1. Equalities Policies

This page describes how the BGA complies with the EQUALITIES ACT 2010 and the DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION ACT.

The BGA does not discriminate on the grounds of gender, age, race, religion, sexual orientation or any other criterion except as specifically outlined below. Membership of the BGA is open to all, and all members are entitled to enter its tournaments (subject to, in some cases, achieving a given qualification level).

The BGA does not obtain or keep information concerning members’ colour, race, religion or sexual orientation. It does obtain and keep information about age (if under 18) and gender, but only for the purposes outlined below.

The BGA does discriminate in the areas outlined below. In all cases the BGA considers that such discrimination is permitted under the Equalities Act, and passes the “proportionality” test.

These guidelines refer only to events specifically organised by the BGA.

Educational Status

The BGA offers reduced membership rates for students – see the Membership Page [3]for details.

Age Discrimination

The BGA does discriminate on the basis of age in so far as it has reduced subscription rates for those under 18. It also runs some Junior (i.e. under 18) age-related events.

It is noted that the government Equalities Office have specifically included “intellectual games” in its list of activities where age discrimination is specifically permitted.

Religious Belief Discrimination

The BGA does not discriminate on the grounds of faith or religion. However, it may organise events at a date or time (for example on a Sunday or a Friday) when members of a particular faith may feel that taking part is incompatible with their faith.

British Championship Discrimination

The BGA organises the British Go Championship each year. The rules for qualification [4]are based on ability and nationality, but there is no discrimination on the basis of gender, age, race, religion or sexual orientation.

Gender Discrimination

The BGA is aware that women are significantly under-represented, both in terms of membership and participation, and believes that it should take proportionate steps to encourage female membership and participation. It does this by organising two types of event:

a) Women’s training days. These are training events specifically aimed at women. b) Pair Go Events. These are events which are open to teams of 2, who must be one male, one female (“Mixed Doubles”.)

It is noted that the BGA has not arranged a “women’s training day” in recent years.

Externally Influenced Discrimination

On occasion the BGA may be invited to send a representative to an event organised outside the UK where the Equalities Act does not apply, and where the qualification process involves discrimination. In such cases the BGA will consider each case on its merits before deciding whether or not to accept such an invitation. In general the BGA will accept such invitations where the discrimination is on the grounds of Gender, Age or Nationality, but not where the discrimination is on the grounds of Colour, Race or Religion.

Disability Discrimination Act

The BGA does not discriminate on the grounds of disability.

When the BGA runs events, these are generally held in public buildings and the BGA relies on the building owner to ensure that the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act are met. Some events are held in private buildings, but these are normally events held by invitation only where the BGA ensures that the individual needs of each participant are met.

At its events the BGA provides standard equipment (tables, chairs, boards, stones, clocks, etc.). Where a participant requires specialised (non-standard) equipment the participant is expected to supply this equipment. The use of such specialised or non-standard equipment will not be permitted if it puts the individual at an unreasonable advantage over his opponent (or puts the opponent at an unreasonable disadvantage).

Where the participant requires personal assistance – for example to aid mobility - the participant is expected to arrange this and the BGA will co-operate (for example the BGA will not make an extra charge for such “helpers”).

Case Study: A player with motor deficiency. A participant is physically unable to place stones on the board. One solution is for the Player to provide a specialised Board marked with Cartesian coordinates so that he can specify the location of his moves (“B3”, “K12”, etc.). The player is also responsible for providing an assistant who will place the stones on the Board for him, and for pressing the clock. In many cases the player’s opponent will be willing to undertake this task, but they are not forced to: for example, it is unreasonable to expect the opponent to do this when in overtime or byoyomi.

2. Financial Policies

2.1 Membership, tournament and administrative income and expenditure

Council will try to ensure that membership income covers the costs of providing member services plus the administrative costs of the association, and that tournament income covers the costs of supporting tournaments, proposing motions at the AGM when the measures necessary to do so exceed its powers.

