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Regulations of ICC (International Colobot Community) and ICC forums


§1 The Regulations

1. The up-to-date regulations are available here. The regulations come into force 24 hours after the new version is released. However, the user has 7 days to adjust to the new rules. Lex retro non agit -- the law is not retroactive. 

2. By creating an account on the website the user undertakes to comply with the rules. Ignorantia legis non excusat -- ignorance of the law excuses not.

3. The administration can modify the regulations at any time without notifying the user.

§2 The User's Account

1. The administrators and moderators are not responsible for any content on the website which is not created by them, even if it breaks the rules. The user is alone responsible for the content the user provides on the website.

2.The administration has the right to change the user's account without his agreement. They also reserve the right to irreversibly delete the account if they provide a reason for such an action.

3. One person may create only one user account. If another account is detected, the person's original account will be banned, unless a moderator decides otherwise, and all the other accounts will be deleted along with all their content. If the original account is already banned, then the person's IP address is added to the blacklist.

4. The user confirms with the registration of their account that they are a real human being. If the user is not, especially when the user is a robot, the moderators have the right to delete such an account along with all its content. Such accounts can only exist with a special permission from one of the administrators.

5. When the user forgets his password, they should go here and follow the hints contained there. If such a procedure has been ineffective, the user should contact a website administrator directly (contact addresses are listed in the last section).

6. The user's post signature should not exceed 220 pixels in height.

7. The user's profile should not contain content which breaks the rules.

8. The user should not allow anyone else to access his account without a good reason, for a threat of blocking or deleting his account along with all its content.

§3 General Rules

1. For breaking any of the rules, the following punishments can be applied to the user:
a) admonition - it does not result in any consequences but calls the user to behave well
b) warning for a one-time offence (called also a "warn")
c) blocking of the user's right to write posts after receiving warnings of the total value of 6
d) blocking of the user's right to log-in to the forum after receiving warnings of the total value of 10
e) blocking the user's account indefinitely (called also a "ban") for a serious offence
f) deleting the user's account irreversibly in special cases
g) deleting the user's account along with all its content irreversibly in special cases.
Each warning expires in 7 days.
The above notice is put only for information purposes. Current policy regarding punishments may change at any moment. The form of a punishment is chosen by a moderator based on the severity of the offence and the user's usual behaviour.

2. The user must obey the rules of the netiquette (http://www.albion.com/netiquette/book/index.html). If the post does not obey the rules of the netiquette, the post can be censored by a moderator.

3. Advertising without an administrator's consent is forbidden. A post containing an advertisement can be deleted or edited in order to remove the advertisement. This rule does not apply in the following circumstances unless an advertisement breaks any other rule or a moderator decides otherwise:
a) the advertisement is in the user's signature or in the appropriate field in the user's profile
b) the link was not provided with an intend of advertising
c) the advertisement makes a valid example or point in an ongoing discussion
d) the advertisement is of a content connected with one of the projects of the TerranovaTeam or one of the EPSITEC's games.

4. Carelessly written posts which are hard to read by an average English speaker (or the language specific to the forum) are not allowed. The user should avoid glaring spelling and grammar errors. If the post is completely unreadable, it will be deleted. Such posts can be modified by a moderator in order to fix the errors.

5. Adult content is not allowed on the website. Posts containing adult material will be deleted.

6. Illegal content is not allowed on the website. Posts containing illegal content or copyrighted materials will be deleted.

§4 Forum Rules

1. While creating a new thread, one must state a clear title in order for the other users to be able to find the thread easily later.

2. Before creating a new thread, one must make sure that there is no thread with a similar purpose. Duplicated threads can be removed or moved to the trash or the archive by a moderator.

3. It is forbidden to start an off-topic discussion or continue one. Such actions result in moving the off-topic posts to a new thread or their deletion. In threads created in the "Other" category, off-topic discussions are tolerable unless a moderator decides otherwise.

4. Writing a post right under another post of one's own is forbidden. If there are more than one additional posts, the user gets a punishment severity of which is proportional to the number of the additional posts. The user should use the "Edit" function instead of performing such an action.

4a. The last post in the thread, if edited, should be marked as "unread" for the other users automatically if a certain amount of time passed since the last edition.

5. Forum chats, such as ShoutBox or Private Messages, are used for free talks usually not adhering to a specific topic. The rules are less restrictive on the chats, but moderators still can punish the user for breaking the rules.

6. The administrators and moderators are not allowed to view Private Messages and are not responsible for their content unless they are reported by the user for breaking the regulations. In such a case, a punishment can be applied to the user breaking the rules.

7. An old thread can be refreshed only by writing content which brings something new to the discussion. Senseless refreshing is forbidden.

8. Senseless discussions, games or outdated threads not breaking regulations can be moved to the archive in order to keep the forum clean.

§5 The IRC Channel Rules

1. Official IRC channels belonging to the ICC community which fall under those regulations are the following:
a) #colobot @ irc.freenode.net
b) #colobot @ irc.pirc.pl .

2. By joining the IRC channels, the user undertakes to comply with the regulations.

3. By breaking any of the rules, the following punishments can be applied to the user:
a) kicking from the channel as a warning for the first tries of an offence
b) banning from the channel if the user continues breaking the rules despite warnings
c) IP banning from the channel for a serious offence.

