Community Rules & Etiquette and Privacy Guidelines
Thank you for being part of the HUB community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, The Association of Medical Illustrators (“AMI”) has established some basic guidelines for participation.
By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions regarding these guidelines should be directed to AMI HQ via the Contact Us link on this site.
Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact AMI staff. In order to preserve an environment that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, AMI reserves the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violates these rules.
Discussion Group Etiquette
- State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
- Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals, not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link in every message.
- Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” to the group. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing email addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new email address. Simply change your settings.
Rules
- Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt to newer members as they post.
- Respect the purpose of the community. Use the community to share successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and goals instead of products or services that you provide. If you’ve found a product or service helpful, please share your experience with the group in a respectful way. Promotion of a product or service for which a member has received any financial or other benefit requires complete disclosure of the nature of the relationship.
- Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for members to see, and comments are subject to libel and antitrust laws.
- To ensure compliance with federal and state antitrust laws, members are responsible for understanding those laws. Among the federal antitrust laws of principal concern to AMI and its members is Section I of the Sherman Act, which renders illegal all "contracts, combinations, and conspiracies" in restraint of trade in interstate commerce. Section I is interpreted to prohibit only agreements that have the effect of unreasonably restraining trade. A violation of the law occurs when, upon examination of all the facts and circumstances surrounding the conduct in question, it is determined that trade is unreasonably restrained. AMI prohibits any activities that could be considered anti-competitive or in violation of federal or state antitrust laws.
- All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening (including threats of legal action), offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.
- Respect intellectual property. Plagiarism/piracy of any nature will not be tolerated. Posting material protected by copyright or trademark laws by anyone other than the person posting the material requires permission from the copyright/trademark holder.
- Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise."
- When posting a communication or portion of a communication that originated as private correspondence, you must remove all identifying information regarding the original sender. Posting of unauthorized private or personal information either within or outside of the HUB is prohibited.
- If sharing any communication or portion of a communication originating on the HUB outside of the HUB, you must remove all identifying information regarding the original poster.
- AMI reserves the right to remove any member from all communities on the HUB for behavior deemed unprofessional by AMI leadership, and no explanation is required.
Rule Violations
Rule violations should be promptly reported to the chairperson of the Board of Governors, the President of AMI, or the Executive Director citing the specific rule or guideline that has been violated. The complainant will remain anonymous (to the extent allowed by applicable law), and the complaint may be routed for fast-track investigation by the Ethics Subcommittee. If a violation is found, the following actions will be taken:
- First incident: Posting member(s) will be contacted privately with a written warning from the chairperson of the Ethics Subcommittee, if appropriate.
- Second incident: Three-month period of moderation on the HUB.
- Third incident: Immediate and permanent suspension from all communities on the HUB.
AMI reserves the right to implement immediate and permanent suspension, in lieu of progressive punishment, if, in AMI’s reasonable but sole judgment, the nature of the violation so justifies.
Appeals
If a member feels that punishments have been unfairly instituted, an appeal may be filed with the AMI Ethics Subcommittee via the Chairman of the Board and prompt review will be undertaken.
Legal Notice
This site is provided as a service for the members of the AMI. AMI is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. It disclaims all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by AMI or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall AMI be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.
Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening (including legal threats), offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner.
Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
AMI does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of AMI it will take all appropriate action.
AMI reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.
Privacy Policy
Any personal information you provide to AMI, including your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address, will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of AMI’s organization, except as noted below.
With Whom Does AMI Share the Personal Information it Collects Through This Site:
Government and Legal Disclosures
AMI may disclose the personal information it collects through this Site, when it, in good faith, believes disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce these Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of AMI, its users, or others.
External Sites
AMI is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.
Cookies
A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows AMI to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and AMI does not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers, such as news-feeds.
Remember the Risks Whenever You Use the Internet
While AMI will use all reasonable efforts to protect your personal information, it cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to AMI, and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords and other account information. In addition, other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through this site have separate data and privacy practices independent of AMI, and, therefore, AMI disclaims any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies. For any other information please contact AMI using the Contact Us page.
Updated 10/3/19