OpenSpace-Online® is an online method, which is based on the principles of "participation, responsibility, and respect" and promotes independent, responsible, and interest-oriented cooperation between people. Participants of OpenSpace-Online® conferences are in favor of respectful and dignified communication and expressly declare not to make any injurious, insulting, threatening, obscene, or racist remarks, or those that are disrespectful toward people and religions or are otherwise contrary to public morals or against basic democratic values and not to proliferate these types of addresses or links within the online conference. Participants agree NOT to misuse the conference for commercial advertising purposes. With this basic behaviour and the conscious acceptance of responsibility for one's own actions, each host and each participant have an effect on the overall result of an OpenSpace-Online® conference.

Please make your comments short and to the point. Less is more!

If you are referring to a particular comment of the session, please list the name of the author or the appropriate comment number.

Remember that persons from various regions, countries, and/or cultures may be participating. Therefore, do not assume prior knowledge based on your environment.

Treat all other participants as you yourself wish to be treated.

Typing errors can easily occur during fast writing. Be tolerant of "errors" and especially toward persons, who are participating in the conference in a language other than their native tongue.

Avoid in any case irony, sarcasm, allegation and provocation, and be careful with humor. Without the visual impressions of body language and the tone of voice, misunderstandings can easily occur. Make it clear to the readers if your statement contains a funny note. Simply attach a "smiley face". For example :-)

If you are hosting a discussion, try to conduct it objectively. A tip: turn criticism into subject-related questions. Critical questions that stay on the subject and are not directed toward persons can initiate very useful discussions.

Even with your criticism, remain polite and dignified. The ease and speed of online communication does not justify rudeness.

Be careful with sources, which you cannot provide in case of inquiry, and do not create expectations with the contents or impression of your article that you cannot fulfill.

Please do not misuse the conference for commercial advertising purposes.

Avoid unnecessary specialized terms and rare abbreviations.

Remember that all data and comments in the OpenSpace-Online® conference, including the Café-Area discussions, go into the conference documentation and will thus be available to all participants thereafter. Only the “one to one” talks in the Café-Area are an exception to this; these are deleted right after they are concluded.

The developers of the OpenSpace-Online® conference method have done everything that is technically and economically possible to provide the hosts and the participants of OpenSpace-Online® conferences with the most secure and protected space possible to carry out their autonomous cooperation. The following measures were carried out:

Anonymous participation in OpenSpace-Online® conferences is not provided. It is in the interest of each host to record the data of the participants during the sign on procedure. This is the only way that signed on persons can receive a personal User ID from the host.

In addition, each OpenSpace-Online® conference is encoded. The respective host defines a new Secret Code for each conference. This code is used for encoding the data transfer as well as for temporary securing of the documentation data by means of an extremely secure encoding procedure.

Participation in an OpenSpace-Online® conference is thus only possible by means of the transfer of the personal User ID an d the secret code by the host to the respective participants. Third parties do not have access either at the beginning of or during an ongoing conference.

Due to the methodology, it can be assumed that only those persons who have a personal interest in the greater subject of the conference and have also agreed to the code of values of OpenSpace-Online® and will comply with the OpenSpace-Online® Etiquette in their own interest will take part in OpenSpace-Online® conferences.

However, if one or more participants violate the Code of Values or the Etiquette, each host will have the opportunity to immediately prevent the further participation of individual persons or to even cancel the entire conference during an ongoing OpenSpace-Online® conference.