The Constitution and Guiding Policy of the ChatNet IRC Network
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Revision 9.0.2 [4/29/1999]
Written by mlong of RockHill.SC.US.ChatNet.Org
Michael Long (mlong@mlong.net)
Changes via cadmin discussion and approval.

[ Introduction ]
This document is designed to be a guiding document for the ideals, values, and ideas of the
ChatNet IRC network.

[ Ideals ]
This network is here for the enjoyment and entertainment of our users. It is also designed
for the free flow of ideas and opinions between individuals. Individuals should be able to state
opinions without being killed or glined by administration. ChatNet officials are here to assist in
the smooth operation of the network and to ensure users have a pleasant online experience. At
all costs, anyone impacting the fun and entertainment environment of the network (especially
through harassment, flooding, and extreme unprofessionalism or rudeness to users) must be
removed from the network.

[ Policies and Rules ]
There are few set policies on the ChatNet network other than this document because the
administrators of this network want everyone to use common sense and to act sensibly and to
the best of their abilities when conducting themselves on the network. ChatNet officials should
use their best professional and moral judgment to the best of their abilities when dealing with
situations on the network.

[ Abuse, Complaints, and the Courts ]
When any official of ChatNet acts in a manner which one considers to be abusive or
inappropriate, a complaint may be made to complaints@chatnet.org. The complaint secretary
(i.e., individual checking mail at complaints@chatnet.org) will then assign a tracking number to
the complaint and email it to the appropriate jury AND the person being accused AND the
accused's superior (for FONs and ircops, it is the admin; for committees, it is the chair or leader) .
The jury will be a court of the accused's peers which will act through standard voting procedures
and determine appropriate action (punishment or dismissal) to be taken against the accused.
The jury shall review the complaint and all evidence, request more as needed, and vote for action,
or lack thereof.

The jury is as follows:
Accused Jury
FON CAdmin (Admins + OperCom)
IRCop OperCom
Admin Admins
CService CService or CService Leader (decided by CService)
All Others Their own committee (RoutingCom, NewsCom, etc.)

The accused shall be allowed to submit whatever necessary information or statements on his/her
behalf to contradict any evidence submitted.

Should the jury's decision be questioned, an appeal may be made to the admins. The admins can
then decide to uphold or change the decision.

Should the appeal be against an admin jury, the appeal will go to the ChatNet Executive Committee.

No ChatNet Official is immune to discipline or the ideals of this network, and no official has sovereign
rights when it comes to abuse and punishment. If a person constantly abuses the network, he or
she will be removed.

Should the accused be an ircop or FON, the accused's admin may remove the individual at any time
and effectively end the vote (causing the vote to be dismissed as ADMIN ACTION). The ircop or FON
cannot serve in that capacity in the future if he or she was removed by the admin during the complaint
discussion period.

If the accused is removed for abuse by the jury, the accused cannot serve in any official capacity on
the network in the future (including being an ircop or FON on a different server).

All complaints will be kept on the ChatNet website, so that the network may track past complaints
and determine if trends are occurring with an official. All complaints will be posted to the website with
their tracking numbers and with the outcome of the vote.

Complaints received from hotmail.com, yahoo.com, or any other free or anonymous remailer service
should be disregarded unless:
A. the submitter resends using a non-free or non-anonymous host or
B. the submitter is able to prove to the complaint secretary beyond a resonable doubt that they are
who they say they are.

[ Personal Disputes ]
Personal disputes between ChatNet officials have no place on the mailing lists or in public. Instead,
the issue should be taken private, or there should be a kill war. The person to endure the longest
wins. Or more likely, their aggression will fade after a while or they will get tired/bored and they will
stop and determine a solution to their disagreement. Kill scripts are not allowed and will result in the
user being taken out back and shot.

[ Voting Process ]
Any thing related to the ChatNet network may be modified by a simple majority of voting cadmin
members. CService and ChatWorld have one vote each. No server or individual may have more than
one vote. If an admin is an admin for 2 servers, then the admin can appoint another admin or assistant
admin of said server to vote. Only admins, assistant admins, or OperCom may vote on cadmin.

