#AfterNET

The channel #AfterNET is AfterNET's flagship chat room. It is a private channel owned by Rubin, and its goal is to provide a common place for most people of AfterNET to hang out and get to know each other. It also serves as a backup help channel, a place to find IRCops, and a general topic discussion room. We are very liberal with what you can talk about, but we draw the line at hate-based language which is likely to make other members of AfterNET feel unwelcome, such as racism or anti-homosexuality. See below for details on the rules. Please note that #AfterNET is not an official AfterNET network channel.

#AfterNET channel statistics

Check out our junkies page! On it, you can see what some of the regulars look like, and even get your own picture pasted (email the pic to junkies@afternet.org).

• Do not speak in languages besides English. It is impolite to carry on a conversation in front of everyone that only one or two can understand. Please take non-English conversation to a channel designated for that language.
• Do not add noise to the channel. No flooding, overboard caps, colors, or ASCII art, no 'broadcasting'. Use an alternate channel for pasting, or better yet pastebin.com. If you want to share a funny website with us, give us the URL–don't paste it into the channel.
• Avoid stereotypes and hate-based attitudes and language. For example, using the word 'gay' as a synonym for 'stupid' is unacceptable. Keep in mind many different kinds of people are welcome in the channel, and avoid making them feel unwanted.
• No trolling. Trolling is when someone starts an argument for 'sport' rather than because they are genuinely interested in the subject.
• If you are a 'regular' visitor of the channel, you may bug a manager or (co)owner for PEON/+v level access to X3. DO NOT ask for OPs. Do not ask for X3 access if you have not been to the channel for more than a day.
• Do not mis-treat newbies. If you don't want to help, you may stay silent. Do not mis-lead people asking for help in any way, or try to trick them. #AfterNET is a backup help channel, and users need to feel safe asking for help there.
• No unauthorized bots or chatty scripts including but not limited to: now playing scripts, AI bots, news bots, repeating auto-away scripts, etc.
• If you have a problem with an op, or a ban, take your complaint up with someone who outranks them in the channel. (/msg x3 #afternet mlist, clist, or wlist).
• If a user lets you know that your aggressive/harassing behavior toward them in the channel is unwanted, you must stop doing it and leave them alone.

Important! Level “OP” in #afternet is different than most channels. OPs are only allowed to use their +o in the following situations. In all cases, if the person to be kicked is a regular, they get a lot more leeway. Give them two warnings before being kicked. Any use of +o not indicated here will result in loss of ops in #afternet without warning. Those who show responsibility may be promoted to MANAGER and may then use more discretion in banning for other reasons.

• Flooding, clones, or any type of channel attacks - no warning needed if it is a stranger.
• Spam (spam is mass advertising - url in honest conversation IS NOT SPAM) - no warning necessary if it is a stranger.
• Denial of Service attempts (any form of trying to break our users chat clients) - no warning necessary if it is a stranger
• Mass PMing strangers - You _MUST_ give all users two _POLITE_ warnings first, using terminology the user understands (especially for webTV folks: msg=whisper, channel=room, etc).
• Strangers attempting to find cyber partners (“Any ladies here want to cyber”) - You _MUST_ give all users two warnings first.
• Speaking non-English - You _MUST_ give all users two _POLITE_ warnings first.
• If you need to kick/ban someone for ANY other reason, find a manager, or (co)owner!

Under no circumstances should you kick, insult, or provoke a user solely because of the Internet Access Service they choose to use (WebTV). Remember, all of us were at some point “lame.” None of us were born with universal knowledge of IRC etiquette. Most of these users are not out to cause trouble, they are simply strangers in a strange land. Work with them. We did it for you.

• While you are opped, you are a representative of the network to visitors. Behave in a manner suiting that responsibility. If you need to be extremely un-professional, de-op yourself first.
• Be helpful to newbies. Be patient and attempt to help find answers to questions you don't know.
• Spam is only MASS AUTOMATED BROADCASTING of advertisements. Conversations involving urls, or other IRC networks are OK if they are legitimate conversations OR regular known users. Pasting interesting URLs is not only OK but encouraged. Only kickban TRUE spammers, and try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

Managers and higher are people with a relationship with the owner or co-owner, whom we trust to use more personal judgment. All of you already know the rules above, and also know when it's OK to break them. Because of that, managers are allowed some leeway to go beyond the basic rules, and are able to kick or ban (at their discretion) for reasons other than the basic rules for Ops above. Still, try to remember the following:

• If you override an underling's ban or other action, try to talk to them about it first. If they aren't available, try to mention it to them later if you can.
• If you disagree with someone else's decisions who is the same rank as you, talk to them about it (in private ideally) and if you can't agree, take it to the owner.
• Avoid kicking people from the channel when possible. Try to keep it open to all, as much as is reasonable.
• Feel free to add users to the userlist. Any regular visitor should be granted PEON access level. You may promote them to OP and higher if you trust them to follow the rules. Please do not use “half-op” level.
• If in doubt, check with the owner.

Thanks for reading the rules!