TNT Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
Hello and welcome to TheNewTopical.com
This document describes the minimum standards you agree to meet by using the site.
Our guiding principle is simple: good debate above all else.
Good debate above all else
By that we mean that you agree to avoid making ad hominem attacks, that you’re prepared to reference your assertions if challenged, that you always attribute quotes correctly, that you don’t plagiarise other sources, that you don’t post repetitive content, that you refrain from discriminatory attitudes or language, that you don’t seek to demean, belittle or bully your fellows, that you maintain a sense of humour and that you remember other posters are people just like you.
We recognise that these high standards are a challenge to achieve consistently and will apply differently circumstance to circumstance and poster to poster. We ask you to remember that the mods are people too, and that though they strive in all situations to be fair, their first duty is to preserving and promoting good debate. Mods will explain their decisions publicly, but they are expected to use their discretion in coming to a decision and that decision is always final.
Prohibited behaviour
Our goal is to moderate little and with a light touch, so we ask you to bring a thick skin to the table. The usual behaviours won’t be tolerated though, and these include;
· Spamming
· Sock puppetry
· Trolling
· Flaming
· Posting of other people’s privileged information; including but not limited to private correspondence, R/L names, addresses and other identifying details
· Hate speech
· Posts intended to harass, threaten or defame other posters or portals
· Sexually explicit imagery of a pornographic nature
Legal age
You must be over 18 years or the age of majority wherever you live to use this site, whichever is the greater.
Copyright and intellectual property
You may not use this site to infringe other people’s copyright. By uploading text, pictures or other content to TNT you assert that you own the copyright, have permission from the copyright owner or the material’s copyright is in the public domain. By uploading content to TNT, you grant TNT a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to make your material available in public via www, email, RSS or any other protocol, until you explicitly remove your material from the website. Material contributed by other users of the site remains under their own copyright and you must obtain their permission before reproducing it elsewhere.
Infractions system, time-outs and bans
Persistent and/or deliberate failure to observe some or all of the terms of acceptable use may earn posters an infraction, a temporary time-out or a permanent ban without prior notice and at the discretion of the owner, administrators and mods.
Infractions and the reason for their award will be made public, and will expire after seven days. However they will stay on your posting record permanently.
Multiple infractions will be taken into consideration in the awarding of time-outs and permanent bans.
The owner, administrators and moderators of TNT reserve the right to deny individuals access to all or part of the site, for any operational reason or otherwise, without prior notice and at our discretion.
