Illusionary Minds Chat (IMC) believes that so long as these terms of service are met (see also “Site Rules”) how chat communities conduct themselves is up to them. Each community is encouraged to control its own destiny. By signing up with and using IMC, you have implied that you agree to meet these requirements without argument.

Chatters must avoid any illegal activities on or through the chat service (including but not limited to advocating hacking, cracking or spamming; distribution, use or advocacy of warez; illegitimate redistribution of copyrighted material; acts of vandalism and other forms of harassment) defined by the laws in both their own place of residence and Huntington, New York, where IMC is based; child pornography in any form (including but not limited to advocacy, distribution or participation in same); and not use the chat for advertising purposes for a business without prior permission. Such permission will be evaluated based on the form and content of the promotion. (This includes but is not limited to spamming other rooms to advertise a room be it on IMC or elsewhere.)

While IMC is happy to offer an M rating for some rooms, IMC will not accept rooms for which the primary purpose appears to be cyber-sex. Any room that degenerates into that state will be removed.

Chatters are expected to behave respectfully towards each other and towards IMC site administrators, regardless of the room or community to which they belong. (This includes but is not limited to: accepting and complying with the room's expectations for behavior; following the room rating; not taking part in any sort of impersonation or attempts to defraud) "Chatter" is defined as anyone who is using IMC services in any manner. IMC administration standards of behavior will supersede room standards of behavior for IMC administrative actions.

IMC recognizes the difference between a chatter taking part in these activities, which is violation of these requirements, and a character (played by a chatter) taking part in these activities, which is subject to the community standards in which the roleplay takes place. IMC expects the clear use of out of character (OOC) indicators on the part of the chatters to define in and out of character actions and statements.

All material uploaded to and stored on IMC's servers, including user images and avatars, must also conform to the guidelines described in these terms of service.

IMC reserves the right to cancel accounts at the discretion of the site owners and administration. Use of IMC services is a privilege and not a right.

IMC's services are provided AS IS. No warranties, expressed or implied, are provided with the service. We do strive to insure continuous uptime and availability for the service, but we cannot guarantee it and will not be held liable for damages, loss or other renumeration in the event of a service outage.

Illusionary Minds Chat Service (IMC) is based in Huntington, New York. All dialogue and interactions which are facilitated by IMC are subject to the laws of of Huntington, New York; the State of New York; and the United States of America. IMC accepts no responsibility for your actions here, and cooperates in good faith with law enforcement agencies.

What are the site rules and regulations?

We have a very few rules regarding the use of this chat site. Please take a look at our guidelines governing the use of the site.

No hacking, IP spoofing, or other forms of computer theft and/or subterfuge will be permitted. This is an offense which will lead to permanent site-banning by the SysOps. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Discussing, endorsing, or in any way promoting other sites that:
  • promote illegal hacking activity or
  • provide access to pirated software.
• Sharing passwords. This includes your login password.

Do not impersonate other chatters. This is an offense which will lead to permanent site-banning by the SysOps. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Appearing under more than one MUN name that you have registered with different email addresses, without advising the SysOps of both accounts.
• Using a misleading handle to convince others that you are some other chatter.
• Using a new identity to escape the consequences of previous actions which led to a ban from the site or other disciplinary action. 

Do not traffic in, discuss, distribute or endorse child pornography on this site, in any way. This includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Distributing any form of pornography involving a minor, including, but not limited to, text, images, video and audio.
• Soliciting sex, or cyber-sex, with a minor in any portion of this site, whether public or private.
• Discussing acts of statutory rape in any portion of this site, whether public or private.

This is an offense which will lead to permanent site-banning by the SysOps and a call to the local authorities about your criminal behavior.

What happens if I break one of the rules?

Admit the mistake and apologize to the wronged party. That might seem overwhelmingly simple, but it goes a long way.

That apology can be easy in relatively minor infractions, like used a picture in excess of the stated limits, or accidentally used language not appropriate for the rating. In those cases, the most important thing to do is not repeat it. Take the picture down right away, and watch your language in the future. Apologize to the room for the disruption.

For more serious cases, email the room host, fess up to what you have done, and ask forgiveness. A sincere and well thought out apology will go a long way, and usually inclines authority figures to take some consideration into whatever punishment may be assigned.

What do I do if I see someone else breaking the rules?

If there is a staff member in the room, PM them and tell them what you've seen. Do NOT assume that they have also seen it just because you have. If an room or site administrator is role playing, they may not even be looking at posts other than that of their partner.

If there is no staff member in the room at the time, and it is not an emergency (room disruption, breaking of the Terms of Service, etc... write the room host and explain what you've seen. Include the user name and a log of the events if possible.

If no one is around, and it's a time-sensitive issue, then, and only then, contact a site admin and they will address the situation.

If you believe you are witnessing a site-level issue, write a letter to Complaints (complaints@im-chat.com), and your problem will be dealt with by the Conflict Mediation and Damage Control (CM&DC) staff. Please refer to the Chain of Responsibility if you are unsure what is a room issue and what is a site issue. Also, and this is important, read the document "Filing Formal or Site-Level Complaints" to get an idea of what constitutes a valid complaint and how to file one. Frivolous or irrelevant complaints will not be considered.

I didn't do the things I've been accused of doing. Honest! How can I appeal?

If you want to appeal a decision made by the SysOps regarding your account, the only SysOp you should contact, in email, is Kit (kit@im-chat.com). State your case clearly and succinctly, without abuse or personal attacks. Supply any documentation of your position you feel is relevant.

Contacting any of the other SysOps will not help your case. We have had a number of people attempting to curry favor with the other SysOps in an attempt to play them off each other and circumvent the rules. Doing so will almost certainly guarantee that you will not get an appeal.

If you have a grievance against the sysops or a particular action, yours or someone else's, don't air your grievances publicly in a room or on a MB. Take the grievance you have to the appropriate sysop. We have had many problems in the past where someone aired erroneous or misleading information about a disciplinary action in a public room on on a MB, which led to all kinds of misunderstandings and bad feelings on both sides. The court of public opinion has a bad way of backfiring.

So you've done something really bad...

If you've violated the ToS or the Site rules, if you have lied to the System Administration or attempted to sign up for a second account to get around a previous ban, than the same advise is true. Admit the mistake, apologize and come clean. You may still be facing serious repercussions, but if you want any chance of salvaging the situation, that is the only way.

Such letters should be emailed to Kit (kit@im-chat.com) or the appropriate room host.

If you've been banned for a long time and you would like to come back...

We do reconsider old permanent suspensions in cases that do not involve safety concerns (i.e., if you were banned for stalking, harassment, or threats, don't bother).

A politely worded email to Kit (kit@im-chat.com) indicating how long ago you were banned and showing some awareness of why you were banned may very likely result in you being allowed back on the site. As with all the above cases, fessing up and admitting you were wrong goes a long way.