Koiphen.com Rules

Terms of Service
Koiphen.com

Thank for choosing Koiphen Forums as your number one koi forum on the World Wide Web! We appreciate your support and are glad you chose to join our online community.

We at Koiphen.com strive to keep our community a safe place for our members to talk about various topics. We have several policies in effect to ensure this goal. Before completing your membership request, please agree to the following terms of service.

I. Use of Koiphen forums for advertisement of your product or services without a WWKC Professional or Advertiser Membership is not allowed. You can purchase a Professional Membership here.
And Advertising Membership information can be found here.

If you are a vendor, you may still join the Koiphen forum and/or the WWKC as an individual member. As an individual member you may not mention your business in any form including, but not limited to: your member name, signatures, profile, or any thread posting. Failure to comply can potentially result in thread modification or removal, restricted posting, and/or membership termination/suspension.
Be aware that your product may attract criticism; please be prepared as we will not moderate product opinions. In addition, use of the Koiphen messaging system to advertise is prohibited.

II. We will always have at least eight separate forums for our members to post their topics. This separation of topics was selected for a reason. Please do not post topics unrelated to the subject of the forum. Failure to comply with this will result in your thread being moved to correct area. If you are unsure of where to post your topic, post it in the ‘Chit Chat’ forum. A continuing pattern of non-compliance can potentially result in restrictive thread creation and/or membership termination/suspension. Moderators may from time to time post threads in forums that may not seem appropriate to the forum to stimulate discussion or for purposes of visibility.

III. Posting of any vulgar material will result in thread or post deletion/moderation. Vulgar material is defined as pornography, excessive cursing, and links to sites previously or currently containing pornography. Violation of this policy will elicit a direct response from the administration ending in restrictive posting or membership termination/suspension.

IV. Personal attacks are prohibited on Koiphen forums. If you have an issue with someone’s idea, please criticize the idea, not the member. Non-compliance can potentially result in restrictive posting or membership termination/suspension. Members may not start threads to satirize or antagonize other members.

V. Posts containing references to religion or politics are not permitted. There are too many people of differing views that are hardened in their view for these, or similar items, to be discussed without someone being offended. Non-compliance can potentially result in restrictive posting or membership termination/suspension.

VI. Information entered into the Koiphen.com servers is property of Koiphen.com. Unauthorized reproduction of any information, graphics, ideas, or layouts is prohibited. If you post an idea or informative topic on Koiphen Forums it will be not be reproduced by a member of our staff without your specific authorization. Reproduction of a post is prohibited unless authorized by the author. If you do receive authorization of reproduction please notify the administration in order to prevent problems caused by miscommunication. If you would like to share the information on Koiphen.com with another web-site, please provide that site a link to our forums. Koiphen.com is also not responsible for any copyrighted material being posted on the site, that is the responsibility of the individual.

VII. Attempted or successful access to user specific restricted areas of the site is electronic crime. Restricted areas can include, but are not limited to the following: the administrator control panel, the moderator control panel, and thread moderation tools. This sort of activity will result in immediate membership termination and banning. If the activity continues, it is punishable by law.

VIII. If your thread or post is moderated or closed it is not acceptable to start another thread regarding the situation. If you would like to know the status of a moderated or deleted post or thread, you can private message a moderator or administrator. The situation is being addressed and more threads do not facilitate a speedy resolution but rather slow down resolution. Failure to observe this can result in infractions and possible suspension of membership.

IX. Each person is allowed one membership. If there is a reason you need two user names, you must have permission from the administration. We perform periodic checks for duplicate user names. If you have more than one user name, we will know. This activity has the potential to result in membership termination/suspension.

X. The Koiphen.com moderation team and administration has permission to edit, delete, split, merge, stick, un-stick, close, and open all threads. If your thread is moderated you will be automatically notified by the Koiphen.com messaging system. If you feel that your thread or post was improperly moderated please contact the administration and we will handle the issue in a timely and appropriate manner.

XI. If you are defined as a juvenile, you will be placed in the ‘Koiphen Kids’ user group. This group has restrictions as to what areas of the site they can access. We try our best to allow these members to participate in all topics while still keeping them out of inappropriate sections and topics too serious for their involvement.

XII. When you visit Koiphen.com, your IP address is logged. Upon registration we verify your e-mail address and log your IP address as well. In the event of a problem, we reserve the right to delete your membership and ban you from the site. If you feel you have been unjustly banned, please use the link on the banned page to e-mail an administrator.

XIII. Please post and stay active; your participation is the key to the success of our forum. Please don’t be afraid to post an idea or question, more than likely someone else has the same thought.
We thank you for your support; please remember these policies are for your protection!

We thank you for your support; please remember these policies are for your protection!

-Koiphen Forums Administration

Copyright Koiphen.com
Articles, photographs, contributions by others, threads, forum structure, and all derivative work products are the exclusive property of Koiphen.com. YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY RIGHT TO RECOPY, REPUBLISH, USE, ALTER, MODIFY, or DISTRIBUTE anything published on this website.

A membership (always free) is required to access most of the site. Membership can be revoked for any reason or no reason. We do not have to explain if we revoke your membership. Membership does not confer any proprietary or property rights. Memberships are issued at our sole discretion on an individual basis and may not be bought, sold, traded, or shared with any other person. Violation of the “Terms of Service” will result in your membership being revoked. This copyright notice is a part of the “Terms of Service” and constitutes an agreement between you and Koiphen.com.

This site is provided by the WorldWide Koi Club in order to give information to those persons in the hobby of koi keeping, and to provide a place for social gatherings centered about the hobby of koi keeping. You do not have a “right” to be here. You do not have a right to free speech here. You do not have a right to be obnoxious, critical, rude, socially unacceptable, boorish, overbearing, or in general any of the 2,154 known species of Jerk.

You are invited to contribute, comment, read, learn, view and grow in the hobby via appropriate interaction with our members. However, any contribution you choose to make is a donation posted to the goal of informing other persons in the hobby. At present there is no intent to re-publish information submitted on Koiphen for any purpose. No membership lists shall be given out for any purpose, including advertising or charitable organizations. Your email address and preferences will not be disclosed to any third party for any reason without your written consent.

Membership is subject to verification of your identity. If you exist, this won’t be a problem. If you hide your existence in an attempt to go around the “Terms of Engagement” you will be banned and all of your subsequent attempts to gain membership will be banned.

You do not have the right to take ANY image of ANYTHING posted on this website and copy it or alter it for ANY purpose, including ridicule, caricature, cartoon or alteration.

Re-publication within this board for the purpose of quoting another member, collegial discussion, or permissive humor is permitted. The same use is not permitted outside this board. Permissive humor is subject to the decision of the person targeted. Any complaint concerning re-publication will result in modification of the posted “humor”, and if repeatedly necessary, can result in your membership being revoked.

All posts (including but not limited to: opinions, vendor reviews, product reviews, and general comments) posted by registered members are represented by the member creating the post and not that of Koiphen/WWKC. Registered members agree to hold Koiphen/WWKC harmless for any and all liability resulting from their posts. Members and guests agree to hold Koiphen/WWKC harmless for any and all information presented on the site and acknowledge that Koiphen/WWKC does not ensure the accuracy of any information shared by its registered members.

This document is subject to periodic review and can change without notice. By playing and continuing to play after any changes on Koiphen, you agree to be bound by those changes.