H2g2 - Terms and Conditions

Terms and Conditions

To contribute to the site it is necessary to register and to agree to the h2g2 "House Rules" and the general Not Panicking Ltd Terms and Conditions. Registered users are called Researchers. Researchers retain the copyright to their articles, but grant Not Panicking Ltd a non-exclusive license to reproduce their work in all formats.

The House Rules prohibit various things, including racism, "hard-core" swearing, spamming, flooding, "otherwise objectionable" material, and spitting. Codes and languages other than English may only be used sparingly and with an accompanying translation. The Terms and Conditions are more legalistic, and prohibit breach of copyright and defamatory material.

When the site became part of BBCi, the BBC insisted on moderating contributions to the site soon after they were made. However, they were eventually persuaded that the h2g2 Community could be trusted to a system of "reactive moderation", in which posts were not checked by moderators unless a complaint was made. On leaving the BBC, the moderation guidelines under Not Panicking Ltd have remained much the same. Individual user accounts are sometimes put on "pre-moderation", meaning that posts they make are not displayed until they have been reviewed by a moderator.

During their time with the BBC, particularly contentious major issues often led to discussion being moderated differently. For example:

• Political Discussions during Elections in the United Kingdom were restricted to specific forums. These forums had posts read by moderators to ensure that the BBC could not be seen to break the tight rules that govern the UK media during such elections.
• During the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, extra rules were put in place.
• On 17 March 2003, h2g2 issued guidelines for discussions during the 2003 Iraq war, including a statement that "All new postings and articles relating to the conflict in Iraq posted to h2g2 will now be failed". This policy was lifted on 24 April 2003.

Occasionally, more contentious Entries submitted for review are hidden pending moderation, with two articles about the Nestlé boycott having been pulled in the past.