Code of Conduct
(and other
conditions)
for the Community of Injured Workers in Canada
Forums
1.
Welcome to the Community Of Injured Workers in
Canada
The Community of Injured Workers in Canada’s (CIWC’s)
is an internet site with forums, that is primarily
dedicated to assisting chronically Injured Workers (IWs),
and their families, who have problems with WCBs, by
letting them get and exchange information, share
experiences, ideas and opinions. Part of that
commitment is to make these forums a great place to
meet and interact with other IWs in Canada and
around the world.
To help make the forums an effective and friendly
place to come to, you must agree to abide by the
Code of Conduct (also referred to as Rules or
Guidelines). Your commitment to these guidelines in
all of your site activities will help ensure a
positive experience for all participants.
Specific groups, forums, chats, and other services
may have additional guidelines (Description of
forums & Announcements) which will govern your
activity, and are considered part of the Code of
Conduct (CoC), so be sure to be familiar with them
also.
Welcome.
2. How the CIWC May Modify This Agreement
a). The CIWC reserves the right to change the terms,
conditions, and notices under which it offers the
Members use of these Forums. You are responsible for
regularly reviewing these terms, conditions and
notices, and any additional terms posted on these
Sites. Your continued use of the CIWC Web Sites
after the effective date of such changes constitutes
your acceptance of and agreement to such changes.
b). Should there be a conflict with this CoC and the
Registration Agreement Terms , the
Registration Agreement Terms will take precedence.
c). The CIWC reserves the right to terminate a
members access to this site and delete or edit
content without notice when that member is found to
be in violation of the Code of Conduct (CoC). The
CIWC also reserves the right to edit the subject
title, if it does not properly reflect the content
of the thread, and to modify content of a post.
Direction of the post will not be altered.
Insertions added to a post by a moderator will be
done within a quote block. Deletions or insertions
will be indicated within box brackets - […]
[insertion]. Within posts, these characters - [ ] -
are reserved for the exclusive use of the site
Guardians. This will ensure that those who read
posts will be aware that the original poster did not
make those edits and that the Guardians did. Copies
of deletions will be copied to an Administration
(Admin) forum for review by other Admin Members.
Termination of access (banning) may occur when that
member has a series of violations or a serious
violation of the CoC
(see 5-H & 5AB).
3.
Be a Good Friend - Forum Etiquette
A) ALWAYS treat all other on line participants with
RESPECT, so do not use a forum to ridicule,
threaten, harass, stalk, or otherwise abuse others.
No implicit or explicit threats are permitted to be
posted on this site. Civil discourse and Respect
must be exhibited within posts at all times. Use
your head and your heart when posting, think about
the Golden Rule.
B) IWs are under a lot of stress, Absolutely no
Flaming or
Baiting is
permitted. Members are permitted to disagree with
the advice/suggestion(s) provided by another member,
but not in a personal way. All
advice/suggestion/criticism must be CONSTRUCTIVE or
based on your experience (as indicated in the My
Story forum). As indicated above, this site’s
primary purpose is to provide information and to
help IWs, who are experiencing problems with WCB.
Considering that condescending posts, criticism or
intimidation of members will not be tolerated,
members who find such posts should contact site
Administrators, so that Admin can take appropriate
action. Prior to banning a member for repeated
Flaming, those Flaming messages will be posted in a
“Private “ administration section of this site;
sections of a post that are deleted from a post will
be [copied] to a Private Admin Forum.
Actually be if you wish to criticize someone else's
view or advice, endeavor to be "critical" instead -
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(Note: “critical” does not
mean “criticism”; it means focusing on the
arguments and their implications (not just
the facts about an issue), and thinking
analytically about the issues that are
raised by the readings. In other words, read
with a view to understanding the way an
author has approached and presented an issue
or topic, so that you can also articulate
whether, or why, you agree or disagree.)
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C) SHOUTING is permitted when emphasizing, but
SHOUTING should not dominate a post. That includes a
post the is all or mostly in
bold or
Large print
D) CIWC also reserves the right to remove content
that advocates or encourages expressions of
violence, bigotry, racism, hatred, obscenity or a
commercial activity. Banning may be instituted for
such activity.
E) Impersonating Administration (or another member)
is forbidden. Do not perform a function of the site
Administration (Admin). Rather than doing that,
members are instructed to contact a Guardian (Admin)
by Private Message or
Contact Guardians when they notice another
member, who repeatedly violate the CoC (or making a
serious violation); and a Guardian will take
appropriate action. This helps maintain harmony
between members. We do not want to get members upset
with each other for publicly suggesting that another
member did something wrong. But, please remember
Guardians will not necessarily respond on the same
day.
