[NU Sports] The Ground Rules (for those who appear to have forgotten them)

[Mike Nolan]

As a reminder, here are the posting guidelines for this list.  Note
especially ithe last sentence in the 1st paragraph of #1:
--
Mike Nolan

Posts from subscribers are welcome providing they conform to the following
guidelines:

1.  Posts should be relevant to the Northwestern Sports or Northwestern 
    University.  In general this means that we do not need to know your 
    opinion on non-sports matters, especially your political or religious 
    beliefs.
   
    If you are the recipient of an e-mail or Internet virus warning or any 
    other form of chain letter, please do the rest of the net a favor and 
    don't forward it to everyone you know.  Most chain letters are scams 
    or at the least a waste of everyone's time and computer resources,
    and virus information should come from experts in the field, not from 
    randomly circulated letters of dubious origin and accuracy.  Even though 
    there are now true e-mail viruses, those warning letters are not always 
    accurate or don't always contain the correct steps to avoid sending 
    a virus or removing one from your system.

    If you have serious concerns about any computer virus information, 
    consult a computer security expert.  Here are several URL's for more 
    information on computer viruses and e-mail:
    http://www.kumite.com/myths/
    http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/vinfodb.html
    http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/data/jtch.html

    The Northwestern Sports List software filters out non-text segments 
    and attached files, including HTML encoded mail.  This should also 
    filter out most e-mail viruses.

    The following are grounds for immediate and permanent removal from the 
    Northwestern Sports List:  Sending a chain letter or posts with 
    excessively foul or abusive language or inappropriate graphical 
    images.  It is possible to be articulate and erudite without being 
    crude.  If your post would not be appropriate for publication as a 
    letter to the sports editor of a newspaper, it isn't appropriate here, 
    either. 

    Your posts should be well-reasoned, thoughful, and informative.  Good 
    writing, spelling, punctuation and grammar are always appreciated; bad
    writing habits will diminish the effectiveness of your message.

    You should attempt to make your point as succinctly and clearly as 
    possible, and with a minimum amount of quoted material.  

2.  Commercial posts (including announcements of web sites with Northwestern 
    Sports-related pages from sites that accept commercial advertising or 
    sell products) are permitted providing permission has been received 
    from the Northwestern Sports List Manager prior to each post, and as 
    long as there is there is sufficient newsworthiness and relevance.  
    This policy will be modified if commercial messages become repetitive 
    or excessive.  Post your press releases or URL _ONCE_, please. 

    The Northwestern Sports List does not accept paid advertising, nor is 
    it intended to replace more traditional marketing channels.  The FAQ 
    document contains a list of vendors of Northwestern Sports merchandise 
    and this information document contains a list of URL's for Northwestern 
    Sports related web pages, but the Northwestern Sports List does not 
    endorse any of these vendors or web pages.  Additions will be made to 
    that list at the sole discretion of the List Manager.

    The following policy is now in effect for posts regarding tickets and
    videotapes:

    One 'tickets wanted' post per subscriber for any game is permissable, 
    for up to 4 tickets, intended for use by direct family members.  

    One 'tickets for sale' post per subscriber for any game is permissable, 
    for up to 4 tickets and no more than face value plus reasonable shipping 
    costs.  "Best Offer" posts are not permitted.  
 
    Posts from non-subscribers, or posts for a 'friend' are not permissable.
    Commercial ticket broker posts are not permitted.  Take out ads in 
    the newspapers, the Northwestern Sports List is not here to help you scalp.

    One 'tape wanted' post per subscriber for any game is permissable.  
    'Tapes available' posts are not permitted except for occasional 
    information about commercial sources for such tapes.  Please keep in 
    mind that videotaping of games is covered by US Copyright law, and 
    that there are organizations that have paid for the rights to broadcast 
    games and market videotapes of them.

    Violaters will be restricted from posting for a suitable time frame.

3.  Trivia questions, polls, surveys, and the like are discouraged, they tend 
    to cause a lot of traffic but don't really have much newsworthiness.  
    Graphical images, sound files, and other non-textual items are not
    permitted.  Exceedingly long .sigs, digital signature tags, MS Word
    formatting information and other non-textual items are also not 
    appreciated by subscribers and should not be included. 

