SLIRC
CHANNEL SERVICE CHARTER

The CServiceSM Charter

15 January 1997

Edited by: Itsy
Revised 10 Dec 97
Revised 15 Oct 2005

This is the Official Channel Service (CServiceSM) Charter.
If you have any questions or comments please drop by #Channels.
Verification: 


* * * CService * * *

Principles

Channel Service exists to provide timely aid and assistance to all legitimate users of the network or its services. CService representatives will take only the minimum actions deemed necessary and sufficient to correct the situation in those cases where possible violations of network policies are evident.

CService shall never:

The actions of any CService member are subject to review and possible sanction by the body of CService at any time and for any legitimate reason.

CService will:

CODE OF CONDUCT

By the nature of the job, Channel Service is the most visible of all network activites to visitors and channel users.

CService representatives shall maintain exemplary levels of conduct and professionalism at all times and, most importantly, remain patient and courteous!! From time to time, things will get hectic and sometimes we actually can't be everywhere all at once! CService representatives are always expected to make the best possible effort to meet user needs in a timely manner, no more and no less.

As CService, we are representatives of the network, and should behave with professional conduct on all matters.

The INTENT of channel services is obvious: We help StarLink-IRC maintain its overall integrity and general 'family' atmosphere. Families have favorite relatives, visitors, and the occasional black sheep, and the StarLink-IRC network is no different. Acceptable behavior is always in the eye of the beholder and our toughest job, by far, is to figure out what needs to be done to support the Net as a whole.

CService will try NOT to upset or annoy legitimate users of the net. However, IRC being what it is, somebody somewhere is going to be annoyed with what we do. Is the annoyance justifiable? Were we out of line? Sorry to say but the only way to tell is when we look BACK on what we did and see what the actual result was. We're going to win some and lose some, and that's just the way it is. In emergency or special situations, we do what has to be done and take full responsibility for our actions.

Deliberate malicious abuse of ANYONE may be grounds for immediate removal of a Channel Service member from Channel Service. The delayed golden rule is in effect .. "Do unto others as they would do unto you .. except they get the first shot" Sadly, some individuals only understand direct action on their own terms and from time to time, we are going to have to do things that someone is going to feel is 'abusive' of their rights or whatever. There are no solid rules for determining if actions were simply too direct, abusive, or simply responding in kind to an assault.

Abuse of Channel Service Authority will not be tolerated. Period. Certain channel bot access levels allow control equal to or above that of a Channel Manager. This is somewhat dangerous in that sometimes the temptation to assume control of a channel (or put someone in control of it) will be very high. On RARE occasions this may be the thing to do, USUALLY it isn't, however.. so be very careful.

#Channels: The Home of CService.

All representatives are expected to spend some time on the channel to answer questions, comments, and complaints.
A main principle on #Channels is that anyone there with op status is an authorized CService representative and is actively participating in the channel.
Representatives who are on #Channels but, for whatever reason, are not actively watching or present are expected to de-op. If present and opped, it is expected that they will respond to user messages on or off channel in a relatively short time.

Complaints

While abusive behavior is not tolerated on the network, the standards for CService representatives are, of necessity, a little more restrictive.  ANY user complaint of abuse of authority or inappropriate behavior will be addressed immediately and decisively. A conference of available CService members will be convened, if necessary, to determine the merits of the complaint and circumstances. Individuals found to have acted inappropriately may be removed from membership in Channel Services.

The bottom line is that while Channel Services sets its own standards, the network's user community will be the final judge of CService quality and performance!

Channel Service Structure

The Channel Services group is comprised of:
Channel Services Coordinator and Registrar
Channel Service Administrators and Representatives
Channel Service Assistants
Channel Service Assistants
Helping Channel Service
Everyone is encouraged to help users in any way possible.
CService is simply a small (but identifiable) group who have volunteered to give exceptional time and effort to assisting users. Anyone wishing to do so is invited to hop into #Channels and help assist users and answer questions... a 'membership' in Channel Services is not required! <grin>.

However, individuals desiring to be a member of the Channel Service group must first of all demonstrate: