I thought now would be a good time to post these Guidelines. They are the server
guidelines and we all must follow them in order to keep out home here on
Annexcafe. Please note and place special importance on number 1!
Over the the next little while, we will be developing posting guidelines for
this group as well. Both lists will be posted on a regular basis to keep
everything running smoothly *s*
K.Dee :)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANNEXCAFE Guidelines Listed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1- Have fun.
2- No flames.
3- No bigotry.
4- Obey chat rules posted on motd as you enter chat
5- No host baiting.
6- No pornography.
7- No rated material in family areas.
8- Label rated material in borderline areas.
9- No meat market behaviour.
10- Label potential "Puter Lockers".
11- Label spoilers and allow spoiler space.
12- No warez sites.
13- No server attacks.
14- No spamming. No automated posters.
15- No advertising.
16- No impersonations.
17- No illegal activities.
18- This server is private property; "free speech" does
not apply.
19- Most newsgroups and chatrooms are autonomous; moderators' word
is final.
20- No mailing lists. No automated mailers.
21- No hacking or stealing of data.
22- Courtesy and mutual respect are the rules of the day.
23- Do not troll or deliberately disrupt chats or newsgroups.
24- Try to remember to trim tails.
25- Do not use crude, obscene or derogatory language or
inappropriate nicks.
26- No threats.
27- No "jokes" that scare or upset others.
28- Credit and provide links for sources, Copyrighted materials
may be used ONLY with appropriate permissions.
29- Do not displace posts without the permission of the original
author
30- Obey restrictions concerning minors
31- No cyberstalking
32- Don't use one AnnexCafe community to criticize another
AnnexCafe community
33- Guidelines vs. Rules
32- Contacts are NewsAdmin@annexcafe.com,
Administrator@Annexcafe.com,
or you can go to the main web page at
news://news.annexcafe.com/annexcafe and fill out the feedback form.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANNEX CAFE Guidelines Expanded
(Revised June 2005)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 - Have fun.
Annexcafe is here for people to have fun.
The rules are to protect your enjoyment of our services, not to
spoil sport.
Most are common sense and courtesy. Individual areas will provide
FAQS if their rules differ from these.
2 - No flames.
We want the online experience to be fun for all, not just an elite
few.
Debate is great; but keep your discussion to the topic, not your
fellow chatters and posters.
3 - No bigotry.
Prejudice of any kind has no place on our boards, nor in our
chats.
Chatters and posters may not be excluded based on gender, race,
religion, sexual orientation or national origin
4 - Obey chat rules
No nuking, flooding, war scripts, viruses, trojans, cloning,
commercial advertising.
No pirating to other servers or posting server ads without
permission from administration.
No harassment, cyber-stalking, pornography or child pornography
whatsoever.
Lurking (on server and not chatting in chat room) is discouraged;
once you join the chat server, we request that you try to find
a room and participate in the chat.
If you must be briefly AFK, it is a courtesy to others to mark
yourself "Away".
Long term sleepers may be disconnected from the server.
Bots: All Non server bots must be APPROVED by the Administrator of
AnnexCafe.
Failure to do so will get the bot an instant Z-LINE.
Need help? Type /helpop and your message or you may e-mail to
Administrator@annexcafe.com
You may check for Sysops online by typing /Admin, and then talk
privately with one by typing /query and the Sysop's name.
We have recently added a HelpDesk; it is not yet staffed 24/7, but
that is our eventual goal.
5 - No host baiting.
Hosts, moderators, and other staff are people too.
We volunteer our time and effort to make all Annexcafe a great
place to hang out, but we want to have fun too.
No one likes to be a target.
6 - No pornography.
Like prejudice, pornography has no place here.
We are not passing judgment, but there are plenty of places to
find it.
We have "rated" areas where we encourage artistic nudity
and eroticism, but please do not confuse pornography with art.
Administration will not override the decision of a moderator who
pulls a post
that he or she considers too risqué for his or her ng.
No "crotch shots", please.
7 - No rated material in family areas.
Most of Annexcafe is family oriented. Please keep rated material
in rated areas.
8 - Label rated material in borderline areas.
Many boards are specifically labelled rated or the adult nature of
the board is implicit in its name.
On these no further labelling of posts is needed.
Several other boards obviously deal with potentially adult themes,
but we ask you to label risqué material so that people may
choose whether or not to open it.
9 - No meat market behaviour.
Many rooms encourage meeting of like minded people, but we do not
run "meat markets".
No posting or trading of nude or erotic self pics. No cyber sex
on boards or in chats.
10 - Label potential "Puter Lockers".
Some computers still lock up when exposed to various graphics or
sound displays.
If your post uses a script or enclosure that has been known to
lock people, please label it in the subject header.
