IAM TOS

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IAM.BME.COM TERMS OF SERVICE

Please note that these terms are subject to change. The last edition of the IAM TOS was published in 2002.

Please read this page in its entirety before creating a page here.

Contents

  1. How can you help?
  2. General Philosophy
  3. Staff and Support
  4. Civility
  5. Cost
  6. Avatars
  7. Identity
  8. Legal Issues
  9. Privacy
  10. Miscellaneous
  11. See Also

How can you help?

  1. If you see someone violating these rules, and it's a minor violation, drop them a POLITE message letting them know they're in violation. When you do, send them a link to this TOS document by typing "Please check out the [1]"
  2. If they don't stop, or it's a more serious violation, report the account here.
  3. If you see a deleted user sneak back onto IAM, please let us know if they are causing problems again.
  4. While this is a dictatorship, we do appreciate feedback on these rules and IAM in general and are open to change if the community feels it is appropriate.
  5. If someone tries to pick a fight with you, don't escalate it. If you fight back, it's possible you could lose your account as well.
  6. Once you're comfortable with the inner workings of IAM, take part in helping users who weren't able to figure it out in the tech support forum.
  7. You can help review media for BME and submit images and stories to BME via your profile.

General Philosophy

This site is not a free-for-all homepage builder (ie. it's not a livejournal/diaryland/whatever replacement), nor is it a scenester site (ie. it's not makeoutclub/notpopulaar/madradhair), nor is it a way for you to drive traffic to another site, be it an alternate homepage or be it a business. IAM is the community site for members of BME. It is a diverse community of people brought together by their interest in body modification. One of the site's fundamental concepts is that this is a home and a safe place. If you do not believe you can get along with the people here, then please don't bother going any further. You don't have to like everyone or agree with everyone, but you do have to be civil and not fight or disrupt the community.

In addition, please note that this site is funded in part by donations (and contains no advertising), but the bulk of the costs are covered personally by BME and Rachel. Also, this is all prototype software and while I do my best to protect your data, it is possible that it could be damaged. Always back up content you don't want to lose.

The following rules are quite strict. If you do not agree with them please do not maintain a page here. Except where noted, these rules operate under a loose zero-tolerance policy. Accounts in violation may be deleted without notice or warning. If you're not sure about any of these rules, please ask.

Staff and Support

IAM has no dedicated staff. The tech support forum (staffed by volunteers) is linked from the main index page of IAM.

Civility

  • Check your scene at the door. If your interest in body modification is because it is the byproduct (ie. "dress code") of a subcultural scene you are involved with, then IAM isn't the place for you. IAM is full of friends spanning all interests and age groups. If you do not think you can take part in a diverse community, and you feel that you will not be able to stop yourself from judging others for their "scene" or lack of it, then IAM isn't the place for you.
  • This site is intended to be a community of friends. Activity that damages the community is not acceptable -- this includes, but is not limited to, the malicious slandering of other IAM members or support of organizations opposed to BME/IAM or body modification in general.
  • You may not post hostile messages in other peoples forums, or send hostile unsolicited instant messages via IAM. If you have a dispute, keep it off this site. That is, if you object to what someone writes on their page, you can respond civily (ie. "I disagree with you because..." followed by a logical argument), but you may not respond with insults that contribute nothing to the debate (ie. "You're an idiot"). In addition, you can't go to someone's page and say "your tattoos suck" or "you're so fat" or whatever other lame thing is running through your head. If you think the conversation is going to turn into a fight, just don't have it -- it's not worth it.
  • You agree not to post unsolicited ads for contests, bbqs, businesses, or anything else in other people's forums or via instant messages where you are not a regular unless the forum is specifically related to your posting (ie. NO SPAMMING!). If you want to promote a BME-related event, you can use the broadcast features on the search tool.
  • You agree not to spam (ie. use the broadcast feature to send mass-messages) to people you don't know and don't know you.
  • IAM is a community built around principles of tolerance. You may not post hatespeech (race, gender, or sexuality-based attacks). This includes use of terms like "gay" or "fag" or "kike" or "retarded" in a derogatory manner, even in jest. This rule is very strict, and extends to racist codes and iconography ("14", "88", and so on), as well as NSBM and racist band lists and so on. This includes verifiable offsite posts. To be very clear about this: if you are a bigot, onsite or off, stay off IAM. This is not a ban on racism. This is a total ban on bigots.
  • You may not post disruptive HTML / Javascript in other's chat rooms.
  • You can use Javascript, etc. on your page, but overly obnoxious Javascript that disrupts browsers, etc. is not OK.
  • You agree not to ridicule other members. Stick to the "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" rule -- or, to use another idiom, "live and let live". That is, it's not OK to send a person a message along the lines of "your tattoos suck" or writing on your page about it. Are you here to have a positive experience, or are you here to fight -- it is your choice after all. That said, if your choice damages someone else's experience here, it may be your last choice here.
  • You may not edit your page and add/delete new entries so as to remain at the top of the recently updated list unless you're really making updates. If you are testing HTML or layout, just edit entries instead of adding and deleting them.
  • If you use your page to just complain about how much you hate IAM and/or its members or policies, and/or how you're deleting your page, your bluff will probably be called. (ie. Your page will be removed.) No one forces you to stay. If you don't like it here, leave. If you do, great, stay and have fun. If you don't like the way things are run here, go out and do it better. That's why this site exists, and if you're right in your beliefs, your site will be a success.

*Except when noted, the above are usually handled with a warning and temporary suspension of access to all or parts of IAM. In more extreme cases or in cases where a warning is not relevant, account removal may be immediate.

