WNY Web - Policies -Newsgroup Policies -

WNY Web UseNet (News Group) Policies

UseNet News is a tremendous communications tool - a medium of promoting group discussions between people from around the world on any of 10,000+ diverse topics! It can also be offensive and sometimes dangerous. WNY Web (and its subscribers) can not be part of the problem, and enforcement action will be taken seriously to ensure that we are not part of the problem.

These policies must conform to our backbone providers' policies to ensure that our news service is maintained for all to use and enjoy. Please read carefully and understand this policy to protect your access to this optional service.

Reasonable Use - Common Sense

Imagine a conversation carried out over a period of hours and days, by people leaving messages and responses on a bulletin board, or an electronic radio talk show where everybody can put their two cents in and no one is ever on hold. When a few guidelines are followed by all participants it is wonderful service. Jumping into a Usenet discussion can be a liberating experience, nobody knows what you look or sound like, how old you are, what your background is. You're judged solely on your words and your ability to make a point. But, interruptions with off-topic postings, advertisements, and personal derogatory remarks do not enhance communication but destroy it! Although there is a proper time and place for it, even humor and insults can be severely lost by the medium.

Reasonable Use – Volume

Usenet messages are shipped around the world, from host system to host system, using one of several specific Net protocols. Each host system stores a copy of all received Usenet messages which everybody with access to the system can access. They contact other hosts to ensure that they also have all of the messages. A hundred thousand messages per day - on a slow day! Every day, Usenet users worldwide pump over 2 Billion characters a day into the system. Unnecessary messages put a needless burden on the system and cause long download times.

You can keep UseNet "content-rich" (also called the signal-to-noise ratio) by simply:

Think before you post!
Ask your self, does my posting further the conversation on the chosen topic?
Use the posting feature seldom and in a considerate manner. When posting, imagine the consequences of saying your message to one person in a group of 100 or 1,000 persons.
Have you read all existing replies to ensure you are not duplicating what has already been said?
Removed all extraneous quoted text from your post or reply?
Have you trimmed the Newsgroups line to include only relevant groups?
Have you thought about whether your post is even necessary - or should be sent instead via e-mail to the original poster?
Have you trimmed the "Follow ups" line to a specific single newsgroup?

Remember- If in doubt, don't post!

Why?

Because over 30,000 copies of your message will be stored on computer systems worldwide. Excessive posting slows down the content that everyone does want to read! It is an unnecessary waste of resources. And, close to 30,000,000 people will have to determine whether to read this message, and may decide to never read anything else that you ever have to say!

Reasonable Use – Newsgroups

Cross-posting is a mechanism to allow a single message to be transported, yet appear in multiple newsgroups. It is a benefit to the entire net when used correctly. Simply list the 2 or 3 relevant newsgroups in the newsgroups line. Your message will appear in each group properly, and be seen by a larger audience. Choose the groups carefully, and remember to set the "follow ups" line to a single specific group. Do not attempt to post the same message to a number of groups, in addition to wasting resources, you will get a large number of people very angry at you! Cross-posting to more than a very select few groups is also bad form and will generate more hate-mail than you want to see!

Binaries have a place, when there is a specific need. A better method is to place it on your personal web page, so that those people who want it can download it directly. Post a large binary ONLY if there is a large audience for that particular binary, and then, ensure that it is posted in as few pieces as possible. One is best, but keep the message under 30,000 lines. Smaller pieces can get lost, and only the entire set of messages is of any use to anyone! Also ensure you are posting to a binary group. This group will have the word: "binaries" as part of its name. Do not post or cross-post binaries to non-binary groups!

Copyright Laws cover every printed medium, text, sound and picture. These laws normally prohibit distribution by any means by anyone other than the copyright holder. UseNet is a method of distribution and may not be used to post materials that are Copyrighted.

Advertising of any type is not normally welcomed on UseNet. There are a tiny number of groups that do allow advertising. A better method is to use your personal web pages to advertise. Then an announcement to the relevant groups of the existence of your page may be of interest. Never post this type of notice more than twice per month - and ONLY to the 2 or 3 newsgroups that may be relevant.

If in doubt, don't post!

Western New York Web's support and technical staff can advise whether a particular posting is likely to be acceptable to the AUP and to the net in general. Contact our support staff if you have further questions.

Abuse

Abuse of the policy above will result in our contacting you to discuss proper procedures. Repeated abuse will result in service charges for time spent by our administrators in dealing with the situation, or termination of your account without refund, or both. Forgery of messages, harassment of others, and postings that generate warranted complaints will result in service charges for time spent by our administrators in dealing with the situation, including tracing the postings to an account, or termination of your account without refund or both. There is a sharing of information between most major providers regarding the above abuses, which may result in you being unable to acquire accounts on other providers as well!

Important!

UseNet News is a distributed shared service that is not determined on the basis of content - we do not censor on the basis of content. Complaints against WNY Web users are investigated if warranted, however WNY Web is not responsible for any content posted by any UseNet News User, here or elsewhere on the global network.