2.2 Use of donation income and expenditure

Council will try to follow any indications given by donors as to the use of their donation. Where no indication has been given, Council may use such donations for any suitable purpose, but will prefer youth outreach, other outreach and player development in that order of priority.

Council deleted 14th July 2012: 2.3 Use of income from book and equipment sales
Council may use income from book and equipment sales for any appropriate purpose, but will prefer player development and then outreach in that order of priority.

2.4 Size of General Reserve

Council will usually try to maintain the general reserve at between twice and three times the number of members multiplied by the full UK subscription rate. Council may allow the amount to fall below the target range in order to underwrite or subsidise occasional one-off high-value events such as European championship events, but will not do so on a regular or unsustainable basis.

2.5 Expenditure on publicity

Publicity is highly important to the success of the BGA and Council will encourage and give financial support to it. Expenditure on publicity is a sub-category of outreach expenditure.

2.6 Expenses for BGA officials

Travel and administrative expenses incurred by Council members and committee chairs will be reimbursed on submission of an expense claim to the BGA Treasurer [5]. Large expenditures such as long journeys and substantial assets should be pre-authorised by the BGA Treasurer [5], but this is not necessary for small items.

Car mileage will be reimbursed at HM Revenue and Customs approved mileage allowance payment rate for miles in excess of 10,000 (in December 2009: 25p per mile). Note: any expenses incurred by the BGA Treasurer can only be reimbursed with the approval of the BGA President.

2.7 Expenses for volunteer Go teachers

Travel expenses for a volunteer to visit a club, society or educational facility to introduce Go should be recovered from the organisation receiving the visit or met by the volunteer doing the visit. However, Council may at its discretion allocate a small contingency budget annually to the BGA Youth Development Officer and/or the UK Go Challenge Organiser, which it will notify directly to them.

In exceptional circumstances the BGA will reimburse accommodation, meal and incidental expenses for volunteers undertaking teaching visits. These must be approved by the BGA Treasurer [5] in advance of the event and preferably by Council as a whole. See also 9.2 Dan Visits [6] and 9.3 Teaching Events [7].

2.8 Fees and honoraria

The BGA will not normally pay a fee or honorarium to any volunteer, nor will it contract out for a fee any service for which a willing and competent volunteer is available. In exceptional circumstances it may do so, provided these are approved in advance by Council. See also 9. Player Development [8].

2.9 Annual Accounts

The annual accounts are produced to a professional standard suitable for showing to donors, sponsors, potential sponsors, and other friendly organisations.

2.10 Annual Management Review

Council will review its financial management procedures annually on receipt of the draft annual accounts, including as a minimum all matters recommended by the BGA auditor for such review.

3. Working with Children and Young People

The following is copied from BGA Policy on Working with Children and Young People [9]. See this for more details, especially on Principles and Guidelines.

1. It is the responsibility of all members of the BGA to do their best to prevent the physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children and young people and to report any abuse, alleged or suspected.
2. The BGA will respond without delay to any complaints made that a child or young person, for whom the BGA or its members or officers are responsible, may have been harmed.
3. BGA members who provide Go teaching to children and young people in schools should comply with any request by the school to obtain a Disclosure or Enhanced Disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau.
4. Council is responsible for appointing a Child Protection Adviser [10] who:
   • advises Council on Child Protection Policy and its implementation;
   • advises members involved in youth Go activities; and
   • is available to members to discuss any situation of concern that may come to their notice.
5. The BGA requires an Enhanced Disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau for the Youth Development Officer [11], Child Protection Adviser [10] and Education Officer [12]. The Enhanced Disclosure must be not more than 5 years old. The BGA will obtain and/or renew such disclosures where they are needed.
6. Council will satisfy themselves as to the suitability of any person applying to take on the roles of Youth Development Officer [11], Child Protection Adviser [10] and Education Officer [12], through a process which as a minimum:
   • discusses any previous experience working with children and young people;
   • requests the volunteer to confirm that they have never been convicted of, or cautioned for, a sexual offence or other offence against children;
   • has the volunteer either show or complete an application for the Enhanced Disclosure required by the previous policy.
7. The organizers of BGA supported Go Tournaments and other events which are open to all adults and children are considered for the purposes of this policy not to have direct responsibility for the care and supervision of children participating in the event. They are therefore not required to seek Disclosure or Enhanced Disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau.

