NWDC Terms of Service

By accessing “Northwest Dive Club” (hereinafter “we”, “us”, “our”, “Northwest Dive Club”, "NWDC", “http://www.nwdiveclub.com”), you agree to be legally bound by the following terms. If you do not agree to be legally bound by all of the following terms then please do not access and/or use Northwest Dive Club. We may change these at any time and we’ll do our utmost in informing you, though it would be prudent to review this regularly yourself as your continued usage of Northwest Dive Club after changes mean you agree to be legally bound by these terms as they are updated and/or amended.

The two cardinal rules of Northwest Dive Club are:

1) Don’t be a dick.
2) Have fun.

In addition, here are some other rules members must abide by when using this site:

PUBLIC CONTENT

Any and all content posted for inclusion in publicly accessible areas of Northwest Dive Club are the responsibility of the creator. Northwest Dive Club makes no claims or warranties about such information or its authenticity. Upon posting any content on Northwest Dive Club, you grant Northwest Dive Club the non-exclusive right to publish, modify and use such content to carry out its services.

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes or noncommercial purposes any portion of the services or content contained within Northwest Dive Club and its subsidiary sites. In order to use any content, graphical art, photos or files owned by or published by Northwest Dive Club, direct, written authorization must be obtained from Northwest Dive Club with no exceptions at any time for any reason.

TOPICS, POSTINGS & OBJECTIONABLE MATERIAL

You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-orientated or any other material that may violate any laws be it of your country, the country where Northwest Dive Club is hosted or International Law. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned, with notification of your Internet Service Provider if deemed required by us. The IP address of all posts are recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. You agree that Northwest Dive Club has the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic at any time should we see fit. As a user you agree to any information you have entered to being stored in a database. While this information will not be disclosed to any third party without your consent, Northwest Dive Club shall not be held responsible for any hacking attempt that may lead to the data being compromised.

This is a "workplace friendly" board as defined below. Although the administrators and moderators of Northwest Dive Club forums will attempt to keep all objectionable material off of this forum, it is impossible for us to review all messages. All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of Northwest Dive Club, nor any of the Site Moderators. If any message appears to violate the spirit of our TOS, please notify us by emailing [captain][at][nwdiveclub] d o t c o m, and don’t forget to include a link to the content in question.

In order to meet the needs of our members and maintain a professional level of discussion, Northwest Dive Club operates under a “workplace friendly” code of ethics. While discussions may touch on “adult” subjects, profanity, personal insults, discrimination and otherwise offensive content is strongly discouraged and not allowed in most cases. Our intent is to ensure that any individual viewing Northwest Dive Club in a workplace environment can feel comfortable that no co-worker, employee or supervisor would take offense to the content shown and that the content would not violate any law related to workplace harassment or discrimination.

Because different people have different standards for what is and what is not offensive, we have prepared this document to help users understand what constitutes various types of prohibited content. This list is by no means all-inclusive and ultimately issues will be addressed on a case-by-case basis. We feel that the TOS taken in its entirety should give anyone who reads it a fairly clear idea of what "workplace friendly" means with regard to the corporate culture at Northwest Dive Club and the TOS will be enforced accordingly. If you feel a post violates these rules in word or in spirit, please contact your nearest Site Moderator.

Northwest Dive Club is primarily a place for diving related discussions. It is understood that non-diving topics will occasionally be explored in a thread, as is typical throughout the course of any discussion. Topics not related to diving at all should be posted to the "Everything Else" forum only.

There are certain areas of discussion, which elicit more animosity and subsequently tend to attract uncivil behavior. Consequently, we ask that discussions involving politics, religion, nationalities or other subjects of a controversial nature be reserved for other sites that are more appropriately structured for these topics. These topics are not expressly forbidden, but we ask that any discussion involving these topics remains related to diving. Discussions or posts that do not remain civil will be removed at the discretion of Northwest Dive Club staff. Lastly, do not post any non diving related items for sale on the site.

Posts that contain direct or indirect threats of a physical or non-physical nature along with posts that contain personal attacks or insults are not allowed. Users are also expressly forbidden from engaging in activities that may be seen as harassment. This includes targeting other users with a personal attack, intentionally responding to all of a particular user’s threads in a negative manner in order to discredit them or otherwise seeking to intentionally anger, upset or continuously attack another member (trolling). Constructive criticism of other members is strongly discouraged unless explicitly asked for by a poster. In other words, do not give advice to others unless it’s explicitly asked for by that person. Healthy debate is okay, as long as it stays constructive and does not involve blanket generalizations or assumption made by either party. This includes "agency bashing" (read below). In the event that any party feels a debate is no longer constructive, we ask both parties to respectfully disengage before creating a disruption of the thread.

While debates may become very passionate and be strongly presented, there is no need to revert to personal attacks. If you feel that you have been personally attacked, please do not retaliate. Retaliation which violates any part of the TOS is not allowed. PM a Site Moderator to notify us if you witness or are subject to a personal attack. No trolling or flaming of any sort is allowed in any section of Northwest Dive Club. Posts advocating or condoning illegal activity are also not allowed on Northwest Dive Club. Coercing new divers and/or would-be students into following one diving philosophy over another is not allowed, so do not attempt to indoctrinate any other divers into a particular way of diving, and remember, do not offer advice unless it is specifically requested.

