Code of Conduct for Rutherford Community Electronic Media
The overarching goal of the Rutherford Community Civic Association is to promote, protect, and foster the general welfare of the residents of the Rutherford area. It is in the spirit of this goal that this “code of conduct” sets forth rules that establish the boundaries of acceptable behavior for posting messages to the RutherfordCA22032 Yahoo and submitting articles and advertising to the Web Master for posting to the Rutherford Community web site (RutherfordCommunity.com).
The RutherfordCA22032 Yahoo Group message board:
- Any resident of the Rutherford Community (as defined in the by-laws) may post information on the RutherfordCA22032 Yahoo Group message board. New accounts may be moderated by default for the first 90-days, which means that any posting will be reviewed by the moderator before it becomes public.
- All posts to the group should include both a salutation and a signature, (Dear Group, Hi All, Hi) and signed with your name or nickname. The name of the individual’s company or business cannot be included in the signature block. The salutation may be omitted in an on-going message thread.
- Stay on topic and keep messages relative to the Rutherford Community.
- Posts may not harass, abuse, threaten, personally insult, post inflammatory remarks or advocate violence against other members or individuals or groups.
- Posts may not contain content that is harmful to minors.
- Posts may not contain content that is obscene, otherwise objectionable, or in violation of federal or state laws.
- Posting messages for commercial or advertising purposes is not allowed, including signature blocks with commercial/business references. The following are exceptions…
- Residents may post information (positive or negative) regarding a business they have experience with, as long as they do not have any financial interest in the business.
- Residents may post requests for recommendations to help them find a business or service.
- Residents may post on behalf of community (not-for-profit) organizations that operate within the Rutherford Community about upcoming events open to all residents. This is meant to include events such as local school events; children and youth teams and clubs; scouting events and meetings; local musical offerings; and the Rutherford Pool.
- Residents may post used household and personal items for sale or free.
- Residents may post in-home services offered by the youth in the community. This is meant to include babysitting, lawn mowing, leaf raking, dog watching, snow shoveling, etc.
- Residents may post in-home services offered for the youth in the community. This is meant to include academic, arts and sports tutoring.
- Messages from the Supervisor and other Fairfax County officials of benefit to the community.
- Posts may not advocate for a political candidate, party, or partisan viewpoint. This is not meant to exclude general reminders on election dates and hours that the polls are open.
- Posts may not contain content which infringes the intellectual property, privacy or other rights of third parties.
- Members may not re-post or re-transmit content that belongs to another person without that person’s permission. A moderator or member cannot re-post or re-transmit content to any other site unless the person has the explicit permission of every person whose content is being re-posted or re-transmitted.
- This includes posting private email exchanges to the message board without the permission of everyone in the email exchange.
- Posts may be delayed by a moderator if the moderators need to evaluate or discuss the content of a post.
- Members who believe that a post violates one or more of these rules should send an expression of their opinion with specific reference to the rule they believe that is violated via a direct, private e-mail to the Yahoo Group moderators at RutherfordCA22032-owner@yahoogroups.com.
The RutherfordCommunity.com Website:
All the rules above from the Yahoo group apply with the following modifications:
- Commercial announcements and advertising is allowed as long as it is clearly marked as a paid advertisement and relationship to the community is apparent. Advertising rates will be posted in conjunction with newsletter advertising.
- All posts are moderated and must be submitted to the Web Master via RutherfordCA22032-owner@yahoogroups.com for review and posting. The Web Master reserves the right to edit content for appropriateness and spacing.
- Personal information may not be posted without the express written permission of the person referenced in the posting and submitted to the Web Master since this is a public-facing website.
Failure to abide by this code of conduct will result in the following progressive actions by the Moderators:
- First offense: The person is provided a first warning of the violation with a specific example, along with a reference to the code of conduct.
- Second offense: The person is provided a second warning with a specific example. The person’s account becomes moderated which means that any postings will be reviewed by the moderator before it becomes public.
- Third offense: The person’s access to review and post will be revoked. The person will be provided notice of the action with a specific example.
Specific actions will not be discussed or disclosed with anyone outside the RCA Executive Board, Moderators and the person. Any actions of the Moderators may be reviewed by the RCA Executive Board at the next scheduled meeting if requested by a resident.
If you have any comments, questions or concerns regarding these rules, please email RutherfordCA22032-owner@yahoogroups.com.
