Foreword

Terms Used

At times, this document may refer to 'GT4OC', 'GT4OC.net site', 'GT4OC Staff', or 'GT4OC Moderation Team', for the benefit of this document, all of these terms should be considered as one entity.

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User Acceptance

It is recommended that you periodically check these Terms & Conditions, as we reserve the right to make alterations to these Terms & Conditions at any time without prior notice.

Your continued usage of the GT4OC.net site shall be deemed acceptance of the following term s;
By signing onto our site (GT4OC.net) you agree to abide by all the stated terms and conditions;

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1) The GT4OC.net Site

1.1) Access to the GT4OC.net website

Permission is given to the user to access the GT4OC.net site on the understanding that;

- The users provides true, accurate, current and complete information about themself as prompted by the registration form.
- The user must maintain and promptly update your registration data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete.

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1.2) Downtime / Maintenance

From time to time it may be necessary to perform maintenance on the GT4OC.net website and/or the dedicated server hosting the GT4OC.net site.

When this maintenance is planned, the users of the site will be notified (by means of banner at the top of every page) of the due date and expected downtime required. We will always attempt to give at least 48 hours notice of any maintenance expected to impact the availability of the GT4OC.net site.

In the case of any emergency maintenance, it may not always be possible to provide adequate notice to our members.

In all cases of server downtime / site unavailability, no form of compensation will be entered into with regards to any membership dues and/or traders fees paid to the GT4OC.

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1.3) Modification of the GT4OC.net website (including the addition/removal of features)

The GT4OC.net Staff reserve the right at any time and from time to time to add, modify, suspend or discontinue the GT4OC.net site (or any part thereof) with or without notice.

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2) Member Conduct

2.1) Abusive Behaviour / Victimisation (including racism / sexism)

Abusive behavaior or victimisation of any user of the GT4OC.net site will not be tolerated under any circumstances. This includes but is not limited to any form of publishing, distributing, circulating or otherwise propagating any material, which may be deemed abusive, offensive, anti-social, racist, sexist, distressing, harmful, be of a threatening nature or be it of a general nuisance.

Victimising, citing and/or harmful posts, as well as any private retaliation against a single member or a group of members is also strictly prohibited.

Messages found to contain a users private or personal information will also be removed / censored at the sole discretion of the GT4OC Staff.

Messages containing any of the above will be removed and the poster warned.

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2.2) Language / Profanities

We ask that all material posted to the GT4OC.net website is posted in a good standard of the English language (certain exceptions to this will apply with regarding to English not being a first language, etc). CAPS, TXT or L33T speak should be kept to a minimum.

The GT4OC.net website, currently employs a word filter to mask most common profanities, we are constantly reviewing the filtered words and words can/could be added to or removed from the list at any time.

We believe it is important to keep a community atmosphere of a fun and banterous nature, therefore, we feel it would be inappropriate to ban all profanities completely due to it being a somewhat accepted part of everyday language in use today. However, we do require that a few common courtesies be adhered to;

- The use of profanities should be kept to a minimum and kept within context, to convey the point of the posting.
- The use of profanities should not be directed at other individuals, (falling under section 2.1 above).
- Profanities are not permitted within the title of a Topic.
- The use of symbols/special characters to deliberately circumvent the word filter is not permitted.

Excessive/repeated usage of profanities may result in the offending user receiving a warning from the GT4OC Staff.

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2.3) Trolling / Baiting

Trolling and/or Baiting is not permitted within the GT4OC.net site, and instances of Trolling/Baiting will result in a warning/ban being issued by the GT4OC.net Staff.

("Trolling" is deliberately posting controvertial material in order to 'bait' users).
("Baiting" is an attempt to anger another member).

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2.4) Duplicate Usernames

Each user of the GT4OC.net site is permitted to have only one username, (there may be exceptions to this rule with regards to users testing features of the site).

Upon discovery of duplicate usernames, both users may receive a warning, or be banned from the site.

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2.5) Member Warnings / Bans

The GT4OC Staff operate on a three strike policy, whereby users will be warned a maximum of two times for any offences in a 60 day period.

Warnings will automatically expire 60 days after their issue.

If the need arises for a third warning then a temporary ban will be automatically be put in place for a period of 60 days.

