MUSIC Conference Rules "Participation in the MUSIC ECHO is a privilege not a right. It's like driving a car. A DWI or two will get you talked about as well as your license revoked." (Author Unknown) MUSIC is a general message oriented echo. Conversation is encouraged. Debate is encouraged. All discussions are open to anyone who wishes to join in. Keep the discussion relevant to MUSIC. While some cross- subject topics are inevitable (i.e. drugs or AIDS while discussing certain musicians), don't get carried away. The MODERATOR may not always be right, but his decisions are final unless she / he says otherwise. A minimum of Moderator activity is intentionally maintained. The MODERATOR may post his own opinions, and argue freely and completely with anyone, as an individual. Moderator messages are labeled as such. If they do not explicitly state they are from the Moderator, and not just from Chuck Allen, you may freely argue with any of his enlightened opinions without fear of moderator reprisal. In addition, the Moderator will enforce these rules without prejudice, whether or not she / he agrees with anything you may say. QUOTING is REQUIRED. If you don't know how to quote, then you MUST indicate in the message what the original point you are disagreeing, agreeing, or discussing with was about (recap). While you and the recipient may know what you are talking about, the object is to let _everybody_ know what you are talking about. DON'T OVERQUOTE. Do not quote Tag lines or Origin lines unless they're important to your reply. The idea is to remind the readers about what you're discussing, not give a complete recap of the conversation. In addition, do not quote 15 lines of text only to write "I agree." DEBATE This echo carries an extremely small level of traffic, and, as such, there is also an extreme divergence of views. Be prepared to have one person jump on you for a statement which you consider offhand or harmless. Always remember that somewhere out there is someone who will disagree completely with your most reasoned arguments, and that logic will not always convince that person, especially in the matter of musical tastes, and whether or not Group A is better than Group B. With all that said, here are the conference rules: Rule 1: BOOTLEGS AND OTHER ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES This conference is not to be used for any illegal purpose whatsoever. This includes, but is not limited to, arrangements for the illegal copying or distribution of copyrighted material. Yes, this includes bootlegs as well as taped copies of albums and CDs. If you absolutely must conspire to break the law, do it via direct netmail, NOT via this conference. Your sysop may be liable if you do use this echo for illegal purposes. As a result, this is quite possibly the rule that will be most strictly enforced by the Moderator. It is expected that you will police yourself in dealing with this matter. However, if you do not, and you are called on it, you will be expected to immediately end all relevant conversation. Rule 2: NO FLAMING Treat others as you would like to be treated. Personal attacks are NEVER permitted. It is possible to disagree with people on MANY subjects and still be friends, or at least treat each other in a friendly manner. Rule 3: Do not be easily offended. Keep in mind that no one is forcing you to be here, and no one is forcing you to read messages that cause psychotic behavior in you. You are free to either hit the N)ext message key or to move to a more compatible environment. Rule 4: STAY ON TOPIC Confine your messages to the subject matter of the conference. There are many other echomail conferences for the discussion of many other topics. The topic of this conference is MUSIC and messages posted here should be relevant to that topic. Please note that any response to an off-topic message is also off-topic. If you see an off-topic message, DO NOT POST A RESPONSE. The preferred response is to simply ignore it. If you feel you cannot ignore the posting, send netmail to the author of the message, or to the moderator. If you post a response, you are just as much in violation of the rules as the original poster is. Rule 5: NO ADS/PERSONAL MESSAGES This conference is not to be used for advertisement or personal messages. If you have an ad you wish to post, do it in the appropriate conference, not here. If you have a personal conversation you wish to conduct, do it via netmail. Messages posted here should only be those of possible interest to a significant number of the participants. Rule 6: Each system operator that receives this conference is responsible for any and all traffic that enters this conference from his system. This does not include in transit messages from other systems receiving the conference, but DOES include messages from users of the system, and any point operators of the system. Rule 7: A few words on profanity: 1) Please restrain yourself. Is the offending word necessary? Or are you just trying to tick someone off? The only time profanity is acceptable is in the form of a quote from lyrics in a pertinent context. 2) If you find such a word necessary, please use an asterisk (*) in place of a vowel. If the appearance of the word itself is offensive to the receiver, then you will be able to convey your message without actually having to rub anyone's nose in it. 3) Anyone who is swearing is assuming the risk that the moderator will find its continued use excessively annoying, and will take appropriate action. Rule 8: ENGLISH English is the "official" language of this echo. I have done this in order to allow the most people possible to understand all the conversations. Please refrain from posting in other languages (at least without a translation). These rules are not intended to restrict discussion, but rather to focus it on the conference topic. If you have comments or questions about these rules or the conference in general please send them via netmail to the conference moderator(s) at the net address(es) given below. If you have any questions on how to use netmail, the system operator of the BBS you are reading this on should be able to help. Comments, questions, and suggestions are more than welcome, and will be responded to via netmail as time permits. Chuck Allen (1:129/41) Moderator