4.  Be polite--we're all friends.  Namecalling, baiting, responding
    to posts in an argumentative fashion, or any other type of 'flaming' 
    will not be tolerated, nor will foul or abusive language.  This especially
    applies to comments about other schools or their supporters, as well as to 
    comments about Northwestern and its supporters from supporters of those 
    other schools.  It is possible to be both partisan and polite.  

    The best way to stop a flame fest from happening is to ignore the folks
    who try to start them.  Let the List Manager take care of warning or 
    sanctioning violators, please.  

    In the spirit of improving the exchange of information between sports
    enthusiasts, the Northwestern Sports List has a mutual non-aggression 
    pact with selected other sports lists that have similar expectation 
    of civil behavior for their members.  These lists will receive periodic 
    mention on the Northwestern Sports List (as such lists are relevant to 
    the Wildcats), and the Northwestern Sports List will be similarly 
    featured by them.  

    Northwestern Sports List subscribers who join these other lists 
    are expected to conform to the guidelines for those lists and comport 
    themselves in a manner that will reflect well upon the Northwestern 
    Sports List and the Northwestern Wildcats.  

    Unsportsmanlike behavior on any of these lists may result in sanctions 
    on the Northwestern Sports List.

    At this time, lists that are part of this agreement include the 
    Husker List (not surprising, since I also run it) and the Washington 
    Huskies football list.  (And, by extension, all of the other lists for 
    Pac 10 schools.)
    
5.  This is a discussion forum, not a fan board.  The root word for 'fan' 
    is 'fanatic', which my dictionary defines as 'unreasonably enthusiastic 
    or overly zealous'.  On the other hand, under 'discussion' my dictionary 
    says 'talking about something in a deliberative fashion, with varying 
    opinions offered constructively and, usually, amicably, so as to settle 
    an issue.'

6.  Excessive overquoting (especially reposting the entire text of an 
    article when adding just a few lines of comments) is highly discouraged,
    please learn how to use your mail program or a text editor to just 
    quote the most relevant sections of a previous post.  Do not send
    'me too' posts that don't add anything new to the discussion.  This
    is not an opinion poll or an election, if someone has already said what 
    you wanted to say, there is no need for you to repeat it.  When list
    traffic gets heavy, subscribers are encouraged to combine their posts
    to respond to several threads at once rather than post numerous small
    messages one after another.  When responding to a question raised by
    another poster, direct your response back to the individual unless you
    feel the issue is of sufficient interest to warrant sending another 
    post to everybody.  (It's also a good idea to wait to see if someone
    else answers the question first.)

7.  A good rule to follow is, 'Would I pay money to read this?'  If the 
    answer is NO, don't send it.  Keep in mind there are folks who DO pay 
    money to their ISP to read this list, and it does cost some money and 
    use some computing resources here to run the Northwestern Sports List.

8.  Absolutely no violations of copyrights, trademarks, service marks, 
    logos, etc. will be permitted.  Do not repost news stories or pictures 
    from wire services or online services, material you found on web sites, 
    or type in stories or someone's column from your local newspaper.  Under 
    copyright law, it makes NO DIFFERENCE whether the material is marked 
    as being copyrighted or not, though if you look closely at most
    online news services you will find a copyright banner somewhere.  

    The author of private e-mail also holds a copyright on it, and has a 
    right not to have that e-mail reposted anywhere without his/her consent.  
    (It is also considered very rude.)

    The simple rule to use is that if YOU didn't write it, it is copyrighted
    by someone else, and you MUST HAVE permission to post it to this list.

    However, e-mail sent to the List Manager not specifically marked as
    private mail will be treated like mail sent to 'letters to the editor' 
    at a newspaper.  For a brief introduction to the issue of copyrights, 
    especially in cyberspace, see http://www.clarinet.com/brad/copymyths.html.
    Also see http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html.

    Posting the URL of web pages with Northwestern Sports content on them 
    is both permitted and encouraged, but posting text from someone's web 
    page without explicit permission is a copyright violation and is not 
    permitted.  

    Posters are strongly encouraged to give a short summary of the information 
    to be found on a web page when posting its URL, both as a courtesy to 
    those subscribers who do not have web capability and as an aid for those 
    with limited time, so that they only need hit the sites that they are 
    the most likely to find informative.

