Introduction

Abarthisti is a privately owned and operated web site, financially supported by both individual and commercial interests.

Abarthisti is not associated with Abarth & C. S.p.A, Abarth UK, or Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd in any way.  The Abarth logo and brand are registered trademarks of Abarth & C. S.p.A. and are used here for identification purposes only.  All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged.

Mission

Abarthisti's mission is to promote mature, friendly and respectful discussion of all aspects of Abarth vehicle ownership, whether this is through electronic means or real-world events.

Property

The copyright in the material contained in this web site belongs to Abarthisti.

All Intellectual Property Rights (including, without limitation, all database rights, rights in designs, rights in know-how, patents and rights in inventions) in any information, content, materials, data or processes contained in the Abarthisti web site (or accompanying publications) belong to Abarthisti.

No part of this material may be copied, reproduced, republished, downloaded, posted, broadcast or transmitted in any way except for your own personal non-commercial home use. Any other use requires the prior written permission of Abarthisti.

In contributing content and materials (including without limitation photographs, and textual information) to Abarthisti, you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use the material in any way, and in any media worldwide. This does not affect your copyright ownership of the original photographic work on which your contribution is based.

User-contributed content does not represent the opinion of Abarthisti.  Abarthisti supports no warranty as to the correctness or suitability of any such content.

Abarthisti Administrators and Moderators reserve the right to alter, edit, update, add to, or remove content as is deemed necessary.

Membership

Membership is open to owners of Abarth vehicles of all vintages.

Individuals considering the purchase of an Abarth vehicle are welcome, but should consider themselves guests and moderate their behaviour accordingly.

Staff of Abarth franchised dealers may register only as part of a Supporting Dealer package.  For details, please contact martin@abarthisti.co.uk or Ian@abarthisti.co.uk.

Individuals without a positive interest in Abarth vehicles are not eligible for membership.

Abarthisti caters primarily for UK residents, but is currently accepting registrations from the USA, Australia and New Zealand as part of a trial.

English must be used at all times.

Prohibited Activities

The following activities are strictly forbidden and will lead to immediate suspension or cancellation of membership:

• Posting spam or unauthorised advertising, whether publicly within the forums or via email or Personal Messaging systems.
• Applying for membership with a view to harvesting information such as email addresses for the purposes of spam, advertising, or commercial activities.
• Posting of commercial content without prior permission.
• Fraudulent activities, committing fraud, or discussions with the intent of committing fraud.
• Discrimination against others, on any basis.
• Persistent or extreme profanity.
• Disruptive, antagonistic, disrespectful or otherwise unbecoming behaviour.
• Behaviour or actions at an event, official or otherwise, that could be construed as bringing Abarthisti into disrepute.
• Posting, transmitting or sending potentially malicious content, such as viruses, trojans or worms.
• Attempting to circumvent any security or protection measures, particularly with a view to gaining unauthorised access to any part of Abarthisti.
• Applying to multiple accounts for use by one person.
• Using Abarthisti content within any other web site, publication or release without prior permission.
• Libellous or retaliatory behaviour towards individuals or companies.
• Soliciting for business or custom, whether for financial reward or not, without prior permission.
• Posting classified advertisements or details of items for sale in the main forum - please use the Classifieds section.
• Posting, transmitting or sending any content, images or material that might be deemed to be in contravention of any applicable law including, but not limited to, content deemed to be explicit, pornographic, politically- or religiously-biased, pertaining to matters of substance abuse or use of illegal drugs, or infringes upon any copyright, trademark or brand.
• Posting or applying for membership with the intention of recruiting members to other online communities or web sites.
• Posting details of events organised by other clubs or online communities without prior permission.
• Posting on behalf of any banned, suspended, or expired member.  This includes forum postings, private messages, emails or photos.
• New members (those with a post count below five) may not include hyperlinks in posts.  Attempts to circumvent this restriction, including making irrelevant posts, will result in account suspension.

Advertising

In order to financially support Abarthisti, the Administrator maintains relationships with several commercial organisations.  In return for their contribution, they are given the right to advertise their products or services to the Abarthisti membership.  These commercial organisations are deemed to be members of Abarthisti, and as such must abide by the contents of this Acceptable Use Policy.

To protect their interests, no content created with the intention of selling a product a service may be posted on or transmitted through Abarthisti without prior permission.  This includes links or other content within forum signatures, avatars or member profiles, and extends to materials (such as flyers, posters, or vehicle livery) displayed or distributed at events or meets.

