Forum Rules

Academy Of Canines Forum Rules

Hopefully AOC will not have problems with it’s members or visitors. This is a place for people to learn as well as help each other out. Please just keep things respectful of others and remember that AOC is “Family Friendly”. Admin is easy to work with so if any problems arise please just contact us. Admin. Does have the right to ban anyone at any point if necessary.

Breaking rules result in punishments. There are several types of punishments:

Warning - It will be determined whether you knew what you were doing was wrong or whether a warning is necessary to explain it do you. If your violation does not warrant a warning, AOC will skip ahead to the next step in the penalty list.
Muting - This is where you are not able to talk on the board. You may still view it.
Temporary Ban - This is where you are not able to view the board for a certain period of time.
Permanent Ban - You can never again view the board.

The following rules list the most serious violations:

No Hacking - This should go without saying, but you are not permitted to hack the board. Guessing someone else's password and succeeding counts as hacking. Members who hack will instantly be permanently banned without any warnings.
No Discrimination, - You may not insult members based on their religion, race, sex, political beliefs, or sexual preferences. This is worse than flaming, it also hurts other members of the board who fall into the category you insult. AOC is a place where everyone is equal, and discrimination will NOT be tolerated!
No Bullying - Do not pick on other members. The worst kind of bullying is where new members are picked on. This hurts the member as well as the board.
No Flaming - Flaming harms the nice atmosphere of AOC. It also causes thread's to go off topic, and most importantly, it hurts the person being flamed. The victim may defend themselves against any accusations made to them, but may not make any additional accusations to the flamer (which also counts as flaming). Any flaming needs to be reported directly to Admin.
No Profanity or Obscene Content – Absolutely no adult content or mention of content relating to adult entertainment and no profanity. Such content does not belong on AOC. A censor system is in place as a backup. If you see words in your post being replaced with ****, you have done something wrong. Please edit your post and tone it down. To edit a post, click the "Edit" button. Cheating the sensor system is against the rules. PLEASE remember that AOC and it’s Forum are Family Friendly so have respect for our younger readers and members.

If you break one of these rules, the following penalties will apply (first time, second time, third time...) with the exception of breaking the rule "No Hacking" or “Obscene Content” which immediately results in a permanent ban:

Warning - Depending on how serious a violation is, you may be issued a warning first
Muting - Muting for 10 days
Temporary ban - People who cause more problems after being muted for 10 days will be banned for a month, and for 2 months for the next offense.
Permanent ban - At this point, it is obvious that will never learn your lesson, thus, a permanent ban is necessary to be rid of the problems you cause.

The following rules are also important:

No Advertising - You are not permitted to make money using AOC. You are not allowed to use the member list to obtain Instant Messaging screen names to harass people to purchase a product from you. If you would like to advertise your business or product on AOC please contact Admin for details.
No Illegal Activity - You are not allowed to break the law using AOC. AOC holds no responsibilities for any illegal actions which may take place, that person(s) will be held accountable for their own actions.
No Double Posting or Spamming - You may not post more than once in a row in the same thread. Posting lots of times in a row reduces the quality of the board, is a waste of the board's memory, and provides the culprit with ill earned post count points (when applicable). Double posts will be merged into regular posts, and you will lose 10 post count for each of the posts excluding the first one. Your post count can be changed to a negative number if necessary. The only exception to this rule is if your edit timer (24 hours) for the post has run out, in which case you may double post if you have something important to add. Spamming is also not allowed, and is defined as a post that has no meaning.
No Topic Bumping - If a topic you created has no replies, you may not post again in it (although you may edit the post if the timer has not run out). If you made the thread because you need help with something, you may post again as long as you include additional information about your problem (the fact that you really really want it fixed does not count as additional information). You must post this in the same thread, and you are not allowed to create more than one thread per topic.
No Posting Personal Info - You may not post your last name, or your street address on AOC. This is because this information then becomes accessible to anyone.
No Threatening to Leave the Board - You may not make posts threatening to leave the board. This causes flaming to occur. Anyone responding poorly to these threads will also be muted.

Warning - Depending on how serious a violation is, you may be issued a warning first
Muting - Muting for 3 days
Muting - Muting for 10 days.
Temporary ban - People who cause more problems after being muted for 10 days will be banned for a month, and for 2 months for the next offense.
Permanent ban - At this point, it is obvious that will never learn your lesson, thus, a permanent ban is necessary to be rid of the problems you cause.

The following are a set of amendments to clarify the rules for those people who wish to nitpick:

Amendment 1 - There are no excuses for breaking the rules. It doesn't matter if you were angry at the time and weren't thinking straight. It doesn't matter if you were only kidding around. If you break a rule, it does the same damage, regardless of your reasons for breaking it, and you will be punished all the same.

Amendment 2 - Staff abuse will not be tolerated. As a staff member, your job is to help the people, not harm them. You may only use your powers for the purposes that they have been given to you for. There is no limit on how much you may be punished for this severe offense as this must be stopped at all costs to protect the people. This means that if you abuse your powers, there is a good chance you will be permanently banned.

Amendment 3 - Harassing the administration about punishments is not allowed. The admins are only trying to do their job, and many times they have to make difficult decisions. You may post your opinion in the thread that announces the punishment, so long as you do not flame anyone. If this thread gets out of hand, it will be closed, and you may not complain elsewhere on the board, or by other means including, but not limited to: private messages, instant messaging programs, email, telephone calls, and house visits. You also may not make threats against administrators (or other members for that matter...). Punishments for harassment range from a 5 day mute for minor harassments to a permanent ban if serious threats are involved.

Amendment 4 - If you break more than one rule, the punishments will stack up to a maximum of 2 months, or a permanent ban if necessary. If a sentencing length is 10 days or less, it is a mute, otherwise, it can either be a temporary or permanent ban decided by forum owner.