Votes occur as follows:
3 days for discussion Once discussion is completed, the secretary will post the issue for a vote. The
post shall consist of the tracking number, the begin date and time, the end date and time, the issue
being voted on, the choices/selections for the vote, and any special voting instructions.
The vote lasts 4 days.

[ OperCom ]
OperCom is a committee made up of 7 ircops voted on by the majority of voting ircops. This
committeewill have one vote on every admin decision, and will be able to see all admin discussions.
The committee vote is a simple majority of voting admins. The committee will appoint one member to
post their votes and ideas to cadmin (a spokesperson). Ideas should go through discussion through
the committee before being sent to cadmin (the committee as a whole participates in cadmin, not the
individual members). Members serve 6 month terms, and all members will be up for reelection at the
same time. Essentially, OperCom will receive cadmin mail, but only the spokesperson can post back
to cadmin.

[ RoutingCom ]
RoutingCom is responsible for maintaining, recruiting, filtering and linking the best servers available
to ChatNet. In addition, RoutingCom is responsible for maintaining and distributing server lists to all
known IRC clients and to the ChatNet webmaster(s). To this end, RoutingCom will be maintaining
and publishing its own standards for determining the best servers to be linked, a website for collecting
applications, its own process for weeding out undesirable links, and making the initial 45 day
probationary link to ChatNet. The committee will also maintain the C/N/H/U/Q, ServerIDs, numeric M
codes, and server configuration information that is essential to the function of this network. Since
cadmin does not necessarily have the time to interview and select the best group of people to serve in
RoutingCom, and sincesometimes the dynamics of an all volunteer group cause it to need more or
lessmembers at any given time, cadmin will pick a single person to chair the committee. Cadmin will
choose a person which it feels has the best ability to both understand routing and effectively lead a
group. That person will pick his or her team and proceed on accomplishing the tasks and goals of
RoutingCom. The RoutingCom chair will serve a 1 year term and can be reappointed/reelected as
many times as desired by cadmin.

[ New Servers ]
New servers are automatically assigned to a probationary period of 45 days. At the beginning of a
probationary period, RoutingCom hands over all data about the probationary server to cadmin. A
week before the end of the probationary period, RoutingCom will announce to cadmin that it must
vote on a permanent link of the server. The cadmin secretary will proceed to setup and track the
vote. Cadmin can vote on the server link at anytime before the end of the probationary period.
Cadmin can also extend the period of a probationary link if it so chooses. If a server is voted to not
be confirmed, that server must be delinked from the network within 24 hours. This includes jupe and
removing CN lines from hubs. New servers will not have voting rights until they are out of the
probationary period, and they will not be on the admin-only mailing list until they are out of the
probationary period.

[ Mailing List ]
There are mailing lists for admins/OperCom (cadmin), admins, ircops, and OperCom. Admins are
required to be subscribed to cadmin and check the list regularly (not filter it to the trash). Active
admin participation is key to making this network a success. There will also be a separate
admin-only list that admins will be required to subscribe to. This list won't be seen by OperCom
and will deal with admin-only issues such as routing.

[ CService ]
Admins and ircops should not interfere with the daily operation of CService pertaining to channel
registrations or deletions. The only exception is an admin vote on specific actions when absolutely
necessary (legal issues, etc.). Admins and ircops can help to solve K9-channel problems if they
have been properly trained by CService. CService is a self-governing body with respect to members
(it appoints its own members as needed).

[ Fun ]
Ircops and admins can use wallops, can kill each other, and can use K9 say and act as long as things
do not get out of hand. If someone asks you to stop, you should stop.

[ Speaking Your Mind ]
It is ok to express any negative feelings you have about the network, a policy, and admin, or an ircop
BUT they cannot be public. Do not mouth off in #nuthouse or wallops...keep it private.

