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          The People's echo mail Network message exchange, New York

     ͻ
       PetNET(tm) Network - List with Moderators and Principles v0.8 
       (c) Copyright 1994 PetNET(tm) New York.  All rights reserved  
     ͼ


  All Hubs/Nodes must carry the following conferences:
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  
  1. P_NetSysOp
  2. P_Mod&SysOp
  3. P_Mod&User (which is forced private)
  4. P_Chit Chat
  5. At least one other conference.
  
  
  The Network Administrator
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Is the most important person on our network.  Her name is Cindi Linton.
  She is not too technical, but she is graduated from one of the best Law 
  Schools in the USA.  A friendly person, born in the 50's.  She loves
  animals and people of all kinds, and that's why she started this net.
  She supervises the activity of the Network Supervisor, Conference Liaison,
  NetSysOps and the conferences Moderators.  Together with the other
  important people on our net, she approves the conferences descriptions,
  and Hubs/Nodes/Moderators.
  
  
  The Network Supervisor
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  That's me. I'm the next most important person on this network.  My name 
  is Dimitri Vasiliev.  I am the co-SysOp of Cindi's BBS.  They say I'm good 
  with technical matters, I often help new Bbs's with their configurations,
  e-mail runs, schedules, etc.  I sometimes visit and snoop on your BBS to
  make sure your PetNET(tm) rules are displayed to your callers, origin
  taglines are in place, the "Welcome to PetNET" screen is displayed.
  If a conference Moderator is new or has problems, I work with him/her
  together with other people from the Net's Administration to help and
  correct.  The BBS software that I know best is Wildcat.
  
  
  The Conference Liaison
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  This is the next important position on the network.  Supervising all
  conferences, their moderators, respecting rules, recommending moderators
  for conferences, making sure the conference descriptions are there,
  defined, and followed.  Also has a word to say on future Hubs/Nodes and
  Moderators becoming members of our network.
  If you want to change, form, purpose conferences, or their descriptions, 
  see our Conference Liaison person.

  
  The P_Mod&SysOp conference
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  It is restricted to the Conference Liaison, Network SysOps their Co-SysOps,
  PetNET Administration AND Moderators only.
  Under no circumstances should a Hub, Node, or BBS allow a regular user to
  read, or post on this conference.
  It is intended only for Network SysOps, Moderators, and PetNET(tm) Staff,
  to discuss conference descriptions, users lockouts, conferences activities,
  moderators policies, etc.  
  Since not all moderators are also SysOps, if your BBS has a PeNET(tm)
  conference Moderator please allow him/her access to this conference.
  All new conferences added to the Network must have the approval of the
  Network Administration.  Hubs and Nodes may propose the addition or modi- 
  fication of conferences by leaving mail in either P_Mod&SysOp or 
  P_ChitChat conferences.
  Private Messages/Files attachments should, and will be supported.
  * All Hubs/Nodes are required to carry this conference *

