/ THE RACESPOT TV FAIRNESS CHARTER

WE BELIEVE IN OFFERING EXCEPTIONAL BROADCAST AND LIVE SERVICES FOR A FAIR PRICE, DRIVEN BY INTEGRITY TO PARTNERS AROUND THE GLOBE.


UPDATE ON RUSSIA – UKRAINE CONFLICT: MARCH 2022

At RaceSpot TV and RaceSpot Live Events, we have a policy of not engaging in geo-politics and religion. We have directors, producers, commentators, participants and fans who watch our content from around the world, and we see ourselves as a truly global Esports broadcaster.

We recognise that the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine is one which has seen a number of sanctions and suspensions for Russia, including at time of writing removal from the SWIFT banking system, and the banning of participation in competition for Russian teams by FIFA and UEFA. We further recognise that within Esports there has been a number of actions taken towards teams who participate under the Russian flag, and a number of acts of solidarity towards Ukraine.

At RaceSpot TV and RaceSpot Live Events, we are against war. Period. We see no reason for the killing of any person, and we view all citizens of the world to be fundamentally equal, to be judged purely on their own individual contributions to society and the world. It is for this reason that we have a Fairness and Equality pledge, which applies to every individual whom works for us, with us, and as a third party. We do not believe in generalisations, and therefore feel it inappropriate to label every citizen of a country as ‘the same’.

With this in mind, we are saddened by the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and show solidarity towards all whom have lost their lives needlessly. We do not condone the killing or fleeing of innocent people, the destruction of property and communities, and certainly do not condone the actions of the Russian military, under orders from the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

We understand that there are many passionate Sim Racers both in Ukraine and Russia, and we welcome every Sim Racer onto track, and onto our broadcasts, so long as they abide by our fairness and equality policies. Sim Racing, along with other Esports provide an opportunity for people around the world to participate in events together virtually, and for many right now Esports is a way of escaping some of the domestic and international horrors that they may face. It is our belief that individuals should have the right to participate in our events regardless of nationality, and we will retain this stance until we are requested to change it by a simulation company with whom’s software we use.

Bearing in mind current developments, we have agreed to make the following changes to our broadcasts for the foreseeable future.

  • Where a driver’s country / club is directly identified being from the Russian Federation via a simulation company, we will not be showing a nation flag on our broadcasts. Note, this information is often provided by a driver based on their billing address for the simulation company to which they are subscribed, and this may mean that the data may be factually incorrect. We can not adjust geo-locations of drivers within our events where location data is directly used due to the way data is pulled from the API. As iRacing lists both the Ukraine and Russia as Central Eastern Europe, there would be no impact on the majority of our broadcasts.
  • We will not take on any new work from clients where there is a Sponsor / Partner who are a Russian company, or where funding from Russia is used to pay for services in any way. We also will not accept any new work where it is a requirement to show the Russian flag for any driver / team participating in the series. This way, we can be sure that any new clients are fully aware of our position on this matter, and recognise that our partnership needs to be one based on mutual understanding of issues which as a set of companies we hold to be true and dear. 
  • We will provide opportunities for clients to propose, host and broadcast events of a fundraising manner for those affected by the conflict, specifically to support civilians, and access to food, water, medical supplies and education. Broadcasts must have a clear fundraising goal in mind, and support a charity / Non Governmental Organisation whose work specifically serves these purposes. Within these broadcasts, RaceSpot will refrain from entering into political / overly emotive discussion, and only discuss facts and opportunities for people to donate to specifically identified charities / Non Governmental Organisations.
  • We will actively moderate chat and comments on our website, broadcasts, and where possible social media which is designed to inflame tensions relating to the conflict. We respect the right to free speech, however in line with our established policies, discussion around politics is banned from our broadcasts and associated content.

