Goldsboro News-Argus privacy, copyright and use statement

This statement covers the web servers, email servers and other Internet-accessible computers in the newsargus.com domain, all of which are maintained by the Goldsboro News-Argus. This statement only applies to people who are not employees of the Goldsboro News-Argus.

We respect your privacy. Any information collected by the logs of our servers will be kept confidential and will not shared with anyone outside of the Goldsboro News-Argus, except for legitimate requests from law enforcement or judicial agencies. What logs are kept are designed to help track the overall use of the servers, and not to track a specific individual's use of the servers.

We do not send unsolicited email, nor do we collect or store your email address, unless you first send an email to us. Except for legitimate requests from law enforcement or judicial agencies, we will never share your email address with anyone else, unless you give permission.

Unless otherwise noted, all text, photographs and graphics on our web pages are copyrighted by the Goldsboro News-Argus. Aside from indexing by search engines, which is permitted, all rights are reserved. Please contact us before reproducing in print or electronically any graphics or text found on any web sites in the newsargus.com domain.

Permission is granted to connect to our web servers using WWW (httpd) clients for the purpose of viewing publicly available web pages. Additionally, Domain Name System (DNS) and email (SMTP) servers may connect to our DNS and SMTP servers for the purpose of normal, non-malicious, transfers of DNS and email information. Permission is not granted to connect using any other client or server or for any other purpose.

Discussion Forum Policy

The Goldsboro News-Argus considers the discussion of issues important for the general public. Use of the forums or live discussions for personal attacks will not be tolerated. Any such dialogue will be subject to removal from the web site and/or all social media platforms.

–– We reserve the right to restrict any communication which we deem to be harmful to individuals, damaging to the site's discussions or in violation of the newspaper's rights or any third-party rights ––

Also be advised that comments are posted in public areas that we cannot screen in advance. Please remember that you are solely responsible for any statements that are posted in the comments section on Facebook, or that are Tweeted or retweeted on any of the News-Argus Twitter accounts.

We reserve the right, but do not assume the responsibility, to restrict any material submitted under a false name or initials.

The following guidelines must be adhered to at all times:

• Stay on topic. Comments that stray from the topic may be removed.

• Do not use obscene or offensive language. Comments that include profanity or offensive language will be removed. Comment filters are set to automatically delete most expletives (curse words). You may not post or link to any material that could be considered obscene, indecent, lewd, pornographic, violent, abusive, insulting, threatening, harassing, in violation of the law or that would constitute grounds for civil liability. Please be respectful of other readers.

• Submit only your original comments. Please do not republish stories or material for which you do not have the copyright or permission to distribute electronically, such as stories or articles from other sites. You may post a link instead, so long as it is not considered an advertisement. Make sure you attribute the source.

• Do not solicit or advertise. Advertisements, chain letters, charity requests, petitions for signatures and any other commercial use or solicitations are prohibited.

• Harassment and defamation. If you target another participant specifically to cause distress, embarrassment, unwanted attention or other discomfort, this is harassment. We do not tolerate harassment in any form and may suspend access or terminate the use of our forum by anyone who harasses others.

• Personal attacks. You may have a disagreement with someone's point of view, but personal attacks, unfounded allegations, unreasonable argument, false and defamatory remarks or attacks based on a person's race, national origin, ethnicity, religion or gender will not be tolerated. Making accusations of illegality, posting personal information or violating the privacy of another individual will not be tolerated.

• Please do not post in all caps.

Disclaimer –– The Goldsboro News-Argus cannot review every post to the discussion forums, verify the accuracy of statements made by participants or determine whether the materials posted by participants violate the rights of others. Accordingly, you agree to assume full responsibility and liability for the content of your postings. We are not responsible or liable for statements or materials posted by readers.

Security –– We will periodically monitor the site and social media platforms and respond to reader violation reports. Any messages that, in our judgement, appear to violate the Discussion Forum Policy may be removed without notice. We reserve the right to remove any posting and limit or terminate access to anyone for any reason at any time.

Report abuse –– If you encounter questionable comments or material posted by a reader, you are encouraged to contact the site manager by email at editor@newsargus.com.

Last updated Friday, June 2, 2017.