This restriction applies equally to non-profit or charitable organisations.

Organisations interested in advertising their products or services must contact an Administrator before applying for membership  martin@abarthisti.co.uk or Ian@abarthisti.co.uk.


Guidelines for Advertisers, Sponsors and Commercial Members

Commercial Members will be allocated a dedicated section within the Commercial Area.  Commercial members are entitled to use this area to inform Abarthisti members of their products and services, and to respond to direct requests for information.  However, the Code of Conduct and Acceptable Use Policy must be followed at all times.

Outside of the Commercial Area, commercial members are welcome to contribute to any existing discussion where they feel they can add value, but must not respond in a manner that could be construed as advertising their products or services, touting for business, or diverting the topic of discussion for their own gains.  Commercial members may not start new topics outside of their dedicated section within the Commercial Area.  Outside of the Commercial Area, commercial members may not respond to general requests for information ("what brake pads would you recommend?") with specific recommendations for their own products or services - this is considered spam.  General on-topic advice, however, is to be encouraged.

Additionally, Commercial members may not: initiate contact with members via private message (PM) without having first been requested to do so by the member concerned; recommend their products or services over their competitors; openly criticise their competitors' products or services; consistently spam the Commercial Area with advertisements or hyperlinks to their own website; encourage members to contact them privately for information that is otherwise prohibited by this policy.

General guidelines: Abarthisti members appreciate others who share their enthusiasm, but tend to turn off quickly in the face of 'spin' or overt 'sales-speak'.  Commercial members will generate far greater returns by consistently demonstrating their enthusiasm for the Abarth brand and their belief in the concept of the Abarthisti community by contributing in a self-less manner.

Guidelines for Franchised Dealers

Staff of Abarth franchised dealers may register with the forum only after taking out a Supporting Dealer package.  For details, please contact   martin@abarthisti.co.uk or Ian@abarthisti.co.uk.
Failure to do so will result in immediate cancellation of membership. 

Supporting Dealers may use their dedicated area within the Supporting Dealer section to post details of their new and used stock, details of events, special offers, finance deals, etc.  Details of stock vehicles must be physical stock units either in stock now for immediate viewing, or arriving shortly.  Speculative listings, i.e. for vehicles that are not yet in production, will be removed.

Supporting Dealers may contribute to discussion elsewhere on the forum, but all posts of a promotional or commercial nature must be made within their dedicated Supporting Dealer section only.

In all cases, dealers may not: openly criticise any other dealer registered with the forum; use the Abarthisti membership list as a source of potential customer details; entice members to contact them for any information that is otherwise prohibited by this policy.

Our advice is to contribute to the community in a selfless manner: by demonstrating your enthusiasm for the brand and building a relationship with the members of the community, you will generate far greater returns than simply attempting to spam the forum.

Moderation

In all cases, the decisions of the Administrator/Moderators are final.

Discussion relating to any particular moderation action will be limited to the poster concerned.

Posts questioning or debating these rules, or action taken by moderators or administrators, will be removed without comment. Feedback is encouraged, however, but should be confined to private discussion with the moderator team.

Signatures

Forum signatures should consist of text only - images and banners are not permitted - and must be kept to a reasonable size so as not to deform the forum's layout.  Forum signatures may not contain links to commercial organisation without prior approval.

Liability

Abarthisti, its Administrators and Moderators cannot pre-approve or vet content submitted by its members in real-time.  In addition, no guarantees can be given to ensure the prompt removal of any content that violates this policy.  As such, Abarthisti does not assume any liability to visitors or members for any failure to enforce the terms of this policy.

The presence of Advertisers, Sponsors and Commercial Members does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by Abarthisti, and no liability is accepted.

Termination, Expiry, Suspension or Withdrawal of Access

Abarthisti, its Administrators and Moderators, may decide to suspend or permanently withdraw access to Abarthisti for individuals that violate any part of this policy.

In extreme cases, suspension or cancellation of membership may occur without any prior warning.

In the case of Commercial Members or Supporting Dealers, suspension or cancellation will occur without refund of any membership or advertising fees paid.

Upon the natural expiry of a Commercial Member's or Supporting Dealer's Membership, their dedicated section will be removed.

Revisions

Abarthisti reserves the right to modify this policy at any time without notice.