Chatters™
 Statement of Acceptable Use Policy
 (Often referred to as the "SAU Policy")
and
Chat Room Rules of Conduct

Please print out this page so you and your child can have it available for reference.

Important Note To Parents: An important advantage of Chatters™ is that the chat rooms can serve as an excellent positive learning experience, especially in the development of good social communication skills. That's why we ask that before your child enters the Chatters™ chat rooms you take a few minutes to review with your child the  Chat Room Rules of Conduct. 

Introduction To SAU Policy:

When you receive approval for membership in Chatters™ and create your personal user account, you join a large and rapidly growing Chatters™ chat network that is comprised of many Internet communities. While becoming a member and having access to these communities does give you certain rights and privileges, becoming a member of Chatters™ also imposes certain duties and responsibilities.

Jima USA, Inc., which is the company that owns all rights to the World Wide Web domain Chatters.com has established a Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use in order to define what policies, duties and responsibilities are acceptable in the use of the Chatters™ chat services.

Maintaining a membership in good standing at Chatters™ depends greatly upon three important requirements:
  1. That the person completing all Chatters™ registration forms, including the Chatters™ Family Profile Form and the  Chatters™ Create New User Account Information Form, is the parent(s) and/or legal guardian(s) of the child user(s) being registered.
  2. That the personally identifiable information submitted on the Chatters™ Family Profile Form and the Chatters™ Create New User Account Information Form is accurate and truthful.
  3. That both the parent(s) and/or legal guardian(s) and child user(s) registered for the Chatters™ chat service agree unconditionally to comply with the policies, procedures, and guidelines of the Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use and Chat Room Rules of Conduct

Subject Titles of the Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use:






Chatters™ Statement of Chat Services Goals:

The following goals guide the enforcement of the Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use policies:

  1. Preserve and protect the privacy and security of individual Chatters™ members.
  2. Maintain our reputation as a clean, safe, and secure chat service provider.
  3. Ensure our chat services comply with existing laws.
  4. Provide an enjoyable chat experience for our users.
  5. Provide a chat service environment that is conducive to learning good social interactivity skills.

 

General Policy Statement:

While Chatters™ is firmly committed to the principles of free speech, certain activities are damaging to the resources of both Chatters™ and its members and cannot be permitted under the guise of free speech.

The web server and chat server resources of Chatters™ are limited. Abuse of these resources by one member has a negative impact on the entire Chatters™ community of members.

We do as a matter of daily operations and management of the chat services provided by Chatters™ routinely monitor the activity and posting of messages in the chat rooms. In our efforts to promote and ensure a clean, safe, and secure family friendly environment within the Chatters™ community of members, we will respond appropriately if we become aware of inappropriate use of the chat services provided by Chatters™.

If a Chatters™ user account is used to violate the Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use policy, we reserve the right to terminate that membership and access to the Chatters™ chat network service without advance notice. Clearly, we prefer to advise our members of inappropriate behavior and any necessary corrective action. However, flagrant violations of the Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use policy will result in immediate termination of membership and access to the Chatters™ chat network services. Our failure to enforce this policy, for whatever reason, shall not be construed as a waiver of our right to do so at any time.


Security Guidelines Statement:

Security at Chatters is a very important element of the Chatters™ chat service. Because we provide chat service to children we are very diligent in our efforts to maintain a high degree of user safety. If you or your parent suspect that there is an unauthorized user engaged in using Chatters chat services or chat rooms, please notify us immediately at chatmaster@chatters.com.

Because security is important at Chatters™, you may be challenged by one of our room monitors (Guardians) to provide certain information intended to identify you as an authorized member. You will never be asked for your real name, email address, home address, telephone number, or any other information which may personally identify you. If you are ever challenged by a Chatters™ staff member for information, you will be asked to provide your Family Keyword only. You will always be able to identify a Chatters™ staff member because their user name will be preceded by the title of "Guardian." Example: Guardian ChatBob,  Guardian Skippy, Guardian Cali, etc. If you are ever asked to provide any personal information other than your Family Keyword, DO NOT respond with their request. Tell your parents immediately that you have been asked for personal information and then contact us at  chatmaster@chatters.com. It is helpful if you make note of the user name of the person asking for this information and the time at which the incident occurred.

You are responsible for any misuse of your Chatters™ user account, even if the inappropriate activity was committed by a friend, brother, sister, cousin, or any other family member. Therefore, you must take steps to ensure that others do not gain unauthorized access to your user name and password.