Similarly, the official ChatNet channels are for assisting users only. Users are offered no protection from
kicks and bans when they state opinions or chat excessively in official channels. Officials shall do
whatever is necessary to ensure that their effectiveness in helping users is not hampered by individuals
who wish to chat, insult, or otherwise tie-up official channels.

[ Official Channels ]
An official may be in any channel which is allowed on ChatNet. Individual servers may enact their
own policies regarding what channels ircops and FONs are allowed in if they wish. Only in the case
that both K9 and Chatworld are down at the same time will ops in official channels be allowed to op
others. Whenever k9 or Chatworld are available then the only acceptable way to gain ops in official
channels will be thru one of those. No auto-ops scripts will be allowed and the auto-ops function on
k9 is not to be used in official channels.

#nuthouse is the official administration channel. All ircops and admins should be in this channel when
they are opered up.
#chatnet is the ChatNet officials channel.
#doghouse is the CService help channel.
#help is the official help channel.

All admins will have level 501 access and ircops/FONs will have level 500 access in the official
channels. Those who abuse their privileges can be lowered by a majority vote of voting cadmin
members. However, it is noted that any person who is legitimately +O in a channel (registered or not)
may kick or ban any official for any reason.

#help and #doghouse are help channels and should not be idled in as this confuses the user and the
other helpers as to who can help and who is helping. If you aren't in there to help, then part.

[ Services ]
K9 is the official and only channel service. ChatWorld is the official and only operator service. There
is no NickServ service, and private NickServ services or bots are banned from the network. No
automated script or bot that is not an official service may have a O (global) line.

[ Broadcasts ]
Officials should ensure any global broadcasts they perform are of a substantive and needed basis.
ChatWorld broadcasts should not be used for fun and games. The exceptions are holidays and
birthday/marriage announcements.

[ Assistant Admins (aka co-admins) ]
Assistant admins are considered admins but must be confirmed on by the majority of voting cadmin.
Assistant admins do not get voting rights unless the main admin does not vote (only one vote allowed
per server). Assistant admins must be equal in ability as the main admin to be able to handle server
emergencies. Assistant admins must meet the same requirements for competency that a main admin
meets. Should a company employee 2 admins to maintain a server, the company shall provide written
documentation validating this status. At that time, both admins will be considered equal, but only one
may vote on cadmin issues.

[ Local Ircops ]
Local ircops are treated the same as global ircops in all regards, except they do not have cross-kill
access or access to ChatWorld services.

[ K9 ]
Admins and assistant admins may add their own ircops and FONs to official channels, but must send
an email notifying cadmin and cservice of the addition.

[ Opinion Protection ]
No official may be removed for speaking their opinions or views as long as it is in a private setting
(not visible to users). This of course doesn't protect ircops and FONs from being removed when they
speak out against their own admin (though another admin can pick them up).

[ Executive Council ]
The executive council consists of appointees of Nu Tech Software Solutions, Inc., the sponsor of K9
and DNS. Currently the council consists of Dr-Who, BP, and Phantasy. The Executive Council will
step in and make a decision when: -the admin vote is tied -the network is spiraling towards oblivion,
all hell is breaking loose, or similar situations The Executive Council will also help to clarify vague
wording on policies, interpret policies when there is a question regarding meaning, and to act when
cadmin needs guidance.

[Server Officials]
The following list is a list of recognized ChatNet officials. All officials must fall into these categories:
-admin -assistant admin -ircop -local ircop -FON (friend of the net) -committee member RoutingCom,CService,OperCom,NewsCom,Executive Council)

[ Friend Of the Net (FON) ]
The FON is a person of high regard that is sponsored by an admin for a special status in #nuthouse
or #help, but may not be of ircop material. The FON may be not interested in being an ircop, may be
evaluating being an ircop in the future, may be too young to be an effective ircop, may be a truly
helpful channel master in their channel, or may be any individual that an admin wishes to recognize
for the individual's contribution to ChatNet. An admin must sponsor a FON and if any other ChatNet
official objects, the individual may not be a FON. FON abuse will not be tolerated and FONs may be
removed by a majority vote of voting cadmin members.