Help
Forum Terms & Conditions
Last modified: 13th December 2009, Revision 7
VATSIM and VATSIM-UK have a goal of providing an online environment which serves the needs of the flight simulation and virtual air traffic control community. Whilst maintaining the network, we encourage friendly discussion and debate on our forums, whilst also providing somewhere for you to have a chance at making friends all across the world or generally unwind with other people who share the same passion as you. The rules outlined below offer guidance for using the VATSIM-UK forums. These rules are here as a concrete framework which members of the forum should conform to whilst participating.
These rules not only protect the members of this forum from malicious abuse or annoyances, but also it protects them from over moderation. However, it must be remembered that administrators of this forum have the final say towards the specific action to be taken (if any) for any violation of the rules. In addition to this, the administration team reserve the right to close and/or delete any thread or post, and delete any signature that is deemed unacceptable for any reason, regardless of whether the specific violation is listed in the terms and conditions.
It should also be noted that the VATSIM-UK administration team do not seek to please everybody. Instead we aim to please the largest majority of the membership in order to achieve a happy medium. Any user that is unsure of whether their topic or post will break the rules should be very cautious and reconsider whether the content should be posted.
Whilst the administration and moderation team do their best to ensure that the forum is a happy medium we cannot monitor everyone and every topic/post. Therefore if you feel insulted / belittled / hurt because of a members post directed at yourself or about you, then you are the one that is required to report it using the “report topic/post” icon.
Any questions or comments should be addressed towards the Web Services Manager by emailing webmaster][at][vatsim-uk.co.uk
1. Requirements
1.1 All communication which takes place on these forums is governed by the rules set forth in the VATSIM User Agreement, Articles 4.1 sections A and B, which may be viewed at http://www.vatsim.net
1.2 Administrators and Moderators of this forum are designated individuals to enforce the terms outlined herein and ensure a smooth and consistent running of the forums. They are appointed and removed at the sole discretion of the administrative team and decisions regarding appoints/removals are non-discussable with members. Members should remember that Administrators and Moderators are governed by the Terms and Conditions also.
1.3 When registering on this forum, members should provide us with their real first and last name as their display name; their VATSIM registered email as their forum email address and their correct and active VATSIM Certificate ID number as their username. Any account that doesn’t meet these requirements will not be authorised by the administrative team after registration.
1.4 Any thread or post that is believed to be in breach of the VATSIM-UK Forum Terms and Conditions should be reported via the “Report Topic/post” icon. Members that take matters into their own hands will be treated accordingly and may be seen as part of the dispute.
1.5 Members are asked to avoid posting defamatory comments about specific individuals on the forum. There are ways and means of dealing with these problems and publically slandering the individuals concerned is not the correct way. Any member found to be doing this will be disciplined as outlined in the group 3 offences section of these terms and conditions.
1.6 When a thread / post / signature / member is considered to be in breach of the terms and conditions, the offending member may only be disciplined for one offence (the highest ranking) per “incident”. This is to protect them from harsh moderation and to ensure that an even playing field exists for all disciplinary action.
1.7 If a member feels that disciplinary action brought upon themselves was unfair or unjust, they may appeal to the administration team within 5 days of the moderation occurring. The administration team will then liaise with the moderator who carried out the action in order to come to a conclusion. A member must be notified of the outcome of their appeal within 5 days of the appeal being submitted. Once an outcome has been given and the member notified, there is no further right to appeal and the decision of the appeal is final. Discussion of any appeals is automatic right for removal as outlined in the group 3 offences section.
1.8 VATSIM-UK reserves the right to modify and change the terms and conditions at any point without prior warning. The administration team will do their upmost to ensure that all members are contacted when a change to the Terms and Conditions occurs.
2. Group 1 – Minor Offences (Unintentional)
All offences listed below are generally committed unintentionally and therefore do not warrant hard lined punishments. The first and second breaches will result in the offending content being removed. The member will then be informed via private message by the moderator that handled the incident. A third breach will result in the offending content being removed and the member’s account being de-activated. Following this, the administration team will contact the member in question and their account may be re-activated at their discretion.