Your password provides access to your Chatters™ user account. It is your responsibility to keep your password secret and secure. Sharing your password with unauthorized users is prohibited. You should take care to prevent others from using your Chatters™ user name and password since you will be held responsible for such use.

Attempting to obtain another member's user account password is strictly prohibited, and may result in termination of service.

You must adopt adequate security measures to prevent or minimize unauthorized use of your Chatters™ user name and password.

You may not attempt to circumvent user authentication or security of any Chatters™ host, network or account ("cracking"). This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for you, logging into or making use of a Chatters™ server or account you are not expressly authorized to access, or probing the security of other Chatters™ networks and/or domains. Use or distribution of tools designed for compromising security is prohibited. Examples of these tools include, but are not limited to, password guessing programs, cracking tools or network probing tools.

You may not attempt to interfere with Chatters™ service to any Chatters™ user, Chatters™ host, or Chatters™ network ("denial of service attacks"). This includes, but is not limited to, "flooding" of Chatters™ networks, deliberate attempts to overload the Chatters™ service, and attempts to "crash" the Chatters™ host.

Users who violate Chatters™ systems or Chatters™ network security may incur criminal or civil liability. Chatters™ will cooperate fully with investigations of violations of systems or network security at other sites, including cooperating with law enforcement authorities in the investigation of suspected criminal violations.

 

User Guidelines:

When you enter one of the Chatters™ chat rooms you have access to a vast number of other Chatters™ members from all over the World. The Chatters™ chat rooms are operated with the intent to provide a fun chat experience that is also conducive to learning good social interactivity skills. It is a responsibility of us all to act at all times with proper chat room etiquette and good manners. Simply stated, you are expected to treat other Chatters™ members at all times the way you would want them to treat you.

It is very important to remember that your use of the Chatters™ chat room and any other member services provided by Chatters™ is subject to your compliance with the policies, guidelines, and rules included in the Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use. Violations of any one policy, guideline, or rule included in the Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use may result in termination of your membership at the sole discretion of the Chatters™ management, with or without advance notice. Here are some important guidelines and rules to keep in mind while you are using the Chatters™ chat services or are in a Chatters™ chat room:

In general, you may NOT use your Chatters™ user account:

  1. In a manner which violates any law, regulation, treaty or tariff;
  2. To provide other persons, including friends and other family members, access to  Chatters™ chat rooms and any other members services.
  3. In a manner which is defamatory, fraudulent, indecent, offensive or deceptive;
  4. To threaten, harass, abuse or intimidate others;
  5. To damage the name or reputation of Chatters™, its associates, affiliates and subsidiaries;
  6. To break security on the Chatters™ computer network, or to access/or use a Chatters™ member's user account which does not belong to your; or:
  7. In a manner which interferes with other Chatters™ member's use and enjoyment of the chat services provided by Chatters™.

 

What Are The Chat Room Rules of Conduct?

Attention Kids: To help you figure out what is okay and what is not okay to do while you are in a Chatters™ chat room, we put together a short list of some very specific rules. They are not hard to understand or follow and are designed to make the chat rooms a safe and enjoyable place to meet other kids. If you do not understand any of these rules, please ask your parent to explain or contact us at chatmaster@chatters.com.

