Oh wait. Do tell the whole story. The vast majority of boards remaining functional on AOL (some 90 boards, I believe) are for blacks and issues pertaining to blacks. If they suspect you are not black, you will be blocked from the board.
This, to me, merely verifies what many of us already knew: AOL is yet another liberally-dominated entity.
And your post verifies CON$ervatism's racism. Only one of the AOL messageboards is dedicated to black issues and no one is restricted from it. See for yourself.
Money & Finance Message Boards - AOL Message Boards
Travel Forums, Travel Community, Travel Message Boards and Travel Discussions on AOL Travel
Car Forums, Car Message Boards and Auto Discussions on AOL Autos
Forums - FanHouse.com
Community: African American Message Boards, Chats and Profiles - AOL Black Voices
BLACK VOICES TERMS AND GUIDELINES
Welcome to BlackVoices.com ("BlackVoices"). The AOL Network Registered User Agreement and the supplemental message board terms and conditions govern your use of the content, services, and applications on the BlackVoices message boards (collectively, the "Terms").
BY USING OR SUBMITTING POSTS, YOU ARE AGREEING ELECTRONICALLY TO ABIDE BY THESE TERMS AND CONSENT TO THE AOL NETWORK PRIVACY POLICY.
1. BlackVoices.com is intended for general audiences. You do not need to register to visit BlackVoices; however, you will need to register with us if you want to access and use our message boards. You must register in your own name and provide accurate information. You will need a User ID that we accept for use with BlackVoices, and you agree that you will abide by any separate terms that apply to your User ID. You agree to keep confidential the passwords associated with your membership account.
2. Certain features on BlackVoices are designated for adults only ("Adult Features") and you must be at least 18 years of age in order to access and use these features. You agree that we may ? but we do not have a specific obligation -- to take reasonable steps to regulate access to the Adult Features.
3. You are responsible for all activities under your User ID on BlackVoices. You agree to comply with all applicable laws, rules, guidelines and the Terms. We may take any action or use any technical remedy against you and your account, ranging from a warning to termination, if you or anyone using your account violates these Terms or applicable law. We are not required to provide notice prior to terminating your account. You are responsible for any materials you post or make available on or through BlackVoices, including message board posts, chat participation, and submitting personal profiles. Additionally, you alone are responsible for the consequences of any content you post or otherwise make available on or through BlackVoices. You agree to indemnify us and our parent and affiliates for any losses incurred by us or another party due to someone else using your User ID as a result of you sharing your User ID and password with other or your failure to use reasonable care to keep your account information confidential.
4. You agree and understand that any violation of these Terms while you are using a User ID issued by us or one our affiliates (e.g., AOL) will also constitute a violation of the respective terms and conditions that apply to your User ID and may subject you to further disciplinary action by those services.
5. You or the owner of the Content retain ownership of all right, title and interest in Content that you post to BlackVoices. However, if you elect to submit messages, photographs (including any photographs that contain your likeness), information and any other postings on BlackVoices (the "Content"), you give us, our parent and affiliates a perpetual, paid-up, irrevocable and worldwide right to use, promote, reproduce, edit, store, distribute, publicly display, and transmit the Content on BlackVoices and our affiliate services. We own all right, title, and interest in any compilation, collective work or other derivative work created by us using or incorporating the Content. You represent and warrant (i) the Content you submit on BlackVoices does not infringe any copyright or any other third party right nor violate any applicable law or regulation, (ii) you have the right to grant any and all necessary rights related to the Content, which will not violate the rights of any person or entity, including any right to privacy or publicity. You agree to hold us and our parent and affiliates harmless from and against any third party claim arising from use or submission of Content. If, however, you use these tools to disclose information about yourself publicly (for example, in chat rooms or online message boards made available by AIM), other online users may obtain access to any information you provide. You waive any right to privacy.
