Forum Code of Conduct (Rules)

Use of our forums constitutes acceptance and agreement to this Forum Code of Conduct (FCoC) and our Conditions of Use.

If you violate the Forum Code of Conduct or Conditions of Use, we reserve the right to terminate all member accounts belonging to you without prior notice. We prefer to advise users of inappropriate behavior, however, flagrant or repeated violations of our FCoC will result in an immediate forum ban or termination of your myUSAi account.  Any failure to enforce this policy, for whatever reason, shall not be construed as a waiver of our right to do so at any time.

Principle Guidelines

We created the Forum Code of Conduct to provide a basic understanding of what's allowed and not allowed in our forums. The following are the principle guidelines for the establishment and enforcement of our FCoC:

• Ensure a friendly atmosphere to our visitors and forum members
• Ensure the privacy of our members and that of others
• Comply with existing laws
• Encourage responsible use of our forums and discourage spamming and advertising which disrupt our community and reduce the value of our site to our visitors and members.
  
• Encourage the freedom of expression and exchange of information in a mature and responsible manner
• Free Speech

While we are committed to the principles of free speech, certain activities cannot be permitted under the guise of free speech. The resources of myUSAi are limited, and abuse of these resources by one member has a negative impact on the entire community. As a member of our forum community and myUSAi, you must participate responsibly. If you have any questions regarding our FCoC, please contact webmaster@myusai.org.

Violations of the Forum Code of Conduct

It is extremely important for you to understand that this section of our Forum Code of Conduct isn’t designed to cover everything. We may take action — issue a warning, ban your account(s) and/or IP addresses, delete/edit your post(s)/thread(s), etc. — if your conduct at myUSAi is counterproductive to our guidelines.

Unauthorized access / Forum Security

The following actions are strictly prohibited:

• Accessing, or attempting to access, the accounts of other users
• Exploiting, or attempting to exploit, bugs, vulnerabilities, or loopholes; whether they are disclosed or undisclosed
• Penetrating, or attempting to penetrate, security measures of myUSAi software, or electronic communications system

All intrusions will subject all your member/forum accounts to immediate member termination, regardless of whether or not the intrusion results in the corruption, loss, or theft of data.

Members are responsible for the security of their myUSAi accounts. Users may not share their passwords or transfer – via any means – their accounts to others without the express permission of the myUSAi webmaster. In addition, users are responsible for all activity made by him/her or anyone the user allows to use his/her account.

Usernames

Usernames must not be in violation of this Forum Code of Conduct. We reserve the right to terminate accounts whose associated usernames are in violation of this Forum Code of Conduct, or are otherwise deemed inappropriate and/or potentially offensive. Users may be invited to register under a new name at our discretion.

Ad Hominem

Ad Hominem comments/personal attacks towards anyone - staff, forum member, or a visitor who is likely to view it on the forums - is subject to the message being deleted and action taken against the user, regardless of how pertinent or thoughtful the rest of the message might be.

Spamming

You may not spam. Spam includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Excessive off-topic threads
• Posting nonsensical messages
• “Flooding” the forum with similar meaning messages
• Post-Count farming
• Blatant advertising
• Messages without content
• Fraudulent activity (pyramid schemes, chain letters, etc.)
• Free-____ links (i.e. Free iPods, Free PSP, etc.)

Advertising

We want to avoid spam generated by promotion teams, public-relations campaigns or any other traffic-hungry webmasters. So please note that our forums aren’t the place to advertise your own site or forums or sites with similar content to ours. myUSAi staff don’t visit your site and spam it with advertisements, so we expect the same courtesy in return. You are welcome to link your site in your signature without a slogan.

If you are part of an immigration site and you want to link it as a relevant part of a discussion, please contact webmaster@myusai.org and be honest if it’s your own site.

If you wish to advertise at myUSAi.org, please contact webmaster@myusai.org.

Any member who seems to have created their account solely to promote another site will be permanently banned.

