HUSKERMAX™ BBS GUIDELINES
AND SUBSCRIPTION POLICY
Please Read Before Purchasing

HuskerMax™ offers a BBS (Bulletin Board System) in which Husker fans are allowed to post messages. In order to be able to post you must first register then purchase a subscription. Your subscription purchase qualifies for posting privileges on the BBS for one year, two years or three years. IT IS NONREFUNDABLE FOR ANY REASON. Do not purchase a subscription if you intend to violate the posting guidelines stated below.

Once your PayPal payment has been received your BBS account will be created. This can take up to 48 hours to complete.

Do not purchase a subscription unless you meet the following guidelines:

1. You must be over 13 years old.
2. You must agree to follow posting guidelines posted below.

Set forth below are the rules and policies of the HuskerMax™ bulletin board. All posters are expected to have read these rules and policies and to comply with them.

Moderation of the HuskerMax™ Bulletin Board: Although the administrators and moderators of HuskerMax™ bulletin board will attempt to keep all objectionable messages off this site, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of HuskerMax™ bulletin board, nor vBulletin Solutions, Inc. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message.

The HuskerMax™ Bulletin Board Approach to Moderation: The goal of the administrators and moderators of HuskerMax™ bulletin board is to provide a forum for spirited, civil discussion that is consistent with the reputation of Husker fans for being knowledgeable, thoughtful, and respectful of opposing viewpoints. The rules and policies set forth below relate to the situations that most commonly arise, but no set of rules can ever encompass every possible situation. Accordingly, the administrators and moderators have the discretion to impose discipline or to request changes with respect to situations that are not specifically dealt with below. Moreover, the owners, administrators and moderators of the HuskerMax™ bulletin board have the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason. The owners also reserve the right to make changes to these rules and policies at any time.

Posting on the Appropriate Board: We provide a number of forums on the bulletin board that cover numerous topics. Before initiating a new thread, please ensure that the topic of your thread is appropriate to that board. Threads that are started on the incorrect board will be moved by an administrator or a moderator to the appropriate place. Enforcement of this rule will be particularly strict with respect to the football board during football season.

Reporting of Posts: If you feel that these rules and policies are being violated, please use the "Report Post" link that is located at the bottom left hand corner of every post. Because the administrators and moderators cannot review every post, it is very important that registered users assist them with the “Report Post” function. Posters may also send a moderator or an administrator a Private Message ("PM") if they have a question about these rules and policies.

Personal Attacks: The cardinal rule on the HuskerMax™ bulletin board is to attack the post, not the poster. Personal attacks on other posters (as well as members of other bulletin boards) are not allowed. If you cannot follow this basic rule, please consider registering on another bulletin board. With that said, we also recognize that Husker fans are passionate about the issues that they debate on the HuskerMax™ bulletin board, and that posters will sometimes use sarcasm, ridicule, satire, and even condescension to make a point. These techniques are discouraged but can be used in moderation. If they are utilized excessively by a poster, that poster can expect to receive a PM from an administrator or moderator.

Profanity/Beating the Word Filter: It is the goal of owners, administrators, and moderators of the HuskerMax™ bulletin board to provide a family-friendly forum for discussion. Accordingly, the use of gross profanity is not allowed. Profane terms that are prohibited on the bulletin board are blocked by the word filter. Attempting to evade, or “beat,” the word filter by using numbers and symbols is strictly prohibited.

Derogatory/Hateful Speech and Images: By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages, or have Avatars/Signatures or link to sites that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, racist or sexist, or violative of any laws. Anyone that posts a personal threat of bodily harm will be removed permanently and the appropriate legal authorities may be notified if that threat is considered to be real. Sexual harassment of posters is strictly forbidden.

Copyrighted Material: Posters are strongly encouraged to substantiate their opinions by linking to other websites, and particularly to opinions and data provided by journalists. In almost all circumstances, this other material is protected by the copyright laws. Accordingly, posters should always provide a link to the original source of the material, provide attribution for the author or publisher, and limit their quotation of the copyrighted material to no more than one or two paragraphs. Copyrighted images should also be linked to their original source.

Premium Content Material: Often, information regarding the Huskers is posted exclusively at websites that require a paid subscription in order to view the content. Reporting this exclusive content of these paid-subscription websites on the HuskerMax™ bulletin board is generally a violation of the Terms of Use for the paid-subscription websites. Thus, posters should not link to or summarize material that is exclusively provided on paid-subscription, “premium” content. Linked material on the HuskerMax™ bulletin board must be publicly available without a paid subscription.

Rumors: The posting of rumors on HuskerMax™ is generally discouraged unless the rumor has already been reported on by a reputable journalist. Posters may post rumors (without a link to a journalist) that relate to impending coaching changes such as the resignation or hiring of coaches. Posters cannot, however, post rumors that relate to the personal situation of a coach, player, or other poster. This includes (but is not limited to) rumors relating to alleged misconduct, injuries, or player transfers.

Trolling and Baiting: Trolling is defined as a post or a thread that is deliberately designed to get a rise out of people, for example by posting information that is obviously incorrect, asking questions that are nonsensical, or by purposely antagonizing or mischaracterizing Husker fans. Similarly, baiting is defined as posts that are calculated to provoke another poster into violating the rules. Engaging in either trolling or baiting is likely to result in a PM from either an administrator or a moderator.

