Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2008 09:56:28 -0800
Reply-To: Jim Arnott <jr.arnott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Arnott <jr.arnott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: ADMINISTRIVIA - List Charter - Final
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=WINDOWS-1252; delsp=yes; format=flowed
Below is the final edition of the Vanagon List Charter. To those
that offered comments, I thank you.
If you have additional comments or suggestions, please direct them to
vanagon-admin@gerry.vanagon.com
Jim Arnott
List Admin
vanagon@gerry
This is the charter of the Vanagon List.
Welcome to the list!
You MUST READ this document and agree to abide by it if you want to
stay on
the list.
This list is only about Volkswagen T25 Transporters, Vanagons and
Caravelles,
model years 1980 through end of production. If you have an earlier
bus, or a
Eurovan, you are on the wrong list. For 1950-1967 buses, you will
probably want
Thom Fitzpatrick’s vintagebus list. For 1968-1979 buses you’ll be
looking
for the type2 list. Each can be found at their respective dot coms.
For Eurovans,
there is a Yahoogroup list.
To maintain this resource we use (at the time of this writing) a list
administrator and a server admin. You can always get hold of the
administrator
by sending mail to vanagon-admin@gerry.vanagon.com.
To post a message to the list, send it to vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com.
gerry.vanagon.com is funded entirely by donations from list members.
We do not
run advertisements or endorse vendors. You will not be charged (or
expected to
hand over an obligatory donation) for any resource we provide, not ever.
This list has about a thousand people on it (yes!), and because of
that we
have to have some rules. This is how we maintain the value of the
list as an
information source.
________________________________________________________________________
_______
PRIORITY ONE RULES -- If you screw up here you'll be kicked off the
list and
quite possibly banned forever (we really mean it):
--Do not EVER post UNSUBSCRIBE messages to the list. Clear
instructions for
getting off of the list are printed in every single message the list
server
sends out. Every single one. If for some reason you are having
trouble getting
off of the list, send mail to the administrator on duty at
vanagon-admin@gerry.vanagon.com
--Do not EVER post "TEST" messages to the list. Don't even think
about doing
this. If you are having trouble posting, send mail to the list
administrator
on duty at vanagon-admin@gerry.vanagon.com and they will help you.
--Do not EVER post virus warnings, or messages about important issues
that you
think should concern everybody in the world. Do not post messages
unless they
have legitimate Vanagon content. If you think the message you're
sending is so
important that the "Vanagon content" rule does not apply to you, that
means that
you should ==NOT== post it.
--Do not ever continue a thread that an administrator has "killed".
This is
fairly rare, but if an admin says, "please kill this thread," then do
not post
any more messages on that topic. This is how the admins keep marginal
discussions from growing out of control.
--Do not harvest addresses. It is not appropriate to collect the
personal email
addresses of list members and send them bulk email about your event
or "special
offer". This is called "spamming" and if you do it you will be denounced
throughout Usenet and all the VW mailing lists, banned from our list
forever,
and we will be talking to your ISP about having your service terminated.
--Do not use an auto-responder without unsubscribing from the list
first. If
your "out of the office" program starts trying to post messages to
the list
you will be removed.
--Do not use profanity on the list. This is not your high-school
locker room.
________________________________________________________________________
_______
PRIORITY TWO RULES -- If you screw up here you will be quietly
"moderated",
which means a list administrator will intercept and examine every
message you
try to post to the list. This can slow your messages by up to 48 hours:
--Don't post chatty messages. If it does not have legitimate Vanagon
content,
do not post it to the list. There should be a good reason that 1000
people will
download your message. We do enforce the "no chat" rule consistently
and it is
the number one reason people get moderated.
--Don't post Friday subjects except on Friday. Historically, the content
guidelines are looser on Friday, and that is the only day when it is
appropriate
to post messages on certain (marginal) subjects. However, even on
Fridays posts
should have Vanagon content.
________________________________________________________________________
_______
ETIQUETTE AND LIST CULTURE --
--There is a mail size limit of 20,000 characters and we don't allow
attachments. Do not try to post pictures, they won't get through.
--Please quote only for context. Do not quote other people's entire
messages
when replying. Especially do not include an entire digest when replying.
--Search the List Archive.
In other words, consult the extensive resources available to you at
gerry.vanagon.com before asking on the list. You will get more
information
faster that way. If you ask frequently asked questions (FAQs) or
frequently
annoying recurring threads (FARTS), people will be inclined to ignore
you or
become caustic.
--Vendors are welcome and encouraged to participate in the list--
we've had
several vendors who have been valued list members. Specific answers
to specific
queries about products and pricing are fine, but please avoid
repeatedly posting
advertisements. What we're looking for here is high information value
for the
listees. If we think you are merely spamming we will moderate you
very quickly.
--Occasionally, a list member will have a problem with the
performance of a
vendor or with a private transaction gone bad. If you are having
trouble with
a vendor, do everything you reasonably can to resolve it WITH THE
VENDOR before
you bring it to the list. Do not ambush people. If you can't resolve
it yourself,
it is a valid topic for discussion on the list, but please stick to
the facts of
the vendor's product or performance. Flames are not appropriate EVEN
IF you can
prove you've been shafted.
--Try to write using conventional capitalization, syntax and
spelling. It
indicates respect for the reader, and intentionally ignoring these
conventions
indicates contempt.
________________________________________________________________________
_______
PRIVACY POLICY
We detest spammers. We will not sell or share our subscriber lists no
matter
what the inducement. Our list server will not reveal the addresses of
subscribers through automated commands. Our web site does not employ
cookies.
We do log all web transactions and all mail transactions; this is
done strictly
for the sake of security. We do not keep track of your browsing
habits. By
subscribing to this list you have not consented to receive
"promotional email"
or any other such rubbish. In short, we will not spy on you, and if
you have
trusted us with your email address we will do our best to see that
your trust
is not betrayed.
________________________________________________________________________
_______
LEGAL STUFF
1. This is not a moderated list. The administrator doesn't see the
messages
until you do, maybe later than you do, and because of the nature of
this medium
the administrator has no way of retracting messages from public view.
Propagation is automatic; once you send a message, it's gonna go, and
there's
no way of stopping it.
2. Since that is true, the administrator cannot control what is
posted to this
list, and therefore disclaims any responsibility for the messages the
list
server propagates. If you post a message, you alone are responsible
for it. If
you don't like that, then don't post messages.
3. This list is distributed from a server located in the USA. By
United States
copyright law (and by treaty with many other countries), messages
posted to
this list are copyrighted with all rights reserved by their
respective authors.
The administrator of this list makes no claim to ownership of your
messages and
will not republish or sell them, and neither should anybody else.
However, cross posting is common on the Net whether it is authorized
or not,
and if you post a message to this list it will automatically be
entered into
at a publicly accessible online archive, where it will remain
permanently. If you
don't like the possibility of your words being cross-posted or
archived, then don't
post messages.
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