Rules of Conduct

[SkyHog]

Thought everyone (and I do actually mean everyone) could use a refresher:

From http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_faq_rules_of_conduct

User's Agreement and Rules of Conduct for the Pilots of America Message Boards

Use of and participation in the Pilots of America message board (hereafter referred to as "the forums") is contingent upon your acceptance of the following terms and rules. By participating in the forums, you acknowledge your acceptance of these terms. For purposes of this agreement, "Participant" refers to you. "the forums" refers to the Pilots of America Message board and all content associated with http://www.PilotsOfAmerica.com.

Pilots of America is a non-profit organization operated by pilots for pilots.

Rules of Conduct
These forums are for discussing Aviation and Aviation Related Topics affecting pilots in the United States of America. These guidelines are posted as a code of conduct and if all of our participants will subscribe to this code of conduct most of these rules will be easily observed.

Goals of the Forums
Show respect at all times.
Help build the Community.

The success of our forums depends upon the quality posts of our participants. To ensure our success we are posting these guidelines so that all participants of the forums understand what is considered unacceptable behavior in the forums, which can result in a temporary suspension or a permanent ban.

• Personal attacks are prohibited. This specifically means any text/post that is blatantly attacking another person on or off the forum, especially in a personal way.
• Trolling is prohibited. Whenever someone is clearly, deliberately posting in a manner for the purpose of angering and/or insulting the other participants of the board, it is considered "trolling." The public posting of reputation comments received, which are considered by PoA to be personal and confidential, is considered ipso facto trolling. Trolling DOES NOT encourage further discussion in the long run; it only encourages personal attacks (if left unchecked).
• Solicitations and Advertisements are prohibited except in designated areas, if provided.
• Private Messages received on these Forums are to be considered private and are not to be posted publicly unless the sender of the private message agrees.
• Participant shall not post messages containing personal phone numbers or addresses other than their own.
• Bans and warnings are not to be discussed on the forums. Any inquiries or comments or bans are to be sent in private messages or via email. A moderator may choose to publicly inform the participants of a forum about bans and warnings if this is in the interest of the forum.
• Posting of pornography, racist or otherwise discriminating remarks, threats to cause physical or mental harm, extreme offensive language, material that breaks any law or otherwise totally unacceptable posts or links to pages that contain the aforementioned material may result in an immediate ban from the forums.
• Deliberately circumventing the censor filter is prohibited.
• Spamming the forums is prohibited.
• Not responding to or ignoring moderator warnings can lead to suspension.
• Off Topic (OT) are not prohibited, but should be posted within reason. There are some topics that are not appropriate for the forums. All posts are subject to these rules. Excessive OT posts will be dealt with on a case by case basis.
• All Forums have a main topic. When starting a new thread, make sure you do so in the proper Forum.

Rights of Pilots of America / Disclaimer of Liability

The content of these forums are supplied by its members with occasional responses from Pilots of America. Pilots of America shall not be responsible for policing, monitoring, or editing such content, exercises no more editorial control over such content than would a public library, bookstore, newsstand, or other distributor of content, and accordingly, shall not be responsible for exercising editorial control over such content. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Pilots of America shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor such content in order to respond to or comment upon communications by Participants and in order to determine compliance with the foregoing Rules of Conduct. Pilots of America shall have the right and sole discretion to edit, to refuse to port or to remove any content whatsoever which it finds to be in violation of the provisions hereof or which it finds in its sole discretion to be otherwise objectionable for any reason.

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Termination
Pilots of America shall have the right to immediately terminate any Participant's use of the Pilots of America site if Pilots of America determines in its sole discretion that Participant has violated the Rules of Conduct set forth herein or otherwise breached this agreement, or has engaged in conduct which Pilots of America determines in its sole discretion to be unacceptable.

Thank you for being a part of the PilotsOfAmerica.com community! If you have any comments or questions, feel free to send us a private message or an e-mail at admin@pilotsofamerica.com

 

[ScottM]

I think there is a new rule missing from that Nick.

It seems that if you are joking around that is no longer allowed as evidenced by the posts you are I were throwing back and forth with each other being pulled to the private MC area and a MC note stating that they are under review for "misquoting"

 

[SkyHog]

I think there is a new rule missing from that Nick.

It seems that if you are joking around that is no longer allowed as evidenced by the posts you are I were throwing back and forth with each other being pulled to the private MC area and a MC note stating that they are under review for "misquoting"

I am missing the entire section on "Misquoting" from my copy of the RoC...

 

[wabower]

There's another new one about excessive and unwarranted manipulation of avatars. Certain forum members should be very nervous. Buster.

I think there is a new rule missing from that Nick.

It seems that if you are joking around that is no longer allowed as evidenced by the posts you are I were throwing back and forth with each other being pulled to the private MC area and a MC note stating that they are under review for "misquoting"

 

[ScottM]

I am missing the entire section on "Misquoting" from my copy of the RoC...

I think it must be in the super secret version. Maybe the Mysterion the non-editing editor will add it later today.