This is not an indictment or condemnation of the program. It is a
courtesy.
So even if you think the complaint erroneous, be nice--- label.
11 - Label spoilers and allow spoiler space.
Please label spoilers and give spoiler space. Many people now
tape shows to watch at their convenience.
Furthermore, in many countries movies and televised shows may air
months later than in their countries of origin.
Let people choose if they wish to "snoop" the ending.
The same goes for books and movies.
Reviews are great, but don't give away the juicy stuff.
Again, if you wish to discuss the ending, just warn and then leave
spoiler space.
12 - No warez sites.
They are illegal. Do not post links to sites that illegally
distribute licensed programs.
13 - No server attacks.
No posting of Trojans, virii, worms or otherwise harmful
material.
Annexcafe is our home and the server owner has been extremely
generous to us.
Let's protect and care for it as we would our own homes.
14 - No spamming. No automated posters.
Spamming is not permitted.
While you may do limited cross posting, posted messages must apply
to the topic of the board,
and people cross posting are responsible to label the crossed
threads and then to uncross threads
as they diverge on different boards.
If a particular ng forbids crossposting altogether, it may not be
crossed to that board.
No pyramids, get rich quick schemes, chain letters, or "dying
child" pleas.
If you think a post, such as a virus warning, has merit for
server-wide posting,
please contact the administrator at newsadmin@annexcafe.com
for permission.
It is also a good idea to check such claims at a
"debunker" site, such as http://www.snopes2.com/index.html.
Please note that Annexcafe charges Sysop Service rates of
$120/Sysop Hour (or $1/message/newsgroup) for Spam cleanup.
We do bill; we do follow-up with credit reporting agencies and
federal and local anti-spam regulatory agencies.
We do notify the spammer's ISP and file an official
complaint.
When spam is advertising a commercial company, the company is
notified of the activities of its agent
and billed for the abuse
15 - No advertising.
Annexcafe is a non-commercial site.
You may not use our boards or chats to advertise products or
sites.
You may not use any automated posters anywhere in Annexcafe.
You may use a URL and/or email address as part of your sig.
You may submit suggestions for webrings and mutual links to the
newsadmin for consideration.
Community members may offer an occasional item for sale or trade
on an individual basis,
where that item would reasonably interest the specific
population of a given board.
Annexcafe takes no responsibility for such transactions.
You may post non-commercial URLs appropriate to a topic under
discussion as references for further information
on that topic on specific boards dedicated to site
recommendation.
You may not post ads that attempt to "pirate" the
members of a community or chat.
You may not enter and leave a chat or newsgroup for the purpose of
announcing a different chat or newsgroup,
nor may you lurk in a chat or newsgroup and attempt to move
visitors to another chat, newsgroup or server.
We have a newsgroup: Annexcafe.FavoriteSites, where you may post
sites that you have enjoyed
and which may interest others.
The exception to this rule is
news://news.annexcafe.com/annexcafe.chamber.of.commerce.
For the convenience of our members, we have provided this
group
where you MAY advertise your own business concerns.
These ads must keep in mind the family nature of the server
(no porn, no drugs or "enhancers").
They may not promote anything illegal (no ponzi schemes or
warez sites).
They must be legitimate businesses
(No "African princesses" offering investment
opportunities or "Be your own boss. Get rich working from home"
ploys.)
You may not promote any company or scheme that is for the
purpose of collecting or distributing customer mailing lists.
You may not send our members to sites where they will be
caught into a series of pop-ups.
You may not sell any form of automatic spammer!!!
Ads not in accordance will be deleted.
You may have one ad per person per business at a time and replace
them when they scroll off.
There is no charge for this service.
16 - No impersonations.
No impersonations of chat or newsgroup staff is permitted,
nor may you deliberately attempt to pass yourself off as another
user.
Nicks such as: Annexcafe, Sysop, Manager, Webmaster, Moderator,
Host, Guide and _SFF are reserved for staff.
Posts by non-staff using them or close facsimiles of them will be
removed,
and chatters with those appellations will be required to
change them.
While you may be fully entitled to them elsewhere, use of them at
Annexcafe can be misleading to users here
who may interpret them as meaning you are an Annexcafe
server staff, officials or administration.
17- No illegal activities.
The server is located in California, USA, and those are the laws
we apply.
18 - This server is private property; "free speech" does not apply.
The server is privately owned and we are non-paying guests.
While we wish to encourage you to express yourselves, your
"rights" end where the other peoples' rights begin.
"Free Speech" does not apply here anymore that it does
in a private home.
If the rules of a particular room or board don't suit you, find
another. There are plenty.
Gregory Gooden owns this server. His word is final.
19 - Most newsgroups and chatrooms are autonomous;owners & moderators have
final say.
Most areas of Annexcafe are autonomous.
