Chat Policies

General terms

Membership is available to anyone who registers all required information, provides an accurate, legitimate electronic mail address, and obtains a unique Wagmytail.com, Inc. member name and password. In the case that a prior membership held by the registrant was revoked by Wagmytail.com, Inc., and not by request of the account holder, a new membership will be available only with the express approval of Wagmytail.com, Inc.

While Wagmytail.com, Inc. acknowledges freedom of speech as a constitutional right set forth in the Constitution of the United States of America, it is imperative that the member recognizes that Wagmytail.com, Inc. is not public domain. By participating in Wagmytail.com, Inc. chat rooms, the member agrees with the terms set for in the Wagmytail.com, Inc. Chat Policy. The member will observe the policies and regulations implemented in the Wagmytail.com, Inc. Chat Policy.

Wagmytail.com, Inc. does not and cannot monitor each and every message posted. Wagmytail.com, Inc. is not responsible for any messages posted, and does not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, validity, completeness, or usefulness of any message. The messages express the views of their authors, which are not necessarily the views of Wagmytail.com, Inc.

Wagmytail.com, Inc. reserves the right to delete any message for any or no reason whatsoever. You are solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Wagmytail.com, Inc. and its agents with respect to any claim arising out of or related to your message(s). We also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising out of or related to any message posted by you. We reserve the right to end a discussion, lock or remove a thread, if we believe the discussion to be harmful to a Wagmytail.com, Inc. community member (this includes opinion polls), or to the business of Wagmytail.com, Inc. Threads may be closed at the request of the originator, although they may occasionally be kept open at the Moderator's discretion.

Online conduct should be guided at all times by common sense and basic etiquette. This basic premise applies to all Wagmytail.com, Inc. members as well as the Wagmytail.com, Inc. staff. Abuse of or by any of our members and/or staff will not be permitted.

Specific Policy Guidelines

The Moderator will rely on his/her common sense and judgment when making moderation calls. You will be considered in breach of these Chat Policy Guidelines if you violate any of the following:

1. No Harassment of Any Kind: No harassment will be tolerated whether sexual, abusive, obscene, racial or ethnical, or defamatory. To harass includes to threaten, bash, or intimidate another member, or Wagmytail.com, Inc. and its staff. Death threats or threats of bodily harm will result in the removal of the post and immediate and permanent suspension of the member who issued the threat. Wagmytail.com, Inc. may forward any pertinent information requested by the proper authorities. The ISP of the user who issued the threat may also be notified by Wagmytail.com, Inc. regarding such online activities.
   
   Harassment is defined as follows:
   
   
   1. Sexual Harassment: adj: have, relating to, or involving sex or the sexes.
      
      
   2. Abusive Harassment: coarse and insulting speech.
      
      
   3. Obscene Harassment: deeply offensive to morality or decency, vulgar, crude, and
      
      
   4. Racial or Ethnical Harassment: a belief that some races and ethnic groups naturally are superior to others, with discrimination based on this belief.
      
      
   5. Defamatory Harassment: to injure or destroy the reputation of another by libel or slander.
      
      
   6. Harassment: to exhaust, fatigue, annoy continually, pester, plague, or tease.
      
      
   7. Threaten: an expression of intent to do harm, to give signs or warnings.
      
      
   8. Bash: to attack physically or verbally.
      
      
   9. Intimidate: to bully, make timid or fearful, or frighten.
      
      Source: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated copyright 1999
      
      
2. Create or Attempt to Create Multiple Accounts: You may not create, attempt to create, or use any multiple account(s) on Wagmytail.com, Inc. without the express approval of Wagmytail.com, Inc.. We reserve the right to immediately and permanently revoke any account that we believe was created by a suspended or revoked member, or any account that we believe was created for the sole purpose of disrupting the forum.
   
   
3. Impersonate a Member: It is forbidden to impersonate another member or individual. Impersonating a member, celebrity, Wagmytail.com, Inc. staff member, or administrator/moderator will result in immediate expulsion from the community.
   
   
4. Password Access: It is forbidden to attempt to access other member's passwords, account information, or private information. Remember Wagmytail.com, Inc. employees will NEVER ask for your password. Do not ever give your password out to anyone.
   