  
  P_Mod&User
  ~~~~~~~~~~
  This is the Moderator and User conference. In this conference, users 
  and moderators can work out any problems or differences they may have 
  regarding Network rules.
  This conference is forced private, in order to eliminate unwanted side
  opinions from third parties.  Make sure you correctly spell the names 
  of your message's recipients.
  * All Hubs/Nodes are required to carry this conference *
  
  
  Screens all PetNET boards should display:
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Hubs/Nodes must post the Network rules contained in the most recent file
  RULES.TXT, for all users with access to the PetNET(tm) Network to read.
  Once in a while, when a user will question moderation procedures, it'll
  make everyone's job's easier by being able to just refer to them that way.
  We are requesting that you should make a bulletin containing the above
  rules, and to publicize the fact that you are now carrying the PetNET(tm)
  Network, in one of your opening screens.
  
  Posting of PetNET(tm) messages into other networks is not permitted, 
  nor is posting of other networks messages into PetNET(tm), unless the 
  consent is given by the PetNET Administration.  All messages posted on
  PetNET(tm) are the property of and the opinion of their writers.
  No PetNET(tm) system shall allow, promote or in any way condone any
  activity in the PetNET(tm) message areas which would violate local,
  state or US Federal law.
  
  A user, HUB, NODE, BBS System, SysOp, Co-SysOp in other words ANYONE, that
  should be threatening with legal action against any legal entity i.e. a
  Network, PetNET(tm) Network, another user, HUB, NODE, BBS System, SysOp,
  Co-SysOp in other words ANYONE, will be immediately banned from PetNET(tm).
  
  Conference moderators/descriptions will be approved by the PetNET(tm)
  Administration.  The Administration reserves the right to revoke conference
  moderator status at it's discretion.  It also reserves the right to over 
  rule moderations if it sees fit.
  
  No Hub/Node is to delete, modify, edit or censor in any respect, any
  messages coming in or out of their systems, unless it's from one of
  their users who is in violation of a PetNET rule or guidelines.  This
  particularly applies to all messages from/to the Network Administration,
  Net Supervisor(s), Moderators, Conference Liaison, NetSysOps, and their
  designees, which are vital to be passed on to all participating Systems
  in the Official, unaltered state, to read and act upon.
  
  Please see the complete PetNET(tm) set of rules available at your local
  BBS as a Bulletin, or contained in the file RULES.TXT, immbeded in the
  network file - PETNET?.ZIP.
  
  
  
  Moderating principles
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  As conference moderator, you are given a free hand to run your conference.
  You must be fair and even-handed in the way you resolve problems or decide
  issues.  You are responsible to see that PetNET network's rules are all
  observed within your conference, and that all callers are addressed with
  courtesy, and dignity.

  As a moderator, please be aware of the PetNET's concerns.  Our concern is 
  to be friendly, easy going, popular, and try to understand our users needs.
  If a fellow Moderator disagrees with something you are doing, he/she could
  decide to send you a POLITE message in P_Mod&SysOp conference.
  Please be open minded, and prepared to consider their concerns, IF they do.
  You may decide to change your methods, and (or) policy.  Or, you may
  re-confirm that they are the right way to handle things.  That is your 
  choice.  Try to keep an open mind, and always reply and acknowledge
  other's concerns.

  In some cases, it is possible that the PetNET net Administrator, the
  Network Supervisor, Conference Liaison, or their designees will ask that
  policy be changed in the conference.
  We don't expect this to be a problem often, but you should be prepared
  for the possibility of OFFICIAL review, and (or) advice and suggestions
  from the PetNET(tm) leaders.

  Moderators will remain the conference leaders until they resign or until
  the PetNET net Administrator, net SysOps or their designees will ask you
  to step down.  If a moderator wishes to resign, we ask that 1-2 week
  notice be given if at all possible.
  You, as a Moderator have the duty to NOT only inform of problems, or
  violations in your OWN conference(s), but you should kindly inform the
  Administration in P_Mod&SysOp of ANY violations of the PetNET(tm) rules,
  or conflicts in ANY and ALL conferences.  In such case, post a private
  message to the Network Administrator explaining what you've noticed, and
  the conference name.  We request this, since not all of our conferences
  have Moderators at any given time, and not all their Moderators are as
  experienced or courtious as you might be.
  Moderators should be prepared to diplomaticaly deal with eventual
  fights between users, brands, product bashing by users, attempts of
  callers to use your conference(s) for selling, or advertising their
  merchandise, profane language, encoded messages, etc.

  
  If you have a problem PetNET user:
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  The majority of callers are great.  Please let them know this in as many 
