The 
Charter
11JAN 97 Written
by: Itsy
Last Modification - Amendment
5 May 2006
StarLink-IRC RULE #1: Do not annoy others.
StarLink-IRC RULE #2: Do not be too
easily
annoyed.
Part I : Charter and Foundation
StarLink-IRC was originally founded on 15 July 1996
for
the purpose of providing IRC users with a good place to meet, exchange
ideas, and generally have fun. On 1 January 1997, these concepts were
reborn
in the StarLink-IRC network where the original spirit of communication,
cooperation and user support that has become our hallmark.
StarLink-IRC is a network
neighborhood:
Our Services infrastructure support the channels that comprise the
neighborhood
homes, offices, meeting halls, and parks where people can safely meet,
exchange ideas and form 'families' and common interest groups.
The founding members of StarLink-IRC,
after
due deliberation, adopted the following principles:
- The inherent and self-evident rights, authorities
and
responsibilities of Host Services, Channel Services, and Users shall
not
be abridged.
- StarLink-IRC exists for the sole purpose of
providing
its users with a safe, reliable, and secure place to chat.
- All Users shall, wherever possible, be provided
timely
assistance, support, and a voice in network.
- Deliberate abuse or harassment of persons or
groups will
not be tolerated
- Abuse of authority is absolutely prohibited and
will
be dealt with swiftly and severely.
- StarLink-IRC Operations shall deal immediately
with any
reports of abuse by members of StarLink-IRC organizations.
- Within a Channel, the Channel Manager defines
allowable
behavior and may deal with violators as they see fit.
StarLink-IRC balances the inherent
rights
of free speech and the rights of users. Although supportive of
alternative
viewpoints and lifestyles, StarLink-IRC will NOT support advocacy of
intolerance
or abuse of the rights or property of others. The following Special
Restrictions
apply:
Prohibited Activities:
- Channels and users providing or supporting Warez
(stolen
software) distribution or acquisition.
- Openly pornographic channels soliciting,
supporting or
conducting on-channel sexual activities.
- Channels and/or users advocating abuse of human
rights,
including cruelty, intolerance, child pornography, or similar subjects.
- Cloning or flooding for the purposes of
disrupting the
network or its users.
- Repeated abuse of privmsg or DCC chat to
systematically
or repeatedly harass users.
Penalties:
Violators will be permanently and immediately
removed
from StarLink-IRC, possibly without warning or appeal. Relevant records
of prohibited activities or advocacy may be provided to appropriate
authorities
for further action.
Part II: StarLink-IRC Structure
StarLink-IRC is an interactive group
of
people who all have a common interest in the success of our network.
Input
from affected parties will be solicited and considered. While
individual
Groups are autonomous and not subject to review by other activities,
any
decisions affecting StarLink-IRC as a whole are subject to review by
the
OPERATIONS GROUP.
Part II-A Services and Organizations
SERVICES: The technical or administrative functions that support
the network. De-facto Services are those which appear on a /map or
/links
listing and are an integral part of the net. The principal services
provided
by StarLink-IRC are:
- HOST Services: Systems which run the programs used by or for
StarLink-IRC.
- OPER Services: Global network control functions.
- CHAN Services: Channel-based control functions to channel
operators.
- AUX Services: Support features and functions messaging
services,
mail lists, web pages, etc.
ORGANIZATIONS: StarLink-IRC Named Organizations are defined
Groups
which determine the character and nature of SERVICES and coordinates
their
implementation. The Five StarLink-IRC named organizations and
principal
authorities are:
- OPERATIONS GROUP: Overall network coordination and policies.
