Community Guidelines
for
Diamond Talk & Wedding Talk

Diamond Talk & Wedding Talk is a Community consisting of:

Among this group are people whose experience as members of a forum consist of newbies, experienced and inexperienced people. No matter to which group you belong, please watch your P's and Q's when you write and use smilies if you think someone might take something you say offensively.

Ignorance is definitely not bliss. In addition to this page make sure you follow the basic forum rules listed here. We have a Zero-Tolerance Policy.

I. DECEPTION & MISINFORMATION

1.1 DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, its owners, administrators and moderators reserve the right to remove any message or any member who posts information which we deem to be deceptive or misleading, at our own discretion.

II. CONSUMERS

Our number one goal at Diamond Talk is to protect the end consumer. That is our raison d'etre. Our guidelines are specifically directed at achieving this goal first and foremost. As a consumer here are some guidelines to make your stay, as well as the stay of those around you, as pleasant and useful as possible:

2.1. You may want to begin first by learning about Diamonds. We have prepared a no-nonsense Diamond Tutorial for you. Although there is a lot more information in the forums, 90% of what you need to know in order to make a safe purchase is right there.

2.2. If you are looking to locate some professionals that can serve you well, you might spend a bit of time lurking. There are many Jewelers and Appraisers who frequent Diamond Talk. Read what they have to say and if you like anyone's style, you can easily do a search for their previous posts to learn more. All you need to do is click on the link at the end of the line where it says "Post ". To make it clearer, here is a picture example with the link highlighted in red:

2.3. Identification. Although you are welcome to post in Wedding Talk after verifying only your email address, in order to post in Diamond Talk we do require verification of identity. There are several reasons for this, based on our experience running Diamond Talk for several years.

For one example, we want to prevent trade people from posing as consumers in order to promote their own services or to denigrate competitors. While any vendor caught doing this will be banned immediately, in order to prevent this from happening in the first place, we ask for identifying information.

This information will remain private. We ask for your name, address and credit card number, which we will NOT CHARGE, in order to verify identity. Although you have the option to display your name publically, we suggest for your own safety to only post your username. Address information will NOT be displayed.

If you choose not to share your credit card information, we do understand and still provide you with the option to post a message in a protected section of Diamond Talk, where your message can only be viewed by administrators, moderators and our Network Jewelers, who have the ability to answer your questions.

2.4. Consumers are not permitted to promote Jewelers or Appraisers. Please note the difference between discussing a personal experience, a situation or a product vs. promoting a vendor or product.

III. TRADE MEMBERS (Jewelers, Appraisers, Etc)

3.1. Trade status.
If you are a member of the jewelry trade, you may be given access to a Trade Only section of Diamond Talk. The requirement for admission is that you will need to provide us with trade credentials.

3.2. Trade Disputes.
If you have a dispute with a fellow trade member, the place to discuss this is in the Trade section. There may be some cases where discussion in public will be acceptable, however in most cases it belongs in the Trade Section. If you have any doubts as to where it belongs, please ask us first.

3.3. Consumer Disputes.
If you have a dispute with an end consumer, you may not bring up the issue in the non-trade area of the forum. The only instance where you will be allowed to discuss it in the non-trade area is if the end-consumer brings it up first and mentions you by name.

3.4. Promotion.
Vendors are not permitted to promote appraisers and appraisers are not permitted to promote vendors.

3.5. Self Promotion.
DT Vendors who are "Linkpartners" (i.e. provide a reciprocal link no further than one link away from the home page) & Network Jewelers are permitted to place a link to their site in their signature. Please note the section on Signatures as well.

IV. RESPECT IS THE KEY
Diamond Talk & Wedding Talk is a place where it's okay to be yourself -- be that harried, jovial, silly or sad person -- as long as you always act with respect for your fellow DTers. We promise that you won't have to leave your personality at the door.

We promise to bring passion to our work and to our community and to act with appreciation for our members. We will listen willingly to your suggestions and complaints, and try to incorporate your ideas in everything we do.

Pretend you run these forums, because in essence you do and it is also for you. Before you hit the submit button think if you would allow that post on your site or on your forums. Only you can prevent Spam and cross-posting. DT/WT Staff are here to help you so if you have a problem e-mail it or post your request in the forums. We have many members covering various areas of development and skill level. There are many willing to help you at the drop of a hat.

If you've been caught or accused of a wrongdoing don't get irrational. Most of the time we revoke privileges as a safety measure not as a personal vendetta and we are usually just as quick to reinstate them, as we were to revoke them. Just e-mail us and ask what happened. If you know what happened write your side of the story and tell us why you think it was ok or why you know it was wrong.

