Ask Others Terms

Forum terms and conditions

Summary:

What are the Rules?

  • No abuse, insults or personal attacks. Abuse, insults and personal attacks directed at other people, particularly other Kanaruni users, are unacceptable. We have a very simple definition of "personal attack" in here - the word "you" (either stated or implied) combined with a negative comment. If you disagree with someone on some point, please do not resort to name calling or personal attacks, rather argue the merits of their points. This is not a school playground, nor is it an FPS game. You don't have to call people names to get your point across. Please note that attacking people you perceive to be "trolls", "fanbois" or "flame baiters" still counts as a personal attack, and your posts will be removed as such. If you have a problem with someone's behaviour, please contact a mod.
  • No foul language
  • No trolling (A post in a thread or news comment that is solely intended to incite controversy or conflict or cause annoyance or offense is considered "trolling".)
  • No inappropriate or illegal material
  • No "For Sale" or "Wanted to Buy"
  • No business advertising
  • No crossposting (posting the same message to multiple forums)
  • No forum spamming
  • No "religious" debates
  • No defamatory comments
  • No requests for referral credits
  • No complaints about moderation

The rules apply to all of the following:

• post contents
• quoting of post contents
• thread titles
• quips
• usernames
• wiki entries
• web links on personal pages
• public email addresses
• any other text field you can enter text into
 

For more information about general internet conduct Kangaruni advises to read the rules set up by Netiquettes: www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

These forum terms and conditions are part of the general terms and conditons stated here.

While Xpress Information does not control the information/materials posted to the Forums facilities by users (the "Messages"), it reserves the right (which it may exercise at its sole discretion without notice) to delete, move or edit the Messages and to terminate your access to and use of Forums. When you submit content to Kangaruni.com or Kangaruni.com.au in any format, including any text, photographs, graphics, video or audio, you grant Xpress Information a non-exclusive, royalty –free, perpetual license to publish that content. You agree that Xpress Information can use that content in any way, now and in the future. Xpress Information also reserves the right not to use the content you submit. You warrant that you have all of the necessary rights, including copyright, in the content you contribute, that your content is not defamatory and that it does not infringe any law. You indemnify Xpress Information against any and all legal fees, damages and other expenses that may be incurred by Xpress Information as a result of a breach of the above warranty. You waive any moral right sin your contribution for the purposes of its submission to and publication on the Site.

User Conduct

You are solely responsible for the content of your Messages. You must comply with any rules posted by Xpress Information on the Forum. You may not:
  • post, link to or otherwise publish any Messages containing any form of advertising or promotion for goods and services or any chain Messages or "spam";
  • post, link to or otherwise publish any Messages with recommendations to buy or refrain from buying a particular security or which contain confidential information of another party or which otherwise have the purpose of affecting the price or value of any security:
  • Kangaruni is open to everyone. As such intolerance or vilification of other people's race, culture, beliefs, height, weight, hair colour, IQ, gender, physical or mental conditions, shoe size, sexual preference / orientation, religion, age, etc is unacceptable. You may not upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available any content that we deem to be harmful, threatening, unlawful, defamatory, infringing, abusive, inflammatory, harassing, vulgar, obscene, fraudulent, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable, infringe copyright or other rights of third parties or which contain any other form of illegal content;
  • Upload, post, transmit, share or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
  • Disguise the origin of any Messages;
  • Impersonate any person or entity (including Xpress Information employees or Forum guests or hosts) or misrepresent any affiliation with any person or entity. Falsely state or otherwise misrepresent yourself, your age or your affiliation with any person or entity;
  • Post or otherwise publish any Messages unrelated to the News Sharing tool, Blog or Forum or the News sharing tool’s Blog’s or Forum's topics;
  • Post or transmit any Messages that contain software viruses, files or code designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of the Site or any computer software or equipment;
  • Collect or store other users' personal data;
  • Restrict or inhibit any other user from using the News sharing facilities, Forums or Blogs.
  • You understand that except for advertising programs offered by us on the Site the Service and the Site are available for your personal, non-commercial use only. You represent, warrant and agree that no materials of any kind submitted through your account or otherwise posted, transmitted, or shared by you on or through the Service will violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other personal or proprietary rights; or contain defamatory or otherwise unlawful material.
  • Harvest or collect email addresses or other contact information of other users from the Service or the Site by electronic or other means for the purposes of sending unsolicited emails or other unsolicited communications;
  • Use the Service or the Site in any unlawful manner or in any other manner that could damage, disable, overburden or impair the Site;
  • Use automated scripts to collect information from or otherwise interact with the Service or the Site;
  • Upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available any videos that contain copy right material. Videos of a personal nature: (i) are of you or your friends, (ii) are taken by you or your friends, or (iii) are original art or animation created by you or your friends;
  • Register for more than one User account, register for a User account on behalf of an individual other than yourself, or register for a User account on behalf of any group or entity;
  • Upload, post, transmit, share or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, solicitations, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," or any other form of solicitation;
  • Upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make publicly available on the Site any private information of any third party, including, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers and credit card numbers;
  • Solicit personal information from anyone under 18 or solicit passwords or personally identifying information for commercial or unlawful purposes;
  • Intimidate or harass another;
  • Upload, post, transmit, share, store or otherwise make available content that would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law;
  • Use or attempt to use another's account, service or system without authorization from Xpress Information, or create a false identity on the Service or the Site.
  • Without limiting any of the foregoing, you also agree to abide by our Facebook Code of Conduct that provides further information regarding the authorized conduct of users on Facebook.
  •  
By submitting Messages to any News sharing facility, Blog or Forum you agree to indemnify and hold harmless Xpress Information from all claims, costs and expenses (including legal expenses) arising out of any Messages posted or published by you that are in breach of this section 8.
The News sharing facilities, Blogs and Forums contain Messages submitted by users over whom Xpress Information has no control. Xpress Information cannot guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of any Messages. Some users may breach these terms and post Messages that are misleading, untrue or offensive. You must bear all risk associated with your use of the News sharing facilities, Blogs and Forums and should not rely on Messages in making (or refraining from making) any specific investment or other decisions.
By submitting Message to a News sharing facility, Blog or Forum you are granting Xpress Information perpetual royalty free non-exclusive licence to reproduce, modify, translate, make available, distribute and sub-license the Message in whole or in part and in any form. This may include personal information such as your user name and alias and your expressions of opinion. Xpress Information reserves the right to contact you by e-mail with regard to your use of the Forums. You waive any moral rights that you may have in regard to the Messages you submit.
It is not possible for Xpress Information to fully and effectively monitor Messages that are submitted for infringement of third party rights. If you believe that a message infringes your legal rights, you should notify Xpress Information immediately by means of the Kangaruni contact form.

