HowardForums Rules

ATTN: HowardForums Rules and Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

THE ADMINISTRATORS AND MODERATORS OF HOWARDFORUMS.COM RESERVE THE RIGHT TO MOVE, REMOVE, EDIT, CLOSE POSTS OR BAN MEMBERS (HAVE POSTING PRIVILEGES REVOKED) WHO BREACH THESE RULES OR TERMS OF USE AT OUR SOLE DISCRETION, AND WITH OR WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING OR EXPLANATION.

By using this Site, you acknowledge that all content, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, is the sole responsibility of the person from which such content originated and neither are we legally responsible for any content on HowardForums.com. More of our Terms of Use can be found below for which you further agree to comply with and are bound if you use our Site.

The General Posting Rules are:

Flaming/Trolling - Any content that is unlawful, harmful, harassing, threatening, defamatory, vulgar, hateful or distasteful in nature are prohibited. Swearing is prohibited as we have a wide age range. This site employs a profanity filter. Please use appropriate language. Character substitutions, spacing, spelling variations or any form of modified spelling in order to get the word to pass through the filter is absolutely prohibited. Continued threats against a member, moderator or administrator will NOT be tolerated. If you disagree with another member, respond to the subject, not the person as the Internet has made it easy to make personal attacks, you must still exercise courtesy and self-restraint here. Please use the PM (Private Messaging) system to resolve personal issues.

Take note that we have zero tolerance for racial, ethnic, religious, and any other discriminatory slurs. Offenses of this nature warrant more severe disciplinary action (immediate temporary or permanent removal from HowardForums.com).

Advertising/Spamming - Any form of advertising or soliciting members or commercial website linking (excluding signatures of current HowardForums advertisers) whether publicly posted (including signatures) or sent privately (including email or PM) is strictly prohibited. This also includes, but is not limited to advertising with the intent to 'help people', or to provide 'free' products or services (e.g. 'free unlocking' posts), or links containing a referral or affiliate ID.

Mentioning that you even have a commercial website (even if you don't link to it) is prohibited. While the forum is free for you to use, it is costly and time consuming for us to run, and unauthorized advertising makes it more difficult to fund the forums.

If you're interested in advertising in our Marketplace please visit this page. If you wish to discuss a different advertising arrangement please email [email protected].

Premium Members are allowed to have one referral/affiliate link in their signature provided that they do not link to malicious, illegal, or adult/explicit/objectionable material.

Multi-Level Marketing (aka "pyramid selling," "network marketing," "referral marketing," etc.) may be discussed in so far as how it works, but at no time may a member publicly or privately solicit or offer a referral or post a referral link.

Owners and affiliates of businesses profiting from selling mobile phone related products and services who desire a username that resembles the business's name or the URL of the business's website must contact us first about advertising prior to registering the username or modifying their current one. If you create or become affiliated with a mobile phone related business that has a name similar to your existing username, you must become an advertiser or change your username.

Privacy of members - Revealing personal information such as full names, mailing address or other information that is invasive of another's privacy without their express consent is prohibited.

Adult/Explicit/Objectionable content - As the forum is intended for a wide age group, any content including pictures or links to pictures must not be considered R or X-rated. What is considered overly sexual or potentially offensive will be determined at our discretion.

Malicious Links - Links to sites containing any malicious material (spyware, viruses, pop-up bombs/e-bombs, etc.) are prohibited. As these types of links are usually posted with malicious intent, offenses of this nature warrant more severe disciplinary action (immediate temporary or permanent removal from HowardForums.com).

Unlocking posts - Unlocking posts are fine so long as they're in the appropriate forums and they're not soliciting other members. Please refrain from posting your IMEI's.

Off topic posts - Please keep posts relevant to the particular forum title. It's natural for posts to become off topic but a great disruption of the flow of conversation will be moved to the Lounge at our discretion.

Cross/Double posting - Please post to the MOST relevant forum. Double or cross forum posting or other attempts at flooding the forum with posts will be removed.

Bumping - This refers to posting with the deliberate intention to either pad your post count or to keep a thread 'hot' so it appears at the top of the forum. These type of posts can be described as useless information, gibberish, redundant or one-liners. Please try our search tools to see if there has already been a similar discussion first.

Languages - All public content, including but not limited to titles, signatures or attachments MUST be in the English language. Additionally, usernames must not contain any non-English characters.

Signatures - Maximum size limit for a signature is 500 pixels high.

Group Buys - Please, there are to be no group buys.

Account Expiration - If your account is inactive (has not logged-in) after the following expiration times it will be made available to the general public again. 100 posts or less: 1 year since last log-in. 101-999 posts: 2 years since last log-in. 1000+ posts: 3 years since last log-in.

More rules - In addition to the rules posted here, members are required to abide by any individual forum rules which may be posted at the top of specific forums in the form of 'stickies' or 'announcements'.

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» What if I see something on the forums that violates a rule?
There is a "Report bad post" button on the bottom left side of each post or you can send a PM to either a Moderator listed at the bottom of the forum in which the questionable post resides or to an available Super Moderator if a Moderator is not listed.

» What if I've been banned?
Please keep in mind that as a busy forum we will not engage in protracted debates about your ban. If you have been banned for offenses other than spam, you will be given the opportunity to appeal your ban in a section reserved for banned members. If we suspect that you have signed up with a new username, that will also be banned. However, if you have mistakenly been banned (through no fault of your own) we apologize, and will investigate the matter.