Offences include:
2.1 Multiple / Duplicate Postings – All new threads belong somewhere. Therefore, when starting a new thread, decide which forum it is best suited in and post it there and only there. If after posting a topic you believe it is better suited elsewhere, simply use the “report topic/post” icon and request that a moderator moves your topic to the more appropriate forum. By following this guideline, you can help to keep our forums clean & tidy and ensure that we do not waste our donated resources on provide a forum full of duplicate topics. Any announcements from staff are excluded from this rule.
2.2 Excessive Signature Content – whilst we encourage members to add a personal flair to their accounts by having a custom signature in which they can express themselves; we ask that members ensure they exceed no more than 4 lines of text. A member’s signature will be removed entirely if in breach of this rule.
2.3 Oversized/Excessive Signature Images – In addition the limit on the number of lines allowed in a signature, members are asked to ensure that when placing images in their signature, they do not exceed a cumulative width of 450 pixels and a cumulative height of 120 pixels. A member’s signature will be removed entirely if in breach of this rule.
2.4 Screenshots as Images – Members should not post screenshots as full size images on the forum. Instead, screenshots should be linked to (through the use of a hyperlink tag) in order to be viewed at the browsers leisure.
3. Group 2 – Advertising and Spamming
VATSIM-UK wishes to remain impartial towards other organisations and companies. Therefore, members are asked to follow the terms outlined below in regards to advertising and spamming on these forums. A first time offender will have their post / topic deleted and will then be contacted informally via private message by the moderator who carried out the disciplinary action. A second (or continued) offence will result in the member being unable to post on the forum for a period of 30 days. Continued offences may result in lengthier bans or removal of the account in question. A user will be notified by the administration team via email.
3.1 Virtual Airlines – Promotion of virtual airlines or similar organisations, in any posts or topics, is prohibited. This includes advertising staff positions, recruiting pilots, posting press releases or attempting to raise the general awareness of said organisation. Links to virtual airlines in signatures will be accepted however discretion should be used. This excludes posts within the Events forum and associated sub-forums.
3.2 Products for Sale – Members are not permitted to post links to products for sale and direct advertisements of products are also prohibited. We are, however, more than happy for members to actively discuss products as well as offer recommendations provided they are in no way profiting or affiliated with the product(s) in question.
3.3 Spamming – Spamming of the forums or a members private message inbox is strictly prohibited. Spamming is considered the posting unwanted or unhelpful topics on a continual basis in order to advertise items for sale or forcefully put ones point across.
4. Group 3 Offences – Major Offences
All members of the forum have the right to be able to participate without feeling victimised, picked on or scrutinised by other members. Any member found to be committing a group 3 offence will, in the first instance, be issued a formal warning via email from a member of the administration team. A second offence will result in access to the forums being curtailed indefinitely, pending DCRM review. There are very rarely second chances after a second group 3 disciplinary action being carried out, therefore members risk losing their right to post on this forum entirely if in breach of the terms below.
4.1 Crude, Rude or Socially Unacceptable Language – This type of language will not be tolerated on these forums. The VATSIM-UK forums are here in order to provide a place for members of this network to come together and communicate. Members of VATSIM can be aged between 13 and 70+ and therefore the forum should be free of profanity and vulgar language – this includes posting links to images/videos that contain this type of language. The administration team have taken all reasonable steps to prevent this language from appearing on the forum (through the use of profanity filters) however any member attempting to bypass these filters will be considered in breach of this term.
4.2 Inflammatory & Irrelevant Posts – VATSIM-UK does not wish to discourage healthy debate and discussion of topics posted in this forum however posts that are made with the intent of arguing or “debating” in a defamatory, inflammatory and non-productive manner will not be tolerated.