INTRODUCTION

It is very easy to take your money, and put on a broadcast that is at best, sub-standard. It leaves you with a sour taste in the mouth, and frankly, makes us look bad in more ways than one. As we keep an archive of all broadcasts on our YouTube channel, anyone can view any broadcast we’ve ever done. We tell our crew that a big shiny sponsor will often look at broadcasts outside of the ‘Blue chip’ events we produce, as this is where you see consistency in quality from event to event.

Each of the founders of RaceSpot TV and RaceSpot Live Events have been in situations where we’ve been forced to deal with broken promises, embarrassment, and being either forced to scramble to find replacement services at the last minute, or having to disappoint our own partners, drivers and sponsors at the last minute. Remembering those emotions makes us remember just how important our services are to others, and how much our services are relied upon to meet other needs and commitments beyond ‘another Sim Racing broadcast’.

With this in mind, we have chosen to be very clear in the way that we discuss, offer, and provide our services to you. Some of this may seem brash or controversial at points, but we do what we do with the best intentions. A good quality project requires people to work collaboratively, and whilst people may have different perspectives and viewpoints, every partnership and project must be rooted in mutual trust and equality.


Pre – Broadcast Agreement Pledges

We promise not to take on your series unless we feel that we can deliver it with the passion and quality it deserves. Some of these reasons pertain directly to us, and others relate more to the series you are asking us to broadcast. For example:

  • If your event is in a timezone that we cannot reasonably cover, we will be up front and say so. In some cases, we may in fact refer you to another broadcaster who is better placed to broadcast your series in the timezone you require.
  • If we already have multiple events on a given day / time slot, we will let you know in advance, and where possible, discuss alternative time-slot arrangements. Whilst we have multiple producers (And backup producers), we want to both ensure you have access to our best quality equipment, AND a broadcast window where as many eyeballs are on you, rather than elsewhere.
  • If there is a chance that your series / broadcast may be in contravention of any specific Sim Racing company terms of service, we will let you know., This can include the use of minors as participants in certain jurisdictions, as well as the use of any car company / racetrack / series name in your series branding. This can also include logos / images, and use of social media.
  • We have a firm rule of not providing broadcasts of less than 15 participants, unless for a charity / other unique event where there is a specific need to have less participants. Broadcasts with less than 15 participants often get boring very quickly in terms of production and broadcast, and not every race with a small field can be like the 2013 Freedom 100.
  • We don’t accept broadcast requests from minors. We have no security that Mom’s credit card won’t initiate a chargeback, and we know from experience that there is a level of maturity needed to run a Sim Racing event successfully. Whilst we can (And have) run events solely participated by minors, there needs to be a responsible adult to do all the paperwork.
  • We do check out every series online before we even think about writing a quote. We are not just a broadcast provider, but also a broadcast partner, and therefore we need to be certain that your series won’t bring us negative publicity. We stay out of politics and religion, but have a firm line against sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia. Politics and religion are banned from all our series; we just are not interested (And before someone mentions it, the ability to live free of persecution from how one lives is a human right, not a political / religious right!).
  • And finally, we always offer our professional advice as if it is our money. You can choose to ignore our advice, and ask us to continue, and we will then write it down and ask you to sign that we’ve provided our professional opinion if needed. We don’t like saying a point blank NO, but we’ve been doing this a long time, and know a thing or two about what may and may not work!

Confidentiality

We understand that there are some things that need to be discussed with us in a confidential manner. This can be as small as a new sponsor coming into a series, or as large as partnering to announce a new car, track, event or series. It could be working with a new client, driver or team, or simply wanting to respect the privacy of your client when negotiating a new series. At RaceSpot, we have worked with clients on both sides of the spectrum here, and everything in between.

We have a management structure in place that when it comes to confidentiality, only the people who need to know to plan an event will know, and in some cases, we can restrict this even further, so only named individuals will be told about the details of a plan. We respect the need for confidential negotiations, and are more than happy to sign company wide / individual NDAs with partners as is necessary. Likewise, we ask that you respect the confidentiality of our other clients, and note that there may be some things that we are not able to share with you due to data protection / confidentiality reasons. In these cases, no amount of money will get us to part with our principles; sorry!

