While the Anita Borg Community area is intended to be a virtual space for the open exchange of ideas and experiences, we do have a few simple rules that we ask our users to abide by:

1. Be considerate and fair. Feel free to engage in a spirited discussion or disagree with other participants; however, avoid “flaming,” creating posts that attack individuals (members and non-members), companies, or organizations.
2. You are responsible for your posts. But know that the forum moderator(s) will be listening. We don’t use profanity filters, but we do ask that you refrain from using profane, obscene, intolerant, or abusive language. You are responsible for the content of your messages, and you may be liable for negligent, knowing, or willful misconduct, as well as damages arising from these actions. Accordingly, do not post, transmit, or link to material that is libelous, illegal, defamatory, fraudulent, harmful, threatening, or in violation of others’ property or privacy rights. Additionally, be aware that by posting a message or participating in the Anita Borg Institute (ABI) community forum, you grant ABI the right to modify and publish that information on the site and in other media.
3. No Spamming. Ever. Message boards and billboards are two different things. Please refrain from posting advertisements, promotional materials, or any other forms of solicitation for goods or services. In no part of the forums are you allowed to post spam or promote or offer any goods or services for sale. This includes promotional statements about your company or organization, as well as advertisements for free services or products made within the context of another message; community members will determine what constitutes spam. You should also be warned that overly enthusiastic endorsements of any product (whether or not the author is affiliated with the vendor) may be flagged as spam by our moderators. If you wish to lessen your risk of being flagged as a spammer, you may post a disclaimer stating that you are not affiliated with a company or service. You are also forbidden to contact users off board to promote your services. If you have been asked by an ABI moderator to refrain from a particular posting behavior and you ignore these warnings, your account will be terminated.
4. The world is watching. To protect your privacy and the privacy of others, please exercise caution when posting any personally identifiable information about yourself or a third party. This includes your username and password, which should be protected and not shared with any other individual.
5. Think before you click that link. ABI is not responsible for the transmission of any viruses, worms, or other forms of malware that you acquire from visiting external links posted on our message boards.
6. Copyright laws apply to the Web. Do not post any material that is protected by copyright unless you are the copyright holder or have the copyright holder’s permission. However, you may make fair use of copyrighted material by quoting limited passages of text, provided you credit the author.
7. Edit your message. We do not edit messages before they are posted to the message boards. Please preview your message (using the Preview Message button) before you post it to ensure that it makes sense to others.
8. No shouting. While they may be fun and exciting to write messages in all capital letters, they are NOT FUN TO READ.
9. Stay on topic. We respectfully remind everyone that this is a discussion area for women technologists and those that support ABI’s mission, we ask that you please only post questions that relate to our mission or programs.
10. No duplicate posting. Please refrain from posting duplicate messages or questions in more than one forum.
11. Be yourself. Please avoid choosing a username with the explicit intention of impersonating another individual; doing so is grounds for removal from this community.

If your posts violate these Community Standards, we may — at our own discretion — remove or move the offending posts and take actions we believe to be appropriate, including, but not limited to: posting a thoughtfully worded reply to your message, sending you an email reminding you of our Community Standards, suspending your posting privileges, or terminating your account.