General Forum Information

The Juan-Carlos Ferrero Online Fan Forum was created by Lily Li on July 21 2003 as an extension to the JCF Online fansite (www.jc-ferrero.com). The purpose of the Forum is to provide fans with a place to discuss topics relating to JC, tennis in general or simply relax and talk with people from around the world.

To promote a positive, friendly environment, rules and guidelines are in place to govern the nature of forum activity. By signing up to the Forum, you will have agreed to the following terms and conditions and will make effort to abide by them. Violation of these terms will lead to punishment and possible suspension from the Forum.

Rules and Guidelines

• Swearing and inappropriate language
  Swearing is discouraged by the Forum. Censored swearing is permitted, provided the entire word is blocked out. It is not possible to "accidentally" type out a swear word, so intentional violation of this rule will lead to harsh punishment.
  
  Allowed: ****, ****ing, ****ed, etc.
  
  Not allowed: (if 'cheese' was a banned word) c****, ch33se, (|-|3353, ***** (rhymes with 'wheeze'), etc.



• Offensive Posting
  Under no circumstances will there be any use of offensive or derogatory terms in regards to race, gender, sexual preference, etc. The Forum does not promote discrimination against individuals or groups of people. Users may not discuss sexually explicit topics on the forum. Failure to comply will lead to harsh punishment.



• Flaming and Trolling
  Flaming is the act of insulting or insinuating another user. Do not engage in hostile activities on the Forum, nor provoke any hostilities between other users. Name-calling and acts of aggression will not be tolerated. Trolling is the act of provoking flames or generally behaving in an annoying manner.
  
  For example:
  
  Flaming - "You are stupid", "Your mom", "Are you stupid or what?", "Only stupid people play tennis"
  
  Trolling - "JC sucks", 'Tennis is a boring sport, no one plays it", "Who cares?"



• Disruptive Posting
  Disruptive Posting covers any aspect of posting that disrupts board activity. Examples include:
  - Posting hard-to-read-messages
  - Posting in ALL CAPS
  - Disruptive use of emoticons
  Do not engage in Disruptive Posting, although some flexibility may be allowed.



• Flooding and Spamming
  'Spam' is defined as advertising a site or online service or posting multiple pointless posts or topics. Do not repeatedly post inane messages. If a correction needs to be made, and you are in fact the last poster, edit your post instead of making a new post. Also, do not provide links to sites with the sole intention of scamming users or increase hit counters.
  Note: Advertising personal or commercial sites in signatures is acceptable.



• Off-Topic Posting The Forum is divided into theme-based boards. Tennis-related discussion belongs in Centre Court, while miscellaneous discussion belongs in Locker Room. The Site boards are clearly labelled and should be used according to their purpose. Posting on the wrong board will result in either deletion of the topic or its relocation to the appropriate board.
  Note: Posts cannot be, in general, considered off-topic. However, respect other users and do not post irrelevant messages in a topic that has a clear theme. These posts tend to be very annoying, and will be removed if excessive.
  
  For example: If there is a discussion about Carlos Moya, do not go off on a tangent and talk about Swiss cheese.



• Underage Users
  InvisionFree (our forum provider) is bound by the COPPA laws (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act). The COPPA laws state that users cannot provide personal information if 12-years-old or under without parental permission. The JCFO Fan Forum does not accept parental permission, so users must be 13-years-old or over. If a user admits to be underage on the Forum, their account will immediately be terminated.
  
  Note: Off-site sources of evidence are outside of the interests of the Forum, and any information that suggests underage status will be ignored.



• Signatures
  The Forum allows users to use image signatures. However, there are guidelines governing the use of image signatures, and they can be found at: http://invisionfree.com/forums/JCF_Online_Fan_Forum/index.php?showtopic=22. Failure to follow the guidelines will lead to signatures being removed.

Punishment Policy

The above terms and conditions must be read and understood by all users. If the rules are broken, then the JCFO Fan Forum moderation staff will take appropriate action. Punishments are, from lightest to heaviest:

• Deletion of message


• Increased Warning


• Suspension from Forum


• Termination of account


• Access Revoked (users are banned from using the Forum)

Users will usually be sent a Private Message outlining their infraction and action taken. Users are recommended to heed this Private Message as a warning. Multiple or repeat violations will lead to harsher punishments. Punishment is entirely up to the Moderators' discretion. Also note that reduction of post count can also be performed as punishment. Good behaviour over a long period of time can also reduce Warning levels.

Scottie_theNerd

Administrator

Last revised: June 19 2004