[AusNOG] New list charter from the AusNOG Board

[Terry Manderson]

Hi All,

In recent months several threads and their associated posts on 
the AusNOG mailing list have resulted in some substantial discussion 
amongst the AusNOG directors. These discussions have covered a 
great number of topics and concerns from fostering active technical 
debate through to limiting liability to AusNOG Pty Ltd. The outcome of 
these discussions is the position that the Board needed to review 
the existing AusNOG mailing list charter and clarify several areas
by issuing an updated charter. 

The following List Charter is the amended version and will take 
effect immediately. I urge all subscribers to review the new charter 
and solidify, in you own minds, the expectations for AusNOG mailing 
list etiquette. If you have any concerns about this charter or find 
it objectionable feel free to email organisers at ausnog.net with your 
concerns.

Cheers
Terry
For the AusNOG Board

                            List charter:

  The AusNOG mailing list has been established to provide a forum for
  the exchange of technical information, the discussion of specific
  implementation issues that require cooperation among internet 
  infrastructure related service providers (eg ISP/ASP/DC etc), the 
  discussion of technically focused operational issues, and the discussion 
  of technical issues relating to provision of internet services and the 
  various infrastructure related services in the telecommunications 
  industry.

  This is NOT a forum for journalists to pick up leads, sales people to
  sell things, end-users to pester their ISP, or bush lawyers to posit 
  their beliefs. Such behaviour will not be tolerated (see "Moderation" 
  below).

  When you post to the AusNOG mailing list any posting made should be
  considered as solely being the views of the person making the posting
  unless explicitly stated otherwise. You must also remember that any
  posting made joins the public domain and is publicly archived, it is 
  unwise to include any information that would normally require an NDA 
  of any sort. The responsibility of this vests with the poster. 

  Note well that while technical matters relating to a commercial or 
  legal dispute MAY be in scope, details of a commercial or legal nature 
  are NOT permitted. This includes, but is not limited to, naming the 
  parties involved or including any details of the individuals employed 
  by or associated with the parties that are involved in the dispute.

  Professional respect:

  As a list subscriber, you are required to respect the opinion of
  others, even if you disagree with it. Healthy debate on a topic is
  good, however personal attacks, name and shame attempts, or flaming 
  will not be tolerated.

  It would be worthwhile for new list subscribers to become familiar
  with the posters on the list before jumping in. Some of the list
  members have spent many years in their field and are experts. 
  Their experience is a resource to be valued. Also remember that there 
  isn't always a direct correlation between the number of posts by a poster 
  and their expertise level.

  Remember that when you post mail to the AusNOG mailing list, your post
  will be received by hundreds, or even thousands, of your current and
  potential peers, customers, suppliers and employers. Think before
  posting - you don't want to look foolish in front of these people as
  these are the very people you may need to ask for a job, or a favour,
  one day. 

  We ask that list subscribers refrain from using derogatory language
  towards individuals, companies, or products.

  Posting:

  (a) Don't quote 50 lines of text and add one line to it. Quote what is
  necessary to maintain context, but don't overdo it;

  (b) Keep your signatures and disclaimers short. It's no fun seeing
  signatures that are longer than your posts;

  (c) Cross posting to multiple lists is discouraged;

  (d) Please don't post in HTML format - it tends to annoy people who
  read with text mode clients.

  Attachments:

  Please don't.

  Auto-responders:

  Please make sure that if you do use an auto-responder, it's configured
  to not auto-respond to list e-mail. If it does, your list membership
  will, in all probability, be suspended until it's fixed.

  Moderation:

  The AusNOG mailing list is reactively moderated - that is to say that
  posts will be delivered to members immediately, but if the moderators
  see the list being abused the abuser(s) will be asked to refrain from
  their activities. If the abuser(s) does not cease, their list
  subscription will be set to moderated mode, requiring all future posts
  to be moderator approved. Further inappropriate activity may result in
  the list member being removed. The AusNOG board reserve the right to 
  remove posts from the archive that do not follow this charter.

  If the board believes a thread does not follow this charter, the board
  may request that no more posts to the thread be sent. It is expected that
  all subscribers follow this direction.

  The moderation is an undertaking of the AusNOG Board of Directors.    
  Moderators may be appointed at the Board's choosing. AusNOG Pty Ltd and 
  its directors and associates accept no liability for the events, 
  ramifications, content, or intent of any posting made to the AusNOG
  mailing list, nor accept liability for the moderation of a poster, 
  removal of a post from archives, removal of posting privileges, or the 
  removal of subscription rights.