[Imc-web] Web Meeting, Tonight, Wednesday, 7am at IMC

[Mike Lehman]

Just a reminder that we'll be having a Web working group meeting this 
evening at 7pm. The primary agenda item is to work on the draft 
editorial policy document that David extracted from my ramblings about 
the history of consensus and policy on UC IMC web editing.
Mike Lehman

a copy of the draft Web policy follows:
.........................................................

* On Indymedia and Web Discourse *

The focus of our efforts is to use the tools of independent media to
best serve the needs of the underserved communities we embrace in our
mission statement. (http://www.ucimc.org/info/mission)

Indymedia and the term "blog" both date from 1999, but Indymedia sites
are not blogs and do not operate under the usual blog standard of
discourse.

Establishing norms of discourse, especially ones of a broad nature
that encourage engagement with the news from an Indymedia perspective,
leaves plenty of room for argument, but also maintains an atmosphere
that encourages positive civil engagement for social justice.

Posters who want to repeatedly engage in discourse that appears to
intentionally stretch the bounds of typical UCIMC discourse with an
intent to disrupt and discourage thoughtful discussion must take
responsibility for that through registration.

The present policy is meant to foster open yet focused discussion that
welcomes all who respect it, while discouraging those who intend to
create an unwelcoming space with their comments.


* Registered Users *

The Web group strongly encourages UCIMC posters to sign up for an
account on the UCIMC website. There are several advantages for users,
including the ability to edit your posts for typos and corrections
after they've been posted. There are also advantages for the readers
of UCIMC -- discussions with many anonymous comments can be confusing
and hard to follow without some indication of who is who.

Registration requires a working email address. Given that free email
addresses are readily available from companies like Yahoo, Google, and
Microsoft Hotmail, we do not feel that this requirement is a
significant barrier for users who want to preserve their anonymity.



* Privacy, Spambots, and Logging *

UCIMC honors the privacy of posters.

The previous version of the UCIMC website was nearly pushed over the
edge by spambots, which posted nearly a thousand spams a day on the
site. There are other IMC sites that were destroyed by spambots.

The software running the new UCIMC site, drupal, allows for logging of
IP addresses for comments. The software logs these IP addresses for 24
hours, after which they are automatically deleted. These IP addresses
are logged solely to track spambots and are used for no other purpose.
IMC Web editors agree that they will not disclose IP addresses, nor
investigate them in any way for reasons other than fighting spam. IP
addresses will never be used to determine the identity of individual
posters or to determine which poster posted what; IMC users have the
expectation that their anonymity will be preserved.


* Hiding and Deleting Posts *

Posts which are inconsistent with the purpose of the site may be
hidden. Hidden posts are still available for viewing, but the reader
must choose to see them by clicking on the "hidden posts" link in the
left side bar. Similarly, hidden comments are available for viewing by
clicking the "hidden comments" link at the bottom of a story page.

Posts are deleted only if

-- they are duplicate posts

-- they are spam or meant for Googlebombing

-- they are racist or in some other way clearly inconsistent with the
purposes of the site.


* Patterns of Abuse *

UC-IMC Web editors reserve the right to hide posts inconsistent with
the purposes of the site. In practice, we do not do so unless such
posts exhibit a clear pattern of trolling.

In some cases of flagrant or repeated abuse, registered users may be
suspended at an editor's discretion, pending confirmation at the next
Steering Meeting.

Known (under the old site) or registered (under the new site) users
may be issued a temporary ban by IMC Web editors until the next
Steering meeting. Then the case will be discussed and an appropriate
solution agreed to by Steering. Such users should be advised in
whatever manner available that their ban will be discussed and they
are invited to appear in person or to send a written statement to
defend their behavior. Bans in the past have been either temporary,
for a specific period, or permanent, with the possibility that the
person affected can return to Steering to request the ban be lifted.


* Definition of Trolling *

We do not provide a fixed definition of what constitutes trolling.
However, the following points are among those included when the
editors determine whether a given poster has descended into a trolling
pattern.

-- Attack posts: posts that consisting primarily of insults or
disparaging remarks against individuals or activist projects without
attempting justification of such remarks.

-- Disproportionate or gratuitous use of labeling (anarchist,
communist, leftist, socialist, Zionist, queer, etc) that is outside
the range of usual discourse on this site, in face-to-face meetings at
UC IMC, or on Indymedia mailing lists (i.e. a flexible progressive
community standard).

-- Disparaging Indymedia or UC-IMC as an institution because of what
another user posted.

-- Targeting a regular site user for abuse.

-- Refusal to register with the site after multiple requests.

-- Disproportionate use of profanity.

-- Racism.

-- Repeated consecutive anonymous posts by same apparent poster to the
same story within a short time frame.

-- Failure to respond to attempts to facilitate more positive
interactions with other users.

-- Persistently abrasive interaction with regular users of the site in
the absence of other contributions.


* Discussion of UCIMC Editorial Policy *

Discussions of UC-IMC editorial policy or its implementation are
considered generally off-topic on the UC-IMC website and may be
hidden. Such discussions should be moved to either imc-web at ucimc.org
or to a face-to-face meeting.