Forgery or impersonation

Attempting to impersonate any person in an effort to deceive or mislead is prohibited.

Profanity

You may not use profanity. sexual remarks and slang may be considered profane when used in certain contexts.

Harassment and Discrimination

You may not use terms or audio/visual materials referring to ethnic/national origin, ideological/religious beliefs, gender, or sexual preference in a demeaning context. We have no tolerance for discrimination. You are in violation of this rule if the nature of your post discriminates, promotes hate, promotes violence or advocates hatred or discrimination against individuals, groups, races, cultures or organizations because of their ethnic/national origin, skin color or culture.

Derogatory Terms

If you use any terms in an offensive context against a person, race, culture, group or organization, as determined by our moderators, you are in violation of this rule. Please note that words carry different meanings in different cultures, and that while a word may be acceptable use in one part of the world, it may not be in another. In addition, any one can invent their own derogatory terms, unfortunately. Because of those factors, we will evaluate the context in which the term was used to determine whether a violation has occurred.

Porn/Sexually Offensive Materials

You may not post or link to pornography or sexually offensive materials. If you are unsure whether what you wish to post may be in violation of this rule, please consult webmaster@myusai.org first before posting.

Offensive Images / Shock Sites

You may not post or link to shock sites, or any such excessively obscene material. If you are unsure whether what you wish to post may be in violation of this rule, please consult webmaster@myusai.org first before posting. Blatant violations of this rule will result in a permanent ban on your account.

Illegal Use

You may not use our forums for illegal purposes, in support of illegal activities, or encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, as determined by the laws of the United States of America and the State of New Mexico. Such activities will guarantee a ban. We reserve the right to cooperate with legal authorities and/or injured third parties in the investigation of any suspected crime or civil wrongdoing.

Non-Disclosure Agreements

We will delete posts containing materials in breach of active Non-Disclosure Agreements. We reserve the right to cooperate with the companies in the investigation of any NDA breach.

Privacy

You may not post any form of real life information of a user unless the user has first permitted it by express consent. Examples of real life information include name, address, IP addresses, and phone numbers.

You may not distribute any form of real life information, email address, private/email Messages, and Instant Messenger messages (“Chatlogs”) with intent to harass or in any demeaning manner as determined by a moderator, regardless of consent.

You may not disclose a user's unpublicized email address unless the user has first permitted it, either by actual consent or previously releasing said information.

You may not post any form of real life information if you are 13 or under.

Official Language

English is the official language of our forums because it is the common language between our moderators and users. Because we cannot moderate conversations in a foreign language, you may not hold a conversation in the forums in language other than English.

Moderation & Bans

You may not evade a ban. Doing so will drastically lengthen your ban. If you believe your actions were not in violation of this Forum Code of Conduct, contact webmaster@myusai.org. You may not publicly complain about or demand a reason for another user's ban, the deletion of a message, or the deletion/closure of a thread. Any discussion about warnings, bans, message deletion, thread deletion and thread closure should be done over private email between the person concerned and webmaster.

You may not re-edit a message that has been edited by a moderator.

You may not post a message on behalf of a banned member.

Miscellaneous

Do not post negative posts and discussions that are repeated over and over and over with no other purpose than to disrupt conversation. If you feel the need to say something, say it once and then move on. Do not disrupt multiple threads in order to get your view out.

You may not bait/troll users. Bait / Trolling is defined as posting with a clear intent to provoke anger, incendiary posts, and behavior that results in other users violating the FCoC.

You may not abuse your ability to post in HTML in HTML-enabled forums.

You may not post graphically-disturbing images as inline images (such that the images are displayed when users view your post). However, you can link to the images with a warning stating that the images are graphically disturbing.

You may not post in a manner that is harmful to myUSAi. For example, “myUSAi forums suck. Go here!” or posting confidential documents. If you do, the post will be deleted and you will be banned.

You may not register multiple accounts with intent to violate any part of this FCoC.