policy.shtml

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<p>
  The following policies govern the use of the

  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>

  interactive network and describe what we expect from our users.  Thank you
  for using the network!
</p>

<ul>
  <li><a href="#purpose">Purpose</a></li>
  <li><a href="#channelownership">Channel Ownership</a></li>
  <li>
    <a href="#channelnaming">Channel Naming</a>
    <ul>
      <li><a href="#primarychannels">Primary Channels</a></li>
      <li><a href="#topicalchannels">Topical or Reference Channels</a></li>
      <li><a href="#channelforwarding">Channel Forwarding</a></li>
    </ul>
  </li>
  <li><a href="#ontopic">On-Topic Use</a></li>
  <li><a href="#offtopic">Off-Topic Use</a></li>
  <li><a href="#announcements">Announcements</a></li>
  <li><a href="#advertising">Inappropriate Advertising</a></li>
  <li><a href="#behaviorandcloaks">Behavior and Cloaks</a></li>
  <li><a href="#termination">Termination of Use</a></li>
  <li><a href="#proxies">Open Proxies, IIS and Appeals</a></li>
  <li><a href="#tor">Tor and Freenode</a></li>
  <li><a href="#unlawful">Unlawful Activity</a></li>
  <li><a href="#disclaimer">Using the network</a></li>
</ul>

<h2 id="purpose">Purpose</h2>

<p>
  The <span class="freenode">freenode</span> network exists to help
  peer-directed project communities flourish. Peer-directed projects
  combine open, informal participation with broad licensing and wide
  dissemination of output.
</p>

<p>
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span> provides facilities to
  peer-directed project communities, including those of free and open source
  software (FOSS). IRC is a self-referential medium, existing mainly to
  serve IRC users &mdash; but this network was created to serve groups which
  exist <em>outside of</em> IRC. It's designed to encourage community
  members to improve their skills in the areas of cooperative effort,
  interpersonal communication and project coordination, and to create a
  real-time bridge to the outside world for our target communities.
</p>

<h2 id="channelownership">Channel Ownership</h2>

<p>
  Channels on <span class="freenode">freenode</span> are owned and operated by the
  groups which register them. No minimum level of activity or moderation is
  expected or required of channel owners. The network exists to further

  <a href="policy.shtml#ontopic">on-topic</a>

  uses, as explained in this policy, and channels or groups may be removed
  from the network for activity which is considered to be
  
  <a href="policy.shtml#offtopic">off-topic</a>.
</p>

<p>
  Groups using <span class="freenode">freenode</span> are strongly encouraged to
  adopt the
  
  <a href="channel_guidelines.shtml">network channel guidelines</a>.
</p>

<h2 id="channelnaming">Channel Naming</h2>


<p>
  Policy organizes the network into two classes of channels,
  
  <a href="#primarychannels">primary</a>
  
  and
  
  <a href="#topicalchannels">topical (reference)</a>

  channels. Primary channel names are reserved based on a formal or
  informal claim, external to IRC, to a specific project, group or trademark
  name.  Topical or reference channel names are reserved on a first-come,
  first-served basis by groups wishing to discuss a project, group or topic.
</p>

<p>
  The goals of the naming policy include:
</p>

<ol>
  <li>
    Ensuring that groups and organizations own and control channels
    associated with their names,
  </li>
  
  <li>
    Allowing users to distinguish easily between official and unofficial
    channels, and
  </li>
  
  <li>
    Encouraging groups to develop their unique identity and presence outside
    of

    <span class="freenode">freenode</span>

    and IRC.
  </li>
</ol>

<p>
  The channel naming policy is currently in transition from the informal,
  single-namespace, first-come, first-served model employed by most IRC
  networks, to the policy described here.  Groups using the network are
  encouraged to begin using the new naming model as soon as possible, to
  avoid last minute problems, including the unavailability of specific
  topical or reference channels.  Advance notice will be provided at some
  point and the old naming model will be retired.  No schedule has yet been
  determined for this transition.
</p>

<h2 id="primarychannels">Primary Channels</h2>


<p>

  Primary channel names, formatted with a single leading hash mark
  (<b>#</b>), are reserved for participating groups and organizations based
  on their legal or informal claim to the associated name or name prefix.
  For example, <span class="freenode">freenode</span> has reserved and holds
  control of the <span class="freenode">freenode</span> namespace.  That means
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span> has been granted control over channel
  #freenode, as well as any channel beginning with #freenode-.
</p>

<p>
  Name claims can be appealed, at which point network staff will look for an
  appropriate resolution to the conflict.  We may suggest informal solutions
  to promote compromise by the parties involved; but in the absence of such
  solutions, we'll give priority to groups in the following categories,
  listed in order from highest to lowest priority.  Within each category,
  we'll give priority to the group with the longest documented use of the
  name.
</p>

