In general, we want our site to be the kind of place where people can have spirited discussions and yet still be considerate of each other. That is the example set by the participants on The Haiku Foundation blog, and that is the kind of community that we want to promote in all of our discussion areas. If questions arise as to what is and what is not appropriate in our discussion areas, we hope the following guidelines will provide answers.

Overview

1. All views expressed on The Haiku Foundation web site are the views of the authors. They are not necessarily the views of The Haiku Foundation.
2. Your participation in our discussion areas is contingent upon your interacting in a friendly manner with the community. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone, for any reason, at any time.
3. If you habitually present a poem or other work as yours, yet it bears too close a resemblance to the work of others, you will be warned and could be banned from participating on our site.
4. Flaming of moderators will not be tolerated. They are volunteers offering an important service to us all. Flaming a moderator will get you banned without warning for one month. If it happens again, you will be banned for a year.
5. Comments should be diplomatic and respectful. Please attempt to make your comments constructive and of the type that you would like to hear yourself.
6. Moderators have the ability to warn or ban people who are violating The Haiku Foundation Code of Conduct. We hope that it won’t be necessary to do this. Again, be respectful of the community members and The Haiku Foundation helpers and this should not be a problem. Moderators and the Board retain final say regarding any and all conflicts and their resolution.
7. Comments that are abusive, offensive or obnoxious may be deleted without warning or consultation. The author of such a comment may be warned or banned as determined by a moderator. The Haiku Foundation is not responsible for deleted material, posts, images, poems, comments or any other written material that may or may not have value to you or others.
8. Please stay on topic. (Moderators may comment regarding conduct on a thread but all other members should stay on topic.) Off topic posts may be removed without warning. If a thread needs to be removed, moderators, generally, will give a 24 hours notice of such intention. If the thread is bad enough, they can and will remove it immediately without warning.
9. While we encourage spirited discussions, please be tolerant of other’s positions and feelings. We all have our opinions. There is nothing to win by winning an argument here.
10. Protests and the like are against The Haiku Foundation policy. This is not a political forum.
11. Spam or comments posted repeatedly in a thread or multiple threads on the same topic, links unrelated to the thread subject, and other actions deemed spam by our moderators may be deleted without notice or warning.
12. No advertising. Please do not post threads designed to drive traffic to another thread for the purpose of promotion or personal gain.
13. Signatures should be no more than 300 characters.
14. No ban evasion or multiple accounts are allowed. This will result in a permanent ban.
15. If you end up in what appears to be an irresolvable problem with another member, please let it go. There is nothing to be accomplished by continuing on and it might end up getting you warned and/or banned.
16. Do not harass, stalk or verbally abuse another member.
17. Do not troll or consistently attempt to cause community unrest.
18. Do not ignore moderator requests. This will result in warning and/or ban.
19. Be careful of your use of explicit language as a few of the areas of the forum are open to public viewing and therefore, minors.
20. Please do not solicit personal information from members under the age of 18.

Warning / Ban Process

When members break the rules, they will first receive a warning. Next, they will receive a one week ban. Following that, a one month ban. Lastly, they will be banned for one year or possibly for life. The decisions of moderators and or staff are final. Under certain conditions, as determined by a moderator and/or staff, a ban can be used as the initial step of The Haiku Foundation action – bypassing the warning stage altogether. Flaming a moderator will cause an immediate one month ban without warning. A second offense will cause a one year ban.