Forum Rules of Use

Agreement to Rules of use:

1. (The ownership legalese)
   1. This forum is an international discussion forum about women's health, pregnancy, parenting, menopause and more.
   2. By registering and making posts on the AWS Forums, you agree to abide by the Forum Rules of Use, both stated and unstated.
   3. By posting messages to the AWS Forums you give the forum owner and maintainers permission to permanently store all message content, present it for public viewing, backup it to any location and media, present it in other form, modify, delete, or make any use whatsoever in the Forums.
   4. You agree to post only content that you have copyright for, or with written permission from the copyright owner.
   5. Content copied in its entirety from other websites, Forums or other media must be accompanied by a link or reference to the material, along with credit given to the original author.
   6. AWS Forums is not responsible for the content of any uploaded files, nor is it in affiliation with any entities that may be represented in the uploaded files.
   7. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of AWS Forums, nor any of the physicians or staff employed by AWS will be held responsible for the content of any message.
   8. Posts can be edited or deleted within 7 days by the poster. After that only moderators can edit or delete them.
2. (The liability legalese)
   1. Message content must conform with content guidelines outlined in each forum's description on the Forums' front page.
   2. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless the owners of the Atlanta Women's Specialists with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s).
   3. You agree, through your use of the Forums, that you will not post any material or links to any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, libelous, inaccurate, rude, racist, disrespectful, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, threatening, obscene, profane, pornographic, racially or ethnically offensive, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law.
   4. You agree that the content you submit to AWS Forums is non-confidential for all purposes.
   5. You agree that information contained on the AWS Forums is for informational purposes only and not intended to substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never delay seeking professional medical advice or disregard such advice because of something you have read in the AWS Forums.
   6. You agree that reliance on any information provided by forum members is solely at your own risk.
   7. You will not upload or attach files that contain software or other material protected by intellectual property laws (or by rights of privacy of publicity) unless you own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary consents.
   8. You agree not to violate the rights of others, such as content which infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or violate any right of privacy or publicity, or otherwise violates any applicable law or reputation.
   9. You will not impersonate any person or entity, falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity.
   10. You will not register to the Forum with multiple identities.
   11. Linking or giving information about any site that distributes illegal software, ROMs, media, or emulators, seeking help to circumvent any copyright laws, admitting to possessing and/or distributing illegal copyrighted material, or encouraging software or media piracy is grounds for an immediate ban.
3. (The "Anti-Spam" jargon)
   1. Message bumping is prohibited.
   2. Chain letters, pyramid schemes, "spam", multi-level marketing, blatant cross-posting or other solicitations are strictly prohibited.
   3. You will not collect, record or otherwise use any other users' e-mail addresses or other personal information for any purpose other than those pertaining to participation in the Forums.
   4. Political discussions and promotion of political agendas or ideas in posts, signatures, images or avatars is prohibited.
   5. User names may not be rude, racist, disrespectful, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, threatening, obscene, profane, pornographic, racially or ethnically offensive. Moderators have right to force a user name change if needed.
4. (The "don't be a jerk" language)
   1. RULE #1 Have fun!
   2. Rule # 2 See Rule Number 1!!!
   3. Though we encourage members to engage in healthy debate, we do not condone personal attacks on members. Ideas can be disputed or challenged, but attacks on a personal level are unacceptable and when they are discovered or brought to the attention of the staff, will be dealt with accordingly. Ideas can be attacked, but individuals cannot.
   4. You will not "stalk" or otherwise harass other members.
   5. Goodbye posts (post seeking attention when you are abandoning the forums) are forbidden.
   6. Falsifying your identity to promote a site or business in which you are involved and/or solicitations are expressly prohibited on these Forums.
   7. If you know an answer to a question either answer it or say nothing. Giving newbies blunt answers like "search the forum" is not allowed - please use the typing effort to giving the answer instead. Or just give the link to that post you wished the newbie should have searched for. Respect newbies - you were a newbie once.
   8. Falsifying your identity with numerous postings under different names is not permitted and can be cause for deletion of your postings regardless of the content.
   9. You will not upload or attach files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another's computer.
   10. You will not attempt to access any protected sections of the sites or Forums, nor make use of any hacks, cracks, bug exploits, etc. to bypass or modify the features of the Forum software at AWS.
5. (And of course, Big brother is watching)
   1. Forum leaders such as Administrators and Moderators are entrusted with the ability and responsibility of removing objectionable posts. Warnings may also be sent out to the offending party or parties involved.
   2. If violations to these rules are severe, or they continue after warnings, a user's privileges to this forum may be suspended for any length of time, up to and including a permanent ban.
   3. You will, if asked by a Forum leader, cease posting any content, and/or links to content deemed offensive, objectionable, or in poor taste by a Forum leader. NOTE: If you really need help in deciding if your intended post is acceptable, send a Personal Message (PM) text to the Administrators or Moderators for review.
   4. Personal Messages (PM) between user and moderator are not to be discussed in public. Note that moderators may share moderator-related PM content between other moderators.

DISCLAIMER: Although the operators of Atlanta Women's Specialists do not and cannot review the messages prior to being posted, and are not responsible for the content of any of these messages, we reserve the right to delete any message for any or no reason whatsoever. Further, we reserve the right to make any modification we deem necessary or desirable to any message posted to the Forums.

If you do not agree to be bound by these conditions of use, or should you consider any future amendments made to these conditions of use to be unacceptable, you should not post to AWS Forums.

READING IS ALWAYS OK!