F) Under no circumstances are the forums to be used
for any form of dispute between members, that
includes between members and administration. Members
who have personal disagreement(s) with other members
of this forum should try to resolve their issues by
private messages or emails, and not take
personalities to any of the forums. Unresolved
disagreements may be taken to the Guardians for
their action. Members who have a grievance with any
member on this site and posts it in a public manner
will be subject to a ban.
G) Should you receive unsolicited correspondence
from a member and you do not desire contact with
that person, simply advise that person by email not
to contact you again, and include a CC to Admin
(with a intact copy of the unsolicited
correspondence below your message to Admin). Then
forward any addition correspondence to Admin, should
that activity continue.
H) Bans may be imposed by Guardians on members who
refuse to comply with the CoC. In most cases members
will not be banned until they have made a series of
violations, or one serious violation. In most cases,
a member who faces a ban will have had their
misconduct discussed between him/her and Guardian(s),
by Private Message (PM). Temporary bans shall
consist of a period of 2 weeks for first offense,
one month for second, 3 months for third offence and
then a permanent ban. Unless of course the member
does not accept the "you agree to respect our rules
in future" letter upon unbanning. A serious
violation may cause a longer ban than indicated
above. Temporarily banned members will have the
'rank' of Viewer,
and in most cases will be able to view this site.
I) When a member is banned, that member may be sent
a email by Admin with a brief explanation. In most
cases, the reason for banning will be apparent and
Admin will have been corresponding with that member
in regards to violations of the CoC, prior to that
member being banned. Failure to heed proper
direction from Admin may result in a ban. Of course
most interaction from Admin is not due to violations
of CoC.
J) Do not Spam others. Spam includes sending
identical and irrelevant or unsolicited submissions
to many different users, and includes
misrepresenting the source of anything you post.
Spamming and scrolling in chat rooms are serious
violations of on line etiquette. Permanent banning
may be instituted for such activity.
K) Anyone using (illicit) proxy servers will also be
banned without notice. Proxy servers are used to
hide their IP identity. Most often because they have
something sinister to hide.
L) Where possible, members should try to include
available URLs in their posts where they have made
references.
M) RESPECT the original Poster of a topic, by not
breaking the continuity of a thread by changing the
main topic. If you wish to comment on a side issue,
start a new thread.
N)Try to read as many posts within the designated
forum before posting, or use the Search function
(above and to the left of "login" near the top of
the page) because your question(s) may have already
been discussed before. It is preferred that you post
there. This does not apply to the Help Please forum.
O) Members may include their website or Email
address (see J) or Company name or Organization they
represent in their posts, but not a combination of
any of these. The permitted type of free advertising
can only be presented when providing constructive
advice or and information. No self-promotion will be
permitted.
P) If a member wishes to praise another member, or
the advice that was provided by another member (in
private), that praise must include the problem and
the basic advice and or information given. This will
assist other injured worker’s who might have a
similar problem, and to give others an opportunity
to provide additional information and or advice.
Q) Do not solicit others to contact you (or others)
for advice off forum. All questions can be asked
here generically and all advice can be provided
generically here. Private advice is not encouraged,
since it is then not possible for others to benefit
from it or for additional or contrary advice to be
provided.
R) Other than as otherwise indicated herein, members
must get permission from the author when divulging
contents of emails / private messages on these
forums. PMs and
emails to Admin is shared among the Admin.
S) Do not post a reply, if you do not have anything
constructive to contribute to the thread. Do not
post to simply agree or disagree. This rule does not
apply to the “Chat Line” forum.
T) Do not monopolize any Forum by repeating
experiences or problems unless it is part of
requesting additional advice or as an example when
giving advice. It is easier for members to keep
track of your problems if you include them in your
thread in the My Story forum.
U) Do not post the same message more than once on
the message board. Duplicate messages may be
deleted.
V) All posts that includes allegation(s) against a
government, WCB, company(s), organization(s) and or
person(s) is permitted, but only in the “Allegations
of Wrong Doing” forum. Substantiate your allegations
with attached documentation and or an active URL.
Remember that directions of that forum must be
followed. No NAMES should be posted without
providing documentation that substantiates
allegations.