- HOST SERVICES GROUP: Host Server and Networking (HOST
Services)
- Server Administration: Server Administration and
Connectivity Policy
- Operator Services: Network Operation and Protection
- CHANNEL SERVICES GROUP: Channel Administration (CHAN Services)
- Registration: Channel Registration and Policy
- CService Representatives: Channel Operations assistance
- TECHNICAL SERVICES GROUP: Technical Activities (OPER Services,
AUX
Services)
- Routing Services: Connectivity Support and Testing
- Coding Services: Services Design, Development, Testing
- Web Services: World Wide Web Presence
- Mail List Services: Mailing List Administration
- USERS GROUP: User Representation
- Channel Owners (Channel Ownership)
- Channel Ops (Channel Operations)
Part II-B General Provisions
Connectivity
The founding administrators have agreed that, regardless of any
other
permissions or approvals deemed necessary, the unanimous consent of ALL
current Administrators is a prerequisite to permanently adding a server
to the network.
Service Administrator Authority
The authority of a service administrator over their service is
absolute
and final and includes: Addition, removal and discipline of priviliged
users and the proper implementation and management of services provided.
Ownership
Nothing in this charter shall be construed to infringe upon the
intellectual
property rights of any individual. The owner of any intellectual
property
used by StarLink-IRC by permission may withdraw such permission at any
time and for any reason. The domain name, StarLink-IRC.org, belongs
exclusively
to the StarLink-IRC network as a whole. Network identifiers, logos, and
similar design elements that have been assigned or licensed to
StarLink-IRC
belong to StarLink-IRC as a whole and not to any specific individual or
group.
Structure and Representation within Groups
Structure: Named organizations shall determine their own
membership,
internal structure, and operating procedures.
Representation: Within a named organization, no
individual may
have more than ONE vote. Authorized proxy votes of absent voting
members
may be presented by anyone so authorized by the voting member.
Proxies: General proxies are prohibited. If a voting
member cannot
be present, they shall appoint an authorized voting delegate for any
discussion
or votes. The selected delegate conveys all rights, authorities and
responsibilities
of the voting member. The delegate shall NOT be a current voting member
of the applicable group prior to their selection.
Network Representatives
Network representatives are the privileged users of server,
operator
or channel service functions who are charged with maintaining network
integrity
and security.
Network Representatives are NOT responsible for any activity
that occurs
on a channel and will NOT interfere with internal channel operations,
content,
or politics.
When on a channel, Representatives are GUESTS of the channel and
will
act appropriately. In EMERGENCY situations, any Network Representative
may take immediate action to restore channel or network stability.
Use of special authority to act contrary to the wishes of
legitimate
channel managers or operators is absolutely prohibited and may result
in
the loss of that authority.
StarLink-IRC OPERATIONS GROUP will ensure that any Network
Representative
found or reported to be abusing their authority is fairly investigated
and, if appropriate, disciplined by the appropriate group. HOST
SERVICES
GROUP will handle issues regarding IRC Operators and CHANNEL SERVICES
GROUP
will address infractions by Channel Services members.
Part III: ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Part III-A OPERATIONS GROUP
Description:
- StarLink-IRC Operations is a representative group that provides
overall
coordination and network policy direction. No specific individual shall
be designated as head of or coordinator for the OPERATIONS GROUP.
- Voting Membership:
- The voting membership shall consist of ONE and only ONE
delegate from
each named Group:
- HOST SERVICES GROUP (Host Services Delegate)
- CHANNEL SERVICES GROUP (Channel Services Delegate)
- TECHNICAL SERVICES GROUP (Technical Services Delegate)
- USERS GROUP (User Group Delegate)
- Responsibility:
- Mediate discussion and resolve conflicts between (or, if
requested,
among) its member groups. This group shall ensure that all members of
the
StarLink-IRC community are provided a voice in network activities,
informed
of issues and decisions, and provided a safe and efficient network.
Group Services:
- None. No service or group shall be part of the Operations
Group
Part III-B HOST SERVICES GROUP
Description:
- Administration and overall operation of StarLink-IRC servers. The
Host
Services Coordinator shall ensure that Server Administration and
Operator
Services needs and interests are adequately represented and are
consistent
with the goals and spirit of the network.
