The Apple II Constitution - Lets call a TRUCE

[smentzer@pacbell.net (Steve Mentzer)]

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Constitution of the Comp.Sys.Apple2 Newsgroup Heirarchy
======================================

As users of the Comp.Sys.Apple2 newsgroup heirarchy, we
recognize the following items to be true and pure.

I.	No user shall ever willfully post material deemed
	to be inappropriate as shown by the terms below.
	Users who do willfully post inappropriate material
	shall be subject to the scrutiny and punishment
	of the active board of users.

II.	No User Shall ever willfully attack or defame any member
	of the Apple II community without just cause or reason. 
	Failure to comply will result in scrutiny and possible punishment
	by the active board of users.

III.	Every user has the right to ask questions at will, provided
	that they do not infringe on the rights of another user.

IV.	Every user has the right to receive an answer to their question
	without snide, hostile or demeaning remarks.

V.	Every user has the right to provide information to the Apple II
	community at will, provided that this information does not
	infringe on the rights of any individual.

VI.	Every user has the right to obtain and use any software without fear 	
	of reprisal or attack if any of the following conditions are true:

	1. 	The user has purchased a legal license of said software.
	2.	The software is no longer available through "normal" 		
		commercial channels. (Please see section VIII for information 		
		regarding "normal" and "abnormal" commercial channels).
	3.	The software has been reclassified as FreeWare, Shareware or 		
		Public Domain.

VI.	Every user has the right to distribute any software without fear or 
	reprisal or attack if any of the following	conditions are true:

	1.	The software is no longer available through "normal" 		
		commercial channels. (Please see section VIII for information 		
		regarding "normal" and "abnormal" commercial channels).
	2.	The software has been reclassified as FreeWare, Shareware or 		
		Public Domain.

VIII.	The following actions have been deemed to be inappropriate and unjust
	while participating in the Apple II community.

	A.	Distributing, Posting or Transferring software that is 		
		currently available through "normal" commercial channels. 		
		"Abnormal" channels are not considered to be a reliable or 		
		consistent method of obtaining software, and should not be 		
		considered under these provisions.

		"Normal" commercial channels are determined to be:

		1. 	Any software or hardware vendor who holds a license 			
			agreement or right to distribute said software in 			
			accordance with the terms and conditions set forth by 
			the developer or publisher of said software.
		2.	Any developer or publisher who intends to sell the 			
			software without the advent of a separate distributor. 			
			This protecs those developers who choose to sell the 
			software they develop individually.

		"Abnormal" commercial channels are determined to be:

		1.	Garage Sales
		2.	Software Resellers (Any software distributor who 			
			doesn't hold a particular agreement with any developer 			
			or publisher but who is	simply "Depleting Stock".)
		3.	Auctions
		4.	Independent Sales through way of Usenet posts.

	B.	Willfully providing inaccrurate or incorrect information to 		
		any user or individual, while knowing that such information is 
		lacking in fact or substance.

IX.	No single user shall hold action against a user who has been proven to 	
	act unjustly within the apple II community. Only the board of users 	
	shall have the right to jointly	punish or scrutinize the offending 
	user, and this action shall come forth as a public
	post to the Comp.Sys.Apple2 newsgroup by a single member consisiting 	
	of a statement developed by *all* the members of the board of users. 	
	All members of the board of users *must* agree to this statement 
	before it can be posted.

X.	A "board of users" shall be chosen. This group will consist of 7 	
	elected users, who will	be responsible for delegating the 
	reponsibility of maintaining the effectiveness of the 
	Comp.Sys.Apple2 newsgroup heirarchy. Each user will have one equal 	
	vote, while one	user will be responsible for all public interaction 	
	via posting (ie. One of the 7 users is reponsible for posting the 
	public decisions of the board).

	All decisions of the board are final, unless enough public outcry is 	
	heard to reconsider the outcome of a decision.

XI.	Any post in direct violation of provision VIII.A can be "cancelled" by 	
	any active board member.

XII.	From this day on the Comp.Sys.Apple2 newsgroup heirarchy will be free 	
	from war and strife. I will do my best to make this possible.

As a user of the Comp.Sys.Apple2 newsgroup heirarchy, I agree to the above 
terms, and hold them to be true. I swear to uphold the rules of this document 
to the best of my ability and promise to never defame the glory of the Apple 
II.


Sign Here X					Date:
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