RULES AND POLICIES
Updated: 10 January 2011

Please remember the policies presented here must be adhered to 100% or you may not be a member.

The following rules are presented in no particular order, but are numbered for the sake of convenience when referring to the policies of this website.  As such, if you receive an email that states "You have violated rule #4 in your post titled 'what does 35mm stand for?'  This is your first and last warning.", you can look that specific rule up on this page.  These policies are not open for discussion and do note that not all policy violations will receive a courtesy warning, so please read carefully.

Violations of these rules may result in post deletion and/or temporary or permanent member removal.

RULE #1:  Personal attacks are not allowed.  Period.
This forum is moderated in order to eliminate personal attacks and remove anyone who engages in them. This is not to say that you cannot post a negative report on a product, service or customer support (in fact, there are entire threads dedicated to these). All this refers to is the tone of the post if it is made toward a specific member of the Film-Tech Forum. Discriminatory comments are determined at the sole discretion of the Administrators and Moderators, but hateful comments that refer to a person's skin color, sexual preference or religious affiliation are grounds for an immediate ban. If you are unsure that your post will "read" properly towards another, please consider using "smilies" to assist in expressing your intended tone. This rule also applies to the chat room as well as any reports of harassing emails made to members outside of the website.

RULE #2:  If you feel that you have been treated unfairly, email the Administrator.
If, at any time, you feel that you have been treated unfairly by another member or a Moderator, email the Administrator. Do not make things worse by starting new threads or firing up new fights in old threads because you feel that someone has mistreated you. This will only make things worse. The Administrator will research the issue and respond with a resolution to calm the situation. Simply click on the "Contact Us" link and use the address provided there. Continuing to fight it out on the forum could result in a temporary or permanent ban, depending on the severity ... yes, even if you didn't start it.

RULE #3:  Censorship.
There is to be no discussion of religion or politics on this forum. Many people will get their feathers rustled and want to scream "censorship" and "freedom of speech" regarding this rule, but don't bother. This website is privately owned by Film-Tech Cinema Systems for the sole purpose of creating discussion within the motion picture exhibition industry about the work we perform on a daily basis. Members who post about religious or political matters will be considered instigators and will be banned either temporarily or permanently, depending on the severity of the offense.

RULE #4:  Posting links off-site.
Film-Tech makes every possible attempt to preserve its archive as best as possible so that old information will still be around for everyone to enjoy for many years to come. For this reason, we have a very strict policy about linking to off-site information. You have three options if you wish to include information from somewhere other than Film-Tech in your forum post:

• Option 1: You may provide the link to the article as well as paste the entire article into your post. Use the [QUOTE] tags to make it easier to read. Simply click the "QUOTE" button and paste the text of the article in between the [QUOTE] and [/QUOTE] tags.
• Option 2: You may provide the link to the article as well as pasting the relevant paragraph(s) from the article into your post that pertain to the discussion.
• Option 3: You may provide the link as well as explaining, in your own words, the gist of the article. This does not need to be overly detailed, but does need to be useful enough to preserve the discussion for archival use. For example, if a link is provided to kodak.com that is explaining about a new film stock and the point of the article is that it offers a higher resolution, your post can read something like "Kodak's new 35mm film stock claims to have a resolution roughly double that of current film stocks. Here is the link." Do not simply type "Here is a link to a new film stock from Kodak."

RULE #5:  Cross-posting within the forum or to other places on the web.
Do not cross-post identical questions or topics on other website forums/newsgroups or between different sections of the Film-Tech Forum. If you have a question, ask it here or ask it elsewhere, but only ask it one time. If someone is a member of the same two forums in which you asked your question, it becomes confusing to readers as they try to follow the discussion. Please create your topic in the place where it will generate the most beneficial responses. Only emergencies will be excepted from this rule, with the definition of "emergency" to be at the sole discretion of the Administrator and Moderators.

RULE #6:  Quoting other people's emails.
Emails are private conversations between people and will not be tolerated if any part of them are posted here or elsewhere unless the author has given specific permission to reproduce it.  Expect to be banned and your post deleted if you ever do this. There is no tolerance with this.

RULE #7:  Teaser subject headers; starting a new topic.
Do not use "teaser" subject headers.  Headers such as "You are not going to believe this" and "Can someone help me with..." are aggravating to members since they do not tell what the subject of the thread is without clicking on it.  Such titles could not possibly be any less helpful to members trying to navigate topics of interest to them.  Therefore, please use common sense when titling new discussions and make sure they are descriptive. Be forewarned that threads with "teaser" titles may be closed or deleted without notification. To edit a thread title, you may edit the first post in the thread.

RULE #8:  Did you forget to say something in your post?
Do not go back and reply to yourself. Having multiple posts in a row by the same person is annoying and is unnecessary. It is expected that if you feel the need to say something after you have just posted, you will use the EDIT feature of this board. Read the FAQ page on how to edit a post if you do not already know how to.

