BIG BLUEGILL RULES

[Bruce Condello]

I'd like to reiterate the rules on Big Bluegill blog posts and discussions.

1. No profanity

2. No commentary in regards to race or religion, or politics

3. Stick to discussions on bluegill, fishing, bluegill fishing, fishing for bluegill, bluegilling, or substitute redear or any other type of sunfish or hybrid thereof

4. RESPECT--Remember to respect other Big Bluegill members opinions or traditions in regards to harvest practices or fishing methods.

It's OK to explain what you do, but don't slam anybody else for what they like to do. Anybody who has ever been on a fishing site realizes how explosive discussions on "catch and release" vs. "harvest" can be. It seems these talks somehow always degenerate into personal attacks. So far there have been ZERO problems on this site, but I think it's because of the extremely high caliber of members we have so far. If anybody on Big Bluegill thinks that somebody is being disrespectful please let me know. I will probably err on the side of caution and delete the entire thread. I'd rather be heavy handed, than see people upset with each other on Big Bluegill.

5. Off topic discussions, such as wishing people a happy holiday are absolutely OK, but if the topic begins to drift too far, the moderators reserve the right to pull the plug. Don't be offended, please, but sometimes it can be necessary to make an executive decision. After a discussion or blog has aged for a week or two, if I don't think it's related to bluegill I may possibly delete just to keep the content heavily in favor of bluegill or bluegill fishing.

6. Discussion on fishing methodology, such as fly fishing, spoon fishing, bobber fishing--anything like that--is highly encouraged. This site is becoming rich with good fishing information. I've been learning a lot. Keep up the incredible work.

7. Big Bluegill loves photos. I haven't seen any photos so far that have been out of line. I love every one of them. Keep 'em comin'!

8. Be cautious about blatant advertising. This isn't a street corner. It's a site to promote panfish--how to catch them, how to eat them, etc, and to be a clearinghouse for the best bluegill, redear and general fishing pictures available in the world. If I sense that you're here just to make a buck instead of contribute you'll find some of your contributions edited.

9. Absolutely no attacks on other anglers for their preferred methods of angling--PERIOD.

10. Please read this following rule carefully. Please do not use the messaging system to promote any political or religioius agenda. You will be immediately banned if I receive a complaint from a member. It does not matter if I agree with your view or not. This site is about bluegill, and NOT about religion or politics. My own personal beliefs are strong, but I have long ago learned that if I transmit these over the internet to somebody who is not interested in hearing them I am causing great harm to my own credibility, and to this site in general. If you send a personal message to anybody on this site that is threatening in any way, you will be banned. You will not receive a warning. The ban will be for life. No exceptions.

[Alan Prunty]

Thanks for the add

[Bruce Condello]

Thank you, Jonathon.

[Joe Angelucci]

Well if you want to be technical, any image posted directly by an individual who created an image is establishing the image as copyrighted  since the posting is establishing the creative author. Use can be granted via a limited use / restrictive  license  or given to the public domain. Unless stated , you can not assume an image is in the public domain. 

[Joe N. Birdwell]

Ok guys.. I found I have friend members to send them messages.. So I was taking a picture they posted and did things to it and then tried to friend or post it..maybe I should start a blog or forum where people could post pictures they want me to do things with?

[JBplusThuy]

From a copyright perspective, modifying and re-posting pictures is dicey, because its clearly a violation of copyright unless the pictures are released under a Free license (Creative Commons With Attribution, for example). That said, I generally agree with Bruce, it's unlikely to be a problem on BBG, however, I would recommend using just pictures of fish and steering clear of pictures of people - especially pictures of kids.

I'm not a lawyer and don't play one on TV, but I am an experienced mailing list administrator and am well-acquainted with Free licenses, both software-oriented ones such as the GNU GPL and media-oriented ones such as Creative Commons.

Jonathan

[Bruce Condello]

There are no problems with this, Joe.  I think it's a cool idea.  If you take them off this site, and give credit to who took them, you're OK.  If for some reason somebody doesn't like it, we'll respect their wishes and take it down.  I'll bet there's no problems however.

[Leo Nguyen]

I don't think you're breaking any rule, unless the images are taken off from other site, modified, and take it as your own. As long as the the photos are originally yours, it's not a problem.

[Joe N. Birdwell]

Is there any issues or problems with me going through folks pictures they have posted and playing with them with my software to make them look special and posting them somewhere on the site for them to see and use if they want use it on their page? I don't wanna break any rules ect..

[Randel Merlin Pringle]

Is this free to join? i love big gills but i am on a set income

[JBplusThuy]

There was a phase of my career where one of my duties was to be a mailing list administrator (both professionally and as a volunteer in a Linux user's group), and in all my experience, that's the best set of list/forum rules I've ever seen. Very nice work, Bruce!