    If you must quote from a published source, do so very sparingly, 
    paraphrasing is better.  Raw facts cannot be copyrighted, so game 
    statistics are permitted, but analysis of those statistics would be an
    'intellectual act' and thus protected under the copyright law.  

    Posts that violate other laws or encourage someone else to violate the 
    law are also forbidden.  

    Significant copyright violations, whether inadvertent or otherwise, will
    result in immediate sanctions against the poster.

9.  Only valid subscribers to this list are authorized to post to it.  We
    reserve the right to verify your e-mail address and perform other checks
    before granting posting privileges, and to place subscribers into
    administrative review mode at any time.  To cut down on spammers, there 
    may be a waiting or administrative review period for new subscribers 
    before posting privileges become active.  All new subscribers are 
    initially placed into administrative review mode once posting privileges 
    are activated.

10. E-mail programs that automatically format text as a web page (in HTML)
    cause problems for digest subscribers and others on older e-mail
    packages or mainframe systems.  As a result, posts that are formatted
    in HTML will be filtered by the list software to remove the HTML component.
    Generally all it takes is to change the configuration of your mail 
    program to correct this.

    Similarly, binary attachments, such as jpegs, gifs or uuencoded files, 
    are not permitted.  These files are often very large, tying up a lot of 
    bandwidth, and many readers can't display them.  And a large part of 
    the time, the images are copyrighted.  

11. The list software we use is very fussy, minor differences between your 
    e-mail address as entered on our subscription list and the one it derives 
    from your post can cause your post to be rejected.  This is especially 
    true if your mail goes through any kind of mail delivery gateway at your 
    end.  If you get a 'reject notice', this is the most likely cause.  We 
    will work with subscribers to resolve these problems as they arise.

12. Subscribers are urged to take reasonable security precautions with
    their computer accounts and passwords.  Posts originating or appearing
    to originate from a subscriber's e-mail address that violate these 
    guidelines may be subject to sanctions even if the posts are fraudently 
    generated or result from unauthorized access to your account.

13. The use of anonymous mail services is not permitted, and such 
    subscriptions may be deleted at the sole discretion of the List Manager.  

Violations of any of the above guidelines may result in private or public
censure, suspension of posting privileges, or removal from the List,
depending on the severity of the infraction or repeat offenses.

(3):  Disclaimers and other excess baggage:

The Northwestern Sports List is provided to the Internet community as a 
free service and is not intended to promote or be affiliated with 
Northwestern University or any other organization.  We do not charge anyone to 
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may incur charges from your Internet provider or online service.

By posting to the Northwestern Sports List, you are granting non-exclusive 
redistribution rights to that message to all individuals and organizations 
who receive or transmit it.  We cannot control nor do we attempt to control 
any redistribution of posts to other mailing lists, to any USENET newsgroup, 
via the web, or any other type of redistribution, retransmittal, or 
reproduction.

The Northwestern Sports List holds a compilation copyright over the 
collected postings to it.  Unauthorized archiving of the collected postings 
of this list is not permitted.  At this time there is only one authorized 
archive, the one at http://www.tssi.com/nwu-sports.

Unless specifically denoted as personal mail, e-mail sent to the List Manager 
dealing with Northwestern sports that is deemed to be sufficiently interesting 
to list subscribers will be treated as if it was sent to the List for the 
purpose of being posted.

We do not distribute or sell the list of subscribers.  (As far as we know, 
the list management software does not give out the list of subscribers.)

The Northwestern Sports List is not responsible for any errors in posts 
or delivery problems, and the opinions expressed are those of the 
individual posters.  

We do not endorse or approve any commercial products, nor can we be 
responsible for any problems you may encounter in dealing with any 
individuals or organizations who post to or participate in this list.

Because of the volume of mail generated by the Northwestern Sports List, 
especially at certain times of the year, addresses that bounce mail may 
be purged from the list of subscribers after several rejected messages.  

If your system has problems, your subscription will probably be cancelled 
automatically.  You may re-subscribe once your system has resumed normal 
processing.  

Bounced mail from systems incorrectly configured to return mail to the author 
of a post rather than to the list administrative return address have to be 
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