W) No member should sign any letters on behalf of
the CIWC. It is recommended that members approach
not-for profit organizations such as the Canadian
Injured Worker Society (CIWS) for such actions. CIWS
website -
http://www.ciws.ca
X) Trim your follow-ups ...
Do not quote the entire content of the message to
which you are replying. Include only as much as is
necessary for context of your reply. Remember that
if someone wants to read the original message, they
can; it is easily accessible. A good rule of thumb
is, don’t include more quoted text than is required
for the context of your reply.
Y) When sharing pages or articles: if possible,
please do not post the whole article, give an
introduction, the URL and if it is likely that the
URL will die, include the entire article as an
attachment.
Z) Members may not intentionally: misrepresent
themselves; or provide misleading information. All
members posting, should include in their profile,
their gender and
location the province they reside in, or if
applicable, the country they are posting from, (if
the member resides outside of Canada). However,
non-posting members & members only asking for advice
in their posts do not have to declare gender or
location, as they will not be confusing anyone in
regards to the information they are posting.
Guardians will have the right to amend posting
members profiles, in the event they are not filled
in, and, or take action against those who post false
information.
AA) Members who have not provided at least one
substantive post, within three months of the start
of their membership registration, may have their
membership deleted.
AB) Violations of any of the above rules will result
in editing, moving, deleting, and repeat offenders
may be banned, either temporally or permanently.
CIWC may terminate or suspend your access to the
CIWC Web Sites at any time, with or without apparent
cause, with or without notice. Those that come to
cause trouble, will be banned, (temporary banning or
permanent banning is
NOT open to “PUBLIC” debate, “PERIOD”). Upon
such termination or suspension, your right to use
the CIWC Web Sites will immediately cease.
AC) Never post someone’s email address in the
forums, because it results in having to replace the
address or face hundreds if not thousands of Spam
email.
AD) Members may not use a parody of (or similar)
username that is currently being used. Current
Registrations are exempt, but member may request to
change their username. Please review Memberlist
before registering.
AE) Guardians reserve the right to remove
Registrations of members, who never made any posts.
Guardians will wait months before taking this
action.
AF) Indiscriminate deleting (editing-out contents)
of posts is not permited.
6
Respect the Law
A) CIWC does NOT allow behavior or content related
to illegal activities. You cannot use this site to
publish, post, distribute, or disseminate
defamatory, infringing, obscene, or other unlawful
material or discussion. This includes, but is not
limited to, child pornography, bestiality, incest,
illegal drugs, software piracy, and harassment. You
may also NOT use these forums for the purpose of
linking to external sites that violate this code of
conduct.
B) CIWC is not responsible for any use of uploaded
files or posted messages that contain photos, music,
software or other material protected by intellectual
property laws, rights of privacy or publicity, or
any other applicable law.
C) Do not post or promote any materials that could
harm or disrupt another user’s computer or would
allow others to inappropriately access software or
web sites.
D) In addition to upholding this Code of Conduct,
you are responsible for adhering to all local and
national laws that pertain to your location.
7.
Be Accountable for Own your Decisions
You are responsible for any actions you may take
based on advice or information you receive on line.
Use your own judgment when evaluating information
provided through any communication, and remember
that the information provided could be from people
at any age and experience level or motivation. The
decision to use any information on this site is your
own, and you should perform your own research (to
confirm validity of that info/advice) prior to
making any decisions. Make informed decisions.
8.
Help Protect Your Privacy, Identity and Computer
Related Property
A) We caution you against giving out any personally
identifiable information (such as social security
number, credit card number, name, address, telephone
number, driver’s license number, password, etc.) on
line. This information can easily be used for
illegal or harmful purposes, such as identity theft.
B) For your own safety, please do not give out
personal information on the Internet. Be selective
in disclosing your information, as you do not know
who is really on the other end. Most people you meet
on line are honest about who they are, and have good
intentions, but there are always exceptions to this.
C) You are responsible for protecting your computer
against interference or viruses that may be
encountered on the Internet.
D) The CIWC does not routinely screen or backup
user-created material. Make copies of material that
you wish to use at a latter time.
E) The CIWC recommends that you use a good firewall
and install a virus protection program on your
computer and keep it up to date.
9.
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site may contain copyrighted material the use
of which has not always been specifically authorized
by the copyright owner. We are making such material
available in our efforts to advance understanding of
environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democracy, scientific, and social justice issues,
etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any
such copyrighted material as provided for in section
107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this
site is distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research and educational purposes.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml.
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this
site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair
use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner.
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