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Proposed Revised Posting Rules for the co.* hierarchy 08/03/2002
If approved by consensus these rules will go into effect 8/18/2002


These newsgroup posting guidelines apply only to the co.* hierarchy, and
will remain in force until such time as a committee is formed to assume
responsibility for the day-to-day affairs of the hierarchy or they are
changed by consensus.


Introduction:

In Usenet tradition, there are generally only two kinds of newsgroups -
moderated and unmoderated.  The difference between the two is that anyone
can post just about anything they want to an unmoderated group, whereas
nobody can post anything to a moderated group without the approval of the
moderator.

Readers and posters are expected to give their full support to this charter
so that the co.* newsgroups don't turn into cesspools of inappropriate
crossposts and flamewars.  But first, they need to know some of the rules
that have been handed down by the original creators of the Usenet newsgroups
as well as some that have been added by the current users of the co.*
hierarchy. Here are some of the more important do's and don'ts:

1. Do not post binaries, HTML, v-cards, or other non-standard stuff in the
co.* hierarchy.  Usenet is a plain text medium, which was never intended to
be an extension of the World Wide Web. Instead of posting stuff from your
website to a newsgroup, post
a pointer telling people where to find your website, and what they can
expect to see.

2. Do not advertise in non ads groups.  If a group has "ads" as part of it's
name, it is ok to advertise in that group; likewise if a group does not have
"ads" in the title of the group, advertising is not permitted in that group.
Do not repost ads from others, allow the authors of an ad to decide on its
proper placement and do not post Make Money Fast get-rich-quick schemes or
chain letters.  Posting ads in non-ads groups will be considered a violation
of the co.* hierarchy charter and you will be reported to your ISP or
news-service and you will lose your account.


3. Do not crosspost to more than 5 groups, including the co.* group from
which you are posting, and be careful when crossposting to newsgroups in
other hierarchies.  Different hierarchies have different rules and, when you
crosspost to another hierarchy, your article is subject to those other
rules.

4. Check the newsgroups line before responding to an article. If more than
five groups are listed, delete the least appropriate group(s) until there
are only five left.  Adjust follow-ups as well, if that appears to be
necessary.  Then, at the top of your article, insert something like the
following note in brackets:

[newsgroups trimmed -- the co.* hierarchy has a 5G crosspost limit]

5. Do not post or crosspost to moderated groups unless you have read the
charter and understand the moderation rules.  An article sent to a moderated
group will not be posted anywhere until and unless it is approved by the
moderator of the moderated group.

6.  Do not quote an entire message just to respond to one point. It is
better to quote only the part you are responding to, and to cut everything
else from your response.  Also, be careful when making attributions as to
who made the statement you are responding to.  Most software will insert the
attribution lines for you, but you should always check to be sure they are
correct. Other people will be upset if you make a mistake and put words
in their mouth.

7.  Set your line width at no more than 75 characters.  This allows an
additional five spaces for the quote marks in follow-ups so that other
posters don't have to reformat your articles in order to send a readable
reply.

8. Do not SHOUT at people by posting in ALL CAPS, even if you are really
angry.  Use asterisks (*) or underlines (_) instead to emphasize words or
phrases. It is easier to read "I am really angry with you" than it is to
read "I AM REALLY ANGRY WITH
YOU."

9. Do not post articles in other people's names, not even in jest. Forgery
is taken quite seriously in Usenet, and you could lose your account.

10.  Do not post private email in the newsgroups without permission from
your correspondent.  When people see their email spread around, they tend to
quickly lose faith in the person who spread it. If by chance you _do_
accidentally post email to a newsgroup, be sure to apologize right away.



11. "Flood Attacks" or posting mass groups of messages pushes other posts
off of various news servers and amounts to a Denial of Service to other
messages in a group.  Violators will be reported to their ISP and/or
newsgroup/news-service provider.


12. Beware of heated conversations.  Sometimes they turn into flamewars,
which are often very hard to stop.  If you see a flamewar brewing, try not
to get involved.  If you find yourself in strong disagreement with another
poster, ask yourself if it is worth it to
respond.  If your response is likely to start or continue a flamewar, it
might be best to _not_ respond rather than add fuel to the fire. There is no
rule that says you must respond to every article.

Cancellation Policy:

Certain articles may be subject to cancellation, including but not limited
to: Make-Money-Fast chain letters and pyramid schemes; binaries in
non-binary groups; and advertising in groups not designated for advertising
with ".ads" as part of its' name and "flooding".  The best way to avoid such
cancellations is to not post these types of articles and to not "spam" in
Usenet.

Third-party cancels will be issued for blatant violations of the posting
guidelines found in the paragraph above.

If a poster or service provider feels a cancel was unfair, an appeal may be
posted for discussion in co.config.  The decision will be made by consensus
of the group in co.config, and apologies will be made to anyone who can show
that a cancel was unfair.

Suspected forgeries will be reported directly to the originating site.

Unauthorized use of registered domains will be reported directly to the
domain whose name is apparently being misused.

For further information on cancels, see Tim Skirvin's Cancel FAQ at:
http://www.killfile.org/faqs/cancel.html

Amendments:

These rules may not be amended without full RFD discussion in co.config.
Any person may post an RFD suggesting amendments to these rules.  The
procedure to be followed will be the same as for a newsgroup proposal -- two
weeks minimum discussion, possibly extended twice, and then (hopefully) a
decision will be made by consensus without the need for conducting any
votes. Once a hierarchy committee is formed, the committee is free to
propose and adopt its own posting rules.

Approved by consensus in co.config on   ?????????




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