18 PLUS Network!!!! Network rules and guidelines for member operation. No one under 18... sysop's of member systems will be held STRICTLY accountable. If the sysop wishes to make this 21, this is okay; BUT NO ONE under 18. First offense 7 days lock-out subject to review (could be goodbye if reason exists to make administration nervous about this system's capability to comply in future) Second offense 30 days lockout subject to review (goodbye... unless *strong* reason exists to show cause for benefit of doubt) Third offense goodbye. ----------------------------- Outlawed Topics.... Anything that is condoning or advocating unlawful acts. Anything that could be construed or interpreted to show an advocacy or approval of adult-minor sexual conduct/contact. Bondage (S&M) topics, particularly sensitive would be any threads that involve "unwilling participation on the part of one party". This is a tough issue... but recent legal decisions make this a HOT area, one that we, as sysops, do NOT need to find ourselves attempting to decipher the "legal line" on, and where it is drawn. In general, any topic that makes us nervous about legal problems, or is offensive to the general community as a whole... in context of an adult only viewing audience, is unsuitable. IOW, a Gay conference thread might NOT be suitable in the Chat conference and a Political thread might NOT be suitable in the Lesbian conference. Anything that a Moderator declares off topic is OFF TOPIC. Moderators can have someone locked from a conference or even TCAN'ed at any time, if they feel this user is a real detriment to the conference or the net at large. Sysops may protest in the EXEC conference. However, the burden of "proof" of unfairness is on the user's Sysop. Often, any moderator who is over-ruled will also be relieved of their responsibility of moderating the conference. This makes the moderator very powerful... but VERY vulnerable. Sysops please note, moderators are supported in this network. We NEED them to be able to act quickly in a troublesome situation. We all want to supports our users! Please reflect carefully before challenging any moderator's decisions. Frivolously challenging a moderator's call... may put YOUR membership at risk. FIDO policy has a phrase that makes eminent good sense to me and so I wish to incorporate it here! Annoying behavior is grounds for censure, excessively annoying behavior is grounds for dismissal from the network, being too easily annoyed is excessively annoying. Shit rolls down hill! Regionals are responsible for their Hubs and Nodes, and are under the direction of the "Host" system. Hub's are responsible for their nodes and accountable to Regionals. We intend this to be a fun place to be... a SAFE adult network (in all respects) for those who wish to enjoy each other's comraderie. We tend to be ROUGH on ROUGH-NECKS and be extremely tolerant of those who show us all good humor and tolerance. ----------------------- Flaming is NOT desirable... a heated dispute... people can get carried away a bit... adults do that! However, when the subject becomes the character of the other party, rather than a reasonable debateable point... that becomes a flame. In general, if the moderator, or the chief moderator, or a member of the network administration says it's a flame... it's a FLAME! ---------------- Hit and Run bashing is a much more serious matter. This is intolerable and will not be accepted, ever. First offense is 7 days lock-out of the conference, subject to administration review... which may bring about further administration action. Second offense is 30 days TCAN network wide, subject to administration review... which will *likely* bring about a permanent TCAN. Third Offense is net death for ANY user/or system which refuses to administer the decision. ------------------- The Net Administration can show "mercy" if circumstances warrant it... or call for heavier sanctions if necessary, subject to approval by 2/3 vote of the Net Administrator, Assistant Administrator, and Chief Moderator. The only way to escape the lock outs involved in under 18 access, is for the offending member to fax suitable proof that every reasonable effort was made to avoid such access... and that the access was only made possible by user fraud. IE the sysop sends within 72 hours, a photo-id photo-copy and signed application which clearly states that the user was of age. In addition, the system sysop must lock out the offending identity permanently from all 18PLUS net access. No one is immune from this policy... It is 18PLUS net policy that NO ONE will be let "off the hook", including the administration's systems. If anyone screws up on this one... they are gonna "do the time". In the case of a major hub... if the hub sysop wishes to remain as a hub, they may pass- through the mail during such a suspension... but in no case may they allow local access. Any violation of this will bring about instant "net death" upon the offending system. Administration personnel may call OTHER systems and keep in touch to perform their administrative duties that way... but NO LOCAL mail will be acceptable during a suspension period. ----------------------- The Network Administrator may decline an application or remove a system from the membership roles without explanation, excepting upon both the Asst Administrator and Chief Moderator formally requesting such explanation. In reality... this is likely only in the circumstances of willful misconduct on the part of the member system (which will be OBVIOUS to all) or failure to comply with reasonable standards of echomail transfers (duping and duping etc.). Any new member applications may be declined if objected to by any member system. While we are not guaranteeing "territorial protection" for the member systems... we ARE sympathetic to those who join the network who wish to have a bit of "exclusivity". Unless all member systems in the immediate area approve, we do NOT intend to approve of another member system in an existing member's backyard. Circumstances can dictate that a given system might have a LOT to offer this network... we might not always be able to adhere to this policy (the best interests of the network must come first)... but it is the stated philosophy we intend to follow.