shiawasseecounty.net

Welcome to the (unofficial) Shiawassee County Forums. Anyone with something to say is welcome here. But to keep the site working, we have a few rules …

You are solely responsible for your conduct and any data, text, information, screen names, links, graphics, photos, profiles, audio and video clips, and links (“Content”) that you submit, post and display. This one is easy. You should already know this.

You cannot Spam. We hate Spam. Everyone hates Spam.

You must not abuse, harass, threaten, malign, flame or intimidate other forum users or forum volunteers. Nor may you upload, post or otherwise include any content that is defamatory, libelous, tortuous, vulgar, obscene, invasive of privacy, racially or ethnically objectionable, hateful, promotes or provides instructional information about illegal activities, or promotes any act of cruelty to animals or certain vegetables.

To add to the previous point, you may not use the forums to publish private emails or other private messages, or otherwise use the system to violate the privacy of another person.

You cannot use the Service to distribute, share or solicit content belonging to third parties without proper authorization from the owner(s) of that Content. You must respect the proprietary and intellectual property rights of others (including trademark, copyright and trade secrecy) in posting on the forums. You may post copyrighted content under Fair Use rules, which can be found here - http://w2.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.php. The forums are a fair harbor platform; if you have an issue with another user’s content, please contact that individual directly first. Failing that, please contact the forum administrator at info at shiawasseecounty dot net.

You must not, in the use of the forums, violate any Federal, state or local laws. If you are posting from outside of the United States, you must comply with all Michigan / US laws regarding online conduct and acceptable content.

You cannot abuse other forum users and volunteers. Wait, did we mention this one yet? Probably because we're serious. Abuse = flaming people in the forum, publicly maligning other members of the community, emailing threatening notes to them, and more. If our forum moderators or community report you for these activities, you are outta here buster.

You cannot collect or store personal data about other users, and we have zero tolerance for users who reveal (“out”) the real identity of people posting under nicknames. This goes for offline as well as online outing. There is no warning for this; we ban users for this on the first verifiable offense. “Verifiable” being whatever we say it is, but we’ll try to be fair.

Additionally, you cannot harass or otherwise pester anonymous users in an attempt to determine their real identity. People who choose to post anonymously don’t want you to know who they are. So, don’t ask ‘em who they are, and you won't run afoul with us. For clarification, this rule means, do not ask anyone on this forum for the real identity of another person. Furthermore, do not offer the identity of another person. If you would like to discuss identities, you may offer your own. [clarification added 1-4-09]

The forum makes the distinction between private citizens and public figures. For this purpose, a public figure is an elected official or a candidate for office. Residents who are well known, who express opinions publicly, or who hold publicly funded positions (city managers, county administrators, department directors, etc.) are NOT public figures. Discussions surrounding these people should be focused on issues, and should not address the people. You can say almost anything you want about an elected official or a candidate for office, but keep in mind that they are protected by libel laws. Also keep in mind that if you want credibility, you should not sound like a raving lunatic.

No smearing a business, product, or service. You can post a positive or negative business review in the business review forum - http://shiawasseecounty.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=6 … but no rants. State the facts. The business owner is welcome to respond.

You can’t pretend to be someone else. Seriously, this is just rude. We don’t even warn you for that. You just get the boot. For purposes of clarification, this rule prohibits 'stealing' another person's identity. For the rule on sock puppets, see below. [clarification added 1-4-09]

Do not address anyone on the forum by anything other than his proper nickname. [added 1-4-09]

If you feel you have been the victim of a rules violation, report it to the moderator. If you attempt to enforce the rules yourself, you risk being warned/banned. [added 1-4-09]

Banning

We don’t like banning people. We want MORE users, not LESS. However, users who violate our rules or who are otherwise disruptive to our community may be banned at any time. In most cases, users will receive 1 warning prior to being banned. The warning will be live for 90 days.

You will not be banned for expressing an unpopular opinion. You will be banned if you express an unpopular opinion and break our rules while doing so.

Anonymity

We know some of you prefer to remain anonymous. We don’t care who you are, and we don’t care why you want to be anonymous. We don’t talk about you and we don’t answer any questions about you. Anonymous users are welcome here.

First things first – If you post under a nickname, we cannot guarantee that you will never ever be found out. We’d like to, but it just isn’t reality. Sorry.

Choose a nickname that does not suggest your identity. Using your initials, your mailing address, your physical description, etc., is not a good idea. Choose a random name that no one will connect to you.

You must have a valid email address to register. However, you can use a free email system like hotmail or yahoo for this.

Generally speaking, users cannot determine your identity from the software. You have to do something to help them, like hint at your identity or answer questions. Don’t do this if you want to be anonymous.

Don’t reveal your identity just because someone says they know you. Most of the time, they’re bluffing.

If you want to be anonymous, do not give anyone a reason to go all ‘legal’ on us. No libel, no threatening to commit a crime, etc. This kind of activity puts you and our other anonymous users at risk. Plus, it violates the rules that we have so painstakingly spelled out for you in the previous section. If we see anything that crosses the line we will delete it or ask you to edit it, in addition to taking whatever action is appropriate for the rule violation.

We’re serious about protecting the free speech of our users. We have the ACLU on speed-dial. Really, we live for this kind of thing.

Sock Puppets / Multiple Nicks

A 'sock puppet' is an additional user account created by a participant, usually for purposes of deception. This forum discourages sock puppetry but recognizes that there are some legitimate uses. For example, a business owner may want to post something using his real name, but then participate in controversial subjects using an anonymous nick. The forum does not prohibit this. The forum does prohibit the use of a sock puppet to substantially change one's online identity or the nature of a conversation, or to otherwise cause harm to forum users through deception. In other words, no pretending to be a 15 year old boy if you are a 50 year old woman, no using sock-puppets to 'gang-up' on people, etc. The forum limits each user to 1 sock puppet, for a total of 2 user accounts. [added 1-4-09]

Disputes

It’s a privately owned forum, but we do want to be fair. If you feel you’ve been treated unfairly, email us at info at shiawasseecounty dot net.