Terms Of Service (pdf)
Harnessphere is an online community for people to come together to discuss harness racing and Standardbred horses; it is meant to be a family-friendly site, and one which does not traffic in unfounded rumors or personal attacks. Frank and thoughtful discussions, even of controversial topics, including constructive criticism of the USTA, are welcome, but our moderators will act quickly remove what they feel is offensive content, or content that may keep Harnessphere from being the best place for everyone to be part of an online community dedicated to all the best in harness racing.The quicklist of rules (read full list below):
1. No Profanity
2. No attacking other community members or moderators
3. Do not post rumors about anyone involved within the sport or the industry unless you provide a direct link to a news article from a legitimate website
4. No attacks on anyone involved within the sport of the industry
5. No repeating the same negative post over and over
6. No posting copyrighted material including news articles - please link to them instead
7. No posting of graphic, lewd, explicit, racially or ethnically offensive, or violent content
8. No unauthorized posting or soliciting sponsorships, ads, selling products or services, or event promotions
9. Do not post private information such as home address, phone number, or email addresses
10. Do not post in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS or in colored text
11. No ALT accounts
12. Do not ask members under the age of 18 for any personal information or photographs
13. No "thread-jacking" (off-topic) or spam posting
14. NO TROLLING
Full Community Rules
First and foremost, all messages express the views of the author, and the owners of Harnessphere (USTA) will not be held responsible for the content of any message. USTA staff members and directors who post are entitled to their own opinion and do not represent the USTA. Any official positions the USTA holds on any subject will be clearly stated as being such.
1. No Profanity - as in none. The word filter is there for a reason. Using misspellings, initials, or symbols in place of profanity is prohibited.
2. No attacking other community members or moderators - Do not threaten, abuse, or harass other members anywhere within the community. That includes the message board and private messages. Harassment includes: - Derogatory comments made about another user - Talking about another user in a topic that they were not involved in just to get a negation reaction from them. - Responding to their posts with a reply that has no merit other than to belittle them - Soliciting for lewd content Everyone is entitled to their opinion and you are welcome to disagreements, but please do not resort to petty arguments and name calling.
3. Do not post rumors about anyone involved within the sport or the industry unless you provide a direct link to a news article from a legitimate website - Any post discussing a rumor heard from a friend of a friend or something you saw firsthand is not allowed and will be removed, even if said rumor is "public knowledge" and you THINK everyone knows about it.
4. No attacks on anyone involved within the sport of the industry - Constructive criticism of drivers, trainers, owners and the USTA is allowed. If you don't like something about them or the way they perform, please post your opinion and why you feel that way. You are allowed to disagree with anyone for any reason, but personal attacks are not allowed.
5. No repetitive negative posting - Saying the same negative thing over and over is being repetitive. We're not saying that you can't discuss negative things, but if the majority of your posts state the same negative opinion then they are going to be removed.
6. No posting copyrighted material - this includes, but is not limited to, photos, graphics, audio files, videos, and news articles. If you wish to discuss a news article, please post a link to it. DO NOT copy the article because it will be removed by the moderators.
7. No posting of graphic, lewd, explicit, racially or ethnically offensive, or violent content - This includes any videos, images, links to other websites containing such materials, or posts.
8. No unauthorized posting or soliciting sponsorships, ads, selling products or services, or event promotions - Events may be listed in our events forum and must adhere to that forum's guidelines with regards to posting your event. If there is a horse care product or a service you would like to recommend to someone who has ASKED specifically for such information, please do so by private message.
9. Do not post private information such as home address, phone number, or email addresses. If you want to exchange this information please do so by private message. Many programs on the internet are designed to look for and harvest such information for spamming purposes and virus attacks. We ask you not to post such information for your own safety.
10. Do not post in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS or in colored text - Posts that violate this rule are subject to editing. Posting in all capital letters is the same as shouting and is considered rude. Typing in a different font other than the default font will make your posts hard to read. Repeatedly violating this rule will lead to a warning and possibly a post reply limit.
11. No ALT accounts - ALT(ernate) accounts created in order to evade a ban will result in permanent IP ban. Alternate accounts created without permission from the board moderators will be disabled. If you feel there was an error in your account being banned send an email to harnessphere@ustrotting.com
12. Do not ask members under the age of 18 for any personal information or photographs - Please report any solicitation for such material. Members who solicit for such materials or harass our youth members will be banned and may be reported to the authorities.
13. No "thread-jacking" (off-topic) or spam posting. As this is a harness racing message board, topics and discussions should be harness racing related. Thread-jacking is posting a reply that is off topic of the original discussion. Spam posts are replies that add no value or thoughts to the discussion, for example "No way!" being your only reply to a discussion post. Such posts will be removed at the discretion of the Harnessphere moderators.
14. NO TROLLING: A troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum or chat room, with the intention of provoking other users into a negative emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.
This community will be a place for harness fans of all ages to come together and connect. Let's make sure it stays that way! If your receive any solicitations for products, services, personal information, or a message that violates our rules please inform us at harnessphere@ustrotting.com
We follow a zero-tolerance policy. The posting of any inappropriate materials will result in the user account being immediately disabled! Keep it clean! This community will be a place for harness fans of all ages to come together and connect. Let's make sure it stays that way!
Additional information:
Private Messages: you can send private messages or "pm's" to other users by mousing over the user's icon and selecting "send a message" or by clicking on the user's name to visit their profile page and then clicking "send a message"
Private messages are not able to be viewed, screened, or edited by the USTA or any of the community moderators, and therefore we can't be responsible for content or verify a message.
If you receive a message that violates any of our rules, please forward it to us at harnessphere@ustrotting.com so that appropriate action may be taken.