  ways as possible, and use all means to keep their interest and posts.
  
  In general, moderation should be done in public.  You may answer questions 
  about the nature of the conference, or messages containing any subject a 
  regular caller might post in your conference.
  Keep your moderation fair and try to let the people decide what they want.
  Please do not put us in an us vs. them situation.
  A caller that goes bad mouth you, and our net, will influence other maybe
  10 callers not to even try it.  We do not want our PetNET(tm) participating
  NetSysOps to have a difficult time with their local users.
  Think what would happen if we would actually require moderators to bring 
  a new caller for each one they push out.  Before acting on an impulse,
  perhaps count how many users you brought to PetNET(tm).  If they weren't
  too many, try and don't break their posting moods making them to feel bad.

  In the event there is a problem with a caller, we ask you to first inform 
  them in as friendly a fashion as possible that they are breaking the net's
  or conference rules, and that they need to change their behavior if they 
  want to participate.  A good number of problems can be cleared up if your 
  approach doesn't escalate the problem.

  If the offender ignores this message and continue their improper behavior,
  issue an informal warning.  Tell them if they don't stop, they risk losing 
  access to the conference.  
  If extended discussions are to occur, ask the caller to see your message
  in P_Mod&User, or to feel free asking further questions in your conference.
  Do not respond to users (other than the offender) while you are moderating
  in the P_Mod&User, and mark your messages PRIVATE.

  If they ignore the informal warning, issue them a formal warning.  
  In the formal warning, tell them that they have ignored requests to
  correct their behavior, and the NEXT rule violation will result in a
  conference suspension.  If they violate the rules again, you must suspend 
  them for 30 days at this point.  Please post a message to the caller's 
  SysOp at this stage of the proceedings in the P_Mod&SysOp conference.
  
  In the event that the caller continues to violate the rules, SUSPEND
  them.  To do this, leave them a message that says "You have been given
  a 30 day suspension from this conference for violating XXX rule(s).
  At the end of this suspension, please post a message in the P_Mod&User
  to both Me, and your local SysOp, to allow you access, and you will be
  welcome to participate in this conference again, provided you are willing
  to abide by the conference rules."
  
  Send a message to the caller's SysOp, in the P_Mod&SysOp, informing him
  or her of the suspension, and requesting for the user to be denied access
  to the particular conference in which violation occurred, for 30 days,
  together with the reason, and your preventive attempts to moderate.
  
  When a caller returns from a suspension, they should be welcome back.
  Please have a friendly attitude towards them.  You are representing
  our Network, and many NetSysOps that are sometimes spending long
  distance phone charges for their paid users.
  This user have already paid for the consequences of his/her action.
  If they persist in the behavior that got them suspended, or KNOWINGLY,
  break rules, again, give them a formal warning, and notify the PetNET
  Network Administration, and their local SysOp.
  
  We have a good TWIT program at the National Hub, and we can help, in case
  you temporarily don't seem to be able to stop a particular caller from
  "bombing" the net, etc.  In that case, just inform us of the violation,
  the user's name, and the board he calls from.   We'll make sure his
  messages will stop dead at the Hub, without being echoed anywhere...
  You shouldn't have to though.  His/her NetSysOp should timely cooperate,
  enforcing your Moderation decisions/lockouts!

  Remember to leave sufficient time for your official messages to reach 
  the caller and be reflected in their messages.  Messages may cross in 
  the mail, and we shouldn't punish someone for (any) e-mail delays.
  Suspension is a serious tool in the moderation process: when needed, it
  should be used without hesitation.  It should NOT be needed often though,
  since most problems are resolved at the informal warning stage.
  Please try stimulating callers be active, responsible participants.
  Given half a chance, they will all be very cooperative.
  You, as a moderator, might introduce discussion subjects, post messages,
  try and keep your conference active, in order to prevent its disconti-
  nuation.

  
  Conference Descriptions
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Moderators are required to propose their own conference descriptions,
  if they aren't already available at the time of their appointment.
  For the conference description, what the Network Administration requires
  from moderators, is to write approximately 3-7 lines, describing the
  conference purpose, and (where applicable), what is allowed to be
  discussed in the conference and what is not.
  To give you an example, if I was going to write a conference description
  for the AIDS conference, I would suggest that bashing of people that admit 
  to have the virus wouldn't be tolerated, so that MY conference will be 
  "problem free", and I will be able to moderate out potential flames,
