Sattech.us Official Site Policy

Sattech.us Official Site Policy

In an effort to clearly spell out all policies regarding posting, files, user profiles, and general forum behavior, the moderators of this site have drafted this thread. Please read these policies before posting. Be sure to check them often, as they are subject to change without notice.

I. User Profile Policies

Usernames
Usernames must be in good taste and may not contain email addresses, URLs, or either of those in disguise.

Uniqueness of Usernames
Please choose a username that is original and unique. If you choose a username that is the same or confusingly similar to another user on this site or a user who has at least 100 posts on at least one other FTA site, you will be asked to change it.

Avatars
Avatars must be in good taste. Nothing pornographic, racist, or otherwise inappropriate may be used. The basic rule to follow is if you wouldn't want your kids to see it, don't use it as your avatar.

Signatures
Signatures may contain no form of solicitation, email, or other content in violation of other rules. The maximum font size for all signatures is 3.

Changing usernames
You may change your display name from your profile settings. This does not change the username that you registered with, which you must still use to log in. But it does change your forum identity.

Deleting accounts and posts
We do not remove or delete accounts, nor do we honor requests to remove all of your posts, regardless of your standing. This is not MySpace or Facebook. All information entered into the database, including user profiles, posts, threads, and attachments, is the property of FTATech.

II. General Posting Policies

Proper Forum
All posts must be in the proper forum. That is why there are many different forums on this site. Off limit topics are Off limit! Period. Not "just this once" or "I know but...." It is off limits and treat it that way.

Netiquette Guidelines
Certain rules of unspoken etiquette should be followed when using Internet forums. They include:
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Read any rules and guidelines established by the community; some may have different regulations on a particular subject. Always be courteous.
Before creating a new topic thread, search to see if a similar topic already exists.
Follow standard grammar/spelling rules and try not to use slang.
If the forum is categorized, post in the correct section.
Include as much technical information as possible if posting a technical inquiry.
Stay on-topic.
Avoid double posting and Crossposting.
Respond to topics started by others more often than starting topics of your own so that you don't appear arrogant and unlikable.
Avoid the use of all CAPITAL LETTERS in posts. (All CAPS is considered "shouting" and causes readability issues.)
Do not resurrect a very old topic if you have nothing extremely significant to add. This practice is known as revival or a "necro", short for necromancy, from the practice of necromancers in fantasy animating the dead.
Try to refrain from lashing back at a poorly behaving member or participating in a flame war; instead, notify the messageboard's staff of the event.
When quoting a previous post, include only the relevant portion of that post

Posting of Private Messages
Private Messages are as indicated, private. Posting of a PM or any part of one in the open forums is generally discouraged and could be considered a breach of trust by the sender and be grounds for administrative action. Exceptions to this policy are allowed only in such cases where both the sender and receiver(s) of the PM agree that it should be posted in the public forums.

Buying and Selling
This will get you banned. The only place where buying and selling is allowed is in the Buying/Selling forum in the VIP Lounge.

"Me Too" posts
Please do not post things such as "I have the same problem too. Can anyone help?". This will not cause anyone to respond any faster.

Links
sattech.us has the least restrictive links policy of any FTA site in existence. We allow links to all but two other FTA sites. We allow hot links. Since we have no sponsors, we allow dealer links. We even allow porn links in the appropriate forum. However, it is important to remember that from time to time it may be necessary to disallow links to a specific site (for example when a dealer is proven to be a scamming scumbag). If this is the case, the name of the site will be censored out with certain symbols (*****) that will appear whenever that name is typed. If you encounter this, do not circumvent this by adding s p a c e s or other $ymbols to get around it.

Bashing and Flaming
There has never been a clear definition of what is considered "bashing" but basically if you haven't got something nice to say, don't say anything at all. If you must behave in that manner, we have a special place for you. It's called the Bar Room. There, you can feel free to bash whoever you want and they can bash you as well.

