E-Forums: Sample rules and disclaimers

From eConsultation guide for local governments

Contents 1 Participation guidelines 2 Privacy Statement 3 Copyright 4 Disclaimer

[edit] Participation guidelines

[INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] eForum Participation Guide and Rules

Participants are responsible for reading and understanding these rules. By participating you agree to these rules.

Where did these rules come from? These participation rules are based on the rules developed by E-Demoracy.Org

Use your Real Name

If it is determined with careful consideration by the Moderator that a participant's actual identity is in question, that person will be suspended until proof of identity is provided. If it appears that fraud, forgery, identity theft, or computer crime laws have been violated, [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] will notify the appropriate legal authorities. Experience in other online discussion forums has shown that the use of real names rather than pseudonyms is more likely to result in a polite and respectful discussion. However, a you may have a valid reason for not wanting to use your real name. In this case, an exception can be made and the Moderator can approve the use of an alias.

Keep to the Topic

Keep topics within the eForum purpose.

Be Civil

This is a public forum with real people. Please respect people with differing views. No insults, name calling or inflamed speech. Personal one-on-one arguments, disagreements or personality conflicts are not appropriate on a public discussion forum. Attempts at humour or sarcasm should be labelled ... ;-), :-), etc. No Attacks or Threats - This keeps the eForum safe. If content is illegal it will not be displayed. Personal attacks or public threats against the safety or security of participants are not allowed. If you receive private communication from another participant that causes you serious concern, you may communicate that to the Moderator, but no action should be taken by the Moderator to intervene in private disputes among individuals. If you feel you have privately received an illegal threat via email, you should contact the appropriate legal authorities. [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] is not responsible for any private behaviour.

Privacy

Private stays private. Don't forward private replies without permission of the original author.

No Rumours

Avoid false rumours. Rumours of a personal nature are not allowed. Asking for clarification of what you've heard in the community can be appropriate if issues-based. You alone are responsible for what you post.

Right to Post and Reply

Sharing your knowledge and opinions with your fellow citizens is a democratic right. Only those who are registered eForum members may post. Any person or organisation that is publicly mentioned in an eForum post has a right to reply. In order to post a reply, the individual (or an individual representing the organisation) must become a registered member of the eForum.

Items Not Allowed in Forums

No attachments. Send any files you wish to share to the Moderator, who will store them in the files section if they are relevant to the discussion. Commercial advertising and chain letters are prohibited from the eForum. Email based posts must be plain text without file attachments. Comments or complaints about forum management or complaints about member rule violations must not be posted to the main forum. Instead, direct such messages privately to the Moderator. Public event promotions and links to commercial, media, or non-profit online content related to the scope of the eForum are appropriate. Participant "signatures" providing links to the work or projects of an individual are acceptable, but the display of specific products for sale are not allowed. [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] may acknowledge eForum sponsors in messages or on the web site.

Public Content and Use

You are sharing your content, but retain your copyright. By posting an original message, the message author agrees to allow [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] to distribute the message via email and the Internet and to include it in a publicly accessible online archive in perpetuity. While original message authors retain their personal copyright, they grant others the right to publicly quote portions of their message in any medium. Further, the full text of messages may be forwarded via email to others as long as the author's name and the eForum's name and web address are cited or linked. With copyrighted material like newspaper articles, you may post quotations from articles or web sites with the source URL. "Fair use" of excerpts (not the full text) is encouraged.

Warnings and Suspension

[INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] eForum is moderated by Council officers. Moderators reserve the right not to publish postings that are deemed offensive, illegal or otherwise unsuitable. Should a posting to [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] eForum be deemed objectionable, the moderator will contact the author, explain the reasons and encourage the participant to revise the posting so that it is acceptable. You may lose your right to participate based on your behaviour in the eForum. You may also regain your rights. You may receive informal or official warnings from the Moderator if your postings violate the eForum rules. After two official warnings, you will be suspended from the eForum for the duration of the current topic discussion. You can register again for any of the following topics of discussion. Technical maintenance, full e-mail inboxes, or excessive bounced messages may cause a member to be temporarily or technically removed from the eForum or result in a delayed distribution of their posts. In these cases, the member may rejoin the forum at any time.

