US Green Building Council, Northern California

Why do we have to agree to the User Agreement when we sign on to the Community Network?

The User Agreement for the Community Network is as follows:

We all want this Community Network to be a safe and comfortable environment through which members and staff can connect, and be a useful and productive tool for working and learning together. To ensure this, we ask each participant to agree to the following as a condition for participation: • I will behave responsibly and respectfully towards all members of this Community, respecting their values and viewpoints as well as their rights and feelings. • I will work with other community members to ensure that it remains welcoming to new participants and ideas, and embraces diversity. • I acknowledge that this Community site is not an appropriate venue for commercial promotion of any kind, including overt promotion of my company, products, services, etc. I understand that in the course of discussion, I may make reference to my work or place of business. • I will work with my fellow members to deliberate and make equitable decisions. I will do my best to see that every decision making process includes reasonable representation of those who are directly affected by its outcome. • Acknowledging that differences of opinion and conflict will undoubtedly occur, I agree to resolve conflict constructively. • I understand that every member of this community is entering into this same agreement and that we all have a stake in seeing that it is observed and enforced. My behavior towards other members of this community will reflect that I am abiding by this agreement. • I acknowledge that if a duly authorized body of my peers concludes that I have repeatedly and willfully violated this agreement, my rights to participate in this community can be suspended or terminated. • I acknowledge that posting any text, photographs, video or any other materials that could be considered sexual, racist, or similarly inappropriate is grounds for immediate exclusion from the Community. • I will not post any material known to be copywrited or similarly protected from public publication.

All members are asked to agree to these simple requests for mutual accountability and respect, in order to keep the Community Network a comfortable environment for everyone. Since most of these agreements are common sense, we believe that all of us can easily abide by them.