Another document gives the BGA's Policy and Procedures for checking criminal records [13].

4. Clubs

4.1 Affiliation

The BGA Council interprets clause 9 of the BGA Constitution:
9. Each affiliated club shall nominate a club member as club secretary. His duties shall include acting as club contact.
to mean that a club applying for affiliation must have as secretary someone who is (a) a BGA member and (b) prepared to have contact details published by the BGA. For school and youth Go clubs, however, see the next paragraph.

4.2 School & Youth Go Clubs

A school or youth Go club can be affiliated to the BGA either by virtue of any one club member being a BGA member, or by taking out a schools membership of the BGA. In either case, the nominated club contact may be any suitable person (e.g. parent or teacher), whether a BGA member or not.

4.3 Publicity for Clubs

Up to 50Kb of web space is available to each BGA affiliated Go club that desires it. If you want your club to have its own page, just send the BGA webmaster an email containing the text (in HTML if you can manage it) and any graphics.

If you're happy to work with Drupal then you can edit your own page. Please contact the webmaster for more details.

You can also be in control of the information that the BGA displays on the Club List and the associated page via a simple editing process.

School and Youth Go Clubs may apply for assistance with start-up costs, to a maximum of 50% of the actual costs. A package of information, literature and small board equipment is available free of charge.

4.4 Equipment to Assist with Start-up

The BGA has some 19x19 boards and stones (12 sets as of September 2011) available for lending to clubs to help get them off the ground until they can purchase their own. If you need to borrow some of these to help start a new club, please contact the Equipment Coordinator to arrange it. Please note that collection and return will be your responsibility (it will often be possible to collect and return them at tournaments).

5. Championships

5.1 Rules

The official version of the rules for the British Go Championship, the British Pair Go Championship and the British Youth Championships is the BGA Championships Rules [14] page.

5.2 Financial

The BGA underwrites the costs of running the above championship events, including prizes, using sponsorship money when possible. Entry fees will be set at a realistic level.

5.3 Overseas Events

The system of qualifying as BGA representative at various overseas championships is described in the BGA Championships Rules [15]. The BGA web site holds Lists of past BGA representatives at international tournaments [16], and describes the entry criteria for each international tournament to which we send representatives.

The BGA will not normally pay the expenses of those representing us overseas.

6. Tournaments

6.1 Championships

British Championship events are run according to the rules defined in the BGA Championships Rules [14] page (see section 5 above).

6.2 British Congress

The main event at the annual British Go Congress is the British Open Championship, which is run under the rules defined in the BGA Rules of Go.

7. Grading

For more information about the Rating System we operate see the Rating System FAQ [37].

Many BGA tournaments are run on the McMahon system, which tries to pair players of equal strength. This relies on players entering the tournament at a realistic grade so that fair games between players can be achieved. Many European tournaments are also run on the McMahon system, so again we would like to ensure that our players perform satisfactorily in European events. Consequently the aim of the BGA ratings policy is:

• keep British grades reasonably close to the European average
• help players get a fair draw at BGA McMahon events and
• help players perform on equal terms in European tournaments.

7.1 Rated Games

It is recognised that not all players are able to play in every tournament and some players' published ratings may lag excessively behind their actual playing strength. To address this issue, the BGA policy regarding which games count towards rating points is as follows:

• All BGA events which have time limits at or better than the EGF class C limits are submitted for ratings. The main exclusions are Pairgo, and Team events.
• Where isolated players cannot get to tournaments frequently enough, they can arrange 'rating games' of tournament standard against other BGA rated players to be played outside of BGA events.
• Affiliated clubs may also arrange 'club ladder events', which can be submitted for ratings.
• The BGA encourages travel to ensure that these 'extra games' do not lead to frequent pairings within isolated groups.
• The rules governing rated games played outside BGA tournaments are found in BGA Rated Games [38].

