          <h2>Search Engine Forums: Terms of Service / Rules and Conditions</h2>              

          <b>General/Legal</b>
          <p>
          Considering the real-time nature of these forums, it is impossible for us to review messages as they happen or confirm the validity of information posted. Please remember that while we do actively monitor the contents of the Search Engine Forums, we are not respon
          sible for any messages posted.
          </p>

          <p>
          We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of the owners of these forums. Before taking action as a result of information posted in the forums, take the time to research and evaluate the accuracy of that information.
          </p>

          <p>
          Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to contact a Staff member immediately by e-mail or private message. We have the ability and right to remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, so please realize that we may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately.
          </p>

          <p>
          You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the owners of the Search Engine Forums and their agents with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s).
          </p>

          <p>
          searchengineforums.com, like all Discussion forums are a public discussion medium.  As such, posts made in the forums are publicly viewable, and will, in all likelihood, be indexed by the major Internet search engines.   Your username, and anything that you post in the forums is potentially visisble by anyone with an Internet connection.  We highly recommend not using your own name as your forum identity (choose a "nickname" for yourself instead), and remind you that as your posts are public, not to post anything here that you wouldn't post in any other public medium.  Note that private messages between users are exactly that -- private, and not viewable to the public or indexable by search engines.
          </p>

          <p>
          The owners of the Search Engine Forums 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 from any message posted by you.
          </p>

          <p>
          We do not allow registrations from anyone under the age of 13. If you are under 13 years old you are invited to read these forums as much as you want, however we are not able to offer you the right to post in the forums as that would involve asking you for information that violates United States law.);
          </p>

          <p>
          By registering and making posts to the Search Engine Forums you agree to abide by the Forum rules, both stated and unstated. Further you agree that any messages and their complete contents, become the sole and exclusive property of the operators of the Search Engine Forums. We have the sole and exclusive rights to modify, delete, or make any use whatsoever both in the Forums and in any other location and medium, of all content posted to these Forums.
          </p>


          <hr width='75%' color='black'>
          <b>Code Of Conduct</b>
          <p>
          In the interest of creating a discussion forum environment that encourages active posting by both new and long-term members, SEF has created a "Code of Conduct" that all posters in our forums must adhere to.
          </p>

          <ul>
            <li>
            You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use the Search Engine Forums to post any material which is <b>knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, rude, disrespectful, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law.</b>
            <br /><br />
            </li>

            <li>
            You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by the owners of the Search Engine Forums.
            <br /><br />
            </li>

            <li>Advertisements of any type, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are not permitted
            <br /><br />
            </li>

            <li>
            <b>Absolutely NO flaming.</b> Posts containing hostile language or rudeness directed at staff or other members will not be tolerated. All flames will be immediately deleted and posters who engage in flaming will be issued an official warning from staff.
            <br /><br />
            </li>

            <li>
            <b>Adult content is prohibited.</b> Because the Search Engine Forums are family friendly, discussion or linking of adult sites is prohibited by the TOS. Links to adult content and/or posting of jokes or comments of an adult nature in either forum posts or user profile are prohibited. All links to adult content, within forum posts will be immediately deleted and the posters will be issued an official warning from staff.   Adult links located within your user profile will be deleted by the administrator.
            <br /><br />
            </li>

            <li>
            <b>Self promotion is prohibited.</b> The Search Engine Forums are designed to be an educational environment. Posters who solicit work within threads, or who make posts for the sole purpose of linking to their own content will be issued an official warning from staff.
           <br /><br />
            <!-- Users who wish to solicit work from one another are encouraged to do so in <a href='/marketplace/'><b>The Marketplace</b></a>, an area of Virtual Promote that is specifically setup for the purpose of allowing our members to acquire paid services from one another.
            <br /><br />
            -->
            </li>

            <li>
            <b>Dishonesty is prohibited, full disclosure required</b> If you wish feedback on a product or service that you offer, please disclose, in full, your affiliation with the company/product/service that you are posting about, as well as a detailed explanation of what type of feedback you would like from our membership.  Posts along the lines of "I found this great website ... what do you think of it?" or "Has anyone used 'xyz.com', I hear it's great!", when in fact you are the owner of the named company is in direct violation of our code of conduct and is grounds for administrative review of your membership status.  Note that in all cases, the proper location for posts of this nature is in the "Site Review" forum, at gethighforums.com
            <br /><br />
            </li>