Upon the 60 days expiring, all warnings will have been removed from the users account.

In certain circumstances, if deemed neccessary, a permanent ban may be issued in place of the standard 60 day temporary ban.
Any attempt at circumventing a temporary ban will result in any new usernames relating to the user also being banned (under section 2.3 above) and may result in the offending users IP address being banned from accessing the GT4OC.net site.

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3) Posting / Content

3.1) Spam / Advertising

No form of Spam and/or advertising will be tolerated within the GT4OC.net site, unless a prior arrangement with the GT4OC has ben agreed. This includes but is not limited to;

- The advertising or promotion of any commerical body unless trader status has been acquired, or prior persmission of the GT4OC has been sought.
- The solicitation of any donation or financial support, whether charitable or otherwise, without the prior permission of the GT4OC.

Posts will be removed and warnings issued to any users violating these terms.

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3.2) Illegal Activity

GT4OC.net does not condone any illegal activity, as a result, any form of illegal activity will not be allowed to occur on the GT4OC.net site, this includes;

- Breaching any applicable law or regulation.
- Infringing any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, database right or other similar right of any party.
- Uploading, posting or emailing any content that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships.
- Uploading, posting or emailing any content that infringes any intellectual property rights of any third party.
- Impersonating any person or identity, falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity or disguise the origin of any content.

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3.3) Bumping

Topics may be 'bumped' once every seven days using the sites 'Bump topic' feature.

Any form of 'bump' posting may result in the original post being removed.

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3.4) Copyright

GT4OC.net grants permission to view, copy and to distribute any information available within the GT4OC.net domain providing that the informaton is used as follows;

- That no fee was charged to access the information.
- Any copyright notice remains in place.
- The information is not used for any commerical gain or use.

By submitting any content (data, text, messages, images or other materials) to the GT4OC.net site you agree to grant full worldwide copyright and intellectual rights to the posted content to GT4OC.net.

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3.5) Avatars / Signatures

Users of the GT4OC.net site are permitted to attach an avatar and a signature to their posts. Avatars may be a maximum of 100px x 100px in size. Signatures may contain images (with dimensions no larger than 600px x 150px in size). There is a maximum of 255 characters permissible within a signature.

Avatars must not;

- Contain pornographic/offensive images.
- Contain links to commercial web sites unless Trader Status is acquired.

Signatures must not;

- Contain pornographic/offensive images.
- Contain links or advertising for any commercial body (unless trader status is acquired, or the permission of the GT4OC has been sought before the addition occurs).

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3.6) Moderation

The GT4OC.net Staff reserve the right to modify or remove any content or take further legal action as required, over any post as deemed necessary.

This may include the modification/removal of any post violating any of the terms within this document.

If any alteration to a post is made, a footnote will be left by the GT4OC Staff stating the reason for the adjustment.

If deemed necessary a warning/ban may be issued.

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4) Protection

4.1) Disclaimer

The GT4OC.net site and material in relation to club information, products or services (or third party information, products or services), are provided "as is", without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy

All posts made to this forum are the opinion of the respective author and should not be taken as the views of the GT4OC Staff. The GT4OC Staff shall not be held liable for any slanderous, abusive, harmful, threatening or any other behaviour that may violate any applicable laws.

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4.2) Indemnity / Liability

You agree to indemnify and hold GT4OC , and all and any of its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, employees, agents or partners harmless from and against any direct or indirect loss or damage (including consequential loss and loss of profits, goodwill or business opportunities including reasonable legal costs) arising from any third party claim in relation to any content you upload, post or email through the forums or the site, your use of the forums and our site, or your breach of the provisions of these Terms.

The GT4OC accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer system whilst linked to this website.

GT4OC will not be liable in any way for content, including (without limitation) any errors or omissions in any content submitted by its users, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of your use of any content. You agree that you must evaluate and bear all risks associated with the use of any content including reliance on its accuracy or completeness. You also understand that by using the forums and the GT4OC.net site, you may possibly be exposed to content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable to you as an individual.
The staff of the GT4OC will ensure that Public Liability Insurance and Employers Liability are in place to cover club events

The staff of the GT4OC reserve the right to amend the published Terms & Conditions to ensure satisfactory operation of the club and its website.