4.3 Sexually Explicit Material or Language – As stated in earlier parts of the Terms and Conditions, the age range for VATSIM can be anywhere between 13 and 70+. Therefore, it is considered unacceptable to post images/videos or links to websites that contain sexually explicit material aimed at those 18 and over. The use of sexually explicit language is also prohibited. The profanity filter will attempt to remove these kinds of words from posts; however any attempt to bypass the filter will be treated as a breach of this term.
4.4 Impersonation – When registered for a forum account, members are asked to provide their real first and last name. Any user that is suspected to be using someone else’s details and misleading the administrative staff as to their actual identity will be subject to disciplinary action under these offences.
4.5 Multiple Accounts – Members are encouraged to contact the web services team should they have problems retrieving their password for their old accounts. Under no circumstances should a member create more than 1 account – this will result in the newest account being removed and after continued efforts to create duplicate accounts, may result in a user finding their access to the forum revoked entirely.
5. Group 4 Offences – Computer Misuse
Members found to be committing any offence listed below, will be subject to immediate removal with no right to appeal (unless the circumstances are highly irregular). The administration team will then continue to report the member to their ISP and prevent them from accessing the forum indefinitely.
5.1 Threats and Harassment – All members on this forum are entitled to go about their daily browsing routines without fear of violence or being the recipient of malicious threats and harassment. Therefore, any member found to be threatening or harassing another forum member either on the forum or via private message, will be subject to disciplinary action as outlined in this section.
5.2 Hacking– Any member found to be “hacking” or interfering with the forum software in anyway will be subject to removal. “Hacking” is to be considered as: maliciously attempting to access restricted parts of the forum software; attempting to break password protection on the administrative features or control panels. “Hacking” may be considered to be any other malicious activity that interferes with the daily routine running of the forum as determined by the administration team.
5.3 Illegal Activities – Amongst those activities outlined above, members are not to discuss any illegal activities on this forum. This includes, but is not limited to, posting cracks / hacks / serials in order to circumvent copyright protection, discussion of how to download torrents and/or pirated software, discussion of how to hack or any other illegal activity.
VATSIM and VATSIM-UK have a goal of providing an online environment which serves the needs of the flight simulation and virtual air traffic control community. Whilst maintaining the network, we encourage friendly discussion and debate on our forums, whilst also providing somewhere for you to have a chance at making friends all across the world or generally unwind with other people who share the same passion as you. The rules outlined below offer guidance for using the VATSIM-UK forums. These rules are here as a concrete framework which members of the forum should conform to whilst participating.
These rules not only protect the members of this forum from malicious abuse or annoyances, but also it protects them from over moderation. However, it must be remembered that administrators of this forum have the final say towards the specific action to be taken (if any) for any violation of the rules. In addition to this, the administration team reserve the right to close and/or delete any thread or post, and delete any signature that is deemed unacceptable for any reason, regardless of whether the specific violation is listed in the terms and conditions.
It should also be noted that the VATSIM-UK administration team do not seek to please everybody. Instead we aim to please the largest majority of the membership in order to achieve a happy medium. Any user that is unsure of whether their topic or post will break the rules should be very cautious and reconsider whether the content should be posted.
Whilst the administration and moderation team do their best to ensure that the forum is a happy medium we cannot monitor everyone and every topic/post. Therefore if you feel insulted / belittled / hurt because of a members post directed at yourself or about you, then you are the one that is required to report it using the “report topic/post” icon.
Any questions or comments should be addressed towards the Web Services Manager by emailing webmaster][at][vatsim-uk.co.uk
1. Requirements
1.1 All communication which takes place on these forums is governed by the rules set forth in the VATSIM User Agreement, Articles 4.1 sections A and B, which may be viewed at http://www.vatsim.net
1.2 Administrators and Moderators of this forum are designated individuals to enforce the terms outlined herein and ensure a smooth and consistent running of the forums. They are appointed and removed at the sole discretion of the administrative team and decisions regarding appoints/removals are non-discussable with members. Members should remember that Administrators and Moderators are governed by the Terms and Conditions also.
