Generally, we're pretty lenient people, and open to just about anything you can come up with. However, to ensure a safe and pleasant experience for everyone, we're going to lay down the following rules:
- We expect you to be completely and utterly tolerant of others and their beliefs, feelings, and personalities. Harassing other members of the network is not allowed at any time.
- Excessive use of leetspeak or other on-line annoyances will not be tolerated. While we aren't requiring perfect grammar, we ask that you at least bring yourself to the level of a respectable human being and that you communicate in a manner worthy of the time it takes to read what you contribute. You should also note that the primary language of this network is English; if it is not your native tongue, we understand - but it becomes rather difficult and time-consuming to continually run your thoughts through a translation service.
- Botnets, file-sharing/DCC channels, advertisements of warez, and anything judged by an administrator to be associated with illegal activity are not allowed. EVER. (This is one of those times where we'll just come out and say it: THIS OFFENSE WILL RESULT IN A PERMANENT BAN.) Posting IP addresses or hostnames with the intention of requesting that others "check" for open ports (or similar) will also not be tolerated, as there is no way to verify with 100% certainty where they might point.
- This network thrives and encourages people to share what they know or find, plug their projects, and benefit the "society" of the network, and therefore we encourage sharing links in channel (provided they are acceptable by the other terms of this policy). However, spamming everybody with links to the same thing repeatedly gets annoying and takes away from the experience, and so is prohibited at all times.
- Like so many other things, channels, nicks, and connection slots are precious and limited resources. While our small size generally means that you will be able to start new channels and use nicknames that represent you, we will not tolerate obsessive channel 'reservations' (channels with no clear purpose or with only one user and no activity for an extended time), an excessive number of clones (multiple connections for the same IRC user), or nickname hoarding (especially registrations, but this also applies to concurrent connections). If an administrator deems it necessary, such channels and nicknames/connections can and will be purged.
- FRIENDLY and USEFUL bots may connect to the network, providing that A) they do not abuse or annoy other users, and that B) you have permission from any channel owner(s) the bot will be residing in. Bots are subject to the same policies on this network as any other user; the owner/operator of the bot will be subjected to punishment for non-compliance.
- Network administrators are not your personal network services slaves, which is why we (usually) have IRC services running. Constantly being stupid with channel management might very well earn your channel the status of 'extinct'. (You yourself might earn that title as well if we really get annoyed with you.)
- Divulging private information, including but not limited to locations, names, or contact information, especially that which belongs to someone other than yourself, is not allowed at anytime by anyone other than the original "owner" of that information. (If you expect someone to keep a secret, you'd like for it to remain a secret, right?)
- People have lives, and often leave their clients idling while they are participating in the real world. If you desparately need to contact someone, leave them a private message or use MemoServ; don't spam channels continually waiting for their return.
- Any attempts to compromise the security of any IRC-related service, the servers they are provided on, or any user of our services will not be tolerated. This also extends to people asking others to attack their own computers, because it is near impossible to verify the true owner.
Connecting to our network constitutes an agreement that you will abide by these rules.
Punishments are at the discretion of the admin who notices or receieves notification of a violation; if the administrator this it's reasonable, it probably is. In most cases, you'll probably get a warning first.
Acceptable Use Policy last updated November 1, 2009.