<ol>
  <li>
    Non-governmental organizations, standards organizations, government
    entities, formal news organizations, corporations, businesses and
    individuals with legally valid claims.
  </li>
  <li>
    Informal FOSS community projects and other projects producing
    broadly-licensed output.
  </li>
  <li>
    Web media projects, geographically-based interest groups, FOSS support
    groups and informal education/reference groups.
  </li>
</ol>

<p>
  <a id="socialengineering"></a>

  <span class="freenode">freenode</span> has limited resources to research
  trademarks.  Though uncertainties can exist as to the validity of a claim on
  a name, we'll try to resolve such claims to the best of our abilities.  The
  use of
  <a href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/S/social-engineering.html">social-engineering</a>-style
  tactics (such as legal filings) to acquire a project name already in use may
  negatively affect your reputation in the communities we serve.
</p>

<p>
  Groups on
  
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>

  which clearly do not have claim on a name, or whose activities are considered
  to be
  
  <a href="#ontopic">off-topic</a>,
  
  will not generally be given administrative control over primary channels
  bearing a given name or name prefix. These limitations may be implemented
  at the server software level at some point in the future.
</p>

<h2 id="topicalchannels">Topical or Reference Channels</h2>


<p>
  Topical or reference channel names, formatted with two leading hash marks
  (<b>##</b>), are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis to
  unofficial groups wishing to discuss a project, group or general topic
  area.  For example, the channel <b>##linux</b> has been reserved for an
  unofficial group which uses it to provide GNU/Linux support to visiting
  users.
</p>

<p>
  These channels should not be used as platforms for flaming and trolling. 
  By registering such a channel, you indicate that you assert no legal or
  informal right to the channel name used. Topical or reference channels
  should not be registered directly or indirectly by their corresponding
  projects.  <b>You may not register such a channel on

  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>

  without accepting these policies.</b>
</p>

<h2 id="channelforwarding">Channel Forwarding</h2>


<p>
  Our current policy is not to create new forwards between # and ## channels of the same name.
  Some channels may be forwarded to a holding channel that explains the namespace policy.
  Exceptions to this are looked at on a case-by-case basis.
</p>

<h2 id="ontopic">On-Topic Use</h2>
<p>
  As a program of a not-for-profit entity,
  
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>
  
  was established to provide resources to specific communities for
  activities which advance the public good. The categories listed below are
  considered to be "on-topic." We strongly urge your adherence to the
  
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>
    
  <a href="channel_guidelines.shtml">channel guidelines</a>.
  
  Please be sure to
    
  <a href="group_registration.shtml">register your group</a>
    
  to indicate its official participation in the network and to use the

  <a href="group_registration.shtml#facilities">facilities</a>

  provided with registration.
</p>

<ol>
  <li>
    <b>
      Free and Open Source Software (FOSS).
    </b>

    Project coordination, support, discussion or contact channels associated
    with software projects which are licensed under terms consistent with
    the
    
    <a href="http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines">Debian Free
    Software Guidelines</a>,
    
    the Free Software Foundation's
    
    <a href="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html">Free Software
    Definition</a>
    
    or the Open Source Initiative's
    
    <a href="http://www.opensource.org/docs/definition.php">Open
    Source Definition</a>
    
    (preferably all three) are considered to be on-topic.

    <br /><br />
  </li>
  
  <li>
    <b>
      Non-Software-Related Peer-Directed Project.
    </b>

    Channels which serve projects combining open, informal participation and
    broadly-licensed, widely-disseminated creative output are considered to be
    on-topic.  If you believe your non-software project may meet the criteria
    for a non-software peer-directed project, please consult a staffer or
    email support at freenode dot net.
    
    <br /><br />
  </li>

  <li>
    <b>
      Non-Governmental Organization (NGO).
    </b>

    Coordination, support, discussion or contact channels run by educational
    institutions, registered not-for-profit entities and other
    non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their related consortia are
    considered to be on-topic.  Be sure to
    
    <a href="group_registration.shtml">register your group or organization</a>.
    
    <br /><br />
  </li>

  <li>
    <b>
      Governmental Entity.
    </b>
    
    Coordination, support, discussion or contact channels run by local,
    national or international governmental entities are considered to be
    on-topic.  Don't forget to
    
    <a href="group_registration.shtml">register your group</a>.
    
    <br /><br />
  </li>
  
  <li>
    <b>
      News Media.
    </b>

    Formal news organizations with an interest in our target
    communities are encouraged to create contact channels on <span
    class="freenode">freenode</span>.

    <br /><br />
  </li>
  
  <li>
    <b>
      Corporate.
    </b>
    Contact channels for registered corporate or business entities or
    consortia with an interest in our target communities are
    considered to be on-topic.

