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What is newszap.com? What communities does newszap.com serve? How can my community get its own newszap.com website?
Why free ads? Why free speech? Why free speech with civility? What is the Public Forum Member’s Pledge?
How are complaints handled? Can a member’s registration be cancelled? Why are anonymous comments allowed?
Isn’t free speech absolute, regardless of civility? What about commercial spamming? Policies & Disclaimers
FAQ about newszap.com
Newszap.com seeks to make communities better through vibrant commerce and citizen participation in America’s unique experiment in self-government. Its community websites encourage everyone’s involvement in life’s daily exchanges, believing that it is locally, first, where individuals can most effectively influence the world around them.
What communities does newszap.com serve?
Newszap.com currently provides local websites for a number of communities in Arizona, Delaware, Florida and Maryland. The websites are online “bulletin boards” that give the community a place to discuss local issues, post press releases, place an event notice in a local calendar up to a year in advance, share photos of their activities and neighbors, and request a live link to their local organization or business.
How can my community gets its own newszap.com website?
We can't serve every community, but we are willing to consider requests from citizens who believe their community needs its own local newszap.com website -- especially if there is a need locally for "free speech with civility." Requests for new local newszap.com websites should be emailed to webmaster@newszap.com, and should include the reasons why you believe your community needs its own newszap.com website.
1. To provide an effective and popular local marketplace where people can find goods and services.
2. To encourage people to do business locally.
3. To encourage local businesses to create and promote their own useful websites.
4. To offer everyone a free ad, but also to allow individuals through the freedom of the local marketplace to enhance their pitch with paid advertising (which also helps us pay our bills).
1. To enable free speech as America’s founders intended, by giving everybody a forum for discussing public issues.
2. To encourage people to get involved in their community in a meaningful manner.
3. To counteract corporate media and career politicians, who have controlled and dominated public discourse for too long.
4. To reinforce the message of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who said: “The most important office is that of citizen.”
Why free speech with civility?
1. Because our forum members believe that citizens can disagree about issues without being disagreeable with one another --- and that name-calling, bullying and character assassination undermine the intelligent discussion of public issues.
2. Because a few hateful people shouldn’t be allowed to spoil what is intended as a safe and open public forum where people can discuss the issues that are important to them without opening themselves to vicious personal attacks and threats.
3. Because free speech shouldn’t give people a right to yell “fire” in a crowded theater, to shout down or intimidate those who disagree, or to go beyond the bounds of fair play and decency.
4. Because, as the great modern philosopher Emmylou Harris put it: “The frightening thing is when we lose our civility, which I think is happening across the board, and I find disturbing. As citizens we have to be more thoughtful and more educated and more informed. I turn on the TV and I see these grown people screaming at each other, and I think, well, if we don't get our civility back, we're in trouble.”
What is the Public Forum Member’s Pledge?
When individuals register to become eligible to post comments in the newszap.com public forums, they agree to abide by the following pledge:
Public Forum Member’s Pledge
As a Member of the newszap.com forums, I will:
1. Share comments about public issues, and not engage in personal attacks, threats, online bullying or commercial spam.
2. Keep my comments within the bounds of fair play and civility. (I can disagree with others in a courteous manner, without being disagreeable about it.)
3. Express my own opinions but keep an open mind to find value in what others have to say.
4. Uphold the forum’s standards by encouraging others to raise the level of discourse,, and by alerting webmaster@newszap.com of postings that violate this pledge.
When they register to participate, our members pledge to keep their comments civil and within the bounds of fair play. They believe that people can vigorously disagree about issues without engaging in personal attacks, name-calling, profanity, threats or intimidation.
When members see a posting that violates the forum standards, they send a complaint to webmaster@newszap.com, citing the specific posting, date, time, topic and community.
If the posting indeed violates the forum standards, it is removed and the violating member’s registration is cancelled. Repeat offenders are subject to permanent banning or, if necessary, legal action.
Sometimes people complain simply because they don’t agree with somebody else’s opinion. In those cases, they might instead want to post their own comments in the forum to express their disagreement --- and perhaps enlighten other citizens by doing so. That’s precisely what public forums are intended to do!
Can a member’s registration be cancelled?
If, following a complaint, it is determined that a member has violated the Public Forum Member’s Pledge, the member’s registration will be deleted.
The individual can apply for re-registration, but repeat offenders of the Public Forum Member’s Pledge are not welcome at the site and will be subject to permanent banning or, if necessary, legal action.
Newszap.com does not take this action lightly, but believes the dynamism of vibrant public forums should not be diminished by a few bad apples.
Why are anonymous comments allowed?
This dimension of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution goes all the way back to the days of the American Revolution, which might never have occurred if anonymous opinions against the British government not been published.
Courts have upheld that speech over the Internet is entitled to First Amendment protection and have said that protection extends to anonymous Internet speech in blogs or chat rooms. This speech has been equated by the courts to the equivalent of political pamphleteering, which is a protected and time-honored right of every citizen. It would have a chilling effect if citizens were not permitted to express their opinions anonymously.
Sometimes legal action is threatened to reveal a poster’s identity or to intimidate other posters. Newszap.com always resists such attempts, but individuals posting libelous or defamatory comments are not welcome at this site and are granted no right to anonymity should a court of law seek a poster’s identity.
Isn’t free speech absolute, regardless of civility?
The First Amendment– bolstered over time by rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court – specifically defends every American’s right to free speech. However, there are also laws that limit free speech, such as those against libel and slander.
Members of the Speak Out and Sound Off public forums at newszap.com have made it clear that they favor free speech with civility. With civility as a standard, the forum members set the agenda, pick the topics to be discussed and help uphold the forum’s standards.
Those who are unwilling to abide by these standards are welcome to exercise their free-speech rights elsewhere --- but not in the newszap.com forums.
What about commercial spamming?
These are community forums, and local businesses are an important part of the community. Our forum members have made it clear they don’t mind an occasional “plug” for a local business. However, they resent it when the plugs are too frequent, obviously mass-produced, or not local. In those cases, such postings can actually hurt the business among forum participants.
When members see commercial postings that violate these standards, they are encouraged to send a complaint to webmaster@newszap.com citing the specific posting, date, time, topic and community.
If the posting indeed violates the forum standards, it is removed and the violating member’s registration is cancelled. Repeat offenders are subject to permanent banning or, if necessary, legal action.
MEMBERSHIP AND REGISTRATION AGREEMENT: By registering as a user of newszap.com, you agree that the information you provide to us, including the personally identifying information, is true and accurate. You accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password, and agree not to sell, transfer or assign your user rights. We reserve the right to terminate your use at any time for any reason. If you believe someone has accessed newszap.com using your member name and password without your authorization, e-mail us immediately at webmaster@newszap.com .
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You also agree that: (1) you own or otherwise have all necessary rights, including but not limited to copyrights, to the content you provide and the rights to use it; (2) you will not post or upload any material, or link to any material, which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law; (3) you will not post any advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes and solicitations, or any other material considered commercial (at non-commercial sites).
Because posted items are not edited in advance, we ask that members keep their comments and postings within the bounds of civility and fair play. Comments that contain profanity, obscenities, personal attacks, or commercial promotion or solicitation (at non-commercial sites) or that violate any laws will be deleted promptly when brought to our attention. We reserve the right to remove the posting privileges of individuals who violate these standards. Any complaints about postings should be emailed to webmaster@newszap.com.
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