GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR LUBBS USAGE ---------------------------------- The following are considered to be unacceptable on LuBBs and warnings or restrictions to access may be issued, should such behaviour be used. LuBBs is a privilege and not a right - abuse it and lose it. The admin team reserves the right to alter/add new rules when and where appropriate. Users will be informed of changes whether by bulletin, or otherwise. The SysOp and programmer reserve the right to use additional LuBBs accounts, in order to maintain and test conditions in the system. It is -your- responsibility to ensure that you find out which rule is 'incorrect' before you post any message, which may break one of the conflicting rules. Claiming that the ruling is ambiguous, -after- posting an offending message will not be seen as a fault on the administrations side. Grey areas, contradictions, or other problems with the above rules should be brought to the immediate attention of the SysOp. This help file contains information on the following subjects: o Using Non-permitted Language. o Personal attacks/Insults/Harrassment/Offensive remarks/Annoying other users. o Posting of Offensive/Illegal materials. o Ignoring Warnings and Requests From The Admin Team. Using Non-permitted Language. ----------------------------- a) Permitted language is updated in bulletins. If a word associated with harsh language is not listed then it is considered unacceptable for use on LuBBs. Obviously, some permissible words may not be listed, so if in doubt ask the SysOp first. The list of harsh words permitted at the present time (17 June '96) is: ARSE ASS BLOODY BUGGER CRAP DAMN PISS POO PRAT SOD Phrases in the imperative tense that contain the above words are not permitted. i.e. 'Sod off!' will not be permitted. Other harsh words that use any of the above harsh words as a base, will not be permitted. (e.g. Arsehole) Please note: Just because you use words from the above list, it doesn't mean that your message will not be limbo'd. Everybody holds different views on what is offensive and what is not - including moderators. If a moderator feels a phrase or word is being used in an unsuitable way, they may well limbo it. b) Although there may be conferences which are written to in different languages, the same rules regarding harsh language apply. c) Usage of misspelled non-permitted words is not permitted. Examples are words that either sound the same as - or have letters changed to 'hide' the original banned word. e.g. banky wastard, P155 and so on... This also applies to words which have similar spelling/sounding to words which are not permitted for use on LuBBs that are used as a replacement for that word. e.g. Feck etc. d) Asterisked (*'d) out words are also not permitted. This includes other characters used in such fashion e.g. # $ % etc. e) When directly quoting a source, and the quote contains strong language (i.e. is not permitted on LuBBs), then please remove the strong language. In certain instances the language may be relevant to the quote, and cannot be removed without changing the overall context of the quote. In such instances, you -MUST- asterisk ( '*' ) out as much of the offending text as possible. The only exclusion from this rule will be the POETRY conference. This is not to say that a poem can contain a lot of harsh language. Provided that the language is kept to a minimum and that the language is only in the occasionally poem, then the poems themselves will not be Limbo'd. Of course, personal attacks etc, are NOT permitted. Also, just because the language is used inside the quote, does not mean that you can use the same language outside of the quote. Personal attacks/Insults/Harassment/Offensive remarks/Annoying other users. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- a) These include jibes at a persons sexuality, rewording a name to be read as an insult and so on. As it is hard to ascertain from the written word how a phrase is being said - it is best not to use insults etc, whether in jest or not. If what you want to say is a shared joke between yourself and another user, but could be read by those who are 'not in the know' as an insult, then please use the PRIVATE conference. Harassing/annoying a user, will not be tolerated. Paging a user, claiming you know all about them etc, in fact any thing which, should the page be likened to a telephone call, be classed as dirty/malicious (etc), or even simply sending page after page so that they build up. b) As with 1b), regardless of the language it is written in, an insult is still an insult. c) If you feel that a user is harassing you, you should contact the SysOp (or one of the witness') as soon as the harassment begins, so that it can be dealt with as quickly as possible. In the event of receiving harassing pages, you are advised to PRIVATE the pages and use the mail back option to send them to your mailbox. Posting of Offensive/Illegal materials. --------------------------------------- These are offences which break ISS rulings. Pointers to such material are included as offensive/illegal material. Entering messages on behalf of read-only users is also prohibited. Ignoring Warnings and Requests From The Admin Team. --------------------------------------------------- You may receive warnings for unacceptable behaviour (e.g. one of these offences). By ignoring these warnings, and continuing that behaviour, you risk having restrictions placed upon your access to LuBBs, or if necessary you will be banned from using LuBBs altogether.