BKFK.com Community Standards and Rules of Behavior

The goals of these Community Standards and Rules of Behavior (the “Rules”) are simple: BKFK (“we” or “us”) wants you to enjoy a safe, smart experience and always treat each other with respect.

These Rules apply to all community areas of the BKFK.com Web site (the “Site”), including without limitation, the areas of the Site in which you may be allowed to share and review invention ideas with other Visitors to the Site. For more information about all of the things you can and cannot do while you are participating in these areas on the Site, including those actions that could result in account suspension or banning, read these Rules, along with the Site’s Terms and Conditions and any other rules or regulations that we may post in connection with a particular service, activity or area of our Site.

Behavioral Guidelines - The "Big Ten"

• We at BKFK want you to be inspired to create, design and shape your world. In order to do this, there are a few important guidelines (and a some very important rules too!) we need you to follow.
• Please read them carefully.
• If you break these rules your account and your access to the Site in general may be suspended temporarily or banned permanently.

1. Respect Your Fellow Idea Makers

• The Site is made up generally of a community of teens from all over the world.  Part of the excitement of having your ideas reviewed and reviewing ideas of others in a global way is that you are able to get different points of view. Your idea for a product may be guided by a teen from across the world by an experience you’d not usually have.
• The Site is a great place to exchange ideas and give assistance to others, but you may not do that in a cruel or harmful way.
• You should never use derogatory, demeaning or hurtful language, images, or actions against another user for any reason, including because of their race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, religion, sexual preference, or disability.

2. Stay Anonymous

• We at BKFK want you all to enjoy a fun and safe online environment. This means you should never reveal things about yourself that would make you findable in real life.
• Things you should never tell anyone while you’re on the Site, especially when you are in our community areas, include your real full name, your parents’ names, your home address, your school name or location, your phone/mobile numbers, your own or your parents’ social security & credit card numbers, and anything that shows what you look like in real life such as a photo, video or webcam link. This goes for your ideas as well.
• When you register for the Site and create a screen name to use on the Site and in the community areas, you don’t want to include any of these types of personal information, especially any part of your real name, or any numbers or words from your street address, e-mail address or phone number.  Instead, make up something new and creative!
• Your ideas and comments to others’ ideas should never include any of this information or any statements like “My 8^th grade teacher at Jones Junior High, Mrs. Smythe, said to me “Siobhan, I love this idea…”  This kind of a statement reveals way too much personal information about yourself, and is not a safe way to communicate.

3. Do not reveal your password to anyone. Ever.

• The biggest security breaches and safety threats come not from hackers and spies, but from people who log in falsely as others.
• When you register for the Site, you also create a password, and you’ll enter it each time you sign in to the Site or to the community areas on the Site or participate in certain areas of the Site.  Your password is secret. 
• You should only use your own screen name and password to sign into the Site.  Don’t try to use or guess anyone else’s screen name and password when signing on the Site.
• When you are talking about your intellectual property, it makes it even more important to keep your password a secret from everyone – except your parents. If you give your password to someone they will have access to all of your ideas, which could result in their theft or misuse.

4. Respect Others’ Privacy and Ideas

• Sharing personal information about another user of the Site (such as their real names, phone numbers, street addresses, or any other personal information about them) is not acceptable, and will be considered a violation of these Rules and could result in the temporary suspension of your account or the permanent banning from the Site.  
• Also, any ideas of others which are shared with you while you are in the community areas on the Site, should never be shared with others.  For more about ways to protect and to keep your ideas secret, click here.

5. Keep It Clean

• All content, communication, and behavior on the Site should follow "PG" guidelines. This means no strong, vulgar or profane language or expletives, no nudity or sexual content, and no depictions of sex or violence or any other objectionable information or images that are inappropriate or could make others feel offended or uncomfortable.
• Remember, this rule also applies to all of your activities in the community areas on the Site, including your user names, places, groups, events, forum posts and messages.

