THE ARROGANT ATHEIST FORUM USERS' AGREEMENT

Initial Information
The purpose of this forum is to promote discussions on philosophy, reason, religion, atheist culture and science. The Arrogant Atheist wants to encourage an open exchange of information and ideas but we cannot and do not review every post made in the forums. You can expect these areas to include information and opinions from a variety of individuals and organisations other than The Arrogant Atheist.

Responsibility
Responsibility for what is posted in the forums on The Arrogant Atheist lies with each user: you alone are responsible for all material you post. By using The Arrogant Atheist, you agree not to post or transmit any defamatory, abusive, threatening or illegal material, or any other material with the intent to purposely mislead, harm or infringe on the ability of others to enjoy The Arrogant Atheist. You may challenge and criticise posts robustly but personal attacks on other members are not permitted.

You may not:

* Use this forum to promote hatred of any ethnic group, gender or sexual orientation.
* Make multiple accounts.
* Circumvent banning or denied service (enforced by legal action).
* Gather email addresses that users voluntarily post for purposes of sending unsolicited email of any kind. You may not use any part of The Arrogant Atheist forum to send SPAM or to promote a business(es) or other website(s).
* Post illegal propositions or questions.

Soliciting
You agree not to use The Arrogant Atheist to advertise, promote a business or to solicit anyone to buy or sell products or services without explicit permission of The Arrogant Atheist. Any frequent posting (or Internet link to a website) by an individual(s) concerning a particular business/website/forum or personal website (YouTube, Social networking site, or otherwise) will be deemed to be inappropriate promotion and/or marketing, subjecting the poster to removal and ban with or without warning.

Spamming
Occasionally, users post their email addresses, personal websites, social networking sites and instant messaging accounts in our forums and other public posting areas or decide to make visible their e-mail in their account. You agree not to gather these email addresses, personal websites, social networking sites, Instant Messaging accounts or any other contact information for purposes of spamming i.e. sending unsolicited email or messages. You may not use any part of The Arrogant Atheist to send SPAM or to promote a business(es) or ANY other website(s).

Right to Access
The Arrogant Atheist retains the right to deny access to anyone who we believe has violated any of our terms of service, whether an actual violation has occurred or not. Note: the "Right to Free Speech" does not apply to private forums or The Arrogant Atheist. Your right to post on The Arrogant Atheist is a privilege granted by The Arrogant Atheist and can be revoked at will.

Identity and Access
You may not register more than one account on The Arrogant Atheist without express permission of The Arrogant Atheist administration. You may not permit any person (other than an agent acting on your behalf and subject to your supervision) to access, using your account, any features of The Arrogant Atheist that may require registration.

Circumventing Denied Service
We retain the right to deny access to The Arrogant Atheist to anyone, for any reason, including negligent or wrongful conduct. Creating new or additional accounts, or accessing the site from a cloaked or proxies account, after being denied service, constitutes negligent and/or intentional interference with The Arrogant Atheist contractual rights and can subject the violator to criminal and/or civil liability. All offending parties will be identified and reported to authorities so that legal remedies for any/all damages can (and will) be vigorously pursued.

Sex and Nudity
Discussions on sexuality are limited to scientific queries and topics. Images containing nudity are limited to established works of art or in a medical/scientific context, posted in relevant topics and must be suitable for all ages/safe for viewing at work. All threads or posts containing material which contravenes the above is subject to removal from the site immediately.

Accuracy
We do not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any posting, regardless of whether the posting comes from a user, from a celebrity or "expert" guest, or from a member of our staff. Any advice posted is used at your own risk.

Monitoring and Disclosure
The Arrogant Atheist does not and cannot monitor all the postings in the forums and other public areas. However, The Arrogant Atheist reserves the right (but assumes no obligation) to delete, move or edit any postings that come to our attention that we consider unacceptable or inappropriate, whether for legal or any other reasons. The Arrogant Atheist will comply with any applicable legal requirements regarding disclosure or removal of posts.

Proprietary Rights
The Internet allows people throughout the world to share valuable information, ideas and creative works. To ensure continued open access to such materials, we all need to protect the rights of those who share their creations or information with us.

The Arrogant Atheist expects that you will not use the service to violate anyone's copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights. By submitting material to The Arrogant Atheist, you are representing that you are the owner of the material; are making your submission with the express consent of the owner; or have legal authorisation and/or rights to submit any non-owned property.

Disruption of Service
The Arrogant Atheist takes any disruption of The Arrogant Atheist and its interests very seriously. Any attempts to disrupt the site, server, features or resources will be investigated, documented and recorded by our security team. A suspected security violation will result in the documents, logs and other communication exchanged between parties (including e-mails, Private Messages or recorded phone calls), used as evidence to support criminal prosecution and/or civil action(s). The Arrogant Atheist will work in conjunction with Internet Service Providers; local, state or federal law enforcement and our attorneys, to identify any persons using cloaked or proxied IP's in an attempt to access or disrupt the site anonymously. Along with all evidentiary materials, offending parties will be identified and reported to authorities. Legal remedies for any/all damages will be vigorously pursued.

Use of Materials
Although we make The Arrogant Atheist freely accessible, we don't intend to give up our rights, or anyone else's rights, to the materials appearing on The Arrogant Atheist . The materials available through The Arrogant Atheist are the property of The Arrogant Atheist or its licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws. You are free to display and print for your personal, non-commercial use information you receive through The Arrogant Atheist but you may not otherwise reproduce any of the materials without the prior consent of the owner. You may not distribute copies of materials found on The Arrogant Atheist in any form (posting on other websites, by email or other electronic means), without prior permission from the owner. However, links to The Arrogant Atheist are always appreciated and welcome.

Material Submitted
All materials, photos or videos you submit to any of our forums and other public posting areas become the property of The Arrogant Atheist and may be reproduced, modified and distributed by The Arrogant Atheist without restriction, in any medium, and for any purpose. Posting of any material on The Arrogant Atheist gives expressed waiver and release of any/all rights, legal, moral, or otherwise, to said material(s). (Embedded or linked images/videos hosted elsewhere do not count as submitted material.) You may edit posted material for up to 48 hours after it is initially posted, but you may not edit posts to such an extent that it substantially alters posts to which others have responded.

Moderation
This is a moderated forum and staff monitor posts to ensure reasonable compliance with the Users' Agreement. Members of this forum usually post in accordance with the Users' Agreement but when this doesn't happen, staff use a range of strategies to address this. Depending on the situation, the strategies include advice; suggestions; requests; informal warnings and formal warnings.

Staff will issue immediate, permanent bans for spammers and anyone who opens a sock puppet account while suspended/banned.

If a member wishes to appeal against a sanction, s/he should send e-mail The Arrogant Atheist via the contact form on their website.

Legal Disclosure
Use of The Arrogant Atheist acknowledges your awareness of this User's Agreement. By posting on The Arrogant Atheist, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless The Arrogant Atheist, its affiliates and their officers, volunteers, directors, employees, agents, licensors and/or suppliers from and against any/all losses, expenses, damages and costs (including reasonable attorneys' fees) resulting from any violation of this User's Agreement, or any activity related to your account (including negligent or wrongful conduct) by you or any other person accessing your account.

Donations
Donations to The Arrogant Atheist Forum are non-refundable. These donations do not entitle the user to special priveleges or benefits and do not exempt the user from these terms of service. The title associated with the donation amount is an equivalent of "Citizen" status on the forum and carries with it no special rights, priveleges or benefits. The title may be revoked at any time for any reason, including but not limited to a breach of the terms of service, at which time the donation amount will not be refunded.

v. 1.2 - 2009