» What if I don't understand a rule or not sure if I can post something?
We will not take ignorance of any rules or policies as an excuse for not following them. Please contact us first if you are unsure if the information you wish to post may conflict with our rules or policies.

» Account closure policy - We will consider account closure requests on a case by case basis. Please note that to maintain forum continuity your posts cannot be deleted. If you have privacy concerns please choose an anonymous username and try not to post anything.

» Contacting Administrators/Moderator Supervisor - Please keep in mind that as a busy forum the Administrators and the Moderator Supervisor do not have the time to get personally involved in every particular issue, nor is it appropriate for them to do so. As such they will not respond to issues unless deemed absolutely necessary and only when lesser means (as applicable) have failed.

For forum issues that are within Moderator purview your first avenue of recourse is to contact the forum Moderator (or Super Moderator if the forum does not have an assigned Moderator) via reported post or Private Message. If that fails to resolve the issue, you may then contact the Moderator Supervisor (who may defer to an Administrator if necessary) for assistance.

For issues with Moderators, please attempt to resolve it first with the Moderator in question. If that fails, you may then contact the Moderator Supervisor for assistance.

Last updated: May 6, 2018

TERMS OF USE

The owners of HowardForums.com ("WE", "US" OR "OUR") make this website (THE "SITE" OR THE "FORUM") available to you subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this legal agreement (THE "TERMS"). By browsing, using and/or registering with the Site, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by the Terms which we reserve the right to change at anytime by modifying this Notice. You are responsible for periodically visiting these Terms as your continued use of the Site indicates your acceptance of the then-current Terms. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS, DO NOT USE THE SITE.

PUBLIC DOMAIN
You acknowledge that any content or material that you post or distribute on the Forum becomes public information and not confidential. As such, this information or material may be freely used, copied and distributed, in any form, by anyone without your permission. In addition you agree not to post or distribute any information or material that is copyrighted by any third party without the express written consent of such party, and you agree to indemnify and hold us harmless from any claim arising out of or relating to your violation of this provision.

POSTING CONDUCT
By becoming a Forum member, you further agree to comply with the above stated posting rules.

Due to the real-time nature of the Forum, we cannot actively screen or monitor content and we are not obligated to do so, however, we reserve the right to edit or remove any content at anytime, without notice or explanation and in our sole discretion. You must also acknowledge that we cannot respond immediately to every notification of a member allegedly violating our rules and that some time may pass before and if we determine that further action is warranted at our sole discretion.

THIRD PARTY LINKS
We cannot be responsible or assume any liability for the contents of any third party web sites accessed through links from or to our Site. These links do not imply our endorsement or affiliation, are for convenience only and must be used at your sole risk.

SERVICE MODIFICATIONS
We may change, discontinue, limit or temporarily disable any aspect, feature or content of the Forum at any time without notice or liability.

ADVERTISEMENTS
We cannot and do not assume responsibility, and expressly disclaims all liability for any direct, consequential, or incidental damages arising from any interactions or transactions between you and merchants or sellers found on our Site. We make no warranties or representations of any kind as to the accuracy of the content of any form of advertisement on our Site, including, but not limited to banner ads, Marketplace or Buy Sell Trade posts or for any information on merchant or any third party sites linked from or to our Site. All responsibility of order processing, billing, fulfillment and customer service rests solely on the merchant or seller.

If you post advertising or promotions for your company or a company you work for or pose as a consumer discussing your business, you will be charged for advertising on our Site and hereby agree to pay in full an advertising fee for your posts of up to $2000 USD.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
The Forum is provided on an "as-is" basis without warranties of any kind, expressed or implied. Your use of the information contained within the Forum is at your sole risk. We cannot and do not assume responsibility, and expressly disclaim all liability, for the truthfulness, accuracy, reliability, completeness, safety, timeliness, legality or applicability of any material posted or otherwise transmitted by Forum users, and neither do we endorse opinions expressed by any users. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, SHALL WE BE MADE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF REVENUE OR PROFIT, LOST OR DAMAGED DATA, ARISING OUT OF THE USE, OR THE INABILITY TO USE THIS SITE, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR IF THEY ARE FORESEEABLE.


AGE RESTRICTION
In compliance with The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), we request that children under the age of 13 have the consent of a parent or guardian in order to register as a member on the Forum.

WEBSITE TRAFFIC AND ANALYSIS
We do not keep track of where you personally visit on our Site, however, we do monitor how members use our Site on an anonymous, aggregated basis. This information helps us improve the Site's delivery of information.

SHARING OF INFORMATION
We do not sell, rent or exchange any personal account information to any third party.

LEGAL DISCLOSURE
We will not release your account information unless we are required by law to do so, such as by court order.

POLICY CHANGES AND ACCEPTANCE
Changes to the Privacy Policy will be made in this Notice. Your use of the Site signifies your agreement to the current Policy.

THIRD PARTY AD SERVERS
We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Web Site. If so, a list of these ad serving companies will be available here. These companies may use information (generally, not including your name, address, e-mail address or telephone number) about your visits to this Web Site and to other web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. These companies may employ cookies and clear GIFs to measure advertising effectiveness. Any information that these third parties collect via cookies and clear GIFs is generally not personally identifiable (unless, for example, you provide personally identifiable information to them through an ad or e-mail message). We encourage you to read these businesses' privacy policies if you should have any concerns about how they will care for your personal information. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, see the Network Advertising Initiative's consumer web site at http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp.

Policies last updated: August 18, 2016