7.2 Tournament Entry Grade and Rating Resets

The policy is:

• If you play in a reasonable number of tournaments and are making average progress enter them at a grade equal to the strength listed on the current version of the BGA ratings page [39], rounded to the nearest whole number. This includes cases where the player's rounded strength is higher than his official grade.
• If you are 3kyu or below and play in many tournaments, and are making very rapid progress consider promoting 1 stone more than you would normally to get at least a 2 stone rating reset.
• If you can only get to tournaments infrequently and cannot arrange suitable rating games then contact your club secretary or ratings@britgo.org [40] to discuss an appropriate tournament entry grade when you do next attend.
• Strong kyu players can gain a rating reset to 1 dan or a 2 dan in extreme circumstance if this is agreed in advance with the BGA.
• A dan player must agree any rating reset in advance with the BGA.

7.3 Players with On-line Grades only

The BGA encourages on-line players to enter over-the-board tournaments. In order to establish a relation between on-line server grades and BGA strengths we will be setting up a system to collect information from players who play in tournaments as well as on-line. Until a meaningful correlation between server and BGA grades is established, the following guide will apply for an on-line player entering a BGA tournament for the very first time or after a long absence:

• For kyu players BGA grade is server grade - 2
• For dan players BGA grade is also server grade - 2, but the highest entry grade is 2d unless agreed ahead of time with the BGA.

7.4 Dan Certificates and Grades

The BGA monitors the progress of BGA members' ratings [39] and awards official dan certificates when specified targets have been reached. Official dan certificates are never revoked, even if a player's rating subsequently falls.

BGA dan certificates since November 2003 have been awarded based on the BGA ratings [39], which are in turn based on the European ratings [41]. You will be awarded an X dan certificate when:

• your strength [42] reaches X.0  at the end of a tournament you played in, except that for promotion to 7 dan your strength must reach 7.5 dan.

In addition:

• you must be a member of the BGA; and
• you must have played enough games in the ratings for your strength to be meaningful.
  More precisely, you must have had a run of tournaments during which you played ten or more rated games, where your rating (changed from strength by Council 26th February 2011) at the end of the run was at least as high as it was before the beginning of the run.
  Note that in some cases the European rating algorithm will reset your rating. If this happens, you must meet this condition between the rating reset and being awarded a dan certificate.

Players with official dan certificates are entitled to enter tournaments at that grade, but are encouraged to enter them at a grade equal to the strength listed on the current version of the BGA ratings page [39], rounded to the nearest whole number. Anyone wanting to enter tournaments outside the range from their official certificate grade to their rounded strength should seek approval from the BGA Council before doing so.

We respect grades assigned by foreign Go organisations to those resident abroad.

7.5 Monitoring

In the first instance tournament directors are encouraged to be proactive in ensuring that their players are entering at realistic grades. The results of all BGA tournament are scrutinised and submitted to the EGF by the BGA ratings official. If anomalous entry grades are present in the results, submission of games to the EGF rating system may be delayed and the following procedure adopted:

• The issue is first discussed with the tournament director, and if this does not resolve the problem, then:
• The anomaly is discussed in Council.
• Any decision taken by Council and the tournament director is communicated to both TD and player.
• In most cases the results published on the web will remain unaffected.

7.6 Complaints Procedure

It is very much hoped that players' entry grades are essentially self managed, and much information is provided to help players determine their entry grades. However, if any player wishes to complain about the published rating of either themselves or another player on the BGA rating list then the following procedure must be adopted:

• The player makes the complaint in writing to ratings@britgo.org [40].
• The complaint is discussed in Council.
• The Council decision is communicated to the player(s) involved as appropriate.