- Voting Membership:
- Voting membership consists of TWO delegates for each connected
service
or server as follows: For IRC servers: ONE server administrator and ONE
operator on that server. For Services: ONE service owner/designer and
ONE
administrator of the service.
- Responsibility:
- Individual service administrators are totally responsible for
the operation
and management of their service.
Group Services:
Server Administration:
- Server Administrators are expected to abide by any agreements
regarding
their affiliation with StarLink-IRC.
- For their systems, Server Administrators are responsible for
implementation
of service/server configuration changes and permissions or prohibitions
(k:lines, etc.)
Operator Services:
- IRC ops are the assistants, representatives and agents of their
respective
Administrators. IRC ops shall safeguard the net from disruption and
provide
timely assistance to users upon request.
Part III-C CHANNEL SERVICES GROUP
Description:
- Channel Services is responsible for channel registration, setup,
and
channel user assistance. The Channel Services Coordinator is
responsible
for ensuring that Channel Service activities support the user community
and are in concert with the overall spirit and charter of StarLink-IRC.
- Voting Membership:
- Voting membership consists of the StarLink-IRC Channel
Services Administrator,
Deputy Administrator, and the channel
- services programmer/owner.
- Responsibility
- CService consists of experienced IRC channel managers, IRC
operators
and Server Administrators who: WILL NOT enter into discussions on how a
channel is run WILL mediate discussions of channel managers. WILL
attempt
to provide stability to channels.
Group Services:
Registration:
- Responsible for approving the initialization or deletion of
registered
channels.
Representatives:
- Responsible for assisting users in maintaining channel stability,
answering
questions, and assisting users in the proper utilization of
StarLink-IRC
services.
Part III-D TECHNICAL SERVICES
Description:
- Technical Services are responsible for evaluation, analysis,
development,
and coordination of the various technical features and characteristics
of the network. The Technical Services Coordinator is
responsible
for ensuring coordination of technical activities both within the
TECHNICAL
SERVICES group and with StarLink-IRC OPERATIONS GROUP. For
presentation,
discussion or other activities, the Technical Services Coordinator
shall
ensure that appropriate representatives or experts are 1: given an
adequate
voice in overall StarLink-IRC operational decisions, and 2: provided
access
to groups or individuals as needed to perform their duties.
- Voting Membership:
- Voting membership shall consist of the Technical Services
Administrator
and ONE member from each committee within the group.
- Responsibility:
- Each committee shall perform the activities shown below and
shall have
a coordinator or point of contact who is
- responsible for 1) ensuring committee activities are
performed in a
timely manner and 2) properly coordinated among affected
- groups.
Group Services
Routing Services Committee:
- Connectivity Support and Testing
Coding Services Committee:
- Services Design, Development, Testing
Web Services Committee:
Mail List Services Committee:
- Mailing List Administration
Part III-E USER GROUP
Description:
- Represents all users of the StarLink-IRC network. The selection,
duties,
and roles of the User Group Coordinator will be
- determined at a later date and, upon ratification by NETWORK
OPERATIONS,
become part of this charter.
- Voting Membership:
- All channel managers, operators, and visitors are members of
the USERS
GROUP.'
- Responsibility:
- Channel managers are the registered "owners" of their
respective
channels and:
- Shall ensure that channel content and behavior is within the
guidelines
of the StarLink-IRC Charter.
- May appoint additional channel operators as deemed necessary.
- Are the final authority within the channel.
- Are NOT responsible for other-channel activities of their
regulars
or ex-operators.
- Channel Operators:
- Are representatives and agents of the Channel Manager
- Should maintain order within the channel as needed
- Abuse on Other Channels
- Abusive behavior on other channels by Channel Managers will
NOT be
tolerated.
- Channel managers repeatedly violating this rule may be
warned, but
WILL be removed or suspended for an indefinite period.
Group Services
None Specific.