   
5. Collection of Member Information: It is forbidden to collect member information via our member information retrieval function. The use of such information for sending unsolicited bulk e-mail is strictly prohibited, as is engaging in unsolicited commercial spamming of Wagmytail.com, Inc. message center forums, or Wagmytail.com, Inc. members via email. This includes promoting chain letters or pyramid schemes, illegal or not.
   
   
6. Advertising on the Boards: You may not advertise products or services in the Message Center or to our members. This includes (but is not limited to) Competing sites or businesses, and pet related discussion forums. Company agents may answer questions about services in a strictly factual and non-promotional manner if asked; however, Wagmytail.com, Inc. reserves the right to end a discussion if we believe that your company or any of its agents initiated or are perpetuating the discussion, or are promoting services.
   
   
7. Specialized Chat Rooms: We have designed different Chat Topics for your convenience. Please keep those topics on the correct boards. Cutting and pasting information from other boards is prohibited and could be cause to permanent suspends you from all chat privileges.
   
   
8. Suspended Members: You may not post emails of a suspended member or any other member without permission. Registered members will not be allowed to negate a suspension by acting as conduits for suspended members.
   
   
9. Post Information of Another Member: You may not post private email without first obtaining permission from the original author and all prior recipients of the posted material, and you must edit out the name, email address, and/or other information identifying the author. It must be clearly stated within your message that permission has been obtained in the case that an email is posted.
   
   
   1. You may not post private information about any person that is not readily available to the general public. This includes, but is not limited to, phone numbers, addresses, full names, email addresses. Please remember that you are expected to treat your fellow community members, as well as the moderator(s) and Wagmytail.com, Inc. staff members, with respect and consideration. Our moderator(s) and staff members will also treat you with the same respect and consideration. If improper behavior by a moderator or Wagmytail.com, Inc. staff member is observed, please email clientservices@wagmytail.com
   
   
10. Ratings: A PG13 level of chat must be maintained at all times in all chat boards, unless a particular chat room specifies otherwise.
    
    
11. Moderation and Enforcement: Moderation of messages for the most part will be public. Note that while the email address of the Moderator is available, the Moderator may not discuss moderations or board activities in email and, in general, will only acknowledge receipt of the email. Public moderation is not done to embarrass or upset the message poster but, rather, to serve as a learning experience for all members. Most messages will not be deleted unless they contain obscene, vulgar, or sexual references, are invasive of a person's privacy, are threatening, harmful to the business or members of Wagmytail.com, Inc., or are otherwise in gross violation of these Chat Policy Guidelines. The poster will most often be warned in the same thread, with the relevant portion of the message quoted as necessary. Moderations will typically follow a three-step process:
    
    
    1. Informal Warning: An informal warning may result if the Moderator feels that a member has violated any of the Chat Policy Guidelines outlined above. The Moderator will issue the warning by clearly stating it as such.
       
       
    2. Formal Warning: If a member has received an informal warning and, in the next 30 days breaches the same or another guideline, the member may receive a formal warning. Formal warnings may also be issued immediately, bypassing the informal, for gross breaches of the Chat Policy Guidelines, directly insulting another user, or arguing a moderation call in the thread.
       
       
    3. Suspension: A member who has been issued a formal warning and again breaches Chat Policy Guidelines within 30 days may receive a suspension. Suspensions may last 24 hours to 30 days, depending upon the severity of the violation. The length of the suspension will be determined by the Moderator. Continued violations after return from suspension may result in the member's account being permanently terminated.
    
    
12. Dispute or Ask a Question: We reserve the right to suspend a member, with or without an informal or formal warning, for any and all actions which, in the opinion of the Moderator, are blatantly disruptive to the forum, or greatly compromise the safety, comfort, and/or enjoyment of the forum by other users. The appeal process is available by contacting Moderation@WagMyTail.com. In the event of a dispute between a moderator and a Wagmytail.com, Inc. member, Wagmytail.com, Inc. has set up a moderation email account. This account will allow our users and moderators to present their concerns, via email, in case of a dispute between a moderator and a member. Wagmytail.com, Inc. will respond to the email and come to an agreement within 48 hours. Please be aware that Wagmytail.com, Inc. reserves the right to determine the final outcome of a dispute. If you have a dispute or simply would like to ask a moderator question, email us at Moderation@wagmytail.com.