7.7 Calibration

In order to accommodate the varied ratings strategies in Europe, the BGA calibrates our strengths against the whole of the European database of players. This is achieved by means of a least squares fit (linear regression) of player's ratings versus grade. As at April 2010 this leads to the formula
strength=(rating−2038)/95.1
This means that a nominal shodan (rating 2100) has a strength of 1.7d rather than 1.0d. It is for this reason that rating resets in the dan grades have to be very carefully controlled. The BGA will continue to monitor the rating/grades relationship to identify any action on our calibration procedure that may be required in the future.

8. Outreach and Publicity

8.1 BGA Booklet & Poster

The BGA introductory booklet, describing the background and rules of Go, and the BGA poster can be given free of charge to anyone desiring them other than for selling on. However, where a society or institution requires a large number of copies of the booklet and is able to pay for them, payment should be accepted at a rate of 35p per copy. The BGA will, at its own expense (subject to available funds), maintain a supply of the booklet and the poster and provide them to anybody wishing to use them in these ways.

Note: These items available on the Promotional material [43] page. These may be freely downloaded, copied and distributed.

8.2 EGCC Starter Sets

Up to 50 EGCC starter sets (a carboard 9x9 board with printed cardboard stones, obtained from the European Go Cultural Centre) are available each year to assist schools starting Go clubs. They are allocated at the discretion of the BGA Youth Development Officer [11]. They are no longer given free for other purposes, other than in very exceptional circumstances at the discretion of the BGA Council.

8.3 Outreach Projects

The BGA intended to pursue further large outreach projects, following and developing the model of the 2002 Hampshire Go project, as part of the GoZone programme.

8.4 Presenters' Fees & Expenses

The BGA will pay professional fees for Go presentations to beginners by a suitably qualified presenter approved by Council, provided that this is part of a planned outreach project and that the funds to do so are obtained from sponsors who agree to it and/or from revenue generated by other BGA outreach events. Professional fees will not be paid out of BGA funds nor for occasional teaching. Travel expenses will be paid to Go teachers according to the policy stated in Expenses for volunteer Go teachers [44].

8.5 Media Relations

The BGA President [45] maintains a list of media contacts, informs them of events that may be of interest to them and invites them to suitable functions. Chess journalists sometimes give coverage to other mind sports and are one group (not the only one) whom we cultivate in this way.

8.6 Article Placements

Council encourages the publication of both news stories and informative articles about Go both in the national media and in all levels of local media. While the present Council does not have manpower to carry out publicity projects of these kinds, we will be happy to allocate finances to support suitable projects initiated by BGA members. Anyone willing to undertake such projects and requiring funds or other help is requested to discuss them first with the BGA President [45].

9. Player Development

9.1 General

Council intends to expand the amount of player development activity within the BGA, both in general and targeted to specific groups (for example, players of a given strength, women, youth ...). Financial and other help will be given to appropriate player development projects, and the same facilities are available for them as are given to tournaments (see 6.4 - 6.8 above). BGA members wanting to organise player development events or projects can contact the BGA Tournament Coordinator [23], the BGA National Trainer [46], the Chairman of the Player Development Committee [47], or any Council member.

9.2 Dan Visits

The BGA normally pays 50% of the travel expenses of dan players visiting clubs to teach, on the basis that the club is expected to pay the other 50%. These default terms may be varied when appropriate. Club secretaries wishing to organise such visits are requested to contact the Chairman of the Player Development Committee [47] in advance to discuss the arrangements.

9.3 Teaching Events

The BGA arranges a number of teaching events around the country. Participants are expected to make a contribution towards costs. Setting these costs will be the responsibility of the Chairman of the Player Development Committee, with benchmark fees for 2010 of ￡4 for a half-day, ￡7.50 for a full day. These rates will be doubled if the teacher is of professional strength. Any costs in excess of those contributed by the participants will be covered by the BGA. Clubs wishing to arrange such an event should contact the Chairman of the Player Development Committee [47] .

9.4 Teaching

The BGA encourages its members to teach, coach and mentor other players.

The BGA operates a formal process of obtaining feedback from students in order to ensure teaching quality.

