RIME GUIDELINES AND RULES FOR USERS
Revised 10/07/97
1) BE COURTEOUS AND PLEASANT
When messaging with others in our network, be courteous and pleasant.
Some of the people you message with may become lifelong friends to you and
your family. Many of our callers have been around RIME for a lot of years.
Be respectful with the people you message with. This network provides
many opportunities for fun and information exchanges.
2) NO ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES
Illegal activities, including promotion of illegal acts and software
copyright infringement, will not be allowed in RIME. Uploading or transfer
through the network of commercial software is prohibited. Transfer through
the network of software specific to the running of the network, such as
Postlink, is allowed, if the author's permission is obtained, and it is
authorized by the RAC.
3) NO PERSONAL FLAMES
Users are encouraged to express their opinions and ideas, although
personal flames in messages directed at other members in any conference
is prohibited. Treat people the way you wish to be treated. No abuse
of other users is allowed on the basis of character, religion, gender,
physical characteristics, sexual orientation, intelligence quotient,
or ethnicity.
Harrassing and bullying are not allowed. Gratuitous negative comments
directed at other users are considered personal attacks. Personal attacks
are not allowed even if they are disguised as being aimed at a group or a
third party not being directly addressed.
4) NO INAPPROPRIATE LANGUAGE
The use of any word, group of words, expression, comment, suggestion,
or proposal which is profane, obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, indecent,
or is ethnically, sexually, or racially demeaning is strictly prohibited
within RIME. Racial slurs or slang names for ethnic groups, race, gender,
or sexual orientation are considered offensive language.
5) READ A CONFERENCE AREA UNTIL YOU'RE COMFORTABLE
Jumping into a message area can be an intimidating thing. Read the
conference description file. It is always best to read a few days worth
of messages before posting a message of your own in the conference. When
you are comfortable, post a "Hello" message to introduce yourself or
post message responses to other messages within the conference.
6) KEEP MESSAGES ON TOPIC
Messages must adhere to the topic of the conference. Since there
are conferences for almost every subject, place your message in the
conference where it best fits. If you can't find a good fit, consider
using the UPLINK conference, which is RIME's chit-chat conference.
If you are asked by a Conference Host or an Administration Council
member to cease a message thread, please comply as soon as you receive
the message. Do not debate the issue in public. If you have questions
about why you were asked to cease a particular message thread, you should
first ask the CH for further information. You may also ask questions in
the RELAY USERS conference. We prefer that you first attempt to resolve
any differences with the conference host directly, and if that resolution
fails then feel free to bring the issue to the RELAY USERS conference.
7) POST ONLY PLAIN TEXT MESSAGES
RIME does not allow encrypted or encoded messages, signatures or
taglines. Although many utilities make it possible to send files over
an echomail network, their use is not permitted in RIME. Please do not
post binaries, "UUENCODED" files, DEBUG scripts, or any other encoded
file format.
Messages containing ANSI codes are ONLY to be posted in the ANSI
Conference and the BBS Ads conference. No ANSI graphics may be used in
any conference on the network except the ANSI conference and the BBS ads
conference.
8) DO NOT OVER QUOTE MESSAGES
Do not "over quote" messages. Quoting should be limited to only
enough to remind the original user of what was said or to provide for an
adequate response. Quoting should not exceed more than 20% of the total
message. Do not quote whole messages and then add only one or two lines
as your response.
9) SIGNATURES
Signatures are limited to two lines of message text and may not
contain ANSI escape sequences or ASCII characters that interfere with
readers and BBS software (specifically, but not limited to FF, 1A, 1B)
except in conferences where these characters are specifically allowed
(such as, the Ansi Codes conference.) If you are asked to discontinue
using your signature, please do so gracefully. If you have questions
about why your signature can't be used, address it in the RELAY USERS
conference.
10) ADVERTISING LIMITATIONS
Advertisements are permitted in the appropriate conferences only.
Check the conference description to see if it is appropriate for the
conference you wish to post in. Pyramid schemes are not allowed.
We here at RIME assume NO responsibility for any merchandise purchased
through our network. There are no rules on this network that have
anything to do with the payment or receiving of goods. That is a private
matter between the buyer and the seller and RIME assumes absolutely no
responsibility for any sales whatsoever. It is strictly a caveat emptor.
11) COPYING MESSAGES
Copying messages to other conferences and/or other users. No one
may copy, quote verbatim, extensively quote or paraphrase from a message
in any conference to another conference without permission of the
originator of the message and notification of the Conference Host of the
receiving conference.
