List Rules and Netiquette

• GANGINFO Overview
• List Charter
• Terms and Conditions of Use
• List Rules and Netiquette
• Application Form

Though every listserv and news group has its unique ambience, certain behavioral conventions are recognized as standard in Internet communications. GANGINFO refers to the guidelines proffered by such writers as Virginia Shea in her book, Netiquette, when assessing the appropriateness of postings to the list. An HTML version of these specifications can be found here.

Additionally, we have adopted the following rules and policies to encourage congenial interaction on and uninterrupted operation of the list. Please review them prior to joining GANGINFO.

1. Do not send attachments or V-cards to the list. Since attachments are capable of harboring computer viruses and worms, we do not post them. If you send a message to GANGINFO with an attachment, we will either send it back to you without posting it, or we will post it without the attachment. If you wish to share information that you have stored in a file, you may:

   • Cut and paste it into an e-mail message.

   • Send the URL of the Web site upon which the information is posted, if it is Internet-accessible.

   • Send it to individual members of the list by private e-mail, if those individuals do not object to receiving attachments.

2. Write messages that you send to the list in plaintext. Stationary, nonstandard fonts, and HTML cannot be read by every e-mail program. Being a considerate list member means being aware that other list members may be running mail programs that cannot read these features, resulting in their receiving messages that look something like this:

   S.BIGIIRON.COM</A>&gt;<BR><B>Date:=20
   </B>Friday, August 21, 1999 12:30 PM<BR><B>Subject: </B>Gang Seminar for =
   <DIV><FONT color=3D#000000 size=3D2>We thought this seminar might be of =
   interest to=20

   Messages that are sent to GANGINFO with too much visible coding/formatting will not be posted. If you need assistance with turning off these features, please contact your systems administrator.

3. Please write about the subject of youth gangs. Members of GANGINFO are inquisitive folks who often have expertise in several criminal justice-related areas. However, GANGINFO was established to exchange information about youth gangs, and no matter how interesting a message may be about other subjects, we will not post it. Information about biker gangs; ideological groups, such as skinheads and neo-Nazis; and terrorist groups, such as militias, are not considered to be on-topic.

   Partisan political announcements or forwarded e-mail alerts and notices are counterproductive to creating a cooperative atmosphere among professionals holding various viewpoints and will not be posted.

   Needless to say, online petitions and chain letters will be deleted unposted with prejudice.

   Please send computer virus warnings or virus hoax warnings directly to the list owners at GANGINFO-REQUEST@LISTS.BIGIIRON.COM, not to the list.

   If you have any questions about the list topic, please write directly to the list owners.

4. Respect copyright.  According to Copyright Registration for Online Works:

   Copyright protects original authorship fixed in tangible form. . . . For works transmitted online, the copyrightable authorship may consist of text, artwork, music, audiovisual material (including any sounds), sound recordings, etc. Copyright does NOT protect ideas, procedures, systems or methods of operation. . . .
   
   Under U.S. law, copyright protection subsists from the time the work is fixed. Copyright registration is not mandatory. (U.S. Copyright Office, 1999, p. 1.)

   Therefore, any article, story, editorial, essay, review, etc., sent to GANGINFO that is not the original work of the sender must be accompanied by the author’s telephone number and explicit permission to post.

   The author of a message holds a copyright on it, as with all works of original authorship, under U.S. and international law. The recipient of a message from GANGINFO may not distribute it off the list without obtaining explicit permission from the sender.

   For further information about U.S. copyright law, we recommend the following documents from the U.S. Copyright Office:

   • Copyright Basics

   • In Answer to Your Query: Fair Use

5. Please identify yourself at the end of every message that you send to the list. The GANGINFO list membership represents an unusually diverse number of occupational backgrounds, philosophical approaches, and regional locations. It can be difficult to remember personal information about individual members even if they post regularly. To help ensure the uninterrupted flow and accuracy of responses to your messages, we ask that you "sign" each message with your first and last names and agency or organization affiliation.

6. Do not flame—ever.

   • The GANGINFO Terms and Conditions of Use Policy is your "friend." Get together from time to time to renew the acquaintance.

   • Discuss, debate, debunk, deliberate, dissemble, dissect, disembowel, and disintegrate ideas, but not people. Personal attacks distract and stunt communication among all list members. The fastest way to de-escalate a personal dispute is to move it away from the list "audience" onto private e-mail. This is also a good way to make new friends, instead of lifelong enemies.

   • Use humor generously, but sarcasm sparingly. It does not always translate as funny among a large group of people that you have never met.

   • Most people like to write about their interest and expertise areas, but every message to the list will not be about those subjects. Begin a new thread when you wish to discuss a new subject, and label each message in that thread with the same subject line. Do not begin a new subject by "piggybacking" your new message onto an unrelated posting. Most list members find this confusing, and some will take offense at the abrupt change, particularly if you use one of their postings.

   • Never assume malintent regarding a previous posting. Do ask questions to clarify meaning, then state your own opinion, if it is different. Qualify your opinion with research or information from your personal experience. Feel free to correct any erroneous factual information but do so without rancor.

   • Do not make unsupported generalizations about groups of people. Do discuss group behavior and other sociological phenomena that have been documented by research. Do discuss issues for further research.

   • Share freely any knowledge gained from personal experience, especially when you believe it to demonstrate universal findings. However, remain open to the possibility that some experience may be unique.

   • Some folks think that "trolling" is an entertaining and expedient way to ascertain the character of a list and the typical approaches practiced by individual list members. We think that "trolls" are ugly little critters that live under bridges, and we do not allow the posting of these outrageous messages composed to induce an outpouring of negative responses. Any suspected "trolls" will be sent back to their authors/"bridge-keepers."

7. Respect for the list owners is a requirement for maintaining a subscription to GANGINFO. Protracted on-list or off-list arguments regarding list owners’ decisions may result in your removal from the list.