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IGN BOARD RULES
(most of this is taken from here)

YOU AGREE TO THESE RULES EACH AND EVERY TIME YOU POST!

Look familiar?

As bad as it may sound, your freedom of speech rights do not apply on IGN's message board system, just as they don't apply in any other internet community. Fact is, when you're using IGN's Boards, you're playing by their rules. You may have paid for IGNinsider, but that in no way excuses you from the same rules every other poster follows. 

You might want to read below to see what you have been agreeing to all this time.

For your convenience, I've highlighted important concepts in red and added comments in italics.

IGN Board Rules

Here are some things you'll want to avoid while posting on the IGN message boards:

• Copyrighted Material
  IGN board users agree not to post any material that is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right without the express permission of the owner(s) of said copyright, trademark or other proprietary right.

  This means no word-for-word magazine reviews, as well as any material that seems to be plagiarized, meaning you can't simply change up a few words or sentence structures and post it as your own. Also, be careful when posting images. If the images you post are scanned from a magazine, chances are you're breaking the rules and the law.

• Flaming, Bashing, and Trolling
  Hate posts and personal attacks will not be tolerated on the IGN boards. Treat others on these message boards as you would expect them to treat you. Talking trash about another user is a quick way to earn a banning, as is posting topics specifically to provoke a negative response from someone (aka trolling).

  If you'd like a perfect example of trolling, you can always check the long-gone (yet still infamous) ArbitraryName, who got away with trolling for an extended period of time. Fact is, you're allowed to voice your disagreement, but not if you do it in a hostile way that will upset the board community, or even in a cleverly disguised manner (ala AN).

• System Wars
  System wars benefit no one. We encourage intelligent discussions about the merits and flaws of each system, but senseless console bashing should be avoided.

  ...and will likely get you banned.

• Profanity
  Keep offensive language to a minimum. While we might let you get away with anything you might hear on network television (no, NOT cable) or radio, don't go overboard. A simple rule to follow is: "when in doubt, leave it out." You don't have to use excessive profanity to get your point across, and it's usually better to avoid it altogether.

  Also, when you edit profanity, you must edit the entire word. For example, "F***" is not acceptable. The edit must be "****".

   

• Spam
  Purposely spamming a message board with senseless, vacuous, or empty messages to gain more stars is highly frowned upon!

  This includes such things as party posts, chain letters, two-word "I agree" or "me too" responses, continually posting the same topic on a particular board, and posting the same question across several boards.

  Commercial spamming and advertising are just as unwelcome. These boards aren't for hyping your wares, El Cheapo. This includes companies as well as individuals trying to buy or sell any merchandise.

  'Nuff said.

• Piracy, ROMs, and Warez
  We don't mind discussions about emulation and piracy as long as they're just that...discussions. Linking or giving information about any site that distributes illegal software, ROMs, or emulators, seeking help to circumvent any copyright laws, or encouraging software or media piracy is grounds for an immediate ban. This goes for all copyrighted material, including but not limited to games, movies, music, and videos.

• Off-Topic Posts
  Okay, so you probably won't get banned for an off-topic post, but c'mon, try to post suitable subjects on each of the appropriate boards. It's probably not a great idea to ask "Is Gladiator an anamorphic transfer?" on the Wrestling board when we have a dedicated DVD message board just screaming for questions like that. Off-topic posts will most likely be deleted, and further action may be taken against repeat offenders.

• Spoilers
  Just because you know that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker's daddy doesn't mean that everybody does (whoops). Be considerate of the other users who may not have seen a movie or played a game that you're talking about. Simply type something eye-catching like **BEGIN SPOILER** before any text that may give away any significant information about the plot and **END SPOILER** after the text in a post. You should also avoid posting spoilers in a subject line altogether.

  The absolute best idea is to not only indicate where a spoiler begins and ends, but to also enclose the spoiler text in an invisible text markup code bracket (as shown here: [color=c1c2c9]Spolier Text[/color]) - my favorite!
  You might want to watch for invisible text from me, too, as I use it quite often to drop hints. =)

   

• Posting Huge Images / Fake Signature Pics
  Out of respect for your 56k brethren, please let it be known if your thread contains a number of large images before they open it. A simple **56kers Beware!** in the subject line will go a long way in helping those who are broadband-challenged. Also if you must use a fake signature picture, limit it to no more than one 10k or less image since huge pictures slow down the boards for everybody.

• Impersonating Other Users / Accessing Another User's Account
  You may not impersonate another board member or create an account specifically for the purpose of provoking other users. Also, accessing or using someone else's account or attempting to access another poster's account is strictly prohibited.

  You'll be permanently IP banned - no questions - if you're caught in another user's account. This means no more IGN Boards - ever - for that specific computer or residence. And don't think we can't tell, either, because we can...

   

• Circumventing a Ban
  If you log onto the IGN message boards and receive a message that you have been banned, please submit an unban request and wait for an IGN Message Board moderator to get in touch with you. It is not acceptable to return to the boards under another username. If you do, your ban time may be extended.

  Coming back on another username is called circumventing a ban. If you're caught, and you almost always are, both names will be banned, usually you'll be slapped with an IP ban, and your ban time will generally be doubled.

• Questionable Content
  Since we can't have a rule to cover everything, this is the rule to, well, cover everything. These are public boards, so act like you would if you were in a public place. These issues are left to the discretion of the individual moderators, but may include any material that is knowingly false and/or defamatory, misleading, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, that otherwise violates any law, or that encourages conduct constituting a criminal offense.
  
  MAKE SURE YOU READ THAT LAST ONE. It covers just about ANYTHING most perpetrators complain about. Most moderators (most) generally try to be fair and lenient about most of these issues, but when action must be taken it will be taken.

There are tens of thousands of posts each day on the IGN message boards, so we can't always promise you'll receive a warning every time action has to be taken. By registering at the IGN Message Boards, users agree that any post deemed inappropriate may be removed at the sole discretion of IGN. IGN also has the right, at its sole discretion, to revoke board privileges at any time without notice or reason. Think of these rules as a forewarning and, if you break them, you're taking your account status into your own hands.

Also note that the Board Rules extend to all areas of the IGN Message Boards system, including but not limited to Private Messages, Signatures, and Unban Requests.

IGN is not responsible for messages posted on the IGN Boards or the content therein. Unless expressly stated otherwise, this includes messages posted by IGN personnel, agents, representatives et al. IGN reserves the right to reveal the identity of or whatever information we know about any user in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by said user.