    <br /><br />
  </li>
  
  <li>
    <b>
      Standards.
    </b>

    Discussion channels associated with official standards committees or
    with informal standards groups are considered to be on-topic.

    <br /><br />
  </li>
  
  <li>
    <b>
      Geographically-Based Interest Group.
    </b>

    Channels associated with formal or informal geographically-based
    interest groups are considered to be on-topic.  These include local
    Linux and FreeBSD user groups (LUGs and FUGs) and community wireless
    groups.  If your group doesn't fall into one of those categories, but
    you think it might meet the criteria, please consult a staffer or email
    support at freenode dot net.
    
    <br /><br />
  </li>

  <li>
    <b>
      Other groups.
    </b>
    Other groups not covered by the above examples may be suitable for the
    network. Please drop an e-mail to groups@freenode.net if you want to find
    out if your group/project is a good fit for the network.

    <br /><br />
  </li>
</ol>

<h2 id="offtopic">Off-Topic Use</h2>
<p>

  Unlawful activities and their related support activities are considered
  off-topic, as are
  
  <a href="#advertising">inappropriate advertising</a>,
  
  heavy media file trading, gaming and proprietary game software modding,
  warez, hax0r activity, porn and various forms of antisocial behavior,
  including (but not limited to) political, racial, ethnic, religious or
  gender-related invective.  Off-topic activity may result in users being
  barred from the network.

  <br /><br />
  In accordance with UK law freenode has no tolerance for any activity which
  could be construed as:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>incitement to racial hatred</li>
  <li>incitement to religious hatred</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>or any other behaviour meant to deliberately bring upon a person harassment, 
  alarm or distress. We do NOT tolerate discrimination on the grounds of race,
  religion, gender or sexual preference and run with
  a zero-tolerance policy for libel and defamation. 
  <br /><br />

  While we believe in the concept of freedom of thought and freedom of expression,
  freenode does not operate on the basis of absolute freedom of speech and we 
  impose limitations eg. on "hate speech".
  
  <br /><br />
  We expect all members of the community to treat other community members with 
  respect and reserve the right to terminate anyone's access to our services 
  should they be found to be in breach of policy.

  <br /><br />

  <b>NOTE:</b> Development and support for FOSS-licensed peer-to-peer file
  transfer software is considered on-topic. Unlawful use of such software is
  considered off-topic.<br />

</p>

<h2 id="announcements">Announcements</h2>


<p>
  Information on the

  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>
  
  network can be found on our
  
  <a href="index.shtml">website</a>.
  
  Of particular interest: the
  
  <a href="policy.shtml">policy page</a>,
  
  the
  
  <a href="faq.shtml">FAQ</a>,
  
  the
  
  <a href="http://blog.freenode.net">news page</a>,
  
  the
  
  <a href="channel_guidelines.shtml">channel guidelines</a>

  and the network philosophy section.  In addition, policy is to send via
  global notice those announcements whose contents have an effect on a large
  portion of the network community.  These include announcements about
  scheduled and unscheduled downtime on major servers, and notification when
  the
  
  <a href="http://blog.freenode.net">network news page</a>
  
  has been updated.
</p>

<p>
  In contrast, WALLOPS messages may contain nearly any information provided
  for, by or about the network, the network staff or the communities we
  serve.  This may include detailed network status information,
  announcements of new channels and group contacts, staff birthdays, group
  events, random news, commentary, banter and/or bad puns.
</p>

<p>
  By policy, the answer to complaints about the content of WALLOPS messages
  is, <i>please turn off WALLOPS on your client.</i>  Information has been
  provided in the
  
  <a href="faq.shtml">FAQ</a>

  describing how to turn network staff informational messages
  
  <a href="faq.shtml#networkinfo">on</a>
  
  or
  
  <a href="faq.shtml#lessinfo">off</a>.
  
  Thanks in advance for your understanding.
</p>

<h2 id="advertising">Inappropriate Advertising</h2>
<p>
  Unsolicited commercial advertisements via channel messages or private
  messages are considered inappropriate on

  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>.
  
  This should not be construed as limiting in any way the discussion of
  commercial offerings in corporate contact channels or elsewhere on the
  network.  But please, show courtesy, honesty, tact and discretion.
</p>

<p>
  Announcements may be made from time to time by

  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>

  staff about fundraising activities or formal programs of not-for-profit
  entities. We'll try to keep such announcements within the bounds of our

  <a href="#announcements">announcements</a>

  policy.  As such, these announcements are considered to be appropriate
  and on-topic.
</p>

<p>
  Using

  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>
  
  channels as advertisements for another chat network, or for your project
  channel on another network, are considered inappropriate.  Please refer
  people to your official channel via your project web page.  Channels on
  the network are meant to be actively used; those which appear to be set up
  primarily to advertise other networks, or channels on other networks, may
  be removed by staff.
</p>

