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SOS Forum: Rules & Etiquette

Welcome to the SOS FORUM, often described as "an oasis of rationality" on the internet. By registering on this SOS site you are also agreeing to the following SOS Forum Rules & Etiquette:

  • Not to post any material which is knowingly false, inaccurate, harmful, threatening, harassing, invasive of a person's privacy, or tending unreasonably to discredit or malign.
  • Not to post material that is racist, abusive, vulgar, hateful, obscene, sexually oriented, or otherwise violative of any UK law.
  • Copyright material must not be posted unless it is owned either by you or by this website.
  • No links are permitted to websites offering pirate/cracked/illegal software or illicit music and/or video downloads — anyone found to have posted such a link will have their SOS Forum access withdrawn.

Products & Advertising

  • SOS permits members to use the forums to share links to products, services and other resources that might be of mutual benefit. These can be found in the main discussion forum: Recording & Production.
  • Individuals may post promotional material regarding products and services that would be relevant to the SOS readership — ie. related to recording and production. You may also include a link to a website in your personal signature (which appears under each post) or on your public Forum Profile page but please make sure these are relevant to the SOS community and not spam or a surreptitous way to boost your own site's SEO ranking. If we catch posts containing such SEO links, you will be banned.
  • Posts that serve only to promote your own music and/or social media presence are not allowed anywhere other than in the 'Self-Promotion' forum which is provided solely for that purpose and is available to use by members with a post count of 100 or more. Contact Forum Admin or other Moderators to request access permissions.
  • Anybody using this facility as a gateway to promote things that are considered 'spam' (for example, promoting a retail website that has nothing to do with music) may be warned by the moderator team, but usually your account will be instantly deleted.
  • Manufacturers and distributors are warmly welcomed to promote their products, services, events, competitions, job vacancies and special offers in the New Products & Industry News forum but please make sure you have read and followed the guidelines first or you risk your posts being removed without warning.
  • We provide a dedicated For Sale / Wanted SOS Readers' Ads forum in the SOS Forum for the buying and selling of your own gear. Such adverts should be placed there and are not allowed in other sub-forums.
  • Chain letters, pyramid schemes and similar are expressly forbidden in all sub-forums.

Disclaimers

  • YOU remain personally responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless SOS Publications Group and phpBB Limited (the makers of phpBB forum software), and their agents with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s).
  • We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of SOS Publications / Sound On Sound or any entity associated with the SOS Forum.
  • Although the SOS Forum does not and cannot review the messages posted and is not responsible for the content of messages posted by forum members, we reserve the right to delete any posted message for any reason whatsoever.
  • You hereby consent to SOS disclosing information we hold about you to any proper prosecuting or investigating authority in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message/comment posted by you here in the SOS Forum, subject to GDPR rules.
  • The SOS Publications Group, the owners of this site, reserve the right to amend these Rules at any time.

Forum Posting Etiquette

  • Requests for links to, or support for, pirated/cracked software are expressly forbidden. Offending posts will be removed and persistent offenders risk being banned from the forums. SOS reserves the right to report the IP address of persistent offenders to copyright owners and/or FAST.
  • NO SHOUTING — posting all in CAPITALS is considered bad form and the equivalent of 'shouting'. Resist all temptation to use them, for there is every chance your post will be deleted — or ignored by members.
  • Do not post the same topic into multiple sub-forums. Choose the most appropriate forum for your question.
  • No spam allowed.
  • Unfortunately, like every other online forum, the SOS Forum sometimes attracts the attention of Internet Trolls who seek to cause disharmony among the legitimate users by making spurious or inflammatory posts. Anyone suspected of this kind of behaviour will be warned by the SOS Moderator Team only once (check your forum Private Messages!). Continued inappropriate posts after a warning has been issued and not replied to will result in the immediate deletion of your user account.

How To Notify Us Of Objectionable Material

  • If you feel that a posted message is objectionable, please alert the moderators of that forum by clicking on the Report This Post icon/button [an exclamation mark ! in a circle]. The Forum administrators and moderators can remove objectionable messages and we will make every effort to do so as soon as we can, if we determine that removal is necessary.
  • You may also email forumadmin@soundonsound.com. and include a link to the offending topic/post (click the post title, right click and copy the URL).

Guests (Unregistered) Not Permitted To Post

  • Unregistered Guests will still be able to read forum messages, in all public forums except the Musicians' Lounge, but posting and replying is disabled.
  • By registering with the SOS site you are agreeing to abide by the SOS Forum Rules stated on this page. Posting/replying will be activated, once you have successfully verified your registered My Account email address by replying to an email the system sends you.

E&OE. Last updated 01 June 2024.