This means that while Administration and/or Sysops may assist you
on mediating an issue,
the chat host or board moderator has the final say as long as
server standards are observed.
If you feel you have been treated in violation of the posted rules
and standards or that a chat or newsgroup
is operating in violation, please contact either
Administrator@Annexcafe.com
We will be happy to assist you.
20 - No mailing lists. No automated mailers.
Since email addies are often displayed with one's posts, it can be
tempting to build a mailing list.
Please confine any such lists to your friends-- people you KNOW
want to hear from you.
If you mail to several people who are not all known to each
other,
it is a courtesy to use the bcc feature so you are not making
a present of everyone's addy to the world at large.
21 - No hacking or stealing of data.
You are not permitted to attempt to access any of our chat or
server tools, nor staff or user accounts.
You may not solicit information from other members to sell,
distribute,
or attempt unauthorized access to other accounts or computers.
Material posted by our members on Annexcafe boards are not to be
posted elsewhere,
nor may our members "snag" material from other
servers and post it at Annexcafe,
unless permission is obtained, credit is given and a link
posted with that material
that refers the viewer back to the original site posted.
22-Courtesy and mutual respect are the rules of the day.
Treat the staff and other members of the community with courtesy
and respect.
Expect to receive courtesy and respect in return.
23 - Do not troll or deliberately disrupt chats.
Do not disrupt chats or troll boards.
Trolling is posting deliberately inflammatory material intended to
upset people. This is board specific.
What is acceptable in one area may be trolling in another.
Do not enter newsgroups or chats to proselytize or convert
members.
No Annexcafe group is exclusionary, but if you are not a part of
the community a chat or board represents,
be there to listen and learn, not to expound your own opinions
or challenge those of the community.
24 - Trim tails.
While this is a "Guideline" rather than a rigid rule, it
is a courtesy to remove "tails" from posts.
There are still people on dial-up and those who pay for service
according to download time.
Even for those who have free fast connections would generally
prefer not to open a 600Kb post to read "Very pretty".
Just leave enough so people reading your post do not need to
scroll back to find out what you are talking about.
It is also best to have your newsreader set to "reply in
plain text".
ALSO, be aware that if an original post is deemed inappropriate
and deleted by an owner or moderator,
any post containing that same material as part of a
"tail" will have to be deleted as well.
25 - Do not use crude, obscene or derogatory language or inappropriate nicks.
While hosts have been requested not to be language
"Nazis", we ask you to keep in mind the family nature of this server.
We overlook occasional slip-ups, but please avoid regular use of
obscenity in chats, & posts.
Do not use obscene, suggestive, bigoted or misleading nicks.
The intent is to be courteous, so if members of a chat or board
find language offensive,
we ask you to accommodate their feelings.
The words themselves are not the issue.
If a host asks you to tone it down, it is not a personal affront,
nor does it imply you are wicked, evil, etc.
For wavs and such used in chats, we ask that the names be
innocuous.
Content there does not matter since a person will presumably
not keep a wave he or she finds offensive,
thus it will not play to him or her.
Wavs used on newsgroups need to be in accordance with the nature
of the newsgroup, since they open automatically,
and the funniest of them may be less amusing when accidentally
opened in the presence of your toddler
who then proceeds to demonstrate her new knowledge at your
next family holiday gathering.
As with graphics and jokes, when in doubt, label.
26 - No threats.
Threats against staff, the server, or other members of the
community will not be tolerated.
Do not issue threats , then expect to pass it all off as a joke.
It will not be treated as amusing.
27 - No "jokes" that scare or upset others.
No jokes that inherently might be expected to scare or upset
others.
What is obviously a joke to you may not be to others.
Many newbies have been scared away from chats by jokes about
infecting them with viruses
or reformatting their hard drives.
28 - Credit and provide links for sources.
Copyright laws are enforced at Annexcafe.
Get permission before posting copyrighted material.
Copies of permissions are to be forwarded to the moderator of the
newsgroup where CR material is used
and to the news administrator for permanent files.
If you use someone else's art, music, or writing, credit the
creator and
refer viewers to the site where you found your material. That
way there is mutual benefit to all.
Respect copyrights; it is the artist's, musician's and author's
right to determine the use of his or her work,
and they may limit or revoke their consents.
If you do not agree with the artist's TOS, don't use his
work.
Please be aware that someone posting material to his or her
personal website is
no guarantee that he or she is authorized to share it.
Annexcafe only checks material posted to our own server.
It would be impossible and inappropriate for us to attempt to
police every site that associates with us.
Please check you own sources.
If you have purchased graphics CDs or the like, intended for
internet usage,
you may use that material in accordance with its own TOU as long
as you credit your sources,
but you may not redistribute the original material
unless it is specifically allowed by the TOU..