<h2 id="behaviorandcloaks">Behavior and Cloaks</h2>


<p>

  When you're wearing a group or project cloak, any antisocial behavior on
  your part reflects on the group which provided you your cloak.  Most
  groups will withdraw a cloak rather than have its owner reflect badly on
  them.  If we receive complaints about your behavior and you're wearing a
  cloak, we may remove your cloak.  This includes "pdpc/supporter" cloaks.  If
  we remove your cloak, we may replace it with an "unaffiliated" cloak; but
  antisocial behavior may result in the loss of those cloaks as well.  We'll
  try to contact you in order to let you know when and why your cloak was
  removed.

</p>

<h2 id="termination">Termination of Use</h2>


<p>
  We welcome users and developers in our target communities.  The network
  hosts both official and unofficial support channels for a variety of
  projects.  If you want to open a coordination or support channel for
  your project, we'd be happy to have you on the network. Our

  <a href="#channelownership">channel ownership policy</a>

  is designed to make it easy for you to move your channel to

  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>
</p>

<p>
  We also recognize that we are not the only interactive facility for
  community projects. If you announce that your group or channel has moved
  from

  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>

  to a new network, we'll render the channel or channels inactive and leave
  pointers to your new location for one week.  If you've announced you're
  moving, we'll leave your channels untouched for that week. After the week
  is complete, we'll render "primary channels" (starting with <b>#</b>)
  inactive (possibly forwarding them to another channel) and free topical or
  reference channels (starting with <b>##</b>) for the use of another group. 
  At that point, you should use your project web site to point people to the
  new location, so that everybody gets the message.
</p>

<h2 id="proxies">Open Proxies, IIS and Appeals</h2>
<p>
  Like many interactive networks, we've had our share of problems with
  denial-of-service attacks.  As a result, we've had to develop a variety
  of measures to reduce the impact of such attacks.
  
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>
  
  may block access to users whose IRC clients run on hosts with open
  proxies, IIS servers or other categories of software determined to
  present special risk to our server environment.  We reserve the right to
  use automation to attempt to detect such software on your host, as you
  connect to our servers, while you remain connected to the network and on
  occasion during post-connection analysis.  Your use of the network
  signifies your acceptance.
</p>  

<p>
  If you do not accept the above policy, any use of freenode from your
  facilities is unauthorized and should cease immediately, after which we'll
  be happy to discuss the matter further.
</p>

<p>
  If you've been affected by a connect limit or a server ban, please feel
  free to appeal via email to: support at freenode dot net. Sometimes users
  are affected by problems not of their own making. We'll try to remove
  the ban or provide an exception if possible.
</p>

<h2 id="tor">Tor and Freenode</h2>
<p>
  The <a href="http://www.eff.org/">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a>'s
  <a href="http://www.torproject.org/">Tor</a>
  project is a special case in
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>'s
  treatment of proxy servers. Tor provides anonymous access to internet
  services, including IRC, and protects its users' privacy from various
  forms of traffic analysis. The <span class="freenode">freenode</span>
  network welcomes Tor users, and you can find more about Tor on
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span> on the
  <a href="irc_servers.shtml#tor">irc servers</a> page.
</p>


<h2 id="unlawful">Unlawful Activity</h2>


<p>
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span> cannot condone or support behavior
  which is clearly unlawful.  While we do not have the resources to closely
  monitor the thousands of channels on the network, staff and volunteers are
  required by policy to pass on credible information, provided by you as a
  network participant, about unlawful activities.  This is true whether you
  are talking about your own activities or those of someone else.  Please be
  aware that we have this responsibility.
</p>

<p>
  Information about unlawful activity outside of
  
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span>
  
  is best provided directly to appropriate law enforcement agencies.
    
  <br /><br />
</p>  

<h2 id="disclaimer">Using the network</h2>
<p>
  Please be aware that <span class="freenode">freenode</span> is a
  communication platform and we are not involved in the day-to-day
  operations of the projects that use <span class="freenode">freenode</span>.
  Whilst we embrace the technology and the opportunities made available
  through projects that use <span class="freenode">freenode</span>, we are
  unable to endorse, monitor or guarantee the activities of those projects
  or between users.
</p>
<p>
  Transactions or trades you may be considering entering into with other
  users on the network will be between you and the relevant user(s), subject
  to any terms or conditions imposed by your chosen payment platform;
  <span class="freenode">freenode</span> accepts no responsibility or
  liability for any such trade or transaction. We urge you to conduct your
  own risk assessment before carrying out any financial transactions or
  entering into any agreements with other users.
</p>
<p>
  In other words: Your use of the <span class="freenode">freenode</span>
  network is at your own risk.
</p>

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