If you see a post that is inflammatory, racist, overly provocative, note that there is a link at the bottom of each post where you can "Report" the post to a moderator. Feel free to use this feature as it helps us keep the peace.

V. REPUBLISHING YOUR WORDS
We know that your words are filled with knowledge of how things work in the real world, because of this we have dedicated ourselves to bringing the best of our community to a larger audience. We do this by including links to your posts throughout the network and using discussion topics for the basis of new articles and features. We also reserve the right to quote your discussion forum posts in newsletters, throughout the DT/WT network and in DT/WT promotions. When republishing your quotes for wide distribution, we will identify you only by your DT/WT member name. We promise to be sensitive in this effort. We will not republish anything you write that we think could be deemed personally endangering, inflammatory or embarrassing to you without your consent.

VI. HOW TO REPORT A PROBLEM OR GET HELP
If you come across any violations to these guidelines or have any problems navigating the site, do not hesitate to let us know through the Contact Form.

We'll be happy to address your concerns.

Here at DT/WT we encourage everyone to participate in and enjoy the community through the following Guidelines:

VII. WELCOME NEWCOMERS
When newcomers arrive, welcome them to our growing community. Many of our community's "elders" (regardless of age) are a wealth of knowledge and have much to share. Help new members learn about how to find information and resources, save time, and how to get involved in the community.

VIII. POST IN THE CORRECT SECTION
The categories are created for a reason. It helps newcomers and veterans alike find the type of posts they are looking for at a glance. While on a personal level, many are tempted to post a message in the forum with the most traffic, in the long run it harms the community as the categories lose their effectiveness if people don't use them.

IX. DON'T ATTACK EACH OTHER
Don't attack others. Personal attacks on others will not be tolerated. Challenge others' points of view and opinions, but do so respectfully and thoughtfully ... without insult and personal attack. No need to keep repeating the same point over and over. In other words, don't 'hound' members.

X. KEEP PERSONAL INFORMATION PERSONAL
Think before you post or speak: Do you really want to put your address or telephone number on a public diamond forum or to share it during a live chat? We encourage you to keep personal information personal.

Similarly, do not ask for personal information from others. Forum posts that request members to submit personal information to another party will be removed. Information that should be considered personal includes but is not limited to your home phone number, name, age. If you must give this out for any reason, please do so privately.

XI. KEEP YOUR POSTS CLEAN
There may be places where explicit, obscene or vulgar language, graphics or behavior is appropriate however, DT/WT is not one of them.

Forum posts that contain explicit, obscene or vulgar language will be removed. We also do not allow links to pornographic, warez, or hate sites of any kind.

XII. BE COURTEOUS: AVOID DUPLICATE POSTS
Do not post the same discussion more than once on a discussion forum or on many forums. Duplicate discussions can be frustrating for other members, especially for those whose time and energy is limited. Weeding through the same discussion in multiple locations can be not only frustrating, but downright annoying. Duplicate discussions will be deleted. Reposting the same message repeatedly can be interpreted as SPAM and could result in the loss of your DT/WT Community Membership.

XIII. VETERAN DT/WT MEMBERS LEAD THE WAY
If you are a long-time member of DT/WT, we are counting on you to lead the way. You help set the tone for the whole community. If you treat others with respect, the new members will see & behave in the same way. If you show disrepect to the community or moderators, this will set a bad example and destroy what can be a positive environment.

XIV. ADVERTISING
Keep advertising where it is allowed. Do not heedlessly place your advertisements through the Discussion Forums. This will be considered SPAM and will result in the loss of your DT/WT Community Membership.

XX. DISCLOSURE
Members are required to disclose any business association with vendors. In plain talk, if you are a business partner, customer, relative or friend of a vendor, you must disclose this fact. Testimonials by members with hidden associations to any vendors are strictly forbidden.

XXI. SIGNATURES
Each DT/WT Community Membership comes with the ability to display a signature. This signature cannot be used to promote your site, business, or other ventures unless you are a consumer with a NON-JEWELRY WEBSITE , a Network Jeweler or provide a comparable link back from all domains you link to. "Comparable link" refers to a link on a page no further than one link away from the home page, and not amidst a huge link list. We will use our discretion.

XXII. AVATARS
Avatars are small images that can be included in your user profile. These images must be 60 X 60 pixels or less and be under 8 Kilobytes in size. Avatars fall under the same guidelines as printed text and must comply with these guidelines.