 

[jesse]

Relax guys. That is under review. A final decision has not been made.

 

[ScottM]

Relax guys. That is under review. A final decision has not been made.

The point that we are trying to make is that Nick and I were joking around with each other. The use of smilies and obvious ridiculousness of our posts should have made that clear to even the most casual reader of that thread. The issue that I will assume was brought to the MC attention through a BP report, did not even involve Nick or myself. Those two posts should be the ones that are being reviewed.

 

[Greebo]

I also think a refresher is in order. Since I wrote these rules originally, I'll chime in on some of the concerns voiced here as well as address some other reminders.

I think there is a new rule missing from that Nick.

It seems that if you are joking around that is no longer allowed as evidenced by the posts you are I were throwing back and forth with each other being pulled to the private MC area and a MC note stating that they are under review for "misquoting"

I am missing the entire section on "Misquoting" from my copy of the RoC...

Goals of the Forums
Show respect at all times.
Help build the Community.

Misquoting *can* be extremely disrespectful. Joking around is one thing - but sometimes misquoting isn't meant as a joke. When the MC determines that such is the case, I think its appropriate for them to step in.

Personal attacks are prohibited. This specifically means any text/post that is blatantly attacking another person on or off the forum, especially in a personal way.

Misquoting can be used as a means of insulting someone. Again, when the MC determines that such is the case, I think its appropriate for them to step in.

Trolling is prohibited. Whenever someone is clearly, deliberately posting in a manner for the purpose of angering and/or insulting the other participants of the board, it is considered "trolling." The public posting of reputation comments received, which are considered by PoA to be personal and confidential, is considered ipso facto trolling. Trolling DOES NOT encourage further discussion in the long run; it only encourages personal attacks (if left unchecked).

It can also be used simply to "get a rise" from someone.

And of course

Notwithstanding the foregoing, Pilots of America shall have the right, but not the obligation, to monitor such content in order to respond to or comment upon communications by Participants and in order to determine compliance with the foregoing Rules of Conduct. Pilots of America shall have the right and sole discretion to edit, to refuse to port or to remove any content whatsoever which it finds to be in violation of the provisions hereof or which it finds in its sole discretion to be otherwise objectionable for any reason.

Yes, much like the credit card agreements, the ROC ultimately gives sole and final authority to the MC to decide what is and isn't ok. The context and underlying spirit of a specific post will often determine whether the same post is ok in one instance and objectionable in another.

If you want clearly defined, exact lines drawn, you won't get them. When lines are too clear, that just gives some people the exact measure of how bad they can be w/o actually 'crossing it' - which in and of itself is often bad for the community. That's been my experience, anyway, in what is now coming up on 30 years of electronic community building.

Termination
Pilots of America shall have the right to immediately terminate any Participant's use of the Pilots of America site if Pilots of America determines in its sole discretion that Participant has violated the Rules of Conduct set forth herein or otherwise breached this agreement, or has engaged in conduct which Pilots of America determines in its sole discretion to be unacceptable.

And of course, ultimately, it's the MC's ball game - and if the MC thinks that you're detrimental to the community, they will remove you. The MC prefers, by and large, to leave the policing to the community. But at the same time, sometimes complaints get generated, and when they get generated, they get examined. Where one person might generate 1 complaint that's so egregious that immediate removal is deemed necessary, another person might generate only minor complaints - over, and over, and over again - until they achieve death by a thousand cuts.

By and large, the MC does a pretty good job, IMO, as I sit back and watch from the sidelines these days, of leaving everyone here with plenty of rope. Some posters use the rope to build bridges. Others use them to tie nooses, not realizing perhaps that their own necks will wear their new ties.

 

[poadeleted20]

I think there is a new rule missing from that Nick.

It seems that if you are joking around that is no longer allowed as evidenced by the posts you are I were throwing back and forth with each other being pulled to the private MC area and a MC note stating that they are under review for "misquoting"

You may notice that in less than 24 hours, the MC reviewed the matter and restored the "joking" posts (although not the misquoting posts). Although they may not be as funny since the material about which they were joking is gone and will remain gone.

 

[AuntPeggy]

Yawn. My son would say, "Get over yourself."

 

[jmaynard]

By and large, the MC does a pretty good job, IMO, as I sit back and watch from the sidelines these days, of leaving everyone here with plenty of rope.

Some more than others. There's a reason I'm not active here very much any more, and it's because of favoritism shown to another poster: his posts are still up, while the ones I wrote in response are not any more.

 

[Greebo]

Some more than others. There's a reason I'm not active here very much any more, and it's because of favoritism shown to another poster: his posts are still up, while the ones I wrote in response are not any more.

I find these claims amusing.

Pretty much with the exception of the spammers, every time a member has been banned here, there have been cries from some of "favoritism and bias" while others say "Thank you" and "about time".

If you agree with the person we ban, the MC is biased. If you don't, they took to long to do something about the jerkwad.

 

[wabower]

I love it when "constitutional rights" and "personal freedom" questions are invoked. It's a bunch of pilots yapping on an internet forum for cripes sake. Who gives a rats?

