The Administrators and Members of the Coffee Break Café are working to provide a community where people from all walks of life can gather to share ideas and concerns, obtain support, debate important issues, and practice their creativity in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. Many of our Members live lifestyles in which high levels of stress and tumult are an integral part. In an effort to engender friendship and raise the spirits of everyone, CBC fosters a high degree of humor and good natured antics which are meant to be taken in the spirit of fun in which they are intended. By the same token, our members are encouraged to speak freely and to engage in lively debate on issues that matter to them a great deal. Tempers may flare, but overall, this is a Community of fine minds and good hearted souls, who gather here to explore our ever changing world and share what we’ve found with others.

Despite our best efforts, people sometimes disregard this ideal and hurt the overall quality of the community for everyone else.  And, unfortunately, it is utterly impossible to write a comprehensive set of rules forbidding every type of troll-ish, antisocial and narcissistic behavior.

Therefore, each Member of this Community has a responsibility to participate in a respectful,  productive and positive manner, and to help foster an atmosphere of creative outlet, discussion and fun. In this regard, we strongly advise that our members exercise common decency, rather than trying to pick apart the rules to figure out what type of behavior is not forbidden.

Basically, use your common sense, think before you post, and give a little consideration to your fellow Members.

We generally have a hands-off policy on the Administrative side, and try to maintain a high degree of Democracy throughout the site.  Administrators and Members have both found, however, that we still need to spell some of this out. We can say we’re all adults, and most of the time most of us are. But, the truth is, some times some of us just aren’t.

So, without further ado, please proceed to The Rules I and II.
 

PLEASE keep postings to the appropriate topic areas.  Thread-jacking is disrespectful, distracting and unproductive. While the course of a discussion may naturally stray, we appreciate the attempt to keep established threads on topic.
   
PLEASE refrain from engaging in flame-wars. Heated discussion is a natural part of many topics. It is understood that people have differing opinions and that the passion behind them is strong. It is, however, obvious when a discussion has gotten out of hand. Take it to PM or email-- if it concerns you. If it does not, stay out of it.

Do NOT disclose the personal information of other board members. Be careful about what personal information you post about yourself. Remember OPSEC. No matter how safe we feel here in our fledgling Community, it doesn’t mean there aren’t predators on the loose.

Do NOT post or link to illegal content of any kind. We’re certainly an adult forum, and membership does require legal age certification. However, if you wouldn’t post it to your boss (we’ve found some folks would post ANYTHING to their Mothers), please give a warning in the topic title.

DO NOT attempt to impersonate another user, disguise your identity, or pretend to be multiple persons. We have a strict policy of one account per user, one user per account. Any attempt at manipulating members through such tactics will be met with removal of all involved accounts. Your current password cannot be retrieved as it is encrypted in the database. No one has the right to ask you for it. If the site is abused under your username and you cannot provide proof it wasn't you, your username will be banned.

Do NOT send unsolicited messages, either publicly or privately, via the Private Message System, or e-mail, containing advertisements for your website/product/commercial purpose, or invitations to join other forums. If someone requests this information from you then it is acceptable to give it out. Spam will not be tolerated.
 

REMEMBER that as the law stands today, you are totally responsible for anything you post here.
REMEMBER that you barred by law, from libel, slander, threats and harassment of any kind, not just by picky site owners. So, if you can’t or won’t prove it, don’t post it.

REMEMBER, you are aslo legally barred from posting copyrighted material, in any form, without permission and proper notice.

REMEMBER, legally, you are barred from plagiarizing material and presenting it as your own.

REMEMBER, the law disallows “hotlinking” or linking directly to an image on another site - this is known as Bandwidth Theft and is just as serious as Copyright Violation.

REMEMBER that both legally, and for privacy reasons, you are barred from posting quotes obtained from private postings, messages or e-mails or other sources, from outside or from inside this site.  In addition, if you post information from Private Discussions, Messages or Emails here, you will be permanently banned without hesitation. They are marked Private for a reason and you do not own the copyright to those words.

REMBER, additionally, you may not take posts from other websites and post them at CBC unless you own the copyright to them or have permission.

Please Note, all posts submitted to CBC are owned by the respective author, be they Articles, Blog Postings, Commentary, Recipe, Music, Art, Photography or even Private Message. The Author, however, by becoming a member of this site, grants CBC the permission to keep and duplicate the data throughout the site.

The Administrators and Moderators of this board reserve the right to relocate, modify or remove any inappropriate content posted at CBC, with or without prior notification.

We understand that people make mistakes, and that sometimes things spin out of control quickly. We will generally abide by a hands-off policy. We're not going to interfere for fun, or just because we didn't like what you say. We will however stop things from going so far as to drag the Community down, ruining the experience for everyone else. We will make every attempt to be fair in taking all actions that affect you. The same understanding is appreciated in return.

If you don't understand why an Administrator or Moderator has done something, please discuss it with them in private. Administrators and Moderators will not participate in open flame-wars over their actions. Do not “backseat moderate.” Complaining about other members or posts, or using the CBC platform to call for action against another member does not foster the type of Community we were created to serve.

CBC, in all its aspects, is a privately owned website. Membership is a privilege and not a public right. Management reserves the right to terminate or restrict your use of the CBC if we determine in our sole discretion that you have breached this Agreement or otherwise been engaged in conduct which we determine to be unacceptable. We will attempt to contact individuals personally in such cases although this cannot be guaranteed. Additionally, we may contact relevant third parties such as your ISP or email provider about your activities.

If you see a post which breaks this Agreement, please report it to the Administrator or Forum Moderators using the “Report Post” button displayed under every post. Please include your reason for the report. Spiteful reporting will not be tolerated.

Note that this action may be taken “behind the scenes” and you will not necessarily be told what action has been taken against a particular poster.

Actions we may take include:

Informal Warning Activation of the Formal Warning System. Moderation of posts before they appear on the site. Sentencing to Solitary Confinement in the Dungeon. Permanent exclusion from the Forums.

  

CBC site content is provided "AS IS" and on an "AS AVAILABLE" basis without any representations or any kind of warranty made (whether express or implied by law) to the extent permitted by law, including the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.

Under no circumstances will the website owners, hosts, administrator and/or moderators be liable for any loss of data, loss of revenue or anticipated profits, loss of business, loss of opportunity, loss of goodwill or injury to reputation, losses suffered by third parties, or any indirect, consequential, special or exemplary damages arising from the use of this site regardless of the form of action.

Material which is posted in these forums is written by, wholly owned, and the complete responsibility of the individual member contributing it. We are not responsible for and give no endorsement of such material. We monitor the contributions and may respond to or comment upon communications by you and edit or remove any content from the forums at our absolute discretion. No failure to remove particular material constitutes an endorsement or acceptance of it by us.

 

Privacy Policy is in final draft. Please check back shortly. Rest assured, it’s pretty standard stuff. --Webbie