1.3 When registering on this forum, members should provide us with their real first and last name as their display name; their VATSIM registered email as their forum email address and their correct and active VATSIM Certificate ID number as their username. Any account that doesn’t meet these requirements will not be authorised by the administrative team after registration.
1.4 Any thread or post that is believed to be in breach of the VATSIM-UK Forum Terms and Conditions should be reported via the “Report Topic/post” icon. Members that take matters into their own hands will be treated accordingly and may be seen as part of the dispute.
1.5 Members are asked to avoid posting defamatory comments about specific individuals on the forum. There are ways and means of dealing with these problems and publically slandering the individuals concerned is not the correct way. Any member found to be doing this will be disciplined as outlined in the group 3 offences section of these terms and conditions.
1.6 When a thread / post / signature / member is considered to be in breach of the terms and conditions, the offending member may only be disciplined for one offence (the highest ranking) per “incident”. This is to protect them from harsh moderation and to ensure that an even playing field exists for all disciplinary action.
1.7 If a member feels that disciplinary action brought upon themselves was unfair or unjust, they may appeal to the administration team within 5 days of the moderation occurring. The administration team will then liaise with the moderator who carried out the action in order to come to a conclusion. A member must be notified of the outcome of their appeal within 5 days of the appeal being submitted. Once an outcome has been given and the member notified, there is no further right to appeal and the decision of the appeal is final. Discussion of any appeals is automatic right for removal as outlined in the group 3 offences section.
1.8 VATSIM-UK reserves the right to modify and change the terms and conditions at any point without prior warning. The administration team will do their upmost to ensure that all members are contacted when a change to the Terms and Conditions occurs.
2. Group 1 – Minor Offences (Unintentional)
All offences listed below are generally committed unintentionally and therefore do not warrant hard lined punishments. The first and second breaches will result in the offending content being removed. The member will then be informed via private message by the moderator that handled the incident. A third breach will result in the offending content being removed and the member’s account being de-activated. Following this, the administration team will contact the member in question and their account may be re-activated at their discretion.
Offences include:
2.1 Multiple / Duplicate Postings – All new threads belong somewhere. Therefore, when starting a new thread, decide which forum it is best suited in and post it there and only there. If after posting a topic you believe it is better suited elsewhere, simply use the “report topic/post” icon and request that a moderator moves your topic to the more appropriate forum. By following this guideline, you can help to keep our forums clean & tidy and ensure that we do not waste our donated resources on provide a forum full of duplicate topics. Any announcements from staff are excluded from this rule.
2.2 Excessive Signature Content – whilst we encourage members to add a personal flair to their accounts by having a custom signature in which they can express themselves; we ask that members ensure they exceed no more than 4 lines of text. A member’s signature will be removed entirely if in breach of this rule.
2.3 Oversized/Excessive Signature Images – In addition the limit on the number of lines allowed in a signature, members are asked to ensure that when placing images in their signature, they do not exceed a cumulative width of 450 pixels and a cumulative height of 120 pixels. A member’s signature will be removed entirely if in breach of this rule.
2.4 Screenshots as Images – Members should not post screenshots as full size images on the forum. Instead, screenshots should be linked to (through the use of a hyperlink tag) in order to be viewed at the browsers leisure.
3. Group 2 – Advertising and Spamming
VATSIM-UK wishes to remain impartial towards other organisations and companies. Therefore, members are asked to follow the terms outlined below in regards to advertising and spamming on these forums. A first time offender will have their post / topic deleted and will then be contacted informally via private message by the moderator who carried out the disciplinary action. A second (or continued) offence will result in the member being unable to post on the forum for a period of 30 days. Continued offences may result in lengthier bans or removal of the account in question. A user will be notified by the administration team via email.
