1. Forum Rules, Terms and Conditions of Use
1.1 By applying for membership to, or accessing this forum, you hereby agree to abide by all forum rules, regulations and terms and conditions. Failure to comply with any of the published rules and regulations may result in the removal of posts/threads or user access. These terms and conditions of use may be changed in the future without further notice. Digital Detective Group Limited ("Digital Detective") reserves the right to change these rules and regulations from time to time at its sole discretion and without further notice. In the case of any violation of these rules and regulations, Digital Detective reserves the right to seek all remedies available by law and in equity for such violations. These rules and regulations apply to all visits to the Digital Detective Forum both now and in the future. These terms and conditions apply exclusively to your access to, and use of, this forum and do not alter in any way the terms or conditions of any other agreement you may have with Digital Detective for products, services or otherwise.
2. Trademarks
2.1 The trademarks, logos and service marks ("Marks") displayed in Forum are the property of Digital Detective or other third parties. Users are not permitted to use these Marks without the prior written consent of Digital Detective or such third party which may own the Mark.
3. General Disclaimer
3.1 Although Digital Detective has attempted to provide accurate information in the Forum, Digital Detective assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of the information. Digital Detective may change the software products, goods or services mentioned at any time without notice. Mention of non-Digital Detective products or services is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.
3.2 ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS FORUM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITH ALL FAULTS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. DIGITAL DETECTIVE AND ITS SUPPLIERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THOSE OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT OR ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE.
3.3 DIGITAL DETECTIVE AND ITS SUPPLIERS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS OR REVENUES, COSTS OF REPLACEMENT GOODS, LOSS OR DAMAGE TO DATA ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THIS SITE OR ANY DIGITAL DETECTIVE PRODUCT, DAMAGES RESULTING FROM USE OF OR RELIANCE ON THE INFORMATION PRESENT, EVEN IF DIGITAL DETECTIVE OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
4. Links to Third Party Sites
4.1 This Forum may contain links to third party sites. Access to any other Internet site linked to this Forum is at the user's own risk and Digital Detective is not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of any information, data, opinions, advice or statements made on these sites. Digital Detective provides these links merely as a convenience and the inclusion of such links does not imply an endorsement.
5. Software Licence Agreement
5.1 Any software which you download is governed in accordance with (i) the license terms accompanying the file or (ii) if no license terms accompany the file, the terms of the license agreement which accompanied the original product licensed by you which you are updating or (iii) the license terms pursuant to this End User License Agreement.
6. Eligibility for Forum Membership
6.1 This forum is provided free of charge and is open to practicing Digital Forensic Specialists, Mobile Device Examiners, IT Security Specialists, Network Investigators and Students enrolled in legitimate Digital Forensic/IT Security courses. Forensic vendors may be permitted access to the forum at the discretion of Digital Detective; however, the advertising of products, services or goods is not permitted. See the paragraph on advertising. All applications for membership to the Digital Detective Forum will undergo vetting to ensure eligibility. Failure of the vetting process may result in rejection without reason. Membership is at the discretion of Digital Detective. No access to the Digital Detective product forum will be granted unless a valid Licence or Dongle ID is provided. If you purchase one of our products and have an existing forum membership, you must request additional forum access via the web support portal. Membership of this forum is at the discretion of Digital Detective. The decision of the administrator is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
7. Membership Email Validation
7.1 Once you have registered a user profile within the forum, you will receive an email containing a validation URL. You have 72 hours to click on this URL to confirm your email address is valid. If you do not click on the link in to verify your address, the forum will automatically delete your user profile. In this case, if you still wish to obtain access, you will have to repeat the whole application process. Once we have confirmed your email address is valid, the forum administration will review your application and decide whether you are eligible for access. Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail and other free web based or disposable accounts will not be permitted and will result in immediate removal. The application MUST be made using an official agency, company or university e-mail address. An official email address must remain on your profile at all times. Failure to do so will result in removal of access. If you use the forum email notification system, please ensure your address is valid and can accept emails from the forum. We wish to minimise the volume of bounce/rejection messages. Continued rejection of forum email will result in removal of access. You are responsible for ensuring your profile contains an up-to-date, valid email address at all times. Please see the paragraph regarding webmail accounts.
