Ground Rules for AO Discussion

[Tom]

Dear Actuarial Outpost members,

In recent weeks, the Actuarial Outpost has been forced to address
accusations that a number of user postings on this site are illegal,
false or defamatory.

We take these complaints seriously, and want to ensure that the Actuarial
Outpost remain a neutral party, and an open forum for our members to
discuss important (and occasionally controversial) issues. When
allegations are brought to our attention that specific posts have moved
beyond opinion and into the realm of defamation or illegality, we
will investigate and determine whether maintaining these posts
best serves our varied online community. In order to clarify our position,
and remove any question that may arise in the future, we are currently
preparing new terms and conditions and privacy policy for the site, which
will be forthcoming within the next few weeks.

Again, we want the Actuarial Outpost to remain an open forum for all
sides, without bias and without concern of censorship. Please feel free
to email me (or PM me) with any questions or concerns you might have.

Thank you for your support,

Tom

[Tom]

Just as a quick refresher, I'm posting the current AO Terms of Service.

Please remember, we average 1,500 members logging in every day, who make about 15,000 posts per week. The moderators and I do not read every single post that is made on the AO. That is why we need your help with reporting any behavior that is questionable.

<---REPORT-POST-BUTTON--| That's what the report post button looks like. It's attached to all 3,895,114 posts here on the AO. Log in, click it, leave a short message, and a Report Ticket will be generated.

Thanks everyone, for all of your help.

And now... the TOS

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Terms of Usage and Conditions of Service

By using this discussion forum, you agree to abide by the following simple common sense rules:

1. You certify that you are 13 years of age or over. All those individuals under 13 years of age will need a full release form from their parents before posting any messages. This is in compliance with the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act of 2000 (COPPA).
2. Nicknames that we feel are inflammatory, vulgar, promotional, or rude will be removed.
3. Because your posting may be more pertinent to another subject area it may be moved by a forum moderator.
4. Do not post links or attachments with adult content, or messages describing anything against the law.
5. This forum is not a venue for personal or private vendettas. Keep your personal business as just that - personal. This forum is not a venue for the resolution of personal disputes with members or companies. Please resolve your issues through email or private messages, not a public thread.
6. Please keep your language clean and decent. This includes personal inflammatory language as well as obscenities. Spelling a word to get around the censors is still an obscenity, and grounds for banning.
7. Any private discussions (PM’s) with moderators or administrators related to board policy or actions may be shared with other moderators and administrators if we feel it is necessary.
8. You agree not to hold the Actuarial Outpost or its members liable for anything stated within the forums.
9. Please treat others the way you wish to be treated. One way to guard against misunderstandings is to read over your response before you post it or move on to another area of the forum. Flaming or personal attacks are not allowed or tolerated. Should anyone use inappropriate language, start a personal attack, or engage in hate speech, they may be barred from all further discussions.
10. Do not copy or retransmit any information out of these forums without first getting the permission of the original author of the message.
11. Discussions about moderator or administrator actions are welcome in email or local Private Messages. Public discussion of moderator or administrator actions may take place in the website section of the discussion forum – other such comments in other sections or threads will be deleted or moved. Such public discussions may later be removed.
12. Messages posted at this site are the sole opinion and responsibility of the poster.
13. Anyone posting another members personal details without permission will be banned.
14. When a message is placed in any forum system, you are granting a soft license to the site to use it.
15. The Cyberchat forums are intended for amusement and entertainment. Discussions in these forums can become heated (as in political,) contain friendly ribbing (as in Sports or Games,) or consist of nonsense or parody (as in The Reef.) Enter at your own risk! Have fun - but at the same time please be considerate of others.

For our part we will do our best to protect your privacy and respect your posts. We will not edit or otherwise misrepresent what you write without cause.

We reserve the right to edit any and all content that has been placed on Actuarial Outpost.
We reserve the right to modify these Terms of Service from time to time without notice and to do so retroactively.

You've been served.

-Tom

P.S. Interesting factoid: This is post #3,964,121 and the forum's total post count is 3,895,114. Subtract those two numbers, and you get a difference of 69,007. That's how many posts have been
moderated since September 9, 2001.

P.P.S. A big thanks to all of our current & past moderators, for all of their great work. Thanks.