Community Standards

1. Scope

These standards apply to:

• Deutsche Kraniche Virtual websites, member areas, pilot systems, software, and uploads;
• Deutsche Kraniche Virtual-operated forums, chat, support, and community channels;
• Deutsche Kraniche Virtual Discord spaces and social-media accounts;
• Deutsche Kraniche Virtual events and flights associated with Deutsche Kraniche Virtual;
• Member-created content displayed through Deutsche Kraniche Virtual; and
• Conduct elsewhere when a person represents Deutsche Kraniche Virtual or the conduct creates a material safety, privacy, security, or community risk for Deutsche Kraniche Virtual or its members.

Third-party platform rules also apply. A platform may take action independently of Deutsche Kraniche Virtual.

2. Respect and inclusion

Members must communicate in good faith and treat others with basic dignity. Disagreement, correction, and aviation critique are allowed; personal abuse is not.

Do not:

• Harass, bully, stalk, intimidate, or threaten another person.
• Use slurs or attack people based on race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, or another protected or personal characteristic.
• Encourage self-harm, violence, or targeted abuse.
• Coordinate dogpiling or repeated unwanted contact.
• Retaliate against a person for making or participating in a good-faith report.
• Deliberately disrupt events, training, support, or community discussion.

Context matters. Satire, aviation role-play, and friendly banter do not excuse conduct that a reasonable person would understand as threatening, degrading, or persistently unwelcome.

3. Privacy and identity

Respect each member’s visibility and disclosure choices.

Do not:

• Publish or solicit another person’s private contact details, location, legal identity, credentials, communications, or other non-public information without permission.
• Attempt to identify a member who uses an ordinary chosen name.
• Repost information taken from a members-only or private profile to a broader audience without authorization.
• Record or redistribute private voice, video, or messages where consent or law requires permission.
• Impersonate another member, staff member, real airline representative, network official, or public authority.
• Use another person’s account or knowingly allow another person to use yours.

A profile being public does not authorize harassment, aggregation, surveillance, or unrelated reuse of its information.

4. Honest participation

Flights, activity, credentials, reports, and applications must be truthful.

Do not:

• Fabricate, replay, manipulate, or falsify flight data.
• Use software or techniques intended to defeat disclosed validation or anti-abuse controls.
• Claim qualifications, staff authority, partnerships, permissions, or real-world aviation status you do not hold.
• Submit altered evidence or knowingly false reports.
• Exploit a bug to obtain credit, access, rank, awards, or another advantage.
• Coordinate duplicate or fraudulent accounts.

Report security vulnerabilities privately under the Security statement instead of exploiting or publicly disclosing them.

5. Safe and realistic simulation

Follow the operational requirements published for the relevant Deutsche Kraniche Virtual activity and the rules of any online network being used. Members are expected to make a reasonable effort to understand their aircraft, route, and applicable network procedures before participating in organized activity.

Do not use Deutsche Kraniche Virtual materials for real-world aviation decisions. Do not present simulated operations as real emergency, security, government, or airline activity.

Poor performance or an honest mistake is not misconduct. Refusing reasonable guidance, intentionally disrupting others, or repeatedly misrepresenting activity may be.

6. Acceptable content

Do not upload, post, link to, or distribute content that:

• Is unlawful or facilitates serious wrongdoing.
• Contains malware, credential theft, destructive code, or deceptive downloads.
• Sexually exploits or endangers any person, especially a minor.
• Contains credible threats or instructions for targeted violence.
• Infringes copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other rights.
• Promotes piracy or unauthorized distribution of payware, navigation data, manuals, software, or media.
• Is spam, fraudulent promotion, or an undisclosed commercial solicitation.
• Is intentionally deceptive about its source or authenticity.
• Exposes authentication tokens, passwords, private keys, or another person’s confidential information.

Deutsche Kraniche Virtual may restrict graphic or mature content even when lawful if it is not appropriate for the community or the context in which it is posted.

7. Software, systems, and security

Do not:

• Probe, scan, overload, disrupt, or bypass Deutsche Kraniche Virtual systems without written authorization.
• Circumvent access controls, rate limits, restrictions, or moderation actions.
• Introduce malware or interfere with another member’s device or data.
• Scrape members-only information or use automated access not expressly permitted.
• Share non-public technical details that create a material security risk.
• Use Deutsche Kraniche Virtual systems to attack, test, or interfere with a third party.

Good-faith security research conducted under the published vulnerability-disclosure rules is treated separately from abuse.

8. Platform-specific conduct

When using Discord, VATSIM, IVAO, or another service, members must also follow that service’s rules. Deutsche Kraniche Virtual may moderate its own spaces more narrowly than the external platform.

Conduct on an external service may be relevant to Deutsche Kraniche Virtual when it involves Deutsche Kraniche Virtual activity, targets Deutsche Kraniche Virtual members, misuses Deutsche Kraniche Virtual information, or creates a credible risk to the community. Deutsche Kraniche Virtual will not ordinarily investigate unrelated private disputes.

9. Staff responsibilities

Staff members are held to these standards and must also:

• Use authority only for legitimate DKV purposes.
• Protect confidential member and case information.
• Avoid favoritism, retaliation, and undisclosed conflicts.
• Accurately distinguish personal views from official decisions.
• Record material enforcement decisions through the approved process.
• Recuse themselves when they cannot be impartial.

10. Reporting concerns

Report conduct concerns to [email protected]. Report immediate danger to the appropriate local emergency service first.

Include only information reasonably necessary to understand the concern. Do not conduct an intrusive investigation, obtain evidence unlawfully, or publicly mobilize others against the reported person.

Reports and outcomes are handled under Enforcement and Appeals.

11. Changes

We may update these standards as the community, services, or risks evolve. Material changes receive appropriate notice, and previous versions remain available in Policy History.