3.1 Virtual Airlines – Promotion of virtual airlines or similar organisations, in any posts or topics, is prohibited. This includes advertising staff positions, recruiting pilots, posting press releases or attempting to raise the general awareness of said organisation. Links to virtual airlines in signatures will be accepted however discretion should be used. This excludes posts within the Events forum and associated sub-forums.
3.2 Products for Sale – Members are not permitted to post links to products for sale and direct advertisements of products are also prohibited. We are, however, more than happy for members to actively discuss products as well as offer recommendations provided they are in no way profiting or affiliated with the product(s) in question.
3.3 Spamming – Spamming of the forums or a members private message inbox is strictly prohibited. Spamming is considered the posting unwanted or unhelpful topics on a continual basis in order to advertise items for sale or forcefully put ones point across.
4. Group 3 Offences – Major Offences
All members of the forum have the right to be able to participate without feeling victimised, picked on or scrutinised by other members. Any member found to be committing a group 3 offence will, in the first instance, be issued a formal warning via email from a member of the administration team. A second offence will result in access to the forums being curtailed indefinitely, pending DCRM review. There are very rarely second chances after a second group 3 disciplinary action being carried out, therefore members risk losing their right to post on this forum entirely if in breach of the terms below.
4.1 Crude, Rude or Socially Unacceptable Language – This type of language will not be tolerated on these forums. The VATSIM-UK forums are here in order to provide a place for members of this network to come together and communicate. Members of VATSIM can be aged between 13 and 70+ and therefore the forum should be free of profanity and vulgar language – this includes posting links to images/videos that contain this type of language. The administration team have taken all reasonable steps to prevent this language from appearing on the forum (through the use of profanity filters) however any member attempting to bypass these filters will be considered in breach of this term.
4.2 Inflammatory & Irrelevant Posts – VATSIM-UK does not wish to discourage healthy debate and discussion of topics posted in this forum however posts that are made with the intent of arguing or “debating” in a defamatory, inflammatory and non-productive manner will not be tolerated.
4.3 Sexually Explicit Material or Language – As stated in earlier parts of the Terms and Conditions, the age range for VATSIM can be anywhere between 13 and 70+. Therefore, it is considered unacceptable to post images/videos or links to websites that contain sexually explicit material aimed at those 18 and over. The use of sexually explicit language is also prohibited. The profanity filter will attempt to remove these kinds of words from posts; however any attempt to bypass the filter will be treated as a breach of this term.
4.4 Impersonation – When registered for a forum account, members are asked to provide their real first and last name. Any user that is suspected to be using someone else’s details and misleading the administrative staff as to their actual identity will be subject to disciplinary action under these offences.
4.5 Multiple Accounts – Members are encouraged to contact the web services team should they have problems retrieving their password for their old accounts. Under no circumstances should a member create more than 1 account – this will result in the newest account being removed and after continued efforts to create duplicate accounts, may result in a user finding their access to the forum revoked entirely.
5. Group 4 Offences – Computer Misuse
Members found to be committing any offence listed below, will be subject to immediate removal with no right to appeal (unless the circumstances are highly irregular). The administration team will then continue to report the member to their ISP and prevent them from accessing the forum indefinitely.
5.1 Threats and Harassment – All members on this forum are entitled to go about their daily browsing routines without fear of violence or being the recipient of malicious threats and harassment. Therefore, any member found to be threatening or harassing another forum member either on the forum or via private message, will be subject to disciplinary action as outlined in this section.
5.2 Hacking– Any member found to be “hacking” or interfering with the forum software in anyway will be subject to removal. “Hacking” is to be considered as: maliciously attempting to access restricted parts of the forum software; attempting to break password protection on the administrative features or control panels. “Hacking” may be considered to be any other malicious activity that interferes with the daily routine running of the forum as determined by the administration team.
5.3 Illegal Activities – Amongst those activities outlined above, members are not to discuss any illegal activities on this forum. This includes, but is not limited to, posting cracks / hacks / serials in order to circumvent copyright protection, discussion of how to download torrents and/or pirated software, discussion of how to hack or any other illegal activity.