You may post pictures you have taken which incidentally include
logos or licensed material
(ie, a picture of yourself at Disneyland, even if Mickey
shows on a sign),
but you may not post pictures that are obviously taken as a
way to utilize a copyrighted logo.
You may post pictures you have taken of craftwork you have
completed using purchased kits or patterns.
Questionable posts will be removed. Decision of the Administrator
is final.
Please note that this applies ONLY to materials posted on
Annexcafe servers, web pages and/or
email using Annexcafe addresses.
Annexcafe has NO jurisdiction nor authority over what its members
do with personal email
or on Non-Annexcafe sites, nor are we responsible for material
on sites that may post links to us or use common webrings.
29 - Do not displace posts without the permission of the original author
Taking someone's post from an Annexcafe community and posting it
elsewhere
without the original poster's permission is inappropriate.
You may use sigtags and such which have been created for you
as long as you do not offer them up for request.
If someone likes what they see, refer them to the original
ng, so the author may enjoy the feedback.
Don't take an AnnexCafe poster's post and post in another
AnnexCafe newsgroup, Usenet or on an e-mail list-serv
unless the original poster has given you permission to do
so.
Taking someone else's posts and using them outside of the Annexcafe
newsgroups without their express permission
is a violation of that participant's privacy.
While anybody with a newsreader can read and post here, our boards
are Annexcafe; they are not part of the Usenet hierarchy.
Posting to an AnnexCafe newsgroup is not "implied
consent" to publication on Usenet.
Posts to Annexcafe ngs, while they remain the property of their
original authors,
fall under the protection of Annexcafe's blanket copyright.
(See footnote at http://www.annexcafe.com/channels.cfm).
30 - Don't use one AnnexCafe community to criticize another AnnexCafe community
It's not appropriate to use the one AnnexCafe community to
criticize other AnnexCafe communities.
If you have something critical to say about a community, its
moderator or members, post it in that community
or, better yet, e-mail the moderator and/or the newsgroup
administrator.
If a person is banned from a chat, newsgroup or the server, he or
she is not to be discussed by name in his or her absence.
It is best not to criticize any other newsgroups, whether they are
Annexcafe or off-server.
Let's treat others as we wish to be treated. There is plenty of
room on the internet for all of us.
31 - Specific restrictions apply to minors using Annexcafe
Kids, 17 years and under, are strictly forbidden to give out any
personal information
(date of birth, real name, city, street, descriptions,
pictures, schools, teams, email address, personal web URL,
or any such I may have forgotten to mention) without express
and specific permission
on a CASE by CASE basis from a parent or guardian.
They may not participate in adult chats or rated ngs.
Adults are not to request this sort of information from them nor
encourage them in inappropriate behaviour.
32 - No "Cyber Stalking"
Do not follow people server to server, chat to chat, or board to
board
for the purpose of pursuing an relationship the other party
has indicated he or she does not wish to create OR maintain.
Do not stalk people to, on or from Annexcafe for any other
reason.
Do not sexually harass staff or other members of our community.
Flirting is fun when all parties wish to participate; once someone
has indicated disinterest,
it is no longer "flirting", it is harassment.
If they leave to avoid you, and you follow them, it is stalking.
33 - Guidelines:
While some of the above are hard and fast rules (such as no
illegal activities), many (such as snipping tails),
are suggestions to help make your experience with us more
enjoyable.
Individual chats and newsgroups may have more stringent rules.
If you have questions or concerns, feel free to email me.
Though I prefer not to be cc'd with every post you make to each
board, my door (or at least my mailbox) is always open.
I look forward to hearing from you with your ideas and any
suggestions you may have to add boards
or improve the ones we have.
Board moderators are free to repost these Guidelines to their own
boards;
for that matter, anyone is free to use any part anywhere else as
well.
So if you like it, take it.
I wouldn't mind being credited with the authorship, but if you
happen to forget,
I promise not to track you down or chop off your ears.
34 - Contacts:
To contact us, go to http://www.annexcafe.com/channels.cfm and
click on feedback.
You may contact any board moderator by posting to the board with
the header: ATT'N BOARD MODERATOR.
You can also contact a chat host or board moderator by finding the
group on the index at
http://www.annexcafe.com/channels.cfm,
opening the home page by clicking on the third icon after the
group name,
then clicking on the mail icon after the moderator's name (near
the top of the page).
This will permit you to send a private email to the person.
For general questions, email Administrator@Annexcafe.com.
For chat questions, email ChatSupport@annexcafe.com.
For questions regarding newsgroups, email NewsAdmin@annexcafe.com
If you need to contact the server owner, email
Administrator@Annexcafe.com
and include the header ATTN: G. Gooden.
Posted at http://www.annexcafe.com/tos.cfm |