*The BGA runs a system of “accrediting” teachers. Participation in the accreditation scheme is voluntary, but may be beneficial to teachers seeking, for example, external financing.

*Accredited teachers must meet the following requirements:-

• Be in receipt of positive feedback from students
• Read a briefing document on good ways to teach Go.

In addition teachers wishing to work with Young Persons must also

• Sign that they’ve read the BGA policy on Working with Children and Young People
• Be in receipt of a clear Criminal Records Bureau Check. When the Independent Safeguarding Authority becomes operational, this will be replaced by a requirement to be registered with the ISA.
• Such teachers will be accredited to teach players at least 4 stones weaker than themselves.

*Implementation of starred parts of the Policy is currently in progress and Members should check with the Council as to the current status of implementation.

The BGA is setting up a contract with an umbrella organisation to apply for CRB checks and registration with the ISA.

10. Cooperation with other Mind Sports Organisations

10.1 General

The BGA regards organisations supporting other Mind Sports as colleagues. We wish to continue cooperating with them in ways such as:

• reciprocal advertising
• sharing of venues and other resources
• sharing of know-how

The editors of BGA publications (the Journal, the Newsletter, the web site and all promotional publications) will try to reflect that position.

10.2 Comparison with Other Games

Articles expressing an individual's personal preference for Go in a responsible way are welcome, but Council will support the editors of the above publications whenever they decide to edit out expressions of snobbery in comparison to other mind sports, and jokes that may give offence.

10.3 MSO

Mind Sports Olympiads present significant opportunities for outreach and for developing friendship and cooperation with other mind sports organisations. Council intends to continue participating in Mind Sports Olympiads and cooperating with their organisers.

11. British Go Journal

11.1 Re-publication of Articles

If authors of articles published in the BGJ republish them on the internet, or authorise such republication, they are asked to include an acknowledgement of the original publication in the Journal.

11.2 Complimentary Copies for Authors

A free copy of the BGJ is sent to BGA non-members who contribute articles accepted for publication.

11.3 Style Guidelines

These are defined in the Guidelines & Style Rules for Contributions to the British Go Journal [48].

12. Website

The BGA considers that the purpose of a website is to convey information, rather than to show off the designer’s technical abilities.

Maintenance

The pages on this website are maintained by the Webmaster and his team.

The team endeavours to keep the information which they present up to date and as true as is possible, to the best of their knowledge.

However there is a large body of information here, and some of it may be mistaken. There are also no doubt numerous omissions of information which the webmaster has never received. If you notice any errors or omissions, please notify the webmaster, specifying the page which needs correcting. The team then will make the necessary changes.

If it ever happens that there is a dispute about the truth of a statement on these pages, the webmaster will refer this to the President and Council of the BGA, and will accept their decision.

These pages, particularly the ones giving product reviews, also express opinions. If you feel that an opinion on these pages is unfair, please write a page giving your own opinion, and either put it on your own website or send it to the webmaster to be hosted on the BGA site. The webmaster will place links to your page from the page with which you disagree.

Responsibility

The British Go Association is not responsible for the content of other websites, even if this site links to them.

Photographs in which individuals are identifiable should only be added to the site after the people pictured have been asked whether this is OK. We will not add identifiable photographs of of people under the age of 18 to this site.

Usage and Copyright

Our policies are:

• The BGA retains copyright for all items published on its site, except when copyright is retained by authors
• Links to items within this website are permitted without any notification
• Articles and photos may be reproduced for the purpose of promoting Go and not for profit, providing that the British Go Association website is attributed as the source, together with a link to the originating material, and the permission of the webmaster has been sought and obtained in writing in advance.

Other Aspects

More details on other aspects of the BGA web site are defined on the About the BGA Web Site [49] page.

13. Advertising

We accept advertising from commercial organisations as well as private individuals and non-profit organisations.