6. No Bullying or Harassing

• People who bully, harass, bother, irk, instigate, stalk or otherwise target any other user with offensive, threatening or bothersome behavior will be warned and/or banned from using the Site. 
• Harassment is not allowed on the Site. Harassment can take many forms, but generally what we mean by this is that you should never communicate or behave in an offensive, intimidating, or threatening way toward another user. Don’t do anything that would hurt anyone else or that could cause problems on the Site or in any of the community areas.
• Such behavior could result in a temporary suspension and a review of your account for possible permanent removal from the Site.  See #10 below for what happens to your ideas that are in competition or otherwise “in play”.

7. No Global Attacks  

• Use of the Site or the services made available on or through the Site in any manner with the intent to interrupt, damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Site, the services, or the servers or other systems related to the Site or such services, including, without limitation, sending mass unsolicited messages or “flooding” servers with requests, will not be tolerated. 
• Such actions may result in the immediate suspension of your account, or your permanent banning from the Site, and may result in criminal investigation should it be warranted.

8. Copyright and Other Intellectual Property

• You should not upload to any part of the Site any content that contains copyrighted material or other intellectual property of anyone else, including, but not limited to, text, drawings, images, videos, and sound files.

9. Hate Speech will Not be Tolerated

• Speech which is intended to degrade, intimidate, or incite violence or prejudicial action against anyone based on their race, gender, age, ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic class, occupation or appearance will not be tolerated in the community areas on the Site.
• Such behavior will be considered a violation of these Rules and the Site’s  Terms and Conditions, which may result in temporary suspension or permanent banning from the Site.

10. Here’s What Will Happen If You Break the Rules

• Generally, violations of the Rules and the Site’s  Terms and Conditions  may first result in a “Warning.”  However, some violations could result in immediate temporary suspension or permanent banning from the Site, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, in BKFK’s discretion. 
• If you continue to break the rules you may receive an “Account Strike” and/or a “Suspension,” which means you’ll be temporarily removed from the Site, but again, certain actions could result in your immediate removal from the Site without the intermediate “suspension.” In general, we’ll let you know when you have received an Account Strike by sending you a message in your inbox. After 3 Account Strikes your account will be permanently closed.
• If you use the Site to participate in anything illegal, your account will be closed immediately.
• BKFK will decide who is breaking the Rules or not following the Site’s  Terms and Conditions , and we will decide the appropriate consequences for each violation in each circumstance.
• If your account is permanently closed, the contents of your locker will be unavailable to you and you will be disqualified from competitions you have entered.

How Do We Know About these Offenses?

• Well, for one, we sometimes monitor the Site traffic and logs, and we sometimes review chatting and other communications in the community areas, to make sure people are being friendly and safe and are following the rules.  But, because we may or may not constantly monitor the community areas of Site, you should always “report” users to us who are misbehaving.
• Second, we encourage you to report any instances of violation, and you should know that we also allow your fellow users to report you (see below).
• Lastly, we have secret magic stuff and we won’t tell you about it. But it’s real. And serious.

Reporting Abuse

• If anyone makes you feel uncomfortable, you should report this user to us using our reporting tool.  It is your responsibility to stop chatting, sharing your ideas, or otherwise communicating with anyone that makes you feel uncomfortable or that is violating the Rules. Serious offenses will have them banned by us.
• Users should report violations of these Rules and the Site’s  Terms and Conditions
• We are counting on you to report abuses and help control the community. This space is what you make it – help keep it safe, clean, and a positive experience for all.  

Teens Only!

• BKFK.com is primarily for teenagers age 13 to 18.
• Users under the age of 13 may be allowed with limited access to certain functions and areas of the Site. For example, they may participate in competitions, but only with the prior permission of their parent or guardian.
• From time to time, certain authorized adults may be allowed to enter the Site and certain areas of the Site to lead educational projects.
• If you meet an unauthorized adult on the Site, or if you are suspicious of any individual user on the Site, you should report that person to us immediately by using the “send report” function.