Changes to Terms & Conditions will be at the sole discretion of staff and will be published on the GT4OC web site.

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5) Officers of the Club

5.1) Board Membership

The actions of the club will be governed in the first instance by an elected "board." This will consist of three staff members elected only from existing staff members, by means of a simple vote. Majority vote wins. Decisions by the board will be arrived at by means of a vote. Majority vote wins.
Board members can be removed from the board by a no confidence vote from all current staff members. Majority vote wins.

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5.2) Staff Members

Staff members will be elected from fully paid up club members with at least one full years of membership,(preferably). by means of a simple vote. Majority vote wins.
In certain circumstances the board and staff members retain the right to co-opt club members onto the staff without recourse for a vote.

Circumstances pertaining in this instance
Only one member volunteers for the advertised role.
A previous holder of the advertised role with an excellent past track record, volunteers.
Specialist skills are required to fulfil the role.
Staff members can be removed by a unanimous vote by current board members.
Staff members on completion of six months satisfactory service will receive a personalised Fleece and Polo Shirt.
Staff members, who have completed two years service, will be entitled to VIP membership for a further two years.
Life membership can be bestowed on a member at the discretion of the staff.

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5.3) Finance

The Club bank accounts, bank card and Pay Pal will be the primary responsibility of the club Treasurer. There will be a minimum of two signatories required on all club cheques. Therefore there will be five staff members as authorised signatories. The five staff members will also have full access to view all club accounts.

A financial expenditure in excess of 50GBP will require approval from two of the appointed signatories.
A financial expenditure in excess of 250GBP will require board approval.
A financial statement will be posted on the forum each month.
An annual independently audited set of accounts will be produced at year end. Currently year end is 30th June.

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5.4) Advertisers/Traders

A member of Staff will have responsibility for Marketing and will have the lead role for acquiring advertising income. He / she will be responsible for increasing the income from advertising by introducing new advertisers. Staff will decide the suitability of advertisers and reserve the right to decline acceptance of advertisers without the requirement to provide a reason/ reasons.

The club will allow both advertising and trading on the forum in return for fees set at the relevant time. Fees paid for advertising will not be refunded.
A trader is a club member who advertises items with the aim of making a profit by selling multiple items.
Traders are expected to comply with all decisions as advised by GT4OC without recourse to law.
Advertisements can be removed by GT4OC at their discretion for any valid reason.
Members are allowed to offer items for sale which are their personal property not " selling for a friend" .
Members are allowed to sell multiples of single items, after purchasing Hobbyist Trader Status.

The club staff will not be held responsible in any way for any items sold via the club forum.
Only fully paid up current members will be allowed to post items for sale.
Service and or products can be publicised / promoted on the forum by members, however items promoted for personal or associate gain by members are not allowed unless Trader Status is purchased and will infringe the club rules.

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5.5) Forum Moderation

This is a function of all staff, to ensure the club T&Cs are obeyed. A board decision is the final arbiter on any cause for concern raised by staff members.
Members can appeal to the board if they disagree with a staff member`s decision.
Members will be warned / banned for infringement of the club rules.
Members will be warned / banned for bringing the club into disrepute.
Members will have the right of appeal to the board in respect of any warning or ban imposed. The Board`s decision is final.

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5.6) Club Shop

This will be run by a staff member. Expenditure on shop items to be in line with the expenditure limits set out in finance. The shop must be run in such a way as to generate a profit for the club members.
Shop items should be available both online and when available at club events.The shop owner can decide on items to be stocked and sale price.
Shop sales / accounts to be posted in the staff forum at least every two months.

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5.7) Membership

Membership details will be published, by the staff member responsible for issuing memberships, on the forum each month. This will include numbers of new members plus renewals and the total membership of the preceding month. Membership packs will be sent out within 5 -14 working days for receipt of cleared funds.
GT4OC reserves the right to refuse a membership application from any prospective member without the need to supply a reason. This applies to both new membership applications and renewal applications.
Membership can be terminated at the discretion of the staff without providing a reason or refund of membership fees.
If a member resigns membership fees will not be refunded.
Membership fees and duration of membership are set by the staff.

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