 

User Content Posted on the Site

You are solely responsible for the photos, profiles (including your name, image, and likeness), messages, notes, text, information, music, video, advertisements, listings, and other content that you upload, publish or display (hereinafter, "post") on or through the Service or the Site, or transmit to or share with other users (collectively the "User Content"). You may not post, transmit, or share User Content on the Site or Service that you did not create or that you do not have permission to post. You understand and agree that the Company may, but is not obligated to, review the Site and may delete or remove (without notice) any Site Content or User Content in its sole discretion, for any reason or no reason, including User Content that in the sole judgment of the Company violates this Agreement or the `Kangaruni Code of Conduct`, or which might be offensive, illegal, or that might violate the rights, harm, or threaten the safety of users or others. You are solely responsible at your sole cost and expense for creating backup copies and replacing any User Content you post or store on the Site or provide to the Company. When you post User Content to the Site, you authorize and direct us to make such copies there of as we deem necessary in order to facilitate the posting and storage of the User Content on the Site. By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content. Xpress Information does not assert any ownership over your User Content; rather, as between us and you, subject to the rights granted to us in these Terms, you retain full ownership of all of your User Content and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your User Content.

 

Defamation

Defamation is a communication (written or spoken words, pictures, graphics, gestures, etc) from one person to another that lowers or harms the reputation of an identifiable third person where the communicator (the publisher) has no lawful defence. The law of defamation aims to balance free speech with the right of an individual to enjoy a reputation free from an indefensible attack. The essence of a defamation action is damage to reputation, not that the publication was untrue, or that it infringed on the privacy of the plaintiff (the person who brings the law suit) or that it upset or hurt the plaintiff’s feelings.

There can be no defamation unless the person about whom the communication is made is identifiable in some way. At its simplest, that will be when the plaintiff is actually named, but even if the plaintiff is not actually named, other information may achieve the same result. For example, the use of a false name may not avoid a communication being defamatory if the plaintiff can be identified by other means.

In all States and Territories of Australia, companies (except for very small, independent ones) and other organisations with a ‘legal personality’ (eg. incorporated associations, trade unions, local councils) cannot sue for defamation.

The key issue in a defamation action is damage to a person’s reputation. The test of whether a communication is defamatory is: ‘Does the communication lower/harm the plaintiff’s reputation, hold the plaintiff up to ridicule, or lead others to shun and avoid the plaintiff?’ This is judged from the viewpoint of ‘ordinary reasonable people in the community in general’ and in light of contemporary standards.

The meaning that is argued over (the ‘imputation’) might not be what the communicator meant to convey. The court will look at what it considers the ordinary reader or viewer could have understood the communication to mean. This may differ from what both the plaintiff and the defendant think.

Even if something is, at first glance, defamatory, there are several important defences under the law of defamation. In the main, these defences include:

1. Honest opinion (previously known as fair comment)
2. Justification/Truth
3. Triviality
4. Fair reporting
5. Innocent dissemination

Before you Post

  • Consider the context of what you are saying. What meanings arise? Might they be defamatory? Try to put yourself in the position of potential plaintiffs.
  • Check who is identified. Just because you refer to someone by their Whirlpool user name doesn’t mean there aren’t people who know the real identity behind the user name.
  • Is your post adding any value to the discussion? Consider the benefits of posting against the risk of being sued for defamation; in any Court case, you will have to take responsibility for what you have said.
  • What defences might be relevant? If it is meant to be comment, ensure that it is clearly identified as such (for example by adding “In my opinion …” and that the facts on which it is based are stated or obvious). Try to focus on issues rather than personalities.
  • If you want to argue that the defamatory imputations are true, how will you prove it? Remember proof has to be to the stringent standards demanded by a court.

What if you think you have been defamed?

  • Contact a moderator. Explain what you think is defamatory and why you think so. Moderators will review the posts, and remove threads or posts as required under Kangaruni’s own forum rules.
  • If you believe there are specific users making inappropriate comments about a person or business, please provide any additional information that may be helpful in verifying whether this person is in fact doing so maliciously. This information will also assist in determining how best to deal with the user in question.
  • Take the time to politely post a response that puts your (alternate) point of view.

User Disputes

You are solely responsible for your interactions with other Kangaruni users. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other users.