Modifying Quotes/"Fixed It For You": Posters are encouraged to use the "quote" function when responding to statements by other posters. Quoting of posters that does not contain a link to the original quote is not permitted. It is acceptable to shorten the other poster's quote if you are addressing only one portion of the prior post. However, it is not acceptable to change or modify the prior quote in order to change its meaning. This includes changing the quoted portion of the post and then putting "fixed it for you" or "FIFY" in the text of your own post. Although moderators and administrators do not routinely review signature lines for compliance with this rule, posters are generally discouraged from quoting other posters in their signature lines, particularly if the purpose of the quote is to ridicule the person being quoted. Any person who is quoted in another person's signature line has the right to request the removal of that quote, even if the quote does not violate this rule. Posters who do not wish to be quoted in someone else's signature line should send a PM to a moderator or administrator requesting the removal of the quote.

Advertising: No advertising of products or services is allowed. Similarly, links to commercial sites that sell products or services is not allowed without the express written permission of the HuskerMax™ bulletin board owner.

Avatar/Signature Policy: Consistent with the family-friendly nature of the HuskerMax™ bulletin board, pictures and images contained in posters’ avatars and signature should not contain nudity, overtly sexual poses, or focus exclusively on the sexual parts of human anatomy. As set forth above, images should not be obscene, vulgar, sexually-oriented, hateful, threatening, racist or sexist, or violative of any laws. Posters are encouraged to utilize extreme caution when linking materials on other websites for their avatars and signatures, as the content of such links can change without notice and result in the posting of objectionable material on the HuskerMax™ bulletin board. Whenever possible, posters are strongly encouraged to download the content that they include in their avatars and signatures to prevent this situation from occurring.

The HuskerMax™ Café: The Café is a forum for registered users to post their opinions on the issues of the day, including politics, religion, and countless other topics of interest. All of the rules and policies set forth above apply to discussions in the Café. In particular, the cardinal rule against personal attacks will always be strictly enforced. The administrators and moderators also recognize, however, that discussions in the Café will often become highly spirited, even heated, and do not intend to discourage such discussions from happening.

Non-Husker Fans: Visitors from other schools are welcome, but tread lightly on this message board. Pretend like you are a guest at our tailgate outside Memorial Stadium and you are face to face with 200 Husker fans by yourself and ask yourself this question. "Would I say what I am about to post in that situation?" In other words, show us the same respect that you would expect from us at your tailgate.

Moderator/Administrator Actions: The administrators and moderators of the HuskerMax™ bulletin board seek to avoid formally disciplining posters whenever possible. Posters who comply with the rules and policies set forth above and are generally respectful of other posters will likely never hear from an administrator or moderator. Unfortunately, sometimes the need for formal action by administrators or moderators arises. Set forth below are the general practices and procedures of administrators and moderators in such situations.

(1) Requests: If a thread or a poster is beginning to get out of hand, moderators will sometimes either make a request in the thread or in a private message that the poster or posters “tone it down” or otherwise cease engaging in some activity. If the poster or posters comply with this request, no further action is necessary. Please comply with any requests that you receive from an administrator or a moderator.

(2) Warnings: If a poster violates one of the rules or policies set forth above, it is likely (though not guaranteed) that the poster will first receive a warning from a moderator about the rule violation and requesting that the poster cease such behavior. If you receive such a warning, please make a particular effort not to violate that rule in the future.

(3) Locking Threads: When a thread has gotten out of hand, and warnings or requests by moderators have been disregarded by one or more posters, administrators or moderators will sometimes close a thread in order to prevent imminent or additional rule violations. When this occurs, please do not start a new thread asking “Why was that thread locked?” or otherwise continuing the discussion in that thread. If you have a question about why a thread was locked, please raise that question via PM to an administrator or moderator.

Of particular note to Husker fans, please be advised that the Solich/Callahan debates have been fully exhausted. Although such discussions are not prohibited, they are also not encouraged because of the history of such discussions leading to personal attacks, sniping, and generally uncivil behavior. Accordingly, Solich/Callahan threads will be kept on a particularly short leash, especially during the football season.

(4) Infractions: Failure to follow these guidelines will result in the author or other guilty parties receiving an infraction, particularly when the poster has been warned about the conduct at issue in the past. Each infraction is worth one point. Three infraction points will automatically result in your posting privileges being revoked for one week. Six infractions will automatically result in posting privileges being revoked for one month, and nine infraction points will automatically result in your posting privileges being suspended for 3 months or indefinitely. Infractions/points never expire.

(5) Suspensions: In addition to the foregoing automatic suspensions resulting from infractions, posters can be suspended for rule violations at the discretion of the owners of HuskerMax™. At any time regardless of point total, the decision to suspend posting privileges can be made by management or the consensus of two moderators.

(6) Permanent Revocations and Indefinite Suspensions: The decision to suspend a poster indefinitely, or to revoke his or her posting privileges indefinitely, can only be made by the management of HuskerMax™ and not by a moderator. If your privileges are suspended or revoked there will be NO refund of your purchase.

(7) Criticism of Moderators and Administrators: As a general matter, criticisms of moderators and questioning moderation decisions should be handled via PM to the moderator in question or to the administrators or owners of the board. There is no blanket rule, however, against raising questions or criticisms publicly on the boards. Please recognize that the moderators are volunteers attempting to make the bulletin board an enjoyable place to post and share opinions. Excessive criticism of moderators on the boards by a poster will result in the revocation of that poster’s right to raise questions and criticisms publicly on the boards.

(8) Appeals of Moderator/Administrator Actions: Posters who are the subject of disciplinary action have the right to appeal such actions to the administrators or owners of the HuskerMax™ bulletin board.

The bottom line is HuskerMax™ wants to provide a forum where fans can post their opinions and do so in an atmosphere of civilized discussion. If you are unable to follow the simple guideline of "attack the message and not the messenger" than please consider registering on another BBS. Remember that you are a guest on this BBS and guests can be asked to leave.

If you agree to the terms listed above please proceed with your subscription purchase. Completing the purchase acknowledges that you agree to the terms stated above.