Actions for general abuse and Terms and Conditions violations.

All members who use ATS/BTS should be aware of our Terms and Conditions. These are the benchmark by which we determine if any action must be taken against a member who violates the clear rules of conduct. If and when that happens, these steps will be followed.


1) Notice:
When a new member violates the terms and conditions for the first known time, generaly an initial U2U warning will be given. This warning will be from a staff member and the word "NOTICE" will appear in the subject line. However, please be aware that this step may be bypassed for either repeat offenders, serious violations, or longer term members.

2) Warnings:
Staff has the ability to warn members. Each warning carries a 250 point penalty and lasts 72 hours. If a member receives more than 5 warnings, they cannot post until the first warning expires.

3) Posting ban:
If warnings have not resulted in improved compliance with the Terms and Conditions, we will apply a second-level ban that prevents posting, sending U2U's, and chatting. At this point, the member is not banned from ATS, but cannot participate while the ban is in effect. Please be aware that exceptionally serious first-time offenders may immediatly receive this action. At this time, a "global ignore" may also be applied to quickly remove abusive posts, or other posts that are contrary to the Terms and Conditions.

4) Site Ban:
If the above three steps have not resulted in improved participation in ATS/BTS, a final step of total ban will be imposed. Members who are banned in this way cannot read the forums. This may be accompanied by banning of the member's IP address from the server and/or the removal of their email/password from the database. Please be aware that exceptionally serious offenders and, those we determine are returning previously banned members, may receive this action as our first response.


These steps have always been followed by forums staff. However, because often times members are unaware of the "behind the scenes activities", it may not appear as though this is the case. But now that we have posted our sequence of disciplinary events, this should clear things up considerably.

Lastly, and most important, this is a privately owned discussion board community. The administration and senior moderator staff reserve the right to take action against any member who is deemed to be devoted purely to disruption. This action may include complete banning of your username and IP address.