what are the rules for posting things?

Offensive Posting

Posts of a patently offensive nature are not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to:
Using vulgar, profane, or sexually explicit language
Using race, religion, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, handicap, nationality, or gender as a means of insult
Using sexual preference terms as insult in any way, shape, or form
Using threatening, harassing, defamatory, hate-speech, or libelous language
Posting or requesting links to or material from pornographic, obscene, or hate-speech web sites
Posting links to web sites with potentially offensive content without a clear warning
Descriptions or details about any sexual act or sexual organs
Sexually suggestive or nearly nude images that are judged inappropriate by Moderators or Administrators
- As a general guideline, this refers to images that would be censored on network television or in a daily newspaper

Censor Bypassing

The TV.com message boards are programmed with a list of words that are considered vulgar under any context, and these words are not allowed to be posted. Trying to bypass the censor by misspelling, inserting spaces or symbols, switching letters, using look-alike symbols, or any other method is not allowed. The only acceptable method of posting one of these vulgar words is to obscure it, making it impossible to determine what the word is without context. Also, certain words are restricted from being used in topic titles and user information pages; bypassing the censor to post those words where they are restricted is also disallowed. For example, if "gris" is a banned word:
Not allowed: g-r-i-s, gr*s, g***, 9|-1$, girs, gryeeeas, grizznizz, **** (rhymes with "bris")
Allowed: ****, ****ed, ****ing, g'ed, g-word

Flaming (Insulting Other Users)

Posts clearly insulting other board members and a show's cast or crew, individually or as a group, directly or indirectly, beyond the bounds of reasonable and informed criticism and debate, are not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to:
Name-calling ("You're an idiot", "You moron")
Direct insults ("Screw you")
Offensive orders ("Go kill yourself")
Suggestions ("Are you stupid or something?") or insults towards family ("Your mom...")
Physical threats, even as jokes ("I'm going to hunt you down and set you on fire!")

Trolling (Inciting Flames)

Posts intended mainly to annoy or offend other posters by going against the clear nature of a board or topic are not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to:
Provoking other users to respond with flames
Provoking fans of a particular show or genre, especially on boards dedicated to that show or genre (i.e., "This show suxx!!!")
Making misleading topic titles
Asking useless questions
Posting false information as fact
Posting spoilers without suitable identification in the subject header.

Illegal Activities

Posts that violate or incite others to violate the law are not allowed. This includes (but is not limited to) discussing, asking for or providing, in any way, shape, or form:
Illegal copies of copyrighted software and related applications (ROMs, Warez)
Methods of avoiding copyright protection (Cracks, No-CD Patches, CD Keys)
Illegal copies in part or in whole of copyrighted music (MP3s), movies, videos, TV shows, images, or any other media
Reprints of material from other web sites (pay or free)

Advertising

Posts that clearly advertise a service or product are not allowed. This includes, but is not limited to:
Unsolicited commercial or personal web site advertisements
For-Sale/For-Trade/For-Auction/Wanted notices
DVDs, VHS tapes, downloads, screen captures, and any other copyrighted material, in part or in whole, owned by someone else
"Make Money Fast" scams, chain letters, and pyramid schemes
Advertising for another message board
Solicitations and drawings for charity or profit events
Users are allowed to include a web site address in a signature, request comments on their personal site in a social setting, or providing only once an interesting or relevant link to another site.

Off-Topic Posting

The main purpose of the TV.com message boards is to provide discussion forums for television programs. Topicality is expected and will be enforced on all boards for current and cancelled series, as well as all general and special interest boards. On these boards, topics designed to get hundreds of posts with little or no content, topics that have nothing to do with the board's category, "secret base" type threads, and other "social" topics are not allowed.

Disruptive Posting

Posts that disrupt the message boards for other users, intentional or not, are prohibited. This includes, but is not limited, to:
Message posts or topic titles that force browsers to scroll horizontally
Large blank or content-free posts
Posts that consist only of quotes, or quotes plus an unsubstantial reply ("Okay" - "Yeah!" - "LOL" - smilie), or just an unsubstantial reply.
Excessive quoting (i.e., quoting a ten-paragraph post to respond to one sentence)
"Bumping" older topics (posting in them well after the last post)
Posting multiple identical or near-identical messages or topics, including "fad" topics
Intentionally hard-to-read topic titles (i.e. ALL CAPS, AlTeRnAtE cApS, no spaces, no or excessive punctuation, 1337 speak, et cetera)
Posting multiple hard-to-read or absurd messages in a single or multiple topics
Posting large ASCII art (except in social topics specifically calling for it)
Post counting (i.e. "First", "100th Post")

Flooding, Invading, and Board Wars

Users will be immediately banned (with any associated accounts) for:
Flooding a board with multiple disruptive topics or posts
Posting a single identical post on multiple forums, includign but not limited to petitions
Invading another board (flooding a board as a group with multiple topics or posts)
Announcing or inciting a "war" or any conflict with the regular members of another board

Impersonation

Users will be immediately banned (with any associated accounts) for impersonating other boards users by creating or using a message board account with a name clearly intended to impersonate, mock, or antagonize another user, falsely claiming to be another message board member.

Harassment/Stalking/Privacy

Continual harassing behavior directed towards a certain individual or group with the intent of creating an intimidating, offensive, or hostile environment on the boards with the Personal Messaging (PM) system, with or without use of explicit or implicit threats is strictly prohibited. Posting private information without permission is also prohibited.

Unauthorized Access

Accessing or attempting any TV.com user account not belonging to the user in question without permission is prohibited. Accessing another user's account in this manner is grounds for immediate loss of all known accounts.

Bugs and Exploits

Using exploits or tricks in the TV.com code to gain privileges, access, or abilities not clearly intended by the board design is prohibited. Making exploits public or using them for personal benefit is grounds for immediate loss of all known accounts.

Usernames, Profiles, and Forms

Violating any of rules with a username, any part of the user profile (signature, quote, e-mail, IM), or by feedback forms (such as the Mark for Moderation function) is considered a severe violation. If a Moderator or Administrator finds your Signature inappropriate and asks you to remove it, it must be removed.

One rule I see violated often in this forum is posting copyrighted pictures. Posting pictures of Spongebob, whether you made it or not, is illegal.