DarkerNet Charter

October 18 - 2001

This charter is designed to set the groundwork to let people know what is acceptable behaviour for their position on DarkerNet. Our goal at DarkerNet is to create a desirable place for people of all walks of life to come and chat.

Download the Charter here (Right-Click and choose "Save Target As").

Server Administrators  -  IRC Operators  -  Users

 

SERVER ADMINISTRATORS:

It is the duty of the Server Administrators to ensure that their staff are competant and well versed in all fields pertaining to DarkerNet. This means that they must make sure their staff completely comprehends this charter, all Services and IRCd commands, proper IRC etiquette, and the hierarchy of DarkerNet.

All Server Administrators must be able to install their own IRC daemon software and be able to set it up according to DarkerNet needs. You must be able to deal with your own staff members and inform them of any and all local server rules and ensure that they are enforced.

You must be able to take responsibility for the actions of your staff members as it is you who choses to give them the access that they have. If there is a situation where you are questioning a possible decision, it is your right to take it to a Services Administrator (SAdmin) to get the situation resolved as soon as possible.

If you deliberately do not follow a mandate from the Services Admins (eg. to remove an IRC Operator, etc), this may be considered grounds for immediate delinking of your server, and removal of all staff privilages on DarkerNet.

IRC OPERATORS:

IRC Operators are people who server admins have decided should represent their servers, and therefore DarkerNet to their users. Many people when in need of aid will turn to the IRC Operators for help and as such, a certain behavioural standard and fairness is expected. Because of this fact, IRC Operators have been given certain access that allow them to help and enhance the network.

IRC Operators are expected to act professionally and be courteous to users and fellow staff members alike while oper'd. Fighting, flames and other such abusive activities are forbidden when you hold the title of IRC Operator. To attain this status, you are expected to have attained a certain level of maturity and expertise, you should always reflect this.

All DarkerNet staff members must remain out of any channel thats main purpose is an illegal activity while they hold the title of IRC Operator. This also means they may not be the founder of any channel that assists in illegal activities. To do so will be cause for immediate removal of all IRC Operator privilages.

Although DarkerNet allows a few vanity kills between friends, personal kills (ie. kills for no reason other than you dont like the person being killed), and all other kills without a valid reason are expressly forbidden and may result in your IRC Operator status being revoked. The same ruling applies to network bans, except there is no such thing as a "vanity network ban". Local kills are acceptable for violations of a server's individual policy, however you may not kill a user on another server for violating a policy that is enforced on your own server, nor may you kill a user simply because you think it SHOULD be against the rules.

Valid reasons to kill or network ban are:

  • Server spamming (i.e. advertising to another IRC network)
  • Anything that causes damage to the IRC network itsself (such as DoS attacks on servers, flooding, hacking servers etc.)
  • Cloning (i.e. signing on many clones that are not users but client connections meant to disrupt the network)
  • Channel or Nickname takeovers (i.e. gaining access to a channel or a nickname when you have not been given the password or permission to do so). NOTE: If you give out the password, we can't help!
  • Spreading viruses (short bans only, only until cleaned).
  • Evading another network ban.
  • Other excessively annoying behavior (must be excessive).

No IRC Operator may use services to gain greater access or control over a nickname or channel without either the user's permission, or a situation where not doing so perpetuates a violation of the DarkerNet charter.

It is expected that IRC Operators have read all services documentation available to them on the usage of services, etc. This will help in ensuring that when necessary, all IRC Operators know the apporopiate command to use off the top of their head, and that they will be able to help users with any questions they may have.

USERS:

The overriding concept on DarkerNet is a 'common sense' policy. Use the manners and morals that were drilled into you by your parents. You should all have been blessed with the ability to know right from wrong, use that ability and adjust you behaviour accordingly. If you're not sure, just ask one of the IRC operators and we'll be glad to clarify any questions you may have.

Users may register any nicknames or channels they wish as long as they are not previously taken. The IRC Operators are there to help, and we encourage you to go to them when you have any questions or problems.

You may not attempt to gain access to someone's channel or nickname without their permission to do so.

You may not mention another server that is not linked to DarkerNet's name in any channel (or topic). You may also not mass invite people in some form of private message to a server not linked to DarkerNet. This is spamming and is grounds for being akilled or netbanned from DarkerNet.

You are permitted up to 3 connections per host. This may be clients, bots or whatever. Exceeding this is known as 'cloning' and is not permitted.

You may not perform illegal activities on DarkerNet including, but not limited to trading of WareZ, porn, mp3s etcetera or anything that may restrict other users access. Doing so may result in your ability to log on to DarkerNet being terminated.

If you are banned from a channel, you should take the hint and leave. If you keep trying to evade bans, you may be considered an annoyance and IRC Operators are authorised to take action on excessively annoying people for doing excessively annoying things.

You are not permitted to flood people or channels, in any way. If you are being flooded however, the IRC Operators will not help you unless it is excessive. You should learn how to use channel bans and /ignore before coming to the IRC Operators.

We recommend you get yourself a good firewall and virus scanner. There are some people on IRC who may try and 'packet' (flood your connection), hack or infect you -- DarkerNet IRC Operators cannot help you with this.

It is also recommended you read all services documentation offered both here on the DarkerNet web site, and online. This will both give you better and more accurate information on services, and aleviate the load on the IRC Operators answering the same common questions.

DarkerNet's main purpose is providing a free chatting environment, with as little interruption or intervention by the DarkerNet staff as possible. As such all communications on DarkerNet are unmoderated, and not logged by any server. We take no responsibility for any actions performed by the users of DarkerNet, and expressly disclaim any liability that may be associated with the actions of DarkerNet users.

Enjoy your stay at DarkerNet!