Rules for Participating on CR4, Engineering360, and Electronics360

Registration with this site is free, but you must abide by the rules and policies described below.

By registering with this site, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful, threatening, spamming, off-topic, or that otherwise violate any laws.

Any content that violates the Rules or User Guidelines in the CR4 FAQ will be removed. Interpretation of these guidelines is at the discretion of the moderation team.

1. Each user is allowed to create one account. One person, one user profile. No exceptions.
2. CR4 is an English-speaking community. As such, all content must be posted in the English language so that it is accessible to this audience and can be reviewed properly. At the same time, it is important to note that for many users of this site, English is a second language. Therefore, there is no reason to report, highlight, or denigrate grammatical errors, typos, etc. It is also against this site's policy to denigrate a user because of his or her location, race, gender, or creed.
3. Please avoid using unsavory language, profanity and/or foul imagery. It is unnecessary to use profanity. Doing so may get your post pulled and even result in your removal from the site. Photos and images containing nudity or the suggestion thereof, foul language, or any other material that violates the CR4 Rules will be removed. Final judgment about what constitutes "foul, vulgar or unsavory" belongs to the moderation team. This site is used by people of all ages, and we seek to maintain a family-friendly atmosphere. Please keep this in mind when participating.
4. The same is true for links and references to other websites. When you link to an external website, it is your responsibility to make sure that the content on the linked site is appropriate for our community and does not violate our guidelines. This includes mentioning or referencing to a website, even if you do not provide a hyperlink.
5. Please stay on topic. Posts and comments should be of a technical nature and involve some aspect of engineering, science or technology. If you delve into other topical areas (business, entertainment, sports, etc.), please do your best to tie them back to one of CR4's main focal points. Posts focusing on politics or religion will probably be removed. There are plenty of places on the Web to talk about politics or religion. CR4 isn't one of them. Likewise, strong political and religious sentiments should be kept out of profiles, signatures and other content.
6. Do not post the same thread multiple times. The moderation team will delete all but the most appropriate instance, and may delete them all if sufficiently annoyed.
7. Do not post phone numbers or email addresses. The moderation team will delete all phone numbers posted in threads or comments, and we strongly urge you not to post email addresses. You should also avoid using your email address as your user name. Posting your email address is an open invitation to spammers; yes, they do crawl our site looking for easy marks. If you want to give someone your contact information and are a registered CR4 user, please use the internal messaging system. Keep in mind, however, that all use of the internal messaging system must conform to the Messaging Code of Conduct. Do not send spam!
8. Posts that discuss illegal activities or transactions, and/or references to websites purveying warez, cracks, etc. will be removed. We do not support the copying or selling of any copywritten material by anyone other than the copyright holder or an authorized reseller. This includes, but is not limited to software, books and printed material; images; standards and certifications, etc.
9. Aside from one limited posting in the Commercial Space forum, advertising of any kind is not allowed. It does not matter if the advertising is for a commercial website, a personal website, a nonprofit website, etc. CR4 is a for-profit entity. If you wish to advertise here, then contact the moderation team and ask for the Sales Department.
10. CR4 is a voluntary-use community. Only the moderators are required to be here, and only the moderators have an unlimited right to be here. From time to time, people leave CR4 of their own volition or because they have been removed for violating the site rules. The moderation team does not delete their user profiles and we do not remove their posts and other content. Should you wish to have some of your content removed, contact us and we will evaluate your case.
11. The final say on anything belongs to the moderation team. If you take issue with any decision, then contact the moderators directly. Posts that question the moderation team's decisions such as thread closures, moderation of threads, or removal of individual users are not permitted and will be removed. If you believe something was moderated in error (which does happen, we're not perfect), then contact the moderation team directly and we will review the situation.
12. CR4 is a professional, moderated site. If you do not feel you can abide by the rules, we invite you to visit some of the millions of other sites on the Web.
13. For additional suggestions on using this site, please refer to the CR4 FAQ.

While we strive to allow our users as much leeway in the material they can post on CR4, Engineering360, and Electronics360, it must be noted that Freedom of Speech rights do not extend to privately-owned websites such as this one. Please refrain from lecturing the community or the moderation team about your rights under the U.S Constitution or any other foundational document.

Although the moderation team will seek to keep objectionable messages off this site, it is impossible for us to review all messages. Some material that you find offensive may "slip through," if only temporarily. Please note that all messages express only the views of the author. Neither the owners of CR4 nor its administrators or moderators are responsible for the content of any message.

All content posted on CR4 is granted to IEEE GlobalSpec with electronic publishing rights in perpetuity, as all content posted on this site becomes a part of the community.

The owners, administrators, and moderators of this site reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any post or ban any user for any reason. By agreeing to register with CR4, you agree to this rule and to all of the other site rules and guidelines.

These rules and guidelines are subject to change at any time without notice.