Advertising Rates

British Go Journal
Inside Black and White	Full Page	£100
	Half page	£55
	Quarter page	£30
Inside Page (Colour)	Full page	£150
Inside Cover (Colour)	Full page	£200
	Half page	£120
Back Cover (Colour)	Full page	£300
Series discounts	2+	10%
	4+	20%
BGA website (www.britgo.org)	Please contact the Advertising Manager [50] to discuss requirements

Advertising General Terms and Conditions

1. All bookings must be confirmed in writing.
2. The British Go Association (BGA) reserves the right to refuse, amend, withdraw or otherwise deal with Adverts submitted at their absolute discretion and without explanation. All Adverts must comply with the British Code of Advertising Practice.
3. The above rates are based on the Advertiser providing camera-ready copy.
4. Copy must conform to the BGA's requirements and the BGA reserves the right to charge for any additional work involved in amending the copy of the Advert to conform to its requirements.
5. The BGA will not be liable for any loss or damage consequential or otherwise occasioned by error, late publication or the failure of an advert to appear from any cause whatsoever.
6. The Advertiser's sole remedy if the BGA, or its third party subcontractors, make an error in displaying or printing any Advert is the cost of re-running the relevant Advert. Neither the BGA nor its subcontractors shall be liable for failure to display or print the Advert caused by circumstances outside their control.
7. The Advertiser will indemnify the BGA against any damage and/or loss and/or expense that the BGA may incur as a direct or indirect consequence of the Advertiser's advert.
8. Payments are to be made within 30 days of receipt of invoice to the BGA's Bank Account. The BGA reserves the right to charge the Advertiser any costs it incurs resulting from the Advertisers chosen method of payment.
9. Series discounts apply only to orders placed in advance and completed within the agreed period. The BGA reserves the right to surcharge in the event of a series of Adverts not being completed within that period. If the Advertiser cancels the balance of a contract to publish a series of Adverts it relinquishes any series discount and all Adverts will be paid for at the appropriate rate.

ONLINE ADVERTISING

10. If an Advert links to another site, the Advertiser is responsible for maintaining the link and for the content of the linked site. BGA may remove any Advert which contains content or links to a site which, in BGA's opinion, is defamatory or objectionable or will bring BGA into disrepute. The Advertiser will indemnify BGA from and against any claims or liability arising from links contained in an Advert.
11. If BGA receives complaints about the content of an Advert it may, at its discretion, remove the Advert from display without reference or liability to the Advertiser.
12. If payment is not received within 30 days the advert will be withdrawn from the website.

Our current Advertising Rates and Terms and Conditions are also downloadable here [51].

Contact the Advertising Manager [50] to discuss your requirements further.

31st December 2009

14. Data Protection and Publicity

Policy approved 22nd November 2009.

1. The BGA acknowledges that it is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998.
2. The BGA understands that it is exempt from registering with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
3. The BGA keeps details of names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and Go strengths on a computer database. This data is kept secure, is not divulged outside the BGA (except as required by law) and is only available on a need-to know basis.
4. The BGA may divulge your personal information to other members for the purpose of putting members in touch with each other, with the objective of forming new Go Clubs. If this takes place, our normal practice is that you will be informed.
5. Personal data is deleted:-
   • When a member specifically requests it or
   • Within 18 months of a member failing to renew their annual subscription.
6. The BGA runs email groups, and the list of email addresses is kept secure, is not divulged outside the BGA (except as required by law) and is only available on a need-to know basis. However, your email address will be visible to other members of the group if you make postings.
7. Tournaments: The BGA publishes the results of tournaments on the Internet, and by entering a tournament players agree to this. Some tournaments may publish a list of entrants in advance, but entrants should have the opportunity to opt out of this.

15. Miscellaneous

15.1 Foreign Go playing Groups

The BGA will provide official invitations to foreign Go-playing groups touring the UK only when they are

• doing so at the initiative of the BGA or
• primarily teaching or playing Go or
• attending a specific tournament or teaching event.

15.2 BGA Legal Status

In 2009 Council considered whether the legal status of the BGA should be altered (currently it is an unincorporated association). After considering a Paper on this topic [52] Council decided NOT to propose any change at this time, but would keep the position under review.