Moderator Responsibilities

Moderators shall behave in a manner that models good participation skills to other participants. The Moderator accepts, rejects or holds messages for posting. The moderator may propose message changes by email to a registered member to conform to the participation guide and rules. The Moderator will respect your privacy. Any personal information given to [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] for your subscription to [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] eForum will be used only for the purpose for which it was intended. Should these rules be amended, the Moderator will announce the changes in the eForum.

eForum Sponsor and Publisher

[INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] as the sponsor and publisher of [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] eForum is legally liable for its content. To minimise the possibility of legal litigation, Moderators screen postings prior to publication. Postings are screened to ensure that the participation rules are respected. Postings are not screened to prohibit different views from those of Council.

Please provide feedback to the Moderator [LINK TO MODERATOR’S EMAIL ADDRESS].

[edit] Privacy Statement

[LINK TO YOUR COUNCIL’S GENERAL PRIVACY POLICY]

eForum Privacy Statement

This statement outlines [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] 's policies in line with its commitment to ensuring the privacy of your information. This privacy statement applies to the entire website. Specific provisions may apply, however, to a particular part of the site. These specific provisions will override any general privacy provisions and will be posted on the site as it is further developed.

Information Collected

You can access this site anonymously without disclosing personal information. Statistical information is collected each time you visit the site to tally the number of times you visit the site, the time and duration of your visit, your use of specific pages and the address of the last site you visited (if you linked into the [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] site from another website). This information is only used to evaluate the effectiveness of the site and is not used to identify individual web users.

Email addresses and other contact details you may have provided to request information will not be added to a mailing list or disclosed to a third party without your consent unless we are required to do so by law.

Cookies

As a registered user, you can choose to set a cookie to avoid logging in each time. A cookie is a block of data that is shared between a web server and a user's browser. As an anonymous visitor, a cookie is not required. As the site contains links to other web sites, however, [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] cannot be held responsible for these sites privacy practices or content. [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] advises web users to check the privacy statements of linked sites.

Security of Your Personal Data

The [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] aims to protect the quality and integrity of your personal information and uses appropriate security and technology to maintain information, prevent unauthorised access and ensure the correct use of information.

This site does not provide facilities, however, that guarantee the security of information over the internet.

Access to Information

The Information Privacy Act 2000 (Vic) and the Health Records Act 2001 stipulate that you are entitled to verify personal information that is kept about you, know why such information is being collected, and request correction if you believe the information is incorrect.

Requests for access and/or correction of personal and health information, should be made to Council's Privacy Officer on ([INSERT PRIVACY OFFICER’S PHONE NUMBER HERE]. The [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] Privacy Officer has the right to redirect your enquiry to the relevant department or to ask for your request in writing.

Further Information

Any enquiries about this Privacy Statement, should be directed to Council's Privacy Officer on (INSERT PRIVACY OFFICER’S PHONE NUMBER HERE).

[edit] Copyright

Original Material

All original material, including but not exclusively, text, images, logos, icons, designs, audio, video and documents on this site is protected by the Copyright Act 1968, Victoria, Australia, and International copyright laws. The logo image on the "Home" page is the property of the [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE].

Posted Messages

Copyright of messages posted to this forum remain with the person posting them. By posting an original message, the message author agrees to allow [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] to distribute the message via email and the Internet and to include it in a publicly accessible online archive in perpetuity. While original message authors retain their personal copyright, they grant others the right to publicly quote portions of their message in any medium. Further, the full text of messages may be forwarded via email to others as long as the author's name and the eForum's name and web address are cited or linked.

Content Reproduction

Reproduction of material that appears on this website is permitted on the following conditions:

• The use is of a personal or non-commercial nature (e.g. private study or research)
• The copyright owner is acknowledged on the reproduced material
• The material is provided free of charge
• The material is not modified to result in inaccurate or misleading information and
• The material is not depicted in a derogatory manner.

Requests for Reproduction

Should you need to reproduce material that appears on this website for any other purpose, you must contact the [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] for expressed written permission. Requests for reproduction from this web site should be directed to the Moderator [INSERT LINK TO MODERATOR’S EMAIL HERE].

[edit] Disclaimer

Discussion Web Site

This is a discussion web site and opinions put forward in posted messages are those of author and formally independent of those of the [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE]

Site Information and Opinions

Information published on this web site is subject to variation without notification, as may be required for technical or other reasons. The [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] does not accept any liability for any loss or damages resulting from information or opinions put forward on this web site.

Links to External Websites

Any website address links provided from the this website are provided for convenience purposes only. The [INSERT COUNCIL’S NAME HERE] accepts no responsibility for the information or opinions contained within external websites.