6. Here are our guidelines on what you may or may not post on BlackVoices. You may not use BlackVoices to post, distribute, or otherwise make available any Content or materials -- including text, communications, software, images, sounds, data, or other information -- that: is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another's privacy, tortious, contains explicit or graphic descriptions or accounts of sexual acts (including but not limited to sexual language of a violent or threatening nature directed at another individual or group of individuals), uses vulgar language in the creation of a UserID or the Content submitted for a profile; violates these Terms; victimizes, harasses, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability; infringes on any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity, or other proprietary right of any party; constitutes unauthorized or unsolicited advertising, chain letters, any other form of unauthorized solicitation, or any form of lottery or gambling; contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs that are designed or intended to disrupt, damage, or limit the functioning of any software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment or to damage or obtain unauthorized access to any data or other information of any third party; or impersonates any person or entity. Under no circumstances should you post or otherwise make available images of obscene or graphic sexually oriented content in your personal profiles or in any other public areas within BlackVoices if you do, have the right, but we do not assume the obligation, to delete your personal profile, edit your personal profile by removing such images or content, and/or terminate your access to BlackVoices. We may disclose any Content, electronic communication, evidence or potential evidence of any kind (i) to satisfy any law, regulation, or government request; (ii) to protect our rights or property, including our parent and affiliates, you or others; (iii) to prevent fraud; and (iv) and to enforce these Terms.
7. Any images uploaded to your personal profiles must be recent photographs of yourself. We reserve the right to take down any Content that we believe in our discretion may violate these Terms or the law. If you do not agree to these guidelines, than do not use BlackVoices.
8. You agree not to post or otherwise make available any contact information (related to you or any other person), such as, any person?s full name, email address, User IDs, instant messaging screen names, phone numbers or mailing address in any public areas (e.g., personal profiles, chat rooms, message boards, etc.) maintained on BlackVoices. We reserve the right, but we have no obligation, to remove any contact information they might find in such public areas. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT WE, OUR PARENT AND AFFILIATES ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY CONTACT OR INTERACTION THAT OCCURS BETWEEN YOU AND ANY OTHER USER OF BLACKVOICES AND THAT THE ENTIRE RISK FALLS ON YOU. You are solely responsible for any consequences arising from your sharing, making available or otherwise exchanging, through a public area on the web or via a private exchange, any form of "contact information" with any user of BlackVoices.
9. You may not use BlackVoices to harvest or collect information about our users, including UserID?s, and use that information for the purpose of sending unsolicited bulk communications, such as "spam" e-mails or unsolicited bulk instant messages. Likewise, you may not use BlackVoices to send unsolicited bulk communications. Any violation of these provisions may result in immediate termination of your account. You agree that we may take any legal and technical remedies to prevent unsolicited bulk communications from entering, utilizing or remaining within our computer networks.
10. We, our content providers and user who lawfully post Content own the property rights to that Content. This Content is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, international treaties, laws and other proprietary rights, and also may have security components that protect digital information to be used only as authorized by AOL or its Suppliers. You may use any Content available on BlackVoices only for personal, non-commercial purposes. You may not sell, sublicense, make derivate works or redistribute Content (except your own Content) that you obtain from BlackVoices.
11. We are not required to pre-screen Content on BlackVoices, although we reserve the right to do so in our sole discretion. We are not liable or take responsibility for Content that is provided by others. We may in our discretion remove Content that, in our sole judgment, does not comply with or meet our standards, but we are not responsible for any failure or delay in removing such material.
12. YOU USE BLACKVOICES AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE PROVIDE BLACKVOICES ?AS IS? AND WITH ALL FAULTS. WE PROVIDE BLACKVOICES WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WE, OUR SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTERS DISCLAIM IMPLIED WARRANTIES THAT BLACKVOICES IS MERCHANTABLE, OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, ACCURATE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NEED, OR NON-INFRINGING OR THAT IT WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR PROVIDE YOU WITH ANY SPECIFIC RESULTS.
13. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY DISPUTE WITH YOUR USE OF BLACKVOICES IS TO DISCONTINUE YOUR USE OF BLACKVOICES. WE, OUR PARENT, AFFILIATES, SUPPLIERS AND DISTRIBUTORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGE ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF BLACKVOICES. THESE EXCLUSIONS FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, IN SUCH STATES OR JURISDICTIONS, AOL'S AND ITS SUPPLIER'S LIABILITY IN SUCH STATE OR JURISDICTION SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
14. BlackVoices is part of the web sites and service on the AOL Network. The AOL Network Privacy Policy explains how AOL collects, uses, and discloses personal information in connection with your use of BlackVoices, as well as the choices we give you about such uses and disclosures. You can review the current version of this policy by clicking on the Privacy Policy link on BlackVoices web pages.
15. BlackVoices is one of the ?Services? defined in, and governed by, the AOL Network Registered User Agreement. You agree that the AOL Network Registered User Agreement is incorporated by reference into these Terms.
Procedure for Making Claim of Copyright Infringement
If you believe that your work has been copied and is accessible on this site in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify America Online. Click here for instructions.
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Revised 09-10-08