4. The topic of the IRC channels must contain the link to the main website, current regulations, discussion logs and a link to the English (Polish, in case of §5.1a) IRC channel in such a form:
POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION || http://colobot.info/ || Regulations: http://colobot.info/forum/showthread.php?tid=513 || Logs: http://colobot.info/irc/irc.php || For English, see #colobot@freenode.net
or
http://colobot.info/ || Regulations: http://colobot.info/forum/showthread.php?tid=513 || Logs: http://colobot.info/irc/irc.php || For English, see #colobot@freenode.net

5. It is prohibited to add bots to the IRC channels without an administrator's consent. The currently allowed bots on the IRC channel are the following:
a) ColobotLogBot, which saves the IRC logs, mainly to display them on the main page of the ICC discussion board. It is hosted on the colobot.info server.
b) ColoBOT, which interacts with the Polish channel on PIRC and reminds users to abide by the regulations. It also informs about new activity on GitHub and notifies about new builds of the game available for download. It is hosted on the krzysh.pl server.

6. During IRC discussions, it is explicitly prohibited in particular:
a) to change your nick to get around a ban
b) to insult the other users
c) to gossip about the other users
d) to hide under an other user's nick
e) to use the "autojoin after kick" function
f) to swear excessively
g) to spam
h) to advertise (with an exception of §5.8b)
e) to use a proxy/TOR in order to get around a ban
f) to overuse the command /me.

7. IRC users with special permissions are explicitly prohibited under the threat of loosing permissions:
a) to change permissions without a good reason
b) to change the main mode of the channel without a good reason
c) to kick or ban without a good reason
d) to change the topic in a way that makes using the channel difficult.

8. During an IRC discussion it is explicitly allowed in particular:
a) to off-top reasonably, with an exception of specified periods of time (see §5.9c)
b) to advertise the user's own projects related to Colobot
c) to exchange opinions about topics not necessarily connected to the topic of the channel without breaking the rules.

9. ColoIRC is a special event on the IRC channel aimed to determine the most important issues related to the community and its projects.
a) It takes place after an administrator's decision during the specified period of time.
b) During ColoIRC, the topic of the channel should be changed respectively. The topic should be set by a user with the operator permissions or higher by using the command "!coloirc start", "!topic" or by changing the topic manually.
c) During ColoIRC, it is prohibited to talk about matters not connected with Colobot.

10. All ICC-related decisions made on the IRC channel must be documented in a thread created in the special "Documentation" forum, otherwise the decisions are deemed to not exist.

§6 Forum Groups

1. The user is automatically assigned to the group of Registered Users which gives the default privileges. The user cannot leave the group in any circumstances.

2. The user can be added to any group by an administrator without his permission.

3. The user can leave a group at any time if it is not prohibited by the forum system, the regulations or the administration.

4. Groups not explicitly mentioned in this section cannot have any additional privileges.

5. Membership in the administrator and moderator groups gives the user additional privileges and access to additional functions of the website, specifically aimed to manage and modify it.

6. Membership in the following groups can give the user access to certain hidden forums:
a) TerranovaTeam
b) Masters
c) Donators.

§7 Moderators

1. Moderators are users with additional responsibilities to maintain order in the community. Every administrator is a moderator.

2. The responsibilities of a moderator include:
a) deleting spam,
b) deleting posts not complying to the regulations,
c) moving threads to the correct sections,
d) moving unnecessary threads to the archive,
e) issuing warnings for breaking the regulations,
f) editing posts in order to delete content not complying to the regulations or to give an admonition.

3. Moderators should not abuse their powers, especially in the form of:
a) ignoring statements not complying to the regulations by the users which they sympathise with (for example classmates)
b) waging warning wars
c) persecuting others,
for the threat of losing their permissions.

3. If the user notices an abuse of power, they are obliged to inform one of the administrators about the suspicious behaviour immediately. The user can be punished if the suspicion has no solid reasoning.

4. Moderators can edit posts breaking the rules. The moderator should state the reason of such an action under the content of the post and sign it with his pseudonim. The user is forbidden from editing or removing the content of the post which was written or modified by a moderator.

5. While editing a post, moderators have the obligation of using the following colours in the specified situations:
a) red (#FF0000) - a reason for issuing a warning and its value
b) brown (#800000) - an admonition issued to a user and corrections of spelling mistakes
c) green (#008000) - a moderation comment, elaboration.

§8 Final Remarks

1. In case of spotting an error or a loophole in the work of portal and/or forum, the user must report this fact to the network administrator (e-mail addresses are given in the last point of this section).

2. In case of noticing an illegal break into the user's account or other security breach, the user must inform an administrator or a moderator about such a suspicion immediately. The administration will take the necessary steps to stop further damage and fix the issue, if it is possible.

3. In case of noticing a content which does not comply to the regulations, the user must report it immediately to a moderator or an administrator.

4. A decision of an administrator is final and irrevocable. One may appeal from a moderator's decision to an administrator. If the administrator finds the appeal unfounded, the user can be punished.

5. If the regulations do not cover a specific situation, the decisive voice has the person with the highest rank.

6. E-mail addresses to the administrators are the following:
michal@zielinscy.org.pl (network administrator)
krzys_h@interia.pl (administrator)
simbaxlp@gmail.com (administrator)
raptor.oto@gmail.com (administrator)
emxx52@gmail.com (administrator)
adikorzeniowski@gmail.com (administrator)