In addition, retransmission of public/private messages, quoting verbatim
or extensively quoting from a message or paraphrasing of parts or entire
messages dealing with administrative matters to or by anyone other than
the user(s), the user(s)'s Sysop, CH or AC member(s) involved is
considered grounds for moderation. No matters that are discussed in
administrative conferences such as ADMIN, HOSTS or RELAY USERS may be
pursued in any conference other than those specific administrative
conferences.
No copying messages to or from other networks without the specific
permission of the author of the message and/or the originating network
whichever is appropriate. Technical messages, where the author
specifically requests wide-spread distribution, does not fall under this
category.
No portion of a "private" e-mail message may be submitted in any
of the public conferences within RIME without the consent of the
originator of the e-mail message. Doing so is grounds for immediate
moderation.
12) BOMB MESSAGES
Bombing the network, or the practice of a user posting multiple
messages, not related to the conference topic, in one, or several
conferences, either simultaneously, or closely related in time, is
prohibited. Conference disruption, by bombing a conference, may lead to
removal from the conference or the entire RIME network.
13) MISLEADING & DECEPTION MESSAGES
Messages that are specifically intended to mislead and deceive are
considered to be disruptive to a conference and are grounds for
suspension from that conference. NO messages regarding anyone or
anything will be allowed that mislead or deceive. They are considered
to be disruptive to a conference. Such postings are grounds for
suspension from the particular conference.
14) ALIASES
You must use your real name in every RIME conference unless there
are "special rules" for the conference allowing aliases. If you are
unsure, do not use an alias until you check with the conference host
to see if it is permissible. Sysops retain the right to allow a
reasonable sounding alias to be used by a particular person on their
own system, if they are sure of the identity of that user and there is
a compelling local reason for such use.
15) SPECIAL CONFERENCES
Special conferences have special rules. The latest rules can be
obtained from the conference host or found in the Conference
Description file available on your local BBS.
The SYSOPS conference is open to all sysops whether they are members
of RIME or not. Also, at the discretion of a Sysop, any user may be
granted access to this conference.
The Net ADMIN conference is open only to the (RAC), Conference Hosts,
Co-Hosts, RIME Sysops and equal, working Co-Sysops. The administration
conference is a working conference. The only Co-Sysops that are permitted
into the administration conference are those co-sysops that hold equal
responsibility, on a daily basis, with the sysop of the board. Co-sysops
with only occasional or specific duties on a board are not permitted access
to the ADMIN conference. The sysop of the board is defined as the owner of
the software.
RIMENEWS is for network wide announcements. It is read only. That
means that no one but the RAC and the Conference Administrator may place
messages in this conference. Do not place any messages in the RIMENEWS
conference or allow any messages to leave your board in this conference.
The FORSALE conference has the following rules: a - Dealers are
encouraged to participate but they must identify themselves as dealers.
b - Users may not send more that 5 ads per day, nor the same ad more than
once a week. They may send significantly different ads daily. c - all
ads for software must adhere to all U.S. Copyright Laws. d - no guns or
ammunition may be offered for sale on this network, in any conference.
The RELAY USERS conference is open to all Users. All messages in the
conference must be addressed to either the conference host your are
dialoging with or to the Conference Administrator if you are asking for
an investigation. You may not involve yourself in discussions between a
user and a conference host. Upon investigation and/or resolution of an
issue, the topic will be closed. Dissatisfaction with a decision is not
a valid reason to continue closed topics. All decisions of the
administration are final and are not open for appeal.
Differences of opinion over these rules are to be discussed in the
NETADMIN (for sysops, conference hosts) or the RELAY USERS (for users)
Conferences only. Differences of opinion should be discussed with the
Conference Host first. If a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached,
then feel free to message openly with the Conference Moderator in the
USERS conference.
The CONFERENCE HOSTS conference is conference hosts and co-hosts.
A member sysop will be required to carry this conference when they
have a host posting through their system. This conference is to help
the hosts with their problems in hosting and to create ideas to
promote conferences.
If you have a difference of opinion with a Conference Host you may
not discuss that difference in the conference of origin.
16) LEGAL BATTLES
At the discretion of the RAC, any user or sysop threatening to
involve RIME in a law suit or legal battle, may be permanently removed
from the network.
17) RIME BYLAWS
All rules which are part of the RIME bylaws are hereby incorporated
as a companion document to the above rules.
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