            <li>
            <b>Company/Corporate Participation is encouraged.</b> Your activity in discussions related to your product or services are vital both to you, and to SEF.  Essentially, it ensures that proper, verifiable information is given to our membership, by an accountable party.  Sometimes, in online forums, discussions related to a particular product/service can contain mis-information, heresay, etc. This does a disservice to the company providing that service, and offers nothing of real value to our membership reading that particular discussion. That being said, we do not allow blatant advertising, or sales-pitchy posts by companies, nor do we allow link-dropping, except where absolutely necessary to the content of the post.  We also discourage companies from posting negative-isms about their competition.  Leave that to the members, and the other company will come in to defend themselves. In discussions related to a product/service, a company representative can help us to get the facts out there, and since the company is generally tightly involvedin their own industry, we encourage you to offer more than just the company line, but also to offer your expertise and educate us along the way.  We ask that companies use this clause with latitude.
            <br /><br />
            </li>

            <li>
            <b>Thread hi-jacking will not be tolerated.</b> All posters must respect the rights of other members to post questions, comments and ideas that do not agree with their own. Please keep your posts "on topic" i.e. relevant to the subject(s) of the thread.
            <blockquote>
            <i>
            The Search Engine Forums have provided a "member lounge" for more casual and social chat. Please keep items of interest to the community that are not related to the forum topics to this area. Any poster who makes posts or comments designed at hi-jacking or derailing any user thread will be issued an official warning from staff.
            </i>
            </blockquote>
            </li>

            <li><b>No signatures.</b> In order to reduce the clutter of the forums and create an educational environment, the signing of posts with "tag lines," URLs, e-mail addresses or other signature content is prohibited. Please keep all references to your web site, your e-mail address and your skills within your user profile. Posts containing signatures will be edited and posters will be issued an official warning from staff.
            <blockquote>
              The following examples are all signatures: <br /><br />

              Bill Smith <br />
              ABC Enterprises Inc <br />
              "Our Service Can't be Beat" <br />

              <br />

              Bill Smith <br />
              ABC Enterprises Inc<br />

              <br />

              Bill Smith<br />

              <br />

              <i>Note: Use of your first name e.g. "Bill", is permitted and can make your post friendlier.</i>
            </blockquote>

            <li>
            When using our forums to hire consultants, hire employees, buy or sell web sites, make agreements to barter products or services, or any other arrangement between Members, be aware that performing due diligence is your responsibility. <b>SEF makes NO ENDORSEMENT of any Member or company involved in this process</b>.
            <br /><br />
            </li>

            <li>
            <b>Do not show disrespect for any Staff or Member.</b>.  This includes derogatory, defamatory, or irrelevant personal remarks, threats, or other such public displays of personal rhetoric.
            <br /><br />
            </li>

          </ol>

          <b>Enforcement</b>

          <p>
          <b>This Code of Conduct enforces both a "three strikes you're out" policy for repeated violation of TOS and an immediate banning policy for extreme infractions.</b> <i>When necessary, posters who have broken forum rules will receive an official warning from staff via the forums' "private message" feature. After two warnings, a third infraction will result in immediate termination of the account without further notice. (<b>It is the responsibility of each forum member to check their PMs on a regular basis.</b>) </i>
          </p>

          <b>Grounds for Immediate Banning from the Forums.</b>

          The following infractions are grounds for immediate, no-questions-asked banning from the Search Engine Forums. <br /><br />

          <ol>
             <li>
             <b>Drive-by Spamming.</b> Users who register and post for the sole purpose of linking to their own sites will be immediately banned from the forums.
             <br /><br />
             </li>

             <li><b>Threatening Posters.</b> Users who make physical threats against staff or members via forum posts, private messages or e-mail will be immediately banned from the forums. Posters who receive such threats should immediately contact a staff member and should save the original copy of the threat.
             <br /><br />
             </li>
          </ol>