provided they require no subscription.

4. Proshot video:

Recorded from television, webcast or other broadcasts except those which require subscription.

5. Alternate recordings of officially released materials (i.e. fan recorded audio or video from a live performance where a show was recorded officially and later released on CD/DVD by the band).
6. Alternate sources of pay-per-view events (i.e. webcast source from a show which aired on WOWOW in Japan).
7. Interviews (audio or video) with band members, staff, etc except if included as part of any of the below.

Not allowed:
1. Officially released audio or video of any band/artist in any format, in print or out of print, whether released for sale worldwide or to a limited area or limited to a certain number of pressings/units sold, including but not limited to:

Soundboard recordings (DSPs) released through live.linkinpark.com, download.linkinpark.com and/or sold at the merchandise booths beginning with the 2007 Projekt Revolution Tour;

Radio or television broadcasts or promotional CDs, where the content is the same as the official track(s) in question
* Including interviews where clips or officially released tracks are broadcast – these official portions must be cut out before they will be considered allowable.
Releases sold commercially as “Tribute to…”, “Unauthorized Biography of…” or those of similar content;
Songs, albums or videos sold on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody or any other online music retailer;
Compilation CDs, DVDs or soundtracks.
Grey Daze tracks from Wake Me, No Sun Today and demos; Sean Dowdell & His Friends (demos)
The official Hybrid Theory album instrumentals;

2. Upcoming official releases announced by the artist or the label.
3. The audio of any performance used as the sound on officially released video material:

Recordings from another source than that the sound in the officially available material (i.e. radio broadcast of the audio from an officially released live CD/DVD);
Instrumental tracks as ripped from officially released materials including DVD menus or audio-only tracks from DVDs;
‘Multi-track’ instrumentals taken from officially released console, PC or Mac video games including but not limited to Rock Band, Guitar Hero, etc.

4. Video material whose audio portion has officially released content:

Official music videos;
Anime music videos (also known as AMVs).

5. Audio or video recorded from subscription or pay-per-view services:

Audio – XM, Sirius or equivalent satellite radio broadcasts;
Video – HBO, Showtime, Canal+ (and subsidiary channels), WOWOW, Mezzo, Premiere (Germany), SkyPerfecTV and Globosat among others;
Content presented to a paying audience at another time or another location than those of the live performance, such as a broadcast via closed-circuit television or a showing in a theater;
Material distributed to fan club members as part of the membership package included in their club dues:
* Including but not limited to audio and/or video released by the Linkin Park Underground (LPU).

6. Audio or video of music-related content

Clips or excerpts of movies, films, television shows etc.

Signatures and Avatars

1. Signatures may contain up to ten lines of text (of small or normal size) and/or one image, valid combinations include; a single image of no more than 200px high, 600px wide.
2. Text sizes should be between 75% and 100% (small and normal). Text in signatures is subject to the same conditions as posts with respect decency, respectfulness, emoticons, etc.
3. Links in signatures are permitted. However, links to any inappropriate sites, such as pornography, sites that contain viruses or could harm another user's computer are strictly prohibited and will be removed by the staff if deemed necessary.
4. Users are permitted to use a avatar or to link to one of their own. User defined avatars are to be no larger than 120 x 120 pixels.
5. Avatars are subject to the same conditions as posts with respect decency, respectfulness, emoticons, etc.
6. Users abusing these rules will be warned and/or may lose their signature and avatar privileges.


Policing

From this point forward, LPL operates on a four-strike policy. The policy is as follows:

First Offense - First Warning via PM

Second Offense - Final Warning via PM

Third Offense - Moderator Preview or Suspension for one week (Depending on the severity of the offense)

Fourth Offense - Temporary or Permanent Ban (Depending on the severity of the offense)

1. Arguing with the staff after having received a warning or other form of consequence will lead to an additional step in the four-strike policy.
2. Users who feel they have been unfairly warned are welcome to contact a member of the LPL staff. If they feel you were treated unfairly, then the consequence will be revoked.
3. Any attempt to circumvent a temporary ban will lead to that ban being made permanent. Circumvention includes re-registering under a non-banned username, changing IP addresses to evade an IP ban, registering a new email account of evade an email ban.
4. An exception to the four-strike policy applies when users contact team members personally (via any method) and post insulting, indecent or vulgar material. Such users may be subject to an immediate permanent ban.
5. Permanent bans are a last resort and much thought and consideration will be given before implementing them.

- The LPL Team

[LGraham]

I'm not sure where to post this, but I figure it's something that invloves the rules/regs.

what is the actual function of the "report" button?
I've read this -

3. Members are asked to not act as “back seat moderators”. If members note an issue which violates a forum rule, then we ask that you bring this to the attention of a member of the staff. Please use the “post report” feature to report posts. Do not respond to such topics yourself.

but is it purely for spam posts, banned uploads etc? or is it a means to report things like topics that need moving/merged?
another forum I'm on uses it to cover all of the above and I'm wondering if the same applies here.