Participants are responsible for reading and understanding these rules. By participating you agree to these rules.

Where did these rules come from? These participation rules are based on the rules developed by E-Demoracy.Org

Use your Real Name

If it is determined with careful consideration by the Moderator that a participant's actual identity is in question, that person will be suspended until proof of identity is provided. If it appears that fraud, forgery, identity theft, or computer crime laws have been violated, Surf Coast Shire will notify the appropriate legal authorities. Experience in other online discussion forums has shown that the use of real names rather than pseudonyms is more likely to result in a polite and respectful discussion. However, you may have a valid reason for not wanting to use your real name. In this case, an exception can be made and the Moderator can approve the use of an alias.

·        Keep to the Topic

·        Keep topics within the eForum purpose.

·        Be Civil

This is a public forum with real people. Please respect people with differing views. No insults, name calling or inflamed speech. Personal one-on-one arguments, disagreements or personality conflicts are not appropriate on a public discussion forum. Attempts at humour or sarcasm should be labelled ... ;-), :-), etc. No Attacks or Threats - This keeps the eForum safe. If content is illegal it will not be displayed. Personal attacks or public threats against the safety or security of participants are not allowed. If you receive private communication from another participant that causes you serious concern, you may communicate that to the Moderator, but no action should be taken by the Moderator to intervene in private disputes among individuals. If you feel you have privately received an illegal threat via email, you should contact the appropriate legal authorities. Surf Coast Shire is not responsible for any private behaviour.

Privacy

Private stays private. Don't forward private replies without permission of the original author.

No Rumours

Avoid false rumours. Rumours of a personal nature are not allowed. Asking for clarification of what you've heard in the community can be appropriate if issues-based. You alone are responsible for what you post.

Right to Post and Reply

Sharing your knowledge and opinions with your fellow citizens is a democratic right. Only those who are registered eForum members may post. Any person or organisation that is publicly mentioned in an eForum post has a right to reply. In order to post a reply, the individual (or an individual representing the organisation) must become a registered member of the eForum.

Items Not Allowed in Forums

No attachments. Send any files you wish to share to the Moderator, who will store them in the files section if they are relevant to the discussion. Commercial advertising and chain letters are prohibited from the eForum. Email based posts must be plain text without file attachments. Comments or complaints about forum management or complaints about member rule violations must not be posted to the main forum. Instead, direct such messages privately to the Moderator. Public event promotions and links to commercial, media, or non-profit online content related to the scope of the eForum are appropriate. Participant "signatures" providing links to the work or projects of an individual are acceptable, but the display of specific products for sale are not allowed. Surf Coast Shire may acknowledge eForum sponsors in messages or on the web site.

Public Content and Use

You are sharing your content, but retain your copyright. By posting an original message, the message author agrees to allow Surf Coast Shire to distribute the message via email and the Internet and to include it in a publicly accessible online archive in perpetuity. While original message authors retain their personal copyright, they grant others the right to publicly quote portions of their message in any medium. Further, the full text of messages may be forwarded via email to others as long as the author's name and the eForum's name and web address are cited or linked. With copyrighted material like newspaper articles, you may post quotations from articles or web sites with the source URL. "Fair use" of excerpts (not the full text) is encouraged.

Warnings and Suspension

Surf Coast Shire eForum is moderated by Council officers. Moderators reserve the right not to publish postings that are deemed offensive, illegal or otherwise unsuitable. Should a posting to Surf Coast Shire eForum be deemed objectionable, the moderator will contact the author, explain the reasons and encourage the participant to revise the posting so that it is acceptable. You may lose your right to participate based on your behaviour in the eForum. You may also regain your rights. You may receive informal or official warnings from the Moderator if your postings violate the eForum rules. After two official warnings, you will be suspended from the eForum for the duration of the current topic discussion. You can register again for any of the following topics of discussion. Technical maintenance, full e-mail inboxes, or excessive bounced messages may cause a member to be temporarily or technically removed from the eForum or result in a delayed distribution of their posts. In these cases, the member may rejoin the forum at any time.

Moderator Responsibilities

Moderators shall behave in a manner that models good participation skills to other participants. The Moderator accepts, rejects or holds messages for posting. The moderator may propose message changes by email to a registered member to conform to the participation guide and rules. The Moderator will respect your privacy. Any personal information given to Surf Coast Shire for your subscription to Surf Coast Shire eForum will be used only for the purpose for which it was intended. Should these rules be amended, the Moderator will announce the changes in the eForum.

eForum Sponsor and Publisher

Surf Coast Shire as the sponsor and publisher of Surf Coast Shire eForum is legally liable for its content. To minimise the possibility of legal litigation, Moderators screen postings prior to publication. Postings are screened to ensure that the participation rules are respected. Postings are not screened to prohibit different views from those of Council.

Please provide feedback to the Moderator eforum@surfcoast.vic.gov.au