Forum Rules
Registration Agreement
1. Purpose
1.1 The purpose of this site is to provide a safe forum for people to share experiences and help each other cope with the challenges of living with or caring for people with lung conditions.
1.2 The administrators of this site cannot be expected to pre-check the content posted via the discussion system and therefore we make no claims as to the accuracy, integrity, timeliness or quality of such content.
1.3 This site is not a substitute to professional advice. You should consult your doctor, or other relevant professional, before making any decisions that could affect you or others.
2. Conduct of users
2.1 Participation in, and use of this site is at the user's own risk.
2.2 All views and information, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted are individual and not the views, policy or advice of the British Lung Foundation. You understand and acknowledge that content is the sole responsibility of the person from which such content originated.
2.3 Any reference to third party organisations, their product/s or service/s does not imply endorsement by the British Lung Foundation. The British Lung Foundation aims to remove such references but has no obligation to do this.
2.4 The use of the message boards for gathering information for surveys and research studies, or similar, is prohibited unless prior permission has been given by the British Lung Foundation.
2.5 All users must be aged 16 or over.
2.6 You agree not to participate in mischievous or malicious behaviour which causes damage or may cause damage to the British Lung Foundation or this site or any of the computer systems on which this site resides.
2.7 By using this site you agree to these terms and conditions. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions the British Lung Foundation reserves the right to prohibit you from using this site.
3. Postings and messages
3.1 Content that is posted to this site or otherwise included in its private messaging systems, including your choice of public name or id, must follow these conditions.
3.2 Messages must not be obscene, defamatory or libellous, vulgar, sexually orientated, hateful, threatening, or in violation of any laws or good morals and practice. You hereby undertake to indemnify and hold harmless the British Lung Foundation against all costs and expenses from any such actions by you.
3.3 Messages containing contact details (web addresses, emails, phone numbers, fax numbers or postal addresses) are allowed at the discreation of the moderators.
3.4 Messages must not contain advertisements or references to products or services except with the prior written consent of the British Lung Foundation.
3.5 Messages must not be excessively repeated intentionally.
3.6 Messages must not infringe or violate another party's rights (including, but not limited to, intellectual property rights, and rights of privacy and publicity).
3.7 By submitting information to the discussion boards, you grant the British Lung Foundation a non-exclusive worldwide royalty-free perpetual non-revocable licence to use, distribute, adapt, modify, display, reproduce and transmit such information in any and all media in the manner in whole or in part without any duty to account to you. You also grant the British Lung Foundation the right to grant licences to users of the Website to view and copy such information for personal use.
3.8 The British Lung Foundation may from time to time edit or remove posts that are contrary to these terms and conditions or not constructive to the overall purpose and mission of the British Lung Foundation or create a distraction to that purpose and mission.
3.9 You agree not to transmit any chain letters, spam, or junk messages to other users.
3.10 You must not send unsolicited messages for the purpose of 'advertising' a product or service.
3.11 You agree to respect the privacy and wishes of those users who you have been privately messaging. You must not pass on details to third parties (except the British Lung Foundation) without permission.
3.12 By sending or receiving a private message you consent to them being viewed by the British Lung Foundation where the British Lung Foundation have been notified of a problem or a breach of these terms and conditions.
4. Moderation and Banning
4.1 The British Lung Foundation has the right, but no obligation, to remove, edit, move or close any message or group of messages for any reason.
4.2 The British Lung Foundation is not obliged to enter into any correspondence regarding the moderation of content on the BLF Forums discussion system.
4.3 The British Lung Foundation has the right to modify or delete any or all information relating to a user, including deletion of that user's account, without prior notice or reason.
4.4 Users of the forum are subject to a Red/Yellow card scheme to ensure they adhere to the rules and good moral behaviour whilst on the forums. Anyone found in breech of the rules or good practice will recieve a Yellow card and a temporary ban of up to 2 weeks. Any further incidents will result in a Red card and a permemant ban. Any removal or banning of a visitor from anywhere within BLF Forums is binding and the decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into nor will Administrators or Moderators be obliged to explain such banning.
4.5 In cases of dispute, the decision of the Forum Administrator or Website Manager of the British Lung Foundation shall be final.
4.6 The moderators (on behalf of the British Lung Foundation) have, in particular, the right to remove or edit any posts where any sort of advice given (medical or otherwise) cannot be verified or supported by the BLF. The moderators can also likewise remove or edit any research-related posts by Forum users, especially where it is felt that they are not in the best interests of the users, as judged by the moderators. The British Lung Foundation is not obliged to enter into any correspondence over the above.
5. Privacy and Data Protection
5.1 We do not collect any personal information about you, unless you choose to provide it. We will never share this information with a third party, or advertiser, except where you have given permission.
5.2 Cookies are used to assist the functionality of the website only, personal data is not collected via cookies.
5.3 From time to time the British Lung Foundation may contact you for administration purposes.
6. Notice
6.1 Where a breach of these terms and conditions occurs the British Lung Foundation reserves the right to take such action as it sees fit.
6.2 When you link to other organisations via BLF Forums, you then are subject to the rules and privacy laws of that organisations' site.
6.3 This agreement shall be governed in accordance with the laws of England.
6.4 The terms and conditions of this agreement are subject to change by the British Lung Foundation at any time, the British Lung Foundation will aim to make users aware of any significant changes. Any user's use of this site following changes shall indicate the user's acceptance of the new agreement.
7. Exclusion of liability
7.1 The British Lung Foundation hereby excludes all and any losses, liabilities, claims, damages, expenses or costs (whether as a consequence of its negligence or otherwise) arising in connection with:
- your use or inability to use BLF Forums;
- any unauthorised access to or alterations of information provided by you;
- your use of any third party websites (including without limitation those that may be connected by hyperlink to this site);
- any arrangements entered into with any third party in connection with any information provided by or in connection with this site;
- the inaccuracy, incompleteness or tardiness of any information supplied through the service other than, in each case, any liability in respect of death or personal injury.
8. Definitions
8.1 "this site" refers to all Internet pages in the lunguk.org or forum.lunguk.org/forums domain;
8.2 "British Lung Foundation" includes to any person or organisation involved in any part of the design, development, response-handling, marketing, promotion or other similar aspects of this site;
8.3 "user" refers to any person viewing or interacting with this site, including "you";
8.4 "content" refers to any text, photograph or other image presented on this site to users by either the British Lung Foundation or users.