  based on my conference description.
  Remember that rules can *only* be enforced if they exist.
  Some moderators are bolder than others, and we're ready to hear all kind 
  of proposals and flavors for their conferences descriptions and policyes,
  one thing all of you must have in mind is LEGAL LIABILITY.  If a lawyer
  gives legal advice in the Law conference, and then the caller looses his
  or her case, we have a potential problem.  Why?  because people often sue
  to try and make a buck, and we wouldn't want to be in that situation,
  having callers attempting to sue our BBS's.
  Not all conference descriptions are perfect on our net, but if you want
  to get an idea, look at the other conference descriptions contained in 
  the RULES.ZIP file, and there's some examples of common adjustments that
  we've worked on, in the P_Mod&SysOp conference.  Read all posts there.
  This task is often our first contact with a "will be" moderator of a
  conference, and while we wouldn't consider it challenging, at least it 
  shows if the candidate has basic writing skills that would enable him/her
  to to act in an official capability while moderating some of our
  (sometimes) sophisticated users.
  Keep away from the "one line - over simplified" descriptions.  If it is
  too small, it is probably too vague, and has the potential for future
  interpretation and arguments by callers.  You might save some time now,
  but in the long run will have problems with the occasional drop-ins which
  "didn't know that this was suppose to be . . . and not . . ."
  Example of a too simple, vague description:

  "  P_African/Americans = Conference for americans talking about Africa "
  
  When you have a rough ready, spell check it, and put in next to the other
  ones, to see how it looks, in this format:

  P_Modeling   Here we talk about professional modeling, pageants, fashion,
     fashion photographers, modeling scams, and a variety of
               related issues.  Every once in a while, if you're lucky, 
               you might even come across a real, live professional model 
               who will respond to you.

  Some might be wondering why us, here, at the ADM don't just impose these
  conference descriptions for all of our Moderators to just follow.
  That is to allow our hosts to bring their personality and flavor to their
  own conferences.  Let's say you'll be the photo moderator, and you have a
  rather large following of callers that will discuss about antique cameras.
  In that case, you would want to include a few words to announce that
  "Show and Antique Cameras will be something fun to talk about", in your
  conference, as well.
  All conference description proposals/modifications are to be posted in
  the P_Mod&Sysop conference and NOT anywhere else, and are subject for
  Review, Modification, and Approval by the Conference Liaison AND also
  by the PetNET(tm) Administration and their designee(s).
  
  In order to reduce confusion, add a header before posting your actual
  conference decription, something like:

"Hello, thank you for your future participation in the discussions here.
While being your Conference Host, and I am routinely re-posting the
conference description and guidlines for this P_XYZ conference, as a
reminder, and for your enjoyment:

P_xyzyxya:  there goes that description ...kwejhflkwjehrlkwejrhlkwejhr
            w;lekjr;lwkqejr l;wkejrl;wekjrl;wkejr;lwqkejr;lwqkejr;lwqe
            lkwejrl;kwqjerl;wqkejrl;wqkjer;lwkejr;lwqkejr;lwkeqjrl;wek

For a more complete PetNET(tm) guidlines, please see the rules, posted
at your local BBS.

Happy Modem-ing,
Your P_xyzgugu Conference Host,
Your Name, ____________________ "

  
  When it comes to reposting your conference guidlines: 
  Every month or so should do, depending on each of your conference(s)
  particular traffic ammount, and if they've been recent off-topic
  messages, or violations in your conference(s). 
  Use your own judgement, but do not over do it.



  Current PetNET(tm) List of Conference Moderators:
  ================================================

Cindi Linton:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
P_NetSysOps
P_Mod&SysOps
P_Mod&User
P_Monkees

Dimitri Vasiliev:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P_CLHumour

Darren Klein:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
P_Chit Chat
P_For Sale
P_BBS Ads
P_Cellular
P_Electronics
P_Law
P_Manage Weight

Michael Stoney:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P_Howard Stern

Sharon Moore:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
P_Dogs
P_Cats
P_Fish

Andrew Borrs
~~~~~~~~~~~~
P_SmallAnimals
P_Reptiles&Snakes
P_Hardware
P_Fire/EMS

Elliot Lehman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P_Audio
P_Madonna
P_Teens

Bob Zuckerman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P_Photo/Video
  
Rick Norton
~~~~~~~~~~~
P_Wildlife
P_Automobiles
P_Aviation
P_BBSing
P_Crimes
P_Cuisine
P_Drinking
P_Ham Radio
P_Hobbies
P_Job Seeking
P_Jobs Available
P_Laptop Computers
P_Modem Addicts
P_Movies
P_Mystery
P_New Users
P_Security
P_Scanners/SWL
P_Smoking
P_Television


COPYRIGHT
=========
The presented text is a collective work, which is (c) Copyright 1994
PetNET(tm) New York.  Any reproduction, modification or usage is expressly
prohibited.  All rights reserved WORLD WIDE.