8. Member User Profile Signature Section
8.1 This forum is a closed professional community comprising of current practitioners. As such, all members are required to use proper names (handles or first names only are not permitted) and maintain a valid signature section. At a minimum, the signature section will contain your proper name (First name, Last name), official title or position along with company/agency details. URL links to external web sites will not be permitted in the signature section as there is a facility within the user profile to add home page information. Inappropriate content within the profile signature section will be removed without notification. Continued breach of the profile signature section rule will result in removal of access. Failure to maintain a valid signature section or real name field will result in the user profile being removed or disabled. If using post-nominal letters in your signature section, please ensure you are entitled to use them. Only valid post-nominal letters will be permitted. Any misrepresentation will result in the user profile being removed.
9. Forum Conduct
9.1 You agree, through your use of the Digital Detective forum, that you will not post any material which you know to be false, is defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of ANY law. Flaming, sniping or disorderly conduct towards any person will result in removal from the forum. Contravention of this agreement may result in criminal or civil action being taken against you. You also agree not to post or upload any copyrighted material unless you own the copyright or you have consent from the owner of the copyrighted material.
10. Advertising
10.1 The (direct or indirect) advertising of products, services, goods (including job vacancies) of any description, whether free or otherwise will not be permitted in this forum. The posting of URL links (either in a thread or signature section) to a third-party website for surreptitious advertising purposes will also not be permitted.
10.2 Under certain circumstances, posts which are at odds with the above rule may be permitted at the discretion of the forum administration (such as for products, goods or services which are not in conflict with the business interests of Digital Detective). For advice regarding this matter (and to obtain posting permission), please contact us. If permission is granted, the post must contain the following text at the start of the message: “This post has been approved by the forum administration”. Any posts which have been granted permission and do not contain the wording in the above paragraph will be removed. Spam, flood posting, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are also not permitted. Posts which are in contravention of this rule will be removed.
11. Forum Security
11.1 When you register for access to this forum, you have the option to select an appropriate user name. We advise that you keep the name appropriate and secure. You must never reveal your forum password to a third party, or permit a third party to access your account for any reason. If the security of your account is breached in any way, it will be immediately removed. Further access to the forum will not be permitted without good reason and will be at the discretion of the forum administration.
12. Posting to the Forum
12.1 The forum administrator and/or moderator retain the right to edit, move or delete any of the posts in this forum for any reason whatsoever.
12.2 In posting you are accepting that your creative content (i.e. your post) will be published by the forum administrator. Copyright to forum posts and other information becomes the property of the forum.
12.3 This is a restricted forum, and as such the information contained within the forum is also restricted. Only registered members of the forum shall be permitted to access or possess any of the material within the forum.
12.4 If you are going to post a question in relation to a current case or investigation, do not include anything which may identify the case in question.
12.5 Unauthorised access to the forum is an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. Users will not be permitted to print any data from the forum and give it to unauthorised third parties. Users will not be authorised to access the forum for this purpose, so this will also be regarded as an unauthorised access under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. Printing of material contained within this forum is audit logged along with IP and browser user-agent information.
12.6 The use of the forum content for any purposes other than educational is not permitted.
12.7 In addition, the forum administrator and moderator also retain the right to read, edit and delete personal instant messages sent via the functionality provided by this forum. Please ensure you backup any data from personal instant messages as the forum administration reserve the right to remove messages at any time for housekeeping purposes.
12.8 Note that it is impossible for us to confirm the validity of posts on this forum. Please remember that we do not actively monitor the posted messages and are not responsible for their content. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information presented. The messages express the views of the author, not necessarily the views of this forum. Anyone who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to notify an administrator of this forum immediately.
12.9 We have the right to remove objectionable content, within a reasonable time frame, if we determine that removal is necessary. Any removal will be completed as soon as possible. We also retain the right to remove, move or lock any posted message or thread without giving any reason. Advertisements are normally NOT permitted; however, some may be permitted with the permission of the forum administration. In such cases, the must be commenced with “This post has been approved by the forum administration”.
12.10 You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and you agree to indemnify Digital Detective Group Limited. Digital Detective also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or any information we have about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any information posted by you.
12.11 Posts which do not add to the content of the discussion may also be removed. For example, “me too” posts. This is not a community for social communications. Please use the instant message functionality for social type messages.
Please note that with each post, your IP address and browser user-agent information is recorded.
13. Breach of Forum Rules
13.1 If the forum rules are contravened or breached in any way, the forum administration reserves the right to remove, move or edit any post, thread or user profile. The decision by the forum administration is final.