XXIII. DON'T REPUBLISH COPYRIGHTED INFORMATION
Information or images copyrighted or owned by any individual or entity other than the member should not be posted on the discussion forums without the consent of the owner. If such an event occurs, the individual posting the information shall be held solely responsible. Diamond Talk / Wedding Talk shall not be held responsible for member-posted information that may violate copyright law. It is also subject to removal.

XIV. FINALLY, WE RESERVE THE RIGHT
DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com and its assigned agents reserve the right to remove a post which does not relate to the topic being discussed in the forum. In addition, Diamond Talk / Wedding Talk reserves the right to organize discussion forums in order to best serve the majority of our members. For example, narrow-interest or minimal activity topics may, at Diamond Talk/Wedding Talk's discretion, be relocated to a more appropriate discussion forum, or deleted entirely.

DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com or its assigned agents also reserve the right to prohibit or delete discussions that are thought to violate applicable law or that may be harmful to other members, the sites that comprise DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com or the rights of DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com or others. That said, DT/WT does not have the practical ability to restrict conduct or communications that might violate these Guidelines or the Terms of Service prior to transmission on DT/WT or the Web, nor can we ensure prompt removal of offending discussion forum posts.

We also reserve the right to remove your membership should you violate these Guidelines.

DiamondRing.com reserves the right to restrict or terminate any user's ability to use our sites, at our sole discretion and without prior notice or liability.

DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com is provided to you, "as is".

You may only use DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com for legal purposes. You may not use DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com or its services to publish, post, distribute or disseminate any defamatory, obscene, or other unlawful material or information, including another's proprietary information, including trademarks or copyrighted information, without express authorization from the rights holder. Additionally, you may not use DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com to collect or harvest personal information, including Internet addresses, about DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com or its assigned agents' users.

You must abide by any policies posted on DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. You understand that DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. or its assigned agents provides no assistance, including the review, removal or editing of content posted on, or any customer support for the use of, the DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. or its assigned agents' website(s).

DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. or its assigned agents uses its best efforts to maintain DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com, but is not responsible for the results of any defects that exist in DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. You should not assume that DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com or its content is error-free or that it will be suitable for the particular purposes that you have in mind when using it. DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. or its assigned agents may, in its sole discretion and at any time, modify or discontinue DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com; limit, terminate or suspend your use of or access to DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com; and/or make changes to these Terms of Use or any other policies posted on DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com.

DIAMONDTALK.COM, WEDDINGTALK.COM, DIAMONDRING.COM IS PROVIDED WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. DIAMONDTALK.COM, WEDDINGTALK.COM, DIAMONDRING.COM AND ITS AGENTS, AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS AND CONTENT PROVIDERS DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES REGARDING DIAMONDTALK.COM, WEDDINGTALK.COM, DIAMONDRING.COM AND THE INFORMATION OBTAINED THEREFROM, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

NEITHER DIAMONDTALK.COM, WEDDINGTALK.COM, DIAMONDRING.COM NOR ANY OF ITS PARTNERS, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS OR CONTENT PROVIDERS SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO ANY USE OF DIAMONDTALK.COM, WEDDINGTALK.COM, DIAMONDRING.COM .

You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, permanently store, publish or otherwise transfer, or commercially exploit, any software, file, information, communication or other content received or accessed through DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. You agree to indemnify DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. and its partners, agents, affiliates, suppliers and content providers against all claims, liability, damages, costs and expenses, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of or relating to your use of DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com.

This Terms of Use, and any dispute arising hereunder, will be governed by the laws of the State of New York. The exclusive jurisdiction for any dispute arising out of or relating to DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. or this Terms of Use shall be the state and federal courts located in New York City.

This Terms of Use (along with any other policies posted on DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com from time to time) constitute the entire agreement between DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com and a user of DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. with respect to the subject matter thereof.

Copyright Notice

The documents and information on this Web site are copyrighted materials of DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com. and its information providers. Reproduction or storage of materials retrieved from this service is subject to the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, Title 17 U.S.C.

Copyright Complaints
DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask our members to do the same. DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com may, in appropriate circumstances and at its discretion, terminate the accounts of users who infringe the intellectual property rights of others.

If you believe that your work has been copied and is accessible on the DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com service in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com by providing DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com's copyright agent the following information:

an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, including the URL (i.e., web page address) of the location where the copyrighted work exists or a copy of the copyrighted work;
identification of the URL or other specific location on the DiamondTalk.com, WeddingTalk.com, DiamondRing.com site where the material that you claim is infringing is located;
your address, telephone number, and email address;
a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your Notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.