Part IV: Channel Registration
Part IV-A Registration
Given the nature of IRC networks, all channels are inherently
'provisional'
.. they only exist because a user or bot sets them up. The registration
process recognizes this and is designed to reduce the administrivia
usually
found in channel registrations.
In general, only one channel will be registered to any
individual.
Failure of a channel owner to appear (authenticate and join the
channel)
for 45 consecutive days will constitute abandonment of the channel.
- CService will review applications for content and
completeness and
send a response letter to the applicant.
- CService may deny registration to anyone who has been abusive
to the
net or its users.
- Any registered Channel may be removed for necessary and
sufficient
reason.
- Temporary channels may be set up from time to time for
special purposes
but must be either removed or formally registered as soon as
practicable.
- CService will periodically purge channels that appear to be
abandoned.
- With suitable justification, a channel that has been
mistakenly purged
will be immediately reinstated.
Part IV-B Changes
- The channel manager must send an E-mail request to the current
StarLink-IRC
registration address stating:
- The channel name. and owner identification (userID, owner
name)
- The requested action (Addition, Deletion, Transfer,
De-Registration)
- The reason for the request.
- Transfer: The channel owner may request that channel
ownership be transferred
to another individual. Such transfers are final and, upon completion,
the
requester may not claim any further ownership of the channel.
- De-Registration: Upon request of the channel manager, the
CService
bot may be permanently removed from a channel. Note: A deleted channel
will NOT be re-registered to the same owner within 30 days.
Part III-C Objections
Any reasonable objection to a channel will be considered by
CService.
Upon receipt of an objection, the CSC will:
- Immediately convene a meeting of any available CService
members to
determine the seriousness and nature of the objection.
- Designate or set up a channel for discussion of the issues
(if needed
due to the nature of the objection).
- The discussion date/time will be set to accommodate as many
concerned
individuals as possible yet still provide a timely response.
- No final decision will be made until BOTH sides of any
disagreement
or objection have been heard.
- Meeting attendance by parties NOT involved in the issues will
be discouraged.
AMENDMENT 1: Founding Membership
During the meeting establishing this charter, the following
memberships
were established. Each group and service will meet as needed to make
adjustments
to these positions. Link to AMENDMENT 1
(Founding
Membership).
AMENDMENT 2: Current Membership
As needed, SL-IRC makes adjustments to positions. Current Membership
is shown on the StarLink-IRC organization web
page.
AMENDMENT 3: Advertising
This charter is hereby amended to include:
Advertising/spamming is prohibited. Particularly advertising of
other
networks
AMENDMENT 4: Deception
May 2003. This charter is hereby amended to include:
Malicious deception is annoying and thus prohibited. Malicious
deception
is simply lying to accomplish a dishonorable purpose. An example is
falsely
posing as a network staff member, channel op, or anyone else in order
to
falsely obtain trust or privilege.
Specifically, malicious deception in order to obtain personal
information
or undue control in a channel is absolutely prohibited and will result
in loss of privileges up to and including being banned from the
network.
Channel Services may or may not consider reinstating privileges lost
pursuant
to this Amendment as they see fit.
Starlink-IRC staff and administrators will collectively enforce any
sanctions resulting from violations of this rule.
AMENDMENT 5: Mail System
May 2006. This charter is
hereby amended to include:
SLIRC Mail System Charter
Proper mail list management is critical to the reputation and character
of the net. It doesn't take much to end up on a bunch of
blacklists these days. Therefore, the starlink-irc.org domain
owner will be the final authority on the mail lists that will exist and
their management. Within that authority, the Channel Services
administrator will determine the SLIRC-Register membership list.
The SL-IRC Mail Administrator will manage all mail list activities and
functions. The Mail Administrator is selected or removed by the
SL-IRC domain owner as necessary.
A. Lists. There are three network email lists,
All lists are "open" for posting to by members and non-members.
SLIRCERS@starlink-irc.org
Moderated
for non-members. Unmoderated for members.
