Space-City Mail List FAQ Version 12, 1/3/98 --------------------------------------------- | BLAKE: So. That is Space City. | | VILA: Also known as the Satellite of Sin.| --------------------------------------------- Written by Susan Beth, list owner. Comments, suggestions, complaints, improvements and questions should be sent to sbs@world.std.com. NOTE: send messages you want to post to the list to: space-city@world.std.com Administrivia should go to: sbs@world.std.com A) Purpose B) Subscribing 1. Who may join 2. How to subscribe 3. Changing your address 4. Technical difficulties C) Rules 1. Acceptable subject matters 2. Copyright 3. More on copyright 4. "Dirty" words 5. Unacceptable behavior D) Unsubscribing E) Membership lists and Staying Subscribed F) Final note ------- A) Purpose The Space-City list is intended to be a forum for the free discussion of interpersonal relationships involving characters from Blakes 7. This most definitely includes discussion of sex, both hetero and slash. Other topics that branch from those discussions, or other matters that have or might result in unwanted friction on the main Blake 7 list are also welcome. This list is intended to be a specialized supplement to the main Blake 7 list, not a replacement for it. (To subscribe to that list: email to blakes7-request@lysator.liu.se) Note: this is a privately owned list. I don't intend to remove any people from the list except if forced into it by flagrant offenses against the rules, but I *am* the final arbiter in that event. Sorry. B) Subscribing 1. Who may join Because of the possibly "adult", aka "explicitly sexual", nature of some of the posts on this list, its membership is restricted to consenting adults. Therefore subscriptions through anonymous remailers will not be accepted. There are no other qualifications for membership. *Everyone* who submits a proper application will be admitted, as quickly as I can take care of the paperwork. I particularly want to stress that no one will be kept out for "historical" reasons, and no one can be blackballed by any other person(s); everyone starts with a clean slate. (I enjoy gossip as much as anyone. If you want to email me all the dirt on why you and Person X have been feuding for years, I will be fascinated. It will *not* affect Person X's automatic admission to the list.) 2. How to subscribe Note: Space-City is now available both as a message-by-message list, and as a once-a-day digest version thanks to the efforts of Citizen Robert Baskerville. a. send a message to: sbs@world.std.com b. include the word "subscribe" in the subject line c. if you want the digest version, say so -- the default is the message-by-message option. d. the body of your message *must* include the essential equivalent of the following: I understand that the messages on the Adult Blake 7 mail list may include explicit sexual subject matter. I am over the age of 18, which is the age of majority in my locale, and I consent to receive messages of this nature. Signed: Jane Doe Email address: j.doe@freebie.net Date: 8/21/95 Make the proper substitutions, of course: use your own name & address, and if the age of adulthood in your state/country is 21, specify that you are over 21, etc. Note: There is no way I can check up on any of this, of course. These messages will be kept on file, in the hopes it will serve to keep me out of legal difficulties if the worst of the proposed net censorship bills ever come to pass. 3. Changing Your Address This cannot be done directly by you. Instead you must send a message to me (sbs@world.std.com) with A) the new address you want your mail sent to and B) the address you are currently subscribed under. I will add your new address to the list and then after you have started receiving the messages at the new address, you can unsubscribe from the old one. (See section D for how to unsub.) BTW, if you ask in your message, I will unsubscribe your old address at the same time I put the new one in. This is quicker, but if it turns out that you or I mistyped the new address, or there is some difficulty routing mail to the new one, you will probably end up missing a day or so of messages until the difficulties get ironed out. Your choice: do you prefer speed or security? NOTE: if you are on the digest, say so in your message. Otherwise there will be a delay as I try to unsub/resub you to the main list, get "no such name" replies, and then have to do it over again for the digest. I'm sorry, but my memory isn't good enough to keep track of who is on which, so please be kind and tell me, okay? 4. Technical Difficulties a. Generally I process subscription requests at least once a day. If you send in your age statement and list messages don't start arriving within a day, e-mail me again. b. Majordomo (the list server at World) now deletes a list address automatically if a certain number of bounced messages are returned