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Subject: 
Re: LUGNET Posting Policy Update
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.admin.terms
Date: 
Wed, 29 Dec 2004 17:22:02 GMT
Viewed: 
8465 times
  
Repost with updated formatting to avoid FTX display bug, ironically enough...

In lugnet.admin.terms, Marc Nelson, Jr. wrote:

  
   In lugnet.admin.terms, Larry Pieniazek wrote:
   This is a new administrative process, not new rules. I posted the examples in hopes that reasonable people would draw reasonable conclusions, not to spark rules lawyering.

If you have a specific complaint, make it to a member of the Transition Team, by email, and we’ll take under advisement and act accordingly.

You posted a list of examples that may or may not be grounds for a “timeout” - I think we should know what specific behaviors we should be avoiding. I wouldn’t want the absence of clear guidelines to have a chilling effect on LUGNET discussion.

Hello Marc,
The perceived absence of clear guidelines, and lack of consequences for poor behavior, have already had a chilling effect on LUGNET discussion. That’s what we’re trying to change.

To recap: below are some of the specific behaviors and actions that will earn a person a timeout:
  • Repeated abusive language or personal attacks, i.e. bringing more heat than light to a discussion... also known as attacking the person, not the position;

  • Deliberately prolonging a discussion without adding any new information or points of view, when there have been repeated calls that the discussion cease unless new information is brought forth;

  • Making disparaging remarks about the personal integrity of others merely to make a point;

  • Continued or excessive amounts of negative remarks about any person, company, or employees (including TLC) without bringing anything new to the discussion;

  • Excessive profanity (e.g. the “big seven” or anything you wouldn’t want a child to read);

  • Deliberately and egregiously posting off topic, for example spamming theme groups with marketing posts after being asked not to do so;

  • Other ToS violations.
As previously noted, this list is incomplete and will remain so. We have two options: One, try to define each and every potential infraction and a matching list of consequences; or two, provide enough examples that demonstrate the spirit of what we are trying to accomplish.

The first option is a fool’s game and I won’t play it - it’s not possible to list every variation on every “bad” thing that a person could do. If we tried, then the literalists will complain that what they did wasn’t specifically, word-for-word described in the Terms of Use/Terms of Service page, so they can’t possibly be punished for it. Nobody on the admin team has the time or inclination to play that game. We’ve put these additional guidelines into effect and will probably expand them as we get more experience with this process, but not radically so.

So we’ve gone the other route, and made the assumption that the people using LUGNET are intelligent enough and capable of following the spirit rather than the letter of the law. We’re happy to help interpret on a case-by-case basis, which will also help us tweak things as necessary.

Regarding the appropriateness of FTX being stated as an exclusion to the “no code” requirement: since FTX was created and implemented for LUGNET use, it’s clearly appropriate and does not conflict with the spirit or details of the Terms of Use Agreement. There are definitely some updates that need to happen to the agreement itself, perhaps including “except FTX” at some point, but like that example, they’re relatively minor.

I hope this clears up the specific questions and/or concerns you had regarding this posting guidelines update.

Regards,
Kelly J. McKiernan



Message is in Reply To:
  Re: LUGNET Posting Policy Update
 
(...) What part of the TOU is ambiguous? It says "It is a condition of your use of the discussion groups that you do not: (X)" - meaning that if you do X then you may not be allowed to use the discussion groups. Are there any other parts of the TOU (...) (19 years ago, 29-Dec-04, to lugnet.admin.terms, FTX)

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