Where there is a need to record communication via voice / video, this must be agreed upon BEFORE RECORDING, and no copies of this should be shared with third parties without explicit consent of ALL Parties. Likewise, all documentation shared from us to you should be treated as confidential, unless specifically stated. This includes broadcast agreements, contracts, and documentation to operationalise a series (Such as rulebooks, schedules, briefings etc).


Communicating With You / Your Representatives

Where possible, we will communicate with you in a format that works for you, though we prefer the use of the following where possible:

  • Email – All communications, both confidential and non confidential: It is the responsibility of the sending party to ensure data is transmitted securely where needed.
  • Discord – Voice / Video, Text Series level discussion: Non confidential information unless agreed..
  • Whatsapp – General communication: Non confidential / Time sensitive information unless agreed.
  • MS Teams – Voice / Video: Non confidential information (Due to multiple domain policies).
  • Zoom – Voice / Video: Non confidential information.
  • Teamspeak: Voice Communication only: Non confidential information unless agreed.
  • WeTransfer: Secure document transfer.
  • Dropbox: Secure document transfer (However links shared with third parties would not be secure).
  • Google Drive: Live, Dynamic data only. Non Secure and potentially open to third party viewing.

We ask that when communicating with us for the first time, you let us know which method of communication suits you best, and we will do our best to communicate. If we raise any objections, these will be purely from a data protection / protocol basis (For example having to install software which is not signed / tested / secure. In the event that other services are used for meetings, communications, or sending of data, it is the clients responsibility to ensure that communications are secure and in line with their and our data protection policies.


How we store and use your data, and that of those participating in your series.

We are a set of companies which operate worldwide, and we have to share information across nations. For this reason, we have to abide by a number of data protection laws, including those of the United Kingdom, The European Union, United States of America, and Brazil. In addition, we are also bound by the Terms, Conditions and Privacy Policies of the simulation software that we use to broadcast our events.

We use Google Email as our default email communication platform. Therefore, all emails are stored in accordance with Gmails’ Terms, Conditions, and Privacy Policies. We use Dropbox for storing the majority of files related to our broadcasts, including files containing quotations, driver information, series information and any other relevant assets needed to operationalise a broadcast, series, or event. The data we store on Dropbox is stored in accordance with Dropbox’s Terms, Conditions, and Privacy Policies. We have a system in place to ensure that only those who require access to data is granted access. This falls into the following categories:

  • Quotation, agreement and confidential information is only accessible to RaceSpot TV and RaceSpot Live Event directors. No other member of RaceSpot TV / RaceSpot Live Events have access to this data via the form of user permissions.
  • Broadcast related data is shared with all producers, and pertains only to information required to operationalise a broadcast, series or event. This is as a number of producers need access to this data to operationalise broadcasts, and is necessary in case of a need of a producer replacement at short notice. No confidential data is stored in this area, and data provided is time sensitive to make it relevant and accurate.
  • A surmised version of information pertaining to a series is provided to commentators on a need to know basis, via the form of a commentator’s briefing. This information is provided only to enhance the quality of the broadcast, and will only contain confidential information if specifically needed for the broadcast in hand (Giveaway, sponsorship etc).
  • All of our broadcasts are made to the public, unless requested otherwise by the client. Unless taken down for operational reasons, these broadcasts will remain on line in perpetuity. There will not be any changes to these broadcasts after production, and it is assumed that those participating in the broadcast have provided deemed consent by registering for the event. In these instances, participants are also bound by the Terms, Conditions and Privacy Policies of the simulation software that we use to broadcast our events.
  • On occasion, we may share social media information within our broadcast. In these cases, we use such information under ‘Fair Use’ policies as outlined within said social media companies Terms, Conditions and Privacy Policies.

Our team conduct their own research for series, where possible using publicly available data, or by communicating directly with teams, drivers, or series organisers. Whilst every effort is made to ensure this research is valid, correct and up to date, we take no responsibility for error when using data from reputable sources. We will however amend any information upon being made aware of an error by a driver, team or series organiser, or a reputable third party.