from it. If you suddenly stop getting mail from SC, assume there was a temporary delivery problem and send me a message with "resub" as the subject line, and be sure to include your correct mailing address -- there's no need to repeat the age statement. I will put you back on ASAP. C) Rules 1. Acceptable subject matter Anything that derives from the interpersonal relationships of the B7 characters is acceptable, whether those relationships are platonic or sexual, straight or homosexual. In addition, other B7 oriented subjects that have proved, or are anticipated to be, "too sensitive" for the main B7 list are welcome. Given the nature of mail list discussions, it is to be expected that digressions will occur constantly. This does not bother me in the least. I'm easy. :-) OTOH, if someone starts posting *nothing* but messages without the slightest relationship to B7 -- learned expositions on Etruscan Nose Flute Notation Systems, for example -- the offender will get a reminder of the purpose of this mail list. If there is no change in posting pattern, the person will be removed from the mail list. 2. Copyright As set forth in the Welcome message that all members receive automatically on joining Space-City, all material posted to this list is copyright to the individual authors of such posted material. Therefore, list members may not quote material posted to this private list in any other forum, or circulate such material in any other way, without first obtaining the formal written consent of the copyright holder -- that is, the author of the material in question. This rather intimidating legal notice (written for us by Mimi Panitch, after kindly researching the arcana of copyright law) is just intended to insure that everyone knows and is playing by the same rules -- there are a great number of enduring myths regarding copyright and material posted to the internet which have sometimes led even well-meaning people into violating the rights of others. Some members post here about "delicate" subjects they wouldn't want to be quoted about in less friendly forums. Some writers try out fiction here which they may then decide to rework for later submission to zines or other publications. Having this "no quoting outside the list without permission" rule clearly understood is a benefit to all of us: The writers needn't fear embarrassment or loss of control over the use of their creations. The rest of get to enjoy those posts, which otherwise they might not feel able to share. So, feel free to quote from posts while responding to them *here* -- or in private mail to the writer -- but ask before doing anything else. Fandom runs on trust. *PLEASE* don't do anything to betray that. 3. More on copyright Although the copyright notices in the Welcome message and this FAQ are sufficient, it wouldn't hurt at all to wear suspenders as well. A formal copyright notice could be added to the bottom of each of your posts in the following format: (c) 1996 Jane Doe An easy way to do this would be to add it to your .sig file, being sure to update the year as needed. Even if you don't want to bother doing it with every idle "chitchat" type message, I *strongly* encourage posters to at least do so when posting original fiction or "significant" non-fiction writing efforts. 4. "Dirty" words This is an "adult only" mail list, and there are no forbidden words. (Personally, I feel that if you are going to use what are commonly referred to as "four letter words" you ought to have the guts to spell them out instead of resorting to stupid little fig-leaf asterisks. This isn't a rule, of course.) OTOH, note that your messages are being read by many other people, who have varying degrees of tolerance for vulgarity. You are free to express your ideas in whatever terms you like, but you may find that being gratuitously offensive will only result in people ignoring you and your ideas. 5. Unacceptable behavior a. The usual. Meaning the restrictions we all should be familiar with from the net in general: no blatant ads for non-B7 items or services (ads for B7 zines/filktapes/artworks/cons/etc are welcome), no libel, no calls for the violent overthrow of the government, and so forth. You are all experienced net-citizens, please show it. b. Personal attacks. There *is* an important difference between saying "That is a stupid idea" and "You are stupid." c. Whining about the contents of other people's posts. If you find a topic being discussed offensive or boring, note the headings being used for that discussion and skip over them. The fact that those topics are being discussed means that *some* of the list find them acceptable and interesting. You have a right not to read about subjects you dislike -- but you *don't* have a right to ask others to stop writing about them. If you find a particular person(s) topics and/or choice of words offensive, skip over his/her posts. Reread