Membership
restricted to SL-IRC Staff
SLIRC-Register@ starlink-irc.org
Moderated
for non-members. Unmoderated for members
Membership
restricted to CService Only
SLIRC-Mail@starlink-irc.org
All
posts are moderated.
Self-subscribing,
Unrestricted membership (subject to admin control for abuses)
B. Net Aliases. Email aliases for the net include:
abuse@
to
SLIRCERS
services@ to
SLIRCERS
webmaster@ to webmaster
newsletter@ to newsletter editor(s)
webring@ to
webring manager
C. Individual Aliases;
Additional aliases for individuals (staff) may be available at the
discretion and willingness of the services provider being used.
D. Administration and Management
The Mail Adminitrator:
1)
monitors and provide general management of all lists
2)
selects and approve helpers, moderators or assistants as necessary.
3) adds
and deletes list members, (except SLIRC-Register).
4) acts
as the primary point of contact for changes to email aliases
5) is
the final authority on mail list management, issues, rules, and
membership.
General Guidelines.
These are basic principles of operation and may be modified as
necessary by the Mail Administrator.
One person will monitor all lists as primary with alternates as
needed. For the staff lists, it's cleaning up spam mostly.
The administrator and helpers will work out the best way to share
duties so that there is backup without too much redundancy.
Staff Mail: Mail received at slirc-mail that should be addressed
to staff (bans, glines, general administrivia) will probably be thrown
away. The staff knows which lists they should be using. If
you posted to general mail and it didn't show up, you might want to
resend it to the right list.
Newsletter Mail: Mail received that is FOR the newsletter should be
redirected to the newsletter editor. Time permitting, send a note
back to the user and tell them that in the future, submissions should
be sent directly to newsletter@starlink-irc.org.
General Mail; The mail list is a sensitive critter. Users
will unsubscribe if there is too much traffic on it that isn't
interesting to them. If staff want to exchange chatter on a post,
they should use SLIRCERS or even wallops (we have a chat net, after
all). Staff should NOT reply to general mail postings on the
general mail list unless it is a critical correction or expansion.
Forum: We have a forum over on gmail. There is virtually
zero interest in it. And has been since about 1998. The
complainers want to use a captive audience - which is why slirc-mail is
moderated. We have #Townhall meetings for that.
Moderation: The general list is for the newsletter and critical net or
news information (major security issues, channel purges, things of
direct and compelling interest.) Remember, our subscribers will
unsubscribe if there are 3 or 4 posts to the list a MONTH.
Occasionally the administrator may let a funny go through if it's short
and to the point however, that's totally up to them, so don't be
surprised if your post doesn't make it. Also don't be surprised
if the administrator pulls the plug on a thread.
For all users: Mail list moderation decisions are treated like
channel bans. You can complain about them all you want to the
administrator. Even ask to be reconsidered. Do NOT beat up on the
administrator because your favorite post didn't make it - it is a very
difficult job and is bound to tick just about everybody off at one
point or another. Be thankful YOU don't have to deal with it and
let them.
AMENDMENT 6: Bots
This charter is hereby amended to include:
Bots are automated programs owned by users of the network that run
unattended at any time while connected to StarLink-IRC. Temporary bots
are those related to a client connection and which go away when the
user is offline. All other bots are considered permanent, must be
'homed' in a registered channel, and may only connect to specific
server(s) as permitted by the server admin. Bots must not interfere
with CStar, the network, or channel operations and must have the
channel owner's permission to be present. Bots shall only reside in
channels and may only be in five (5) channels at any given time.
StarLink-IRC reserves the right to unilaterally remove any bot for any
reason without recourse. Channel operators and owners may rescind
permission for bots to be present at any time, with or without notice
to the bot owner.
(CStar, Deathstar, and the scanners are not bots. They are
servers.).
Copyright
2007 StarLink-IRC.org All Rights Reserved.