IC stands for in character, OOC for out of character. If something is IC, then it happened in the virtual game world, if something is OOC, then it did not.

1. All game forums except for the party war rooms, as well as PMs, are presumptively IC. That means that everything posted will be assumed to be IC unless marked OOC. The war rooms, announcements, GD, and any off-board communications are OOC unless everyone involved in that communication agrees for it to be IC.
2. All secret forums (cabinet, regional HQs, negotiations, PAC HQs, etc.) as well as Lake Woebegone are "IC but non-public." What this means is that everything that happens in those areas happened IC, but is not known to the general public. This does not necessarily mean that these happenings will stay secret. If what you are doing in Lake Woebegone is happening in a public setting or if there is a leak, then the public can find out.
3. When players use methods of communication considered OOC (usually AIM or posts marked with an OOC tag) to discuss an IC action (and the consequences, benefits, risks, and other considerations of that action), said players are no longer speaking out-of-character. Thus, discussion of IC events using the OOC tag should be limited to questions of rules and game mechanics, or purely personal OOC comments and the IC consequences and wisdom of IC actions you may wish to take should be discussed IC-ly. Any questions or orders regarding potential IC actions given in an OOC method of communication (except for those about rules or game mechanics) will either be ignored or assumed to be IC.
4. Obviously, it is still physically possible to discuss IC matters using OOC means that the staff will never find out about. We have no intention of attempting to become Big Brother (and no ability to successfully to do so, even if we wanted to). However, actions taken with minimal IC discussion may be negatively affected. Without knowing the spirit and purpose of the action, the bureaucrats in charge of implementing will be less efficient. They may think of this as a random, out-of-the-blue action your characters took purely on a whim, and place a low priority on implementing it. For certain actions, they may even tell the press about the minimal discussion involved and make that an issue or you may get a significant amount of bureaucratic pushback.