In the event that we no longer with a client, we will store data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), with the key principle being that we will delete data when it is no longer necessary for us to possess it. Note that this may vary for different types of data. We will delete confidential driver data as soon as possible following an event, where we know that there is unlikely to be a follow up series where the data will be used in the same capacity. Meanwhile, contract and quotation data will be stored for up to 36 months after the conclusion of a broadcast, series or event, for legal purposes, and to enable us to better respond to other forms of requests from the same client. Our broadcasts will remain online in perpetuity, and we reserve the right to archive replay files and footage for use in additional assets as we see fit (Though we may choose to remove the identities of participants in our footage).

Finally: WE DO NOT SELL / SHARE YOUR DATA WITH ANYONE OUTSIDE OF RACESPOT TV / RACESPOT LIVE EVENTS. Period. We will process any data provided to us to operationalise your broadcast, series, event with care and respect, and will not make it available to any third party. To this end, any requests for information, statistics etc must be from the series / broadcast / event clients directly; we will not entertain requests by a third party.


Fairness and Equality.

As previously mentioned, we have a firm line against sexism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia. In addition, Politics and religion are banned from all our series. RaceSpot TV and RaceSpot Live Events will do all in their power to ensure that those contracted / employed by either company are aware of this policy, and do not publicly / semi-privately (For example, on a private Discord hosted by RaceSpot) air views or demonstrate behaviours which go against the above. In addition, we will refuse to work with individuals whom have demonstrated such behaviour in a public channel, especially where they have not attempted to distance themselves from their past behaviours. Any contracted / employed member of RaceSpot TV / Racespot Live events demonstrating any behaviours / views contrary to the above may be removed from broadcasting / directing positions, and / or have any contract, partnership or employment cancelled by the respective company, in line with local laws for employment.

We are a pro-disability broadcaster, and recognise that everyone has the right to be seen how they are, and understand that some people have specific physical and non physical needs when working with us. We will try to support them both on online and live event broadcasts to the best of our abilities, which includes providing providing talent with time off from broadcasts / events if they need for any physical / non physical reason, including if this occurs in the middle of a broadcast / event. RaceSpot TV and RaceSpot Live Events will serve to protect the physical and non physical needs of all their contractors and employees, and will push to ensure that any needs to participate in online or live events are met.

We do not object to drivers / individuals related to the series mentioning the name of god, or other religious personas they believe in. We ask however that this is done in the context of conversation, and interviews / other segments are not used to promote a religion to others. We respectfully decline to broadcast any prayer on our broadcasts, and ask that if this is to be included in a series, this is conducted in a manner that does not interfere with the broadcast. For example, some series provide invocations or messages of prayer on a shared TeamSpeak / Discord server alongside other briefings that will not appear on a broadcast.

We will not tolerate any abuse to any religion, nationality, denomination, sect, or creed, and do not tolerate any language used that may offend someone / a group based on their race, gender, sexuality, or other firmly held beliefs. In the event that this appears in our broadcasts (For example during an interview), we will cancel that interview at the earliest possible opportunity. Whilst we have no right to exclude any driver from a series, we will discuss any incidents with our contacts, and may request that said driver / individual does not appear in future segments until such a time when we can be certain that there will not be a repeat of such an incident. If there is something on a car livery which has the potential to offend / contravene these policies, we will either aim to avoid showing the car at offending angles, or remove the paint from our repository, and re-load paints as soon as practically possible.

We understand that some things may be outside of the control of a series administrator / partner, and therefore we will always aim to use discretion, calm and reason. We will, where possible provide professional advice to all partners to help them identify and reduce the potential of contraventions to these policies without their direct knowledge. An example of this is our commitment not to use Trading Paints for iRacing broadcast, and instead provide our own service, as well as offering partners the option to pre-approve paint liveries, to avoid any logos appearing on cars without their / our knowledge.


Some Of The People We’ve Worked With