In an effort to improve the signal to noise ratio on our forums we ask that you abide by these guidelines when participating. With members from all over the world we have reached a point where tremendous diversity, age, education, location and more are all factors to consider when participating in our forums. We want to promote a clean, healthy, respectful atmosphere where people are not afraid to ask questions, participate in this community, and have a good time discussing the things that are important to ASPIRA and the community
With that in mind, here are the rules:
THE BIG RULES: Violation of these rules is grounds for the IMMEDIATE banning of your account.
No profanity in subject lines or signatures.
No spamming or commercial solicitation of any kind. Any such messages will be removed at the discretion of either a forum moderator or administrator. Commercial solicitation through the Instant Message function is strictly forbidden and grounds to have your account terminated.
No flaming of other members to incite or perpetuate a conflict or argument. ANY personal attacks or name calling will get you banned.
No bombing forums or threads with pointless posts.
No linking or posting of pornographic or objectionable/inappropriate material.
Do not impersonate other individuals or falsely represent yourself.
Do not discuss, suggest, engage, or encourage any illegal activity on the forums. Linking to locations that deal with any such activity is also forbidden.
Posting under a secondary username for the purpose of arguing, degrading, or belittling other members is grounds for losing your account.
You must have a valid e-mail account in your profile so you can be reached by a forum moderator or administrator.
Signatures can have a maximum of five (5) lines.
No ASPIRA related user names are permitted by non-staff members and will be deleted or changed with or without notice.

The following posting guidelines are here to help you (and others) have an enjoyable experience here:
Respect both forum moderators and administrators. It is a thankless job that we do, and cleaning up other people's messes is never fun.
No SHOUTING. Don't use all caps when posting. It is difficult to read and annoying.
Try to post to the forum that is most appropriate for the topic being presented.
No cross-posting. (This is posting the same topic in more than one forum)
Refrain from using profanity or cr3ative spell1ng to get around the censor filters. Posts that circumvent the censor may be removed.
Respect the privacy of other members and individuals. Do not post personal information about them (i.e. addresses, phone numbers, passwords, etc.)
Observe all copyright laws when posting copyrighted material.
Do not post messages that violate Federal, State, or Local laws which include, but are not limited to, anything that violates a copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or is bound by NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement).
Moderators and administrators frequently review forum posts for those that are in violation of ASPIRA rules. Any messages found to be in violation may be deleted without warning or explanation. Furthermore, we reserve the right to remove any post at our discretion, and also the right to ban any user, at any time, for any reason.
There are going to be topics and discussions that will have heated debates. Please think before you post and re-read what you type before you post it. Keep your comments limited to the debate at hand and not make this a personal issue between you and another reader. There is tremendous diversity in age, race, gender, language, location (worldwide) and more here and there will be a lot of varying opinions on different subjects. We're all human beings and we we're all drawn to this site because we have a common bond; ASPIRA.
Considering the real-time nature of this bulletin board, it is impossible for ASPIRA to review all messages or confirm the validity of information posted. Please remember that ASPIRA does not actively monitor the contents of posted messages and are not responsible for any messages posted. ASPIRA does not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and is not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of ASPIRA or any entity associated with ASPIRA. Any user who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged use the "Report This Post to a Moderator" button. ASPIRA has the ability to remove objectionable messages and will make every effort to do so, within a reasonable time frame, if determined that removal is necessary. This is a manual process, however, so please realize that we may not be able to remove or edit particular messages immediately.