Every forum must have rules to ensure that the forum serves the purpose for which it was created. Forums come and go for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, one of those reasons has to do with the failure of a few members to abide by polite and civil rules of behavior and decorum, or, even worse, because of posts that include inaccurate or untrue information or which have the potential to be inflammatory and/or insulting. Such forums are shut down. To ensure that the Shiloh Shepherds™ forums remain free of this fate, the below rules shall apply to all messages. Adhering to these rules will allow our forums to remain in operation for all to enjoy.

1. Potential new members must complete a profile and answer all required fields prior to receiving approval to join the Shiloh Shepherd™ Forums. In the event that any of the information presented in the profile proves to be falsely represented, such action would constitute grounds for immediate eviction and the banning of the individual's ISP from all Shiloh Shepherd™ Forum groups.

2. All messages shall end with the message originator's identification. Identification shall include name, geographic location or name(s) of dog(s). SSDCA members shall include identification of themselves as "SSDCA Member" beneath name (do not include SSDCA membership number). ISSR breeders shall include kennel name and LB number. False identification and falsification of originator identification are prohibited.

Returned messages will be accompanied by an explanation of the reason for the return. The message originator has the option to reword or rephrase his/her message and resubmit the message for consideration for posting.

3. Private Solicitations of any type are prohibited on the Shiloh Shepherds™ Forums.

4. Use of Shiloh Shepherds™ Forum(s) information, e. g., membership information, for any reason not related directly to Shiloh Shepherds™ Forum(s) business and activities is prohibited.

5. Messages or portions of message, files, photos and/or documents are the sole property of the originator of the material. Cross-posting, forwarding, quoting, discussing or paraphrasing of messages or portions of messages, files, photos and/or documents without the permission of the originator and or outside of an SSDCA approved forum is prohibited unless said material or information can be proven to be a part of the public domain, e. g., a newspaper article. The poster, however, agrees that their posts may be archived and stored off site.

6. When replying to a post (particularly a long post or a digest), please quote only the pertinent parts. Resending the entire post causes bandwidth congestion and results in excessive digests being sent.

7. Engaging in any activity that has the potential to disrupt and/or interfere with the goals, activities, and/or operation of our forums is prohibited.

8. Engaging in any activity that has the potential to place Shiloh Shepherds Forum(s) in violation of its Terms of Service Agreement is prohibited. Furthermore, an email may be sent to all list members notifying them of the offending member's behavior and identification as well as banning the offending member from all future posting privileges.

9. Approval of membership/moderation/ability to post is at the discretion of the lists owners and/or moderators. Violation of any of the foregoing rules may result in removal from any of the Shiloh Shepherds™ Forums and/or all other SSDCA related lists at the discretion of the lists' owners and moderators.

10.  List moderators are not responsible for ascertaining the intent of a message. They are required to return to the message originator:

a) any message that has the potential to be viewed as: inflammatory, abusive, insulting and/or hurtful;

b) any message that includes gossip, rumor and/or innuendo;

c) any message that has the potential to result in claims of slander and/or libel;

d) any message that potentially violates Infopop's/Shiloh Shepherd™ Forums Terms of Service Agreement;

e) any message that has the potential to result in a complaint for a Terms of Service violation;

f) any message that has the potential to be disruptive or cause discord;

g) any message whose content and/or subject matter has the potential to offend on the basis of race, nationality, ethnicity, and/or religion; and

h) any message in which the originator fails to clearly identify him/herself at the end of each message in accordance with rule number two above.

All list members are encouraged to remember that in the age of Internet communications, non-verbal behavior, e. g., facial expressions and voice tone, inflection and volume are unavailable to those who will be receiving your messages. Careful wording of messages can go a long way toward avoiding misunderstandings and toward ensuring that the true meaning and intent of your message is communicated. Likewise, readers of messages also are asked to remember this same fact before reading more into a message than may have been intended.