I find these claims amusing.

Pretty much with the exception of the spammers, every time a member has been banned here, there have been cries from some of "favoritism and bias" while others say "Thank you" and "about time".

If you agree with the person we ban, the MC is biased. If you don't, they took to long to do something about the jerkwad.

 

[dmccormack]

Thought everyone (and I do actually mean everyone) could use a refresher:

Nope, didn't need the refresher.

Thanks, though.

 

[Areeda]

I am as usual conflicted on this. Misquoting can be a problem, for example

While the moderators on this forum are far from perfect, I do not believe everyone one of them is a idiot who can't type his way out of a wet paper bag

could become

...everyone one of them [moderators] is a idiot who can't type his way out of a wet paper bag

On the other hand editing a post can be useful to comprehension for example

Let me start at the beginning. OK first there was this big explosion and elementary particles started to cool and form matter as we know it...then 11 or 12 billion years later life started on the planet earth...A few hundred million years later, I began my flying lessons, .... and yesterday I took off without doing an adequate preflight and that led to this problem.

could be cut down to

<snip>...yesterday I took off without doing an adequate preflight and that led to this problem: ...

How the heck can you make a rule that allows #2 but forbids #1?

Joe

 

[jtheune]

I guess that it's a little recognizing porn, I can't really define it but I know when I see it. Your example is actually not a good one because it's simply a matter of removing unwanted material and not adding anything. A more compelling example might be one where the snipped material made the retaining material appear to mean something different.

 

[Greebo]

I guess that it's a little recognizing porn, I can't really define it but I know when I see it. Your example is actually not a good one because it's simply a matter of removing unwanted material and not adding anything. A more compelling example might be one where the snipped material made the retaining material appear to mean something different.

Like... from

I guess that it's a little recognizing porn, I can't really define it but I know when I see it.

to

I know I like Porn when I see it.

 

[wsuffa]

Like... from



to

you like porn?

 

[Greebo]

you like porn?

I never denied it.

 

[ScottM]

you like gay porn?

I never denied it.

 

[Greebo]

Don't make me change my mind about the impropriety of directly editing your posts.

 

[wsuffa]

I lust for it.

Fixed that for you..

 

[SCCutler]

I find an irrational interest in this "Leeloo" person.

 

[ScottM]

I find a rational interest in this "Leeloo" person.

Me too.

 

[Trapper John]

Me too.

I dunno, she looks a little too much like Ziggy Stardust for me.

Trapper John

 

[John Collins]

Posting about aviation topics would be nice, I don't see much of it compared to non aviation stuff.

 

[tonycondon]

Posting about aviation topics would be nice, I don't see much of it compared to non aviation stuff.

if you only want to talk about aviation topics, there is a forum for that.

 

[ScottM]

if you only want to talk about aviation topics, there is a forum for that.

bad link Tony.

I think you were trying for this though http://forums.aopa.org/

A big reason that two boards exist outside of the AOPA is the draconian rules and limited parameters of discussions that can take place on AOPA Forums.

 

[tonycondon]

fixed

 

[flyersfan31]

Posting about aviation topics would be nice, I don't see much of it compared to non aviation stuff.

Uh, you mean, like, say, the entire POA board with the exception of SZ and Hangar Talk????? Which are specifically intended for non aviation stuff???

 

[SkyHog]

Nope, didn't need the .... Thanks, though.

Notice the correct usage of the 4 ellipses....

Everyone needs a little thanks sometimes.

 

[dmccormack]

Notice the correct usage of the 4 ellipses....

Everyone needs a little thanks sometimes.

Umm, I have no idea what you're talking about and would appreciate my posts being correctly quoted, and not edited.

If it is edited, remove the attribution.

 

[SkyHog]

Oh....weak.

edit: But understandable, I suppose.

 

[ScottM]

Umm, I have no idea what you're talking about and would appreciate my posts being correctly quoted, and not edited.

If it is edited, remove the attribution.

That is a very interesting demand since in this very thread the post you quoted from Nick you also edited. Why demand that he not do what you yourself had done?

 

[poadeleted20]

The MC is at this moment reviewing this thread. Please do not either deliberately annoy or insult each other while we're doing that. Thank you.

 

[jtheune]

Like... from



to

Yes that would be a better example. and while i would not seek out porn I must say that naked ladies do look nice

 

[jtheune]

Yes that would be a better example. and while i would not seek out porn I must say that naked ladies do look nice

It appears the quote mechanism has changed.

 

[shywon]

In the words of Emily Litella: "I don't see whats wrong with all these violins (spelling?) Violence? on television."

What's next? A ban on trumpets?

Joke comes across better orally I guess.....

I think my ADHD is...oh look! A chicken!

 

[Anthony]

if you only want to talk about aviation topics, there is a forum for that.

Not to mention (thanks Andrew) the entire content of Pilots of America with the exception of Spin Zone and Hangar talk. You don't have to read those forums. You realize that, right???

 

[flyersfan31]

It's amazing how pilots can take the least little thing and turn it into some massive argument. Sheesh.