  1. No Posting Personal Information:  Do not give out personal information to anyone.  Do not post phone numbers, street addresses, town names (big cities are okay -- it's safer to say you live "near Ft. Worth" than to say you live in Keller, Texas), zip codes, AOL messenger service #s, MSN messenger service #s, ICQ #s, other messenger services, last names, school names, credit card info, or email addresses. Our adult room monitors will boot you out of the room if you try and give out this kind of information. This rule applies even if you just try and get the personal information described in this rule from other chatters.
  2. No Shouting: Do not use all capital letters when posting messages. The use of capital letters is considered shouting and is considered to be very poor chat room etiquette. Here is an example of shouting: THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF SHOUTING IN A CHAT ROOM. Shouting is also very irritating to a lot of users. Please do not try to get around this  rule by typing in a combination of lower and upper case characters. The final judgment of what is ruled to be "shouting" is at the sole discretion of the Chatters™ staff.
  3. No Flaming: Do not engage or participate in any activities directly or indirectly which harass, threaten, abuse or intimidate other users. In other words, don't be mean to others. The final judgment of what is ruled to be "flaming" is at the sole discretion of the Chatters™ staff.
  4. No Flooding: Do not rapidly enter text/or images that tend to occupy multiple lines of the message screen. When this is done it keeps other chatters from being able to post messages. It is very rude and disrupts the flow of chat in the chat room.
  5. No Offensive Language: Do not post, or attempt to post by disguise (represent swear words with symbols or numbers), any words which are "foul", "obscene", or "cuss" words. Additionally, explicitly violent talk, fights, racist language, or other abusive language is not allowed. The final judgment of what is ruled to be a "foul" word, an "obscene" word, or a "cuss" word  inappropriate for viewing by Chatters members is at the sole discretion of the Chatters™ staff.
  6. No Disrespectful Behavior: The Chatters™ staff (Guardians) are sometimes in the chat room to watch over things and keep our chat rooms safe and fun. You can always recognize a member of the Chatters™ staff when they are in the room because they will have the title "Guardian" before their user name. For example: Guardian ChatBob, or Guardian Bleu, or Guardian Inchy. Sometimes Guardians have to make decisions which are not popular but have to be made for the benefit of all concerned. it is important that you respect the Chatters staff like you would your teacher at school or your athletic coach. Please do not engage in a conversation with a Chatters™ staff member which is disrespectful or argumentative to the Chatters™ staff member. Again, the final judgment of what is ruled to be disrespectful or argumentative and in violation of this rule is at the sole discretion of the Chatters™ staff.
  7. No Posting of Inappropriate Web Sites: Do not post web site addresses (URL) to the chat room which have content for adults or are inappropriate for viewing by children 14 years of age or younger. Breaking this rule may cause for immediate termination of membership if it is concluded by the Chatters staff that there is significant risk the offender will commit the same violation immediately upon release of "Access Hold." If a second chance is granted, a second violation of this or any other rule carrying the same penalty weight will cause for immediate termination of membership. The final judge of what is ruled to be an adult web site or other web site inappropriate for viewing by Chatters™ members is at the sole discretion of the Chatters™ staff. 
  8. No Solicitation: Soliciting is asking if someone wants to become your boyfriend ( bf ) or girlfriend ( gf ). While Chatters™ is a fun place to meet other kids, it is not the place to be looking for romantic relationships.
  9. No Inappropriate Role Playing: Inappropriate "role playing" is where you chat or play games with others and pretend to be doing things you shouldn't be doing. Basically, if you wouldn't say it or do it in front of your parent or teacher, don't say it or do it in a Chatters chat room. The final judgment of what is considered to be inappropriate role playing is at the sole discretion of the Chatters™ staff.
  10. No Sharing User Name or Keyboard: One of the most serious offenses at Chatters™ is to share your user name or your keyboard. "Sharing" your user name means you are allowing someone else to use your identity while chatting in the chat room. Usually kids make this mistake by letting a friend, a relative, or a brother or sister use their identity. "Sharing" a keyboard is basically the same thing. Usually "sharing" a keyboard is done while you and someone else are using the keyboard at the same time to post messages in the chat room.
    Breaking rule #10 is a very serious matter.     The reason it is such a serious matter is that "sharing" is a security risk. When you share your user name or keyboard we do not know for sure who is on the other side. That means we have to assume whoever it is using your keyboard is not who you or they say they are. When that happens our chat service is no longer secure. So, the only choice we have is to take immediate action and ban your user name from the chat room until we can talk with a parent. Breaking this rule may also cause for termination of your membership. If a second chance is granted, a second violation of this or any other rule carrying the same penalty weight will cause for immediate termination of membership.

Perhaps the most important rule of all is a rule you have probably already heard of: Treat all others in the chat room the same way you would want them to treat you. Follow this "Golden Rule" and you are sure to make a lot of friends and have a lot of fun chatting.

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What Happens When Rules Are Broken?

