BitStop! is a pretty free and easy-going Bulletin Board System. Users are given certain priveleges and we expect them to live up to the responsibilities that go with those priveleges. In order to make sure people don't abuse their priveleges, BitStop has devised a series of laws. The laws are seperated into groups according to their severity. The first level of severity contains laws to protect the system from activities that are considered to be the most invasive and serious. Murder even comes second to the first level laws of BitStop. (We do believe in the death penalty, but due to other laws, we don't often enforce it...) Following Level 1, (as if you couldn't guess) is Level 2. These crimes are also considered to be bad, and punnishment will be severe. For Levels below that, punnishments will be less severe, but remember that they are still laws and violation of them will be punnished. Crimes are considered to be cumulative. If you commit a lot of crimes of a low level, you will be treated as if you have committed crimes of a higher level. First offenses are not excused, but are treated with less sevreity than repeated violations. ******* LEVEL ONE ******* HACKING INTO SYSOP ACCOUNT Any attempt to hack into the account of either of the sysops is the most severe of all crimes. It will not be tolerated. Due to the nature of telecommunications, evidence is often not solid. In such cases, the Sysop will use his own judgement. If there is any reasonable suspicion that a certain person has perpetrated this act, then that person will be treated accordingly. HACKING INTO USER ACCOUNT Any attempt to hack into another user's account will be treated in a similar way as above. Usually, since Sysop accounts wield more power, hacking into a user's account is considered somewhat less damaging. This crime will be severly punnished, however. (What is the difference between the Death Penalty, and life in prison?) ATTEMPTING TO CRASH SYSTEM Any determined attempt to bring the system to a halt or cause an error which will crash this system is a definite no-no. There are many users sharing this BBS service, and to crash the system causes them great inconvenience. Be reminded that if you are logged onto the system when it crashes by itself due to a hardware or software error, you are not held responsible. ******* LEVEL TWO ******* DISCUSSION OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITY Users are asked not to discuss illegal activities. Illegal acts include software piracy, theft, breaking and entering, murder, kidnapping, and, well, you get the point. POSTING OF COPYRIGHTED ARTICLES Like the DISCUSSION of illegal activities, we also dicourage PARTAKING in illegal activity. Posting of copyrighted articles is most definitely illegal, so don't do it. Apart from penalties incurred for such activities, the offending articles shall be imediately removed. APPLYING FOR FALSE ACCOUNTS The application for accounts under assumed names, or names of friends, for your own purposes will not be tolerated. To hold a valid BitStop account, you must own a computer, and use your own name and phone number. LENDING OF ACCOUNTS Only one person has the right to use your account: the person whose name the account is registered under. If you allow other persons to use your accounts without the express permission of the Sysops you are in violation of this code. If your friend wants to use your computer to login to his own account, he is free to use the [L]ogin command from the main menu which is its purpose. DISTRIBUTING ARTICLES FROM BitStop This is covered in your licensing agreement, so I won't repeat the details here. Suffice to say that unless you get the Sysop's permission, BitStop articles stay on BitStop. PERSONAL PREJUDICE (BIGOTRY) BitStop will not tolerate articles slandering, libeling debasing or inciting hatred for any ethnic group or individuals for any reason. ******* LEVEL THREE ******* PROFANITY BitStop tries to be reasonable when it comes to free speech, but we must draw the line somewhere. The use of asterisks and other characters are acceptable within reason. This does not allow you to type obviously offensive material by thinly disguising it with other characters. The Sysops will be the judge. Depending on the severity of the profanity this can be treated as a LEVEL TWO offence. USELESS POSTINGS Posting without purpose or meaning is frowned upon. We don't discourage free speech, but when posting, use your own judgement. If you have nothing to say, then don't say it. MISUSE OF ALIASES This is a broad topic. Aliases were invented on BitStop for the purposes of anonymity, or to give yourself a certain identity, not to hide behind. If you hide behind your alias in order to harm or insult someone, your alias priveleges will be removed. A general rule of thumb is that if you mean what you say, stand behind it. ******* SPECIAL LEVELS ******* Due to some of the features unique to BitStop, certain other laws must be provided to ensure the proper use of priveleges. *** MODERATOR RULES *** Any person on BitStop can create his own newsgroup and choose his membership. With this power comes certain responsibilities. 1) Redundant newsgroups are not encouraged. If there is already a newsgroup for discussion on a given topic, do not start another one. 2) Useless newsgroups will not be tolerated. If you have no purpose in mind, don't create a newsgroup so you can discuss the fact that you have no purpose in mind. 3) You have the right to choose your membership and do allow or disallow users the right to use aliases. It is therefore your perogative to ensure that the aliases are not abused. 4) You have the power to delete letters you feel to be redundant or offensive. If you do so, please report the offence to the Sysops who will investigate. You also have the responsibility to delete letters that disobey the laws of BitStop. (Deletion of letters are still readable by the Sysops, so deleting a letter will not hamper the Sysops' investigation into an offence.) 5) You can choose the level of your membership individualy. Each member can have various priveleges. Some may only read the group and some may only be permitted to write to it. The behaviour of members of your newsgroup therefore becomes your responsibility. 6) If the group becomes inactive for a prolonged period, it is the responsibility of the moderator to [K]ill it. 7) If you wish to have someone else take over the moderation of one or more of your newsgroups, you may request such from the Sysops. *** VOTING RULES *** BitStop has the ability to allow users to post their own votes or surveys. With this power, (you guessed it!) comes certain responsibilities. 1) Like postings, keep your vote topics and options free of profanity and make sure they comply with BitStop's rules of behaviour. 2) Limit your option lines to 60 characters. Due to system needs, the lines only use the first 60 characters, and the remaining information is truncated. 3) Remember to make your votes as complete as possible. Please make sure there are enough options to cover the field without going overboard. 4) Please make sure your vote does not try to persuade someone to vote on a particular topic. Make sure your descriptions are not biased. 5) Please don't have as options two extremes, with no middle ground. Remember that people of this world are many and varied, and not everyone is as Gung-Ho over a certain topic as you may be. Please keep those people in mind. 6) ALWAYS include an option like "Other" or "None of the above" or some other way a user can get out without having to [Q]uit or vote for an option he doesn't like. 7) If there is no activity in your vote for a period of time, then remove it. You then have the option to post the results. The only reason you should elect NOT to post the vote is if you made a mistake in the creation of the vote. (Please do not post irrelevant votes.) SUMMARY Your acceptance of your account implies agreement with the rules of conduct for BitStop. Use your common sense, and remember that the Sysops will have the final word. Their decisions will be final.