RULE #9:  Topic subjects.
When deciding which category to place your new topic in, please remember that the "Film Handlers' Forum" is for discussions relating specifically to film projection and sound; "Straight to Video" is for discussions relating to digital projection; "Ground Level" is for discussions relating to the management and floor operation of a theater; and "Film Yak" is for discussions that do not fit into any of the other categories.

What starting a new thread in the Feature Info & Trailer Attachments category, please title the topic with the full name of the feature and the year of its release. This helps to assist members who are seeking data on that particular film in the future. For example, "On the Line (2001)" is an appropriate thread title, while "That terrible Lance Bass movie" is not.

RULE #10:  Rules regarding the Equipment Wanted/For Sale category.
Please start all thread titles with either "WANTED" or "FOR SALE" and make sure to also include the item in the title. As an example, a posting that is titled "rewind table" does not tell the readers whether you are seeking to purchase a rewind table or if you have one to sell. Thus, a posting entitled "WANTED: rewind table" or "FOR SALE: rewind table" is appropriate.

IMPORTANT: The Equipment classified category is not for your company's spamming purposes. This category is provided as a free service for those who have an extra few items of equipment or supplies that they need to sell. Some examples:

ACCEPTABLE:

• If you run a tech service company and removed an 8-plex worth of equipment, feel free to list it.
• If you are a collector and want to sell an extra projector, this is the place.
• If you, as an individual or working for a company, made a bulk purchase of used equipment and some of it does not have a home, go ahead and list the remaining equipment.
• If you have some extra bulk equipment that was purchased for an install, but for whatever reason the client backed out of the purchase and you need to move it, be our guest.

UNACCEPTABLE:

• If you are just advertising your normal line of goods, this is not the place for you. Go away.
• If you are discontinuing something from your normal line of goods, posting a note here stating "we are almost sold out" will be deleted.
• If your post says something such as "contact us for a catalog", just turn around right now.

Also, website links are not permitted in this category. If you have something to sell, sell it; do not redirect to an external source.

A tip: Make sure you put your email address in the body of your post so potential buyers have easy access to contact you. This practice is permitted ONLY in this category.

When you sell the item, please edit the title of your post to show the item has been sold. For example, change the title from "FOR SALE: rewind table" to "SOLD: rewind table" or from "WANTED: rewind table" to "FOUND: rewind table". This way you are not wasting anyone's time by letting them contact you only to find out the item is sold or no longer wanted.

To reply to a posting in this category, you must email the person directly. All transactions that occur as a result of a posting made on the Film-Tech Forum is your own private business and are not for the world to see. Thus, no public replies are permitted.

RULE #11:  No "goodbye" posts.
Have you decided to leave the forum? Whatever your reasoning may be, do note that you are always welcome back should you choose to return at a later time and participate. However, making a "goodbye" post will not be tolerated. Unless you have been banned for some reason, your login will be kept valid and we hope to see you again.

RULE #12:  Aliases and off-site attacks.
If you believe that a member is using an alias or is breaking forum rules regarding personal attacks off-site, please bring it to our attention and we will investigate the situation. Confidentiality will be granted if requested.

RULE #13:  Technical assistance requests and resolutions.
If you start a thread on the forum asking for a solution to a problem and you get the answer directly from the manufacturer or by other means, please make a follow-up post explaining the solution. This is so that everyone can benefit from the information.

RULE #14:  Member pictures.
Member pictures need to be current; they should have been taken within the last few years. If you member picture is five years old, please send in something newer if you have one. If your member picture is ten years old, it is mandatory that you send in something more recent.

The whole idea of member pictures is to get to know the members better and be able to see who we are talking to, not who we were talking to decades ago. It also makes meeting people in person a little awkward when we see a certain face every day, but when we meet that person face-to-face, it's as if we are talking to someone else.

Please see this thread in Film Yak for full instructions on how to send in your member picture.

RULE #15:  Other members' status.
If a member has received a ban, this is none of anyone's business except for the Administration of this website and that member. Posts regarding someone's membership status only accomplish one thing, and that is to stir up unnecessary gossip, confusion and anger and will not be tolerated.

RULE #16:  You may not post your email address within the body of your posts.
Anyone wanting to contact you may do so by clicking on your profile to obtain your email address.  The only exception to this rule is in the Classified categories. This is to protect you from getting spammed.

RULE #17:  TYPING IN ALL CAPS IS NOT PERMITTED.
It comes off as shouting and will put you dangerously close to breaking Rule #1.

FINAL RULE:  Spamming or harvesting email addresses is strictly prohibited.
Film-Tech does utilize various anti-spam coding within the website, but it is always possible that someone could find ways to circumvent these measures. Participating in either of these actions will not only result in your immediate and permanent ban, but will also force us to take any and all legal action that we have at our disposal. We take the security of all member information seriously.

Please make sure you read the FAQ page before asking questions.