Trademark names
Use caution when mentioning names of satellite providers. Unlike many sites, we do not have an outright ban on provider names per se. We do, however, ask that if you use provider names to do so in a prudent way. It is OK to say "Dish Network is adding a new music channel." It is not OK to say "I use my Pansat to hack Bell ExpressVu." Any time a provider name is associated with illegal activity, it probably shouldn't be used.

Re-posting
If your post or thread disappears, it is for a good reason. Posting it again, especially at a time when you think it will escape notice by the moderators, is not acceptable.

Spoonfeeding and Laziness
Newbies are encouraged to do as much reading and research as possible. FTA and satellite hobbying is very computer-dependent and requires a certain amount of technical knowledge before engaging. Please help by not providing quick answers to questions easily answered using stickies and search.

Rumor propagating
During periods of prolonged ECM, ESM, or Key Change activity, there is a natural tendency to post gossip and rumor. In some cases this is understandable since coders are often not willing to discuss progress towards fix releases. You must understand their position: What they are doing is illegal and they don't want to draw unwanted attention to themselves by posting regular updates of their illegal activity.

However, such rumors can cause problems not only on this site but also within the larger community. We don't want to be the source of a rumor mill. The staff reserves the right to enforce this section as necessary.

Using the word "new"
Please do not describe files as "new". What was new several weeks ago is old now. Instead, use the release date of the file in the thread title.

III. Forum-Specific Policies

Each forum has its own guidelines as to what material is appropriate. Please read forum guidelines before posting.

IV. File Sections

File sections vs. Discussion sections
File sections are designed for posting files. Discussion sections are designed for discussion. Do not post files anywhere besides the file sections and do not post discussion of any files in the file sections. The only exception to this rule should be appropriate pictures and graphics to illustrate instructions. These may be posted in the discussion section.

Posting untested files
If you don't know whether a file works, do not post it. Don't use the rest of us as your guinea pig.

V. Private Messages

Use of Private Messages
Private Messages (PM's) are intended for private communication between members about topics that are not generally appropriate to discuss in the open forums.

Buying and Selling
Buying and selling activity is to be limited to the Buying/Selling forum in the Lounge. In all other forums, do not post things such as "PM me for info". This is an indication that you are using private messages to buy and sell outside the Buying/Selling forum. You can be banned for this practice. Some moderators use "dummy" accounts to hunt down this sort of activity. If you do this and you are in fact using this site to deal, then keep in mind that one of your potential "customers" just might be a moderator! If using PM for items in the Buying/Selling forum, of course this rule does not apply.

Sending PM to Admin and Moderators
Don't send private messages to the administrator or moderators unless it is about an issue that requires moderator attention. Don't send PMs to mods/admin asking setup questions or anything that should be posted in the forums instead.

VI. Mod/Admin Discretion
The administrator and moderators may, at their sole discretion, move, edit, or delete any post considered to be inappropriate for either the site or a partiular forum. Most moderation activity involves judgement on the part of the moderator. If you feel a post has been wrongly deleted, moved, or edited, send a PM to that moderator and do not post your grievance in the forums.

VII. User Discretion
This site is dedicated to the FTA hobbyist. The letters FTA stand for "Free To Air", which means anything that can be received from the heavens without requiring the defeat of any encryption system. We realize that many people have other interpretations of FTA.

Defeating any encryption system is always illegal and there are never any exceptions. As a forum protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we do not prohibit discussion of such activity or files that could be used to facilitate the same. It is the responsibility of the providers to secure their signal and not the responsibility of the administration of this site to help protect the interests of said providers. In short, though our primary purpose is to provide a forum for legitimate Free-to-Air discussion, we refuse to act as an agent of any signal integrity division. However, the user has a responsibility to not implicate themselves and/or others in any illegal activity. IP addresses, posts, and even private messages on this site can be subpoenaed.

It is always best to say "Coolsat can be used to get Dish and BEV" rather than to say "I watch Dish and BEV with my Coolsat." Follow that rule of thumb and protect yourself.