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Remember that news items you find on the Internet are not always true--you
can save yourself embarrassment by verifying rumors before distributing them.
In particular, the alt.tv.sevendays charter prohibits:
a) Off-topic posts. Messages that have nothing to do with the show should not be posted to alt.tv.sevendays.
b) Cross-posting. This involves posting the same message to more than one news group. Cross-posting puts a strain on the systems that send messages over the Internet, and because it does, many Internet providers ban or limit cross-posting. You can lose your access to the 'net if you get caught at it.
c) Binary files. Reduced to its simplest terms, a binary file is any computer file that isn't plain text. This includes images (Ex., GIFs and JPGs), audio clips (Ex., WAVs and MP3s) and video clips (Ex., AVIs). It also includes files formatted by a word processor, such as MS Word or WordPerfect, and program files such as screen-savers and (eek!) viruses. HTML files are plain text by definition, but there's not much point in sending HTML-coded documents to a news group--they belong on the Web, not in Usenet.
Binary files are a problem in part because they're large; like cross-posting, sending binaries to a discussion group puts a strain on the servers that make Usenet news groups possible. Remember, too, that people access news groups with all kinds of systems and software. You may have sophisticated equipment and applications, but others don't. News groups use plain text because it's the one thing everybody's system can read.
If you have great images or other binaries, please share them with the many alt.binaries.* groups that are designed for exactly that purpose. Or better yet, put them on a Web page.
Note that copying and distributing copyrighted images, audio clips and video clips is illegal, even if you're not making any money from it.
d) Advertising/spam. Do not post advertising or promotional announcements for commercial products or services to alt.tv.sevendays. Commercial, in this context, means anything from which you hope to make money--if you stand to profit in any way by posting the message, don't post it to the news group. Unsolicited e-mail advertising is also called spam, and it is one of the few things that's considered a no-no almost everywhere on the 'net, including in the alt.tv.sevendays news group.
Some other types of posts can get you in trouble, even though they're not specifically prohibited by the charter:
e) Trolls. A troll is any message sent to the news group purely for the purpose of causing an uproar, or any person who sends such a message, especially if he/she uses a false e-mail address to send the message. An example would be a message with a subject header that reads, "Seven Days sucks!"--which would motivate fans in the news group to clog up bandwidth with a lot of messages saying, in effect, "It does not!" You can also get electronically yelled at for responding to a troll in the news group. (Nobody cares if you respond in private e-mail--that's between you and the troll.) While we understand the temptation to respond may be strong, remember that trolls thrive on drawing attention to themselves. The fastest way to get rid of them is to ignore them entirely.
f) Virus warnings. Viruses are a real threat, but many e-mail virus warnings are hoaxes distributed by people who think it's funny to watch others scurry around in a panic for no reason. You'll look smarter if you don't play their game. If you're worried about viruses, invest in good antivirus software, use it and keep it updated.
For your own benefit and that of others, please do make an effort to keep your own system clean of viruses, so that you're not spreading them to the rest of us. One easy and completely cost-free way to head off e-mail viruses before they infect your system is to turn off the function that automatically opens any files attached to e-mail messages. (In Netscape, the function is called "View attachment inline.") With that turned off, you will have an opportunity to see what files are attached to a post, and often you can determine whether the file is a virus and delete it before it does any damage. You should be very wary of any attachment with a filename that ends in ".exe"--that's how most virus names end. Filenames that end in ".txt" or ".html" or ".htm" are text files that usually are safe to open. If in doubt, don't open it, even if it comes from someone you know--many viruses use the address books of your friends and relatives to make themselves look harmless and distribute themselves across the 'net.
So let's be careful out there, okay?
g) Pyramid schemes/chain letters. This includes messages asking people to send stuff to an allegedly dying/chronically ill/disabled child, most of which are hoaxes. Chain letters and pyramid schemes are illegal in most U.S. states.
h) Messages that don't add to the discussion. This includes responses
that just say "LOL" ("Laughing Out Loud") or "Ditto" (meaning you agree with
the person who posted a message). These are just plain annoying, especially
if you post a lot of them, and if people get annoyed enough, you may get flamed.
If you haven't got anything to say, please consider not posting at all.
However, accidents do happen. Assuming your message isn't actually illegal
(such as a chain letter), at best, you may get a polite request (or two or
six or twenty) not to do it again. At worst, someone may report you to your
Internet provider, which may or may not take action against you. Most news
readers have a utility allowing you to cancel a message you send in error--if
you act quickly. Find out how yours works, just in case you ever need it.
Failing that, a prompt apology may inspire people to just forget about it.
Obviously, if we waited for everyone to see all new eps, we couldn't discuss
the show at all. So somebody somewhere came up with the idea of posting the
word "spoiler" in the subject header or high up in a post that discusses
a recently aired episode, to warn people not to read on if they don't want
to have the episode "spoiled" for them. Some people think "spoiler" warnings
are stupid and unnecessary; others will become very annoyed if you don't
use them and will let you know in no uncertain terms how annoyed they are.
Use your best judgment.
Disagreement and debate are healthy for a news group - they lead to lively
discussions - but flame wars are always unpleasant for everybody in the forum
and should be avoided or taken to private e-mail. People who aren't involved
in the initial exchange should resist the temptation to involve themselves,
as that generally just fans the flames, so to speak.
Where one person sees abuse, another sees his/her inalienable right to freedom of expression. Before you do anything, think hard about how serious the situation really is and whether the punishment you have in mind really fits the offense.
The mildest thing you can do is privately e-mail the offender and attempt to reason with him/her. The strongest thing you can do is forward the entire message, including complete headers, to the offender's ISP. Most ISPs have an abuse department that can be reached by sending e-mail to abuse@[domain name]. Describe in your message what you found offensive about the post, but do not suggest a course of action - that can get you in trouble for attempting a "denial of service" attack. Note that reporting someone to his/her ISP is a serious matter that should only be pursued in cases of truly gross abuse. Don't do it just because you're having a bad day or you don't like the other person. You can make a lot of enemies in a hurry by using this tactic indiscriminately.
For more information about what constitutes 'net abuse and what can be
done about it, see the news.admin.net-abuse.misc news group.
Report errors, omissions, funky formatting, dead links or other distortions of the gravitational field to Doctor TOC at otherchris@erols.com.
7 Days is the property of Crowe Entertainment, Paramount Network Television and UPN. Doctor TOC claims ownership of nothing but a pair of sparkling blue eyes and a British accent. No infringement is intended.
This document may be reproduced and redistributed in its entirety by anyone who feels like it and is willing to give credit to the alt.tv.sevendays FAQ. This document may be reproduced in part on the same terms, but please provide a link to the whole document or a textual reference to the URL, http://welcome.to/7-Days.
Copyright a FAQ? Pbfft!--information needs to be free.
