<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><br></div>Good morning all,<div><br></div><div>The AusNOG mailing list is a valuable tool for the operator community. While the content is intended to be purely of an operational nature, there is often value in the conversations that emerge relating to those operational issues. Sometimes however the conversations do stray off topic.<br><br>The charter of the list gives clear guidelines as to what content should be posted to the list and also on how the list is moderated. We feel that in general it works reasonably well. However, a more stringent enforcement of the list charter may help reduce some of the off-topic messages that have been the cause of much debate over the last week.<br><br>In future, the members of the AusNOG Board will reactively monitor the content of the discussions with an aim of keeping discussions that are totally off-topic to a minimum. If a board member feels a thread is in breach of the list charter it will require the support of a second board member before action is taken. If it is agreed that the discussion should cease, an email will be sent with an altered subject line as illustrated below :<br><br><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Subject: *STOP THREAD* some original thread subject line<br><br>We request that once a STOP THREAD email is sent to the list that those participating in the discussion move any further emails on the subject off-list.<br><br>The board members are all volunteers so we may not always catch an off-topic discussion in a timely fashion. If you feel that a thread is totally off-topic feel free to send an email to <br><br><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span><a href="mailto:moderator@ausnog.net">moderator@ausnog.net</a><br><br>If 2 board members agree with you then a STOP THREAD email will be sent.<br><br>We feel that this approach will address the concerns that have been raised by some of the members of the list without negatively impacting on the operation of a list that has been of great value for several years. We look forward to your cooperation.<br><br><br>Thanks<br><br>David on behalf of the AusNOG Board<br>…<br></div></body></html>