.
Participants occasionally forget that this list is not, in legal fact, an
open, let-'em-all-come, free playground for anyone to let out steam on
anything that is currently irking or exciting them. It is a space
provided, at some cost, for certain stated purposes, and there are stated
guidelines of acceptable use, and penalties for serious infringements and
for obstructing or disrupting the participation of other people.
A few excerpts are given below from the stated policy, as well as the
invitation given to participants to contact either the list owner, or the
organisation (Jiscmail) responsible for providing the service, or both.
For the full policy, see: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help/policy/index.htm
****
A few excerpts:
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY [short version] [Three selected points:]
JISCmail is a service which runs mailing lists for the benefit of the UK
Higher and Further Education and Research Community
JISCmail does not allow spam, junk mail, chain letters or other
unsolicited bulk email, commercial or otherwise, on any list
Messages sent to JISCmail lists should be courteous, appropriate and not
disrupt the flow of discussion on a list
[Find the following in the indexed lists of topics:]
GUIDELINES ON ETIQUETTE
Sending messages to JISCmail lists is generally a matter of common sense
and courtesy, and users should be able to use their own sense of what is
appropriate to guide their behaviour. These are practical guidelines, which
should help you use JISCmail lists in a way which will most benefit
yourself and other people on the list. Not all these guidelines work for
all situations, so use your discretion. Please familiarise yourself with
the JISCmail Acceptable Use Policy and the following points:
[Items below are selected from a longer list]
Think before cross-posting, some people belong to more than one list
Don't call someone names or be overtly rude, blatantly sarcastic or
condescending
Watch where that reply is going, should it go to the sender or the list?
Complain to the list owner, not the list
Write relevant messages appropriate to the purpose of the list
14. Violation of our Policy
JISCmail users may contact us about any breach of our acceptable use
policy, and we will take any of the following actions if it is thought
appropriate:
Contact the person responsible to discuss the problem
Contact their listowner
Remove them from list membership
Contact their hosting site, institution, or service provider
Restrict email from certain sites or addresses
Remove inappropriate messages from the JISCmail archives
Make a public announcement to those affected.
List owners are also entitled to take action against any list member who
engages in unreasonable behaviour.The decision on what action is
appropriate will be made by the JISCmail team on a case by case basis. The
action taken will often depend on whether the infraction was innocent,
inadvertent or intentional.If we receive any complaint about a message sent
to a JISCmail list, we reserve the right to remove the allegedly offensive
message from our archives immediately and without consulting the originator
of this message.
*******
It's not Total Inclusion. There is a named 'community' for whom the list
is specifically provided -- though in practice, on this list, this has been
interpreted very broadly (perhaps with some justification). Like
many 'legal frameworks', the rules are a kind of balance, to restrain those
without self-restraint from kicking sand into everyone's eyes, while giving
some space to every arguable viewpoint, including some that are unpopular;
and to offer some sanctions and penalties against those who abuse the
opportunity, or are gratuitously offensive.
best, miles
________________End of message______________________
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