Cost

  • Under no circumstances may you use IAM to host images for another site (such as a Live Journal). Pay for your own bandwidth!
  • BME reserves the right to change pricing and/or access structure if our hosting costs change dramatically.
  • Some bonus features not related to the basic functionality of IAM may not be available to all users.
  • Some features not related to the community nature of IAM such as picture galleries may have daily limits set on them to ensure that one user doesn't consume far more resources than the average user. Currently a slight slowdown is inserted into these features during excessive use.

Avatars

  • If you use an adult avatar (that is, a genital or breast shot, or similar photo), you must rate is as "not safe for work" in order to allow safe browsing for IAM members who use IAM in environments where adult avatars would be inappropriate. (Click the blue RATE button under your main picture).
  • Your avatar should represent you or your personality. Misleading avatars used to "get people to click" are strongly discouraged as they are both contrary to the community purpose of the site, and artificially inflate the site's bandwidth (thereby increasing the cost of the site). Most commonly this means men using naked photos of women as their avatars.

*Pages that ignore the above will simply be taken out of main-page rotation. That is, you can still use the avatar you choose (assuming you have legal rights), but it won't be placed on the first page when you update.

Identity

  • You may only have one account at a time. If you want a name change, email support. If you create a second account with another email address, the newer of the two accounts will be deleted.
  • Accounts may not be used solely for the purpose of voyeurism or spying on specific members. This includes no running "secret identity" accounts (accounts which are deceptive as to who the owner is by misleading descriptions and/or pictures). A notice regarding this is automatically issued when the accounts are created, so accounts in violation will be deleted without secondary notice.
  • Usernames are permanent, so when you pick it, make sure it's really the one you want. If you delete your account, you will need a NEW BME password to activate another account -- you can't use the same BME account more than once.
  • Accounts are for one person only, except by special permission. First violation gets a warning, second violation results in the deletion of the account.
  • Passwords may not be shared, and under no circumstances may you use your IAM access to let non-members use or abuse the site. This includes sending non-members, especially blocked members copies of people's IAM pages. Accounts violating this rule may be removed without notice.
  • Your page must be about you (as in the "real" you). You may not maintain a "fake" identity -- this includes "art" pages. First violation results in a warning and a potential locking of the account. Subsequent refusal to comply to this rule results in account removal.
  • You may not impersonate others, nor may you run a blank page (you have a two week grace period to learn the ropes and add content). Accounts violating this rule are removed without notice.
  • You must have body modifications, and there must be at least some body modification content on your page. This means that you must have at least one of these things, within two weeks of creating your page: (a) Clear photo(s) of your body modifications in either your main gallery or in your modtracker, (b) Links to your body modification experiences on BME, (c) Links to your pictures on BME (link to the specific pictures, not to the mod gallery in general). This notice is given to everyone when the account is created, so accounts in violation may be removed without notice. In rare cases we make exceptions if you have a significant and positive involvement with the modified community. Please ask us first.
  • IAM is for non-commercial sites. Feel free to promote your business on your page, but the site must be owned by a person, and it's primary purpose should not be the promotion of your business. If you have any questions on this, please do ask first. Accounts in violation, including accounts whos primary purpose is selling jewelry semi-commercially via the classifieds may be removed without warning.
  • If you use IAM's usermatch features, you agree to fill out the details truthfully. First offense is a warning, second offense results in a blocking from the forum features.

Legal Issues

  • You must be at least 13 years old to use IAM. Younger users will be deleted unless they have verifiable parental consent.
  • You agree to accept full legal responsibility for anything you post on your own page and release BME et al. from any damages resulting from use or misuse of your page.
  • You agree not to post images you do not have the legal right to (ie. you must be the photographer or creator of any image you post). If you are not sure if you can legally use an image, DON'T. Pages which violate the copyright of others will be removed without notice, and your information may be turned over to the legal copyright holder should they decide to prosecute you. If you are unsure what this means, please click here for more (easy to read) information on copyright law. First violation results in a warning and the removal of the image, second violation results in account deletion.
  • If you are underage, you may not to post photos of a sexual nature. That means if you want to show genitals you have to be 18. If you want to show breasts in an adult context, you have to be 18. First violation results in warning and removal of the material, second violation results in account deletion.
  • If you are underage, you must stay off of pages with adult content.
  • You agree not to post large galleries of genital mods, or the same subject matter that's contained in the Hard and Surgical Galleries -- remember, it's those sites that pay to host IAM. I don't mind if you post a couple pictures to show your mods, but large galleries are NOT ok. In general this is dealt with by warnings.
  • You agree not to use your site to host free porn. First violation is a warning, second violation is account removal.
  • You may not use your site as a portal to warez / mp3s / passwordz sites. Generally this means immediate removal.

Privacy

  • Instant Messages are private, but recent IM logs may be examined in cases of dispute or other TOS violations.
  • BME may keep detailed logs of ALL activities on this site.
  • BME will not release these details to either the public or other companies unless legally required to do so.
  • BME may use this information to improve your experience at IAM or BME.
  • You agree not to hack or compromise the security or functionality of the site in any way and to report any vulnerabilities you discover. Any user doing this will be removed immediately.
  • While we do our best to protect the site's security, it could, in theory, get hacked and move these details out of our control.

Miscellaneous

  • This site is for friends of BME. This site is supported by BME and is meant to act as a service to its readers and supporters, and while you don't need to continue being an active BME member to use this site, it is strongly encouraged, and using this site in
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