🚀 go-pugleaf

at the end of this post is the last charter for the co.* hierarchy.  I am
posting it here for all interested readers of co.* for discussion of changes
to reflect changes in the times, Colorado & Usenet in general.

Please post anything that you feel should be added, removed or altered for
discussion in co.config.

--------------------------------------------------------------
-------old but still in effect charter follows--------
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              Posting Rules for the co.* hierarchy

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.

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.

In the co.* hierarchy, commercial groups will generally be
moderated, but discussion groups will not.  Instead, they will
be _monitored_ by Newsgroup Hosts whose job it is to keep the
groups running smoothly and on topic.  Newsgroup Hosts have
authority to reprimand posters who violate the charter of a
newsgroup or the co.* hierarchy rules, and to place repeat
offenders on the co.* hierarchy Watch List.  But, until
further notice, all 3rd party cancellations will be handled by
the co.* hierarchy administration.

Readers and posters are expected to give their full support to
the Newsgroup Hosts 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. Here
are some of the more important do's and don'ts:

1. Do not post binaries, HTML, vcards, 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 for the sake of advertising, and do not post
Make Money Fast get-rich-quick schemes or chain letters.  It's
OK to tell people about your newsletter or your new website
where that is permitted by a newsgroup's charter, but be careful
not to overdo.  If you want to advertise your business or your
website on a regular basis, you should put that information in
a signature file and attach it to your posts.  A signature file
should be brief, no more than 4-6 lines.

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. If you insist on munging or faking your email address, be
careful not to create problems for other people.  One poster
thought he had a real cute address to give the address harvesters
- no@spam.com - until he was informed that the domain
"spam.com" belongs to Hormel Foods, and that any mail for "no"
was probably being sent to Hormel's servers.

11.  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.

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 obvious "spam" with a
Breidbart Index equal to or greater than 20.  The best way to
avoid such cancellations is to not post these types of articles and
to not "spam" in Usenet.

Except in emergency situations, third-party cancels will be issued
by the co.* hierarchy administration only after obtaining permission
from the original poster and/or his/her site administrator.  In an
emergency situation, as when a newsgroup is flooded with "spew,"
prior consent will not be sought.  In both cases, copies of the cancel
message will be sent to the poster and his site administrator so that
they will know the message was canceled by the co.* hierarchy.

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.

Newsgroup Hosts should not attempt to cancel any articles
themselves unless authorized to do so by the co.* hierarchy
administration.

Readers and posters to the co.* newsgroups should not attempt
to cancel any articles but their own.

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.math.uiuc.edu/~tskirvin/faqs/cancel.html.

Amendments:

These rules may not be amended by the co.* hierarchy maintainer
without full RFD discussion in co.config.  Any person directly
connected with the co.* hierarchy 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 Friday, May 28, 1999.