By registering an account at Northwest Dive Club you agree not to create and/or log in with multiple accounts ("sock puppets"); access the site using a distributed network, or other anonymizing service, or otherwise attempt to gain admittance to the Site after you have had another account disabled. Membership is a privilege, it is not a right. We reserve the right to deny service to any person at any time without cause or notification.

Promotional advertising whether commercial or non-commercial is only allowed through the terms detailed in the "Classes, Charters, Listings, Shop Sales & Events" forum. A general rule of thumb to follow is: If you are a business owner or are otherwise financially benefiting from posting information or offers to the site, then you are an "advertiser" - if you are an individual who is simply posting information to organize a dive, then you are not an "advertiser". Any solicitation for donations or contributions, whether for charity or any other purpose, needs to be approved in writing by a Northwest Dive Club Moderator or Admin prior to posting, without exception.

Northwest Dive Club maintains commercial relationships with numerous companies, which are unrelated to its membership. Advertisers are not entitled to extra privileges nor may they break or disobey our rules in any way. Advertising does not imply endorsement of a product, service or user. Please contact [captain][at][nwdiveclub] d o t c o m for further details about advertising on Northwest Dive Club. While a commercial interest may respond to a request for information, they are expressly forbidden from providing unsolicited information about their goods or services in a way that does not honor the original poster’s intent. Users may not post advertisements in their signature lines.

Northwest Dive Club is oftentimes a place where breaking news about tragic dive accidents surfaces. Please do not post information relating to a dive accident or fatality, unless you either are able to reference a credible source of the information or are an actual witness to said events and have accurate and reliable information. Wild speculation and insensitive postings, especially during times of tragedy, are strictly prohibited. Repeat offenses of this nature may result in the temporary or permanent suspension of posting privileges. Please respect the family and friends of diving accident victims by abiding by this policy.

Agency bashing will not be tolerated. You may disagree about an agency’s standards or practices and may voice an opinion about that at anytime. However, when serious commentary crosses the line into becoming an actual attack or ridicule concerning an agency it will be considered bashing.

To this end, please remember that everything should be taken in context. What may be offensive in one post may not be in another. This depends on the circumstances, topic and perceived intent of the author.

Should you feel that you are being unfairly targeted or judged by a Site Moderator, please contact us directly at [captain][at][nwdiveclub] d o t c o m. We expect all Site Moderators to act fairly and equitably.

EDUCATION AND MEDICAL TOPICS

Northwest Dive Club is a safety-oriented place. While there is much to be learned here and we recognize that many of the pioneers of diving learned how to do things on their own, we strongly advise against learning how to dive on your own. This includes, but is not limited to how to enter an overhead environment and how to conduct any mandatory decompression diving. A formal class is the best way to do this safely and we encourage you to avail yourself of as much training as possible. A competent instructor will be able to see safety concerns that you might miss. Consequently, promoting such conduct on Northwest Dive Club either directly or by implication is not allowed. Remember, Northwest Dive Club is a place for folks to meet each other and to plan dives together. The site is not and was not ever intended to be a replacement or supplement to proper training by certified instructors and real life experience. Go out and dive!

Northwest Dive Club, its moderators, administrators and affiliated health professionals provide these forums for the discussion of general questions concerning diving medicine. They are intended to be for general discussion and educational purposes only. Information provided by members, moderators and/or health professionals is in no way intended to serve as actual individual medical advice, diagnosis, or to provide treatment plans. In no way does participating on these forums constitute a formal or informal doctor/patient relationship.

Northwest Dive Club assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or reliability of any posts. It is possible that some information may be inaccurate, incomplete or otherwise flawed. As per Northwest Dive Club TOS, the information in these posts may or may not be reviewed and is by no means endorsed or verified by Northwest Dive Club, Northwest Dive Club Site Moderators, administrators or health professionals.

While your health is important to us, you are responsible for your own health care. In the event you feel you have any medical concerns regarding actual illness, injury or other possible risks, you should consult your physician or other health care professionals as you deem necessary and as soon as possible.

Any diver who believes that they or another diver may have an urgent medical problem including but not limited to any life threatening conditions, should initiate Emergency Medical Services (911 or equivalent) immediately and then contact their physician and the Divers Alert Network (DAN).

GENERAL

The owners of Northwest Dive Club forums and the Site Moderators reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread for any reason.

Site Moderators have the last word in any dispute and are responsible for interpreting the TOS. At their discretion, when they deem it in the best interest of Northwest Dive Club, they may edit or delete avatars, pictures, posts and threads. When necessary, they will also ban users.

Northwest Dive Club reserves the right to add to or amend the TOS without any prior warning or the mutual consent of its users. By completing your registration with us, you agree that your participation on Northwest Dive Club will conform to any such additions or amendments to the TOS.

Northwest Dive Club retains all rights and privileges to content posted to its user and other databases. Spam, data mining or recruiting our membership other than through authorized use of our forums and signature lines is expressly forbidden. We are dedicated to keeping our users’ information private and will not sell it to a third party.

If you do not understand any part of our TOS, please contact us for clarification.