We have specific procedures we use when disciplinary action is required. When a chat room rule is broken, four things happen:

  1. Warning to stop: First, in most cases, you are given a warning to stop violating the rule. How many warnings you get is left up to the Chatters™ staff member, so you may get one warning, get up to three warnings, or you may get no warning at all! Usually the number of warnings has to do with the severity (how bad) the offense was. For example, flooding the chat room might get you two warnings but posting an adult web site might result in no warnings at all. In general, the purpose of a warning is to tell you to stop breaking the rule or you will get "booted" (ejected) from the room. However, as stated earlier, if the offense is deemed to be serious enough on the first incident you may not ever get a warning.
  2. Booted (ejected) from room: If you do not listen to warnings or the offense is deemed to be too serious to permit warnings, you will be "Booted" (ejected) from the chat room. Once "booted" your access will be blocked for a pre-determined time of at least two days. Depending on the seriousness of the offense, "Access Hold" can be for a period of up to 30 days.
  3. Disciplinary Notice: When you are "booted (ejected) from one of our chat rooms and placed on "Access Hold" you will be notified of such by a Chatters™ "Disciplinary Notice" email. The "Disciplinary Notice" email will detail the nature of the offense (rule broken) and the "Access Hold" time period. It will also notify you of the amount of "Disciplinary Offense Notice Total" Penalty Points, often referred to as Chatters™ "DONT" Penalty Points.
  4. DONT Penalty Points:  Each broken rule (offense) carries with it a number of DONT Penalty Points. The amount of points assessed is proportionate to the gravity (seriousness) of the rule broken. An accumulation (total) of twelve (12) points in any one twelve (12) month period can cause for you to lose your Chatters membership. The final judgment regarding membership termination is at the sole discretion of the Chatters Guardian Advisory Board. How do you know if you have any DONT points? You will know because you and your parents will receive a Chatters Disciplinary Action Notice telling you how many points you have been given if you have broken a chat room rule. 

When a "Security Incident" is observed: In our effort to maintain a high degree of security in the chat rooms we may observe what we conclude to be a "Security Incident"  which requires immediate action by one of our staff members. When it comes to protecting the security and safety of our Chatters™ users, the Chatters™ staff will not hesitate to err on the side of caution. Examples of a "Security Incident" include:

  • False User Information: Observations concluding the user may have provided false user information in the creation of their account.
  • Multiple User Names: Observations concluding the user may have created multiple user names (identities).
  • Suspicious Behavior: Observation of user behavior that is concluded to be suspicious in motive.

In these cases involving a "Security Incident" a Chatters™ user's account will be placed on "Access Hold" and will remain on "Access Hold" indefinitely or until we can successfully conclude our investigation of the "Security Incident." In all cases of a "Security Incident" there will be an immediate assessment of twelve (12) DONT Penalty Points. If as a result of our investigation we conclude there is a "Security Risk" caused by the "Security Incident" observed, the assessment of twelve (12) DONT Penalty Points will remain and the user's Chatters™ account will be terminated. The final judgment of what is ruled to be a "Security Risk" is at the sole discretion of the Chatters™ management and its staff.

When a Chatters™ "Acceptable Use" policy is violated: If a Chatters™ user account violates a policy prescribed in the Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use Policy, we reserve the right to terminate that user's account without advance notice. Clearly, we prefer to advise our members of inappropriate activity by the means described above. However, flagrant violations of the Chatters™ "Chat Room Rules" can result in immediate termination of membership and access to the Chatters™ chat services without prior notice. Our failure to enforce this policy, for whatever reason, shall not be construed as a waiver of our right to do so at any time.

DONT Penalty Points Guidelines:
Each broken rule (offense) carries with it a number of DONT Penalty Points. The amount of points assessed is proportionate to the gravity (seriousness) of the rule broken. An accumulation (total) of twelve (12) points in any one twelve (12) month period can cause for you to lose your Chatters membership. The final judgment regarding membership (user account) termination is at the sole discretion of the Chatters™ Guardian staff and its management. 
Remember this: The DONT Penalty Points system is only a guideline for enacting disciplinary measures. If it is determined by the Chatters staff that there is significant risk the offender will commit the same violation immediately upon release of "Access Hold" termination of membership may occur immediately.

 

Illegal Activity Statement:

Any activity on the Chatters™ chat network that is a violation of any state or federal law is a violation of this policy and will result in immediate termination of your Chatters™ user account.

Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to:

  1. Transmitting obscene materials.
  2. Intentionally spreading or threatening to spread computer viruses.
  3. Gaining or attempting to gain unauthorized access to the Chatters™ network.
  4. Accessing or attempting to access information not intended for you.
  5. Transmitting pirated software.
  6. Creating multiple user accounts.


To return to the index of the Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use,

please click here.

 

How to Contact Us:

If you need clarification of any of the policies contained in this Statement of Acceptable Use, please
 contact us

This concludes the content of the Chatters™ Statement of Acceptable Use.

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