First and foremost: WELCOME TO THE HUB!

And actually, main rule is to Have Fun!

1. Important rule is to SHARE! We are unlike any other fan-based board. We are a thoughtful sharing community. Give as you would like to be given to. It's a place for fans of Deep Purple, Deep Purple related bands, Black Sabbath, and dozens of other popular artists to share bootlegs with one another, to talk about the bands and music, that interest them, and to HAVE FUN.
For those of you, who are just joining, and don'€™t have any shows to share, that'€™s okay. We all had to start somewhere. Look for opportunities to share back the shows you download, so we can keep the bootleg library stocked for the benefit of future members. Again, it's all about participation. However, if you are here simply to take advantage of others to enrich your own collection, to improve your private trade-by-post circles, or you're looking for stuff you can sell'€¦ then you are in the wrong community. The staff here is very vigilant, and those 'distasteful' members are dealt with very quickly.
If you are here, and reading this, then you have something to contribute. You must participate in this community in some fashion. There are many ways, in which you can, and they don't take much effort. Reviews (CDs, DVDs, bootlegs, or concerts)? News? Scheduled chats, Social and Talk boards? Concert photography? Cover art? Your technical knowledge (recording methods or editing)?...etc. SHARE IT! It helps others. There are hundreds of ways to contribute and participate here. So, get involved and make this community a strong and vibrant one. A community like ours is only as good, as its members care to make it.

2. No officially released, commercially available items will be allowed to be posted here. Commercially available also means, a track, a bootleg, although originating from a different source, than the commercially available. Do NOT offer it here, it is NOT OK.
DO NOT post anything here, that can be purchased in the Deep Purple Hub Store, or other retail outlets. It WILL be removed quickly and, you will run the risk of having your account disabled. We don'€™t participate in, encourage, or tolerate piracy, €“we simply cannot afford the liabilities. If you have the slightest doubt about whether the item you want to post is official* or not, please contact a moderator or administrator and ask. We answer our PMs (private messages) promptly. We have the latitude to make the decision on these items.
*Bootlegs that contain songs that were released as live B-sides to singles CAN remain in the bootleg, and do not need to be edited out, unless the single is a current release and can be purchased in the shops.

3. Always, always leave a MEANINGFUL message of thanks for any show you download. Saying thank you* is a matter of simple manners, and the people who spend their time to post the shows, that you download, appreciate the recognition and deserve it. Be thoughtful. Simply quoting of the previous posting, or generic copy & paste "thank you for the bootleg" is not considered a decent reply. Same goes for overuse of exclamation marks and question marks in replies. One is enough. And do not post one-word replies with a load of smilies either.
*Sadly, even though this requirement should be a 'no brainer', leaving a 'thank you' post has now become mandatory in all download sections. You must post a thank you message in order to gain access to the download links. That's also the reason why all download links should be now hidden!

4. We try to maintain the Hub as a friendly site. No personal attacks, racist remarks, flame wars or cyber-graffiti will be tolerated. Try not to be critical. Those who engage in such behavior, risk having their accounts disabled. Also, do not use the public threads to challenge, debate, or otherwise undermine the rules and policies of the Hub. This is a private site owned by me. The public threads are not the place to air your grievances. If you have a problem, send a private message (PM) to a moderator or administrator, and your problem will be discussed privately. Trouble-making, rabble-rousing, or other subversiveness will not be tolerated and any such posts will be removed. The Grand Notions of Democracy and Free Speech do not apply here. This is neither a public square nor a government-sponsored institution, so no soap box speeches.

5. The copying and pasting of links or cover art from other sites is ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN unless you are the original poster, or you have gotten the original poster's permission to use their links. If you do, you must credit that person and note the forum, that it came from, so we can contact them and verify permission. And we will contact them. Breaking this rule is a huge breach of etiquette between forums. It creates bad blood between forums, and could spoil our good relations with other forum owners. If you want to post a show, that you see on another forum, try to get some form of permission, or better yet, download it to your computer, spend a little time to post it to another file sharing service, and create your own unique download links, which you may post as you please.

Please do not place demands on other Hub members after downloading your bootleg, that restrict what they can or can'€™t do with that recording. Once downloaded, that copy becomes the property of the downloader. Demands like 'do not convert to MP3' for example, are neither wanted nor police-able. We welcome ALL file types here. Do not rant about file quality, complaints, or bitrate issues. Many formats here are universal regardless of broad band width and/or even dial-up. There are lot of MP3s here! Member consensus shows, that is very popular format here, due to possible bandwidth restraints. Don't like it? Don't download it.

And just a quick but important word about having your links password protected (during your upload to the platform of your choice): In all fairness to all our members, we do not permit password protected links here. In other words... Sometimes you will see some examples of blogspot sites (or other forums) that read; "Download link here. Password is: SoAndSo". Password protection of shows is not permitted here, and we enforce that. Your post will be modified and your link will be removed.

6. Questions, problems, concerns, or disagreements should be addressed to a staff member. If it is regarding a specific section of the Hub, please contact the Board Moderator or a Global Moderator in that section. Board Moderators and Global Moderators have the authority to make most decisions, however, all final decisions rest with the Administrators or the Super Administrators. To sort out such matters, and to all in all, have a shared platform to operate from, English is obviously the language used in the hub.

7. No selling or buying of bootlegs is allowed on this site. No spamming is permitted here. If you are selling the bootlegs you download from the Hub on eBay or anywhere else, you will be BANNED... no questions asked. This is HUGELY unfair not only to the artists, but also to the good people, who have shared their bootlegs freely with the community here, and we do have people who keep an eye on eBay for such things.

8. DO NOT post links for downloads on outside sites. If you want to share an outside link, that you think other fans will enjoy, please submit it to an Administrator for approval. Any outside links, that have not approved by the Administrator will be removed. This is to protect the Hub, and to maintain friendly relations with other sites. Not all sites wish to be associated with a site, that trades our brand of media (bootlegs).

9. Report button is not meant for reporting dead links. It is only for reporting posts, that are breaking any of the forum rules.

10. Read your PMs (Private Messages) and respond! That's pretty important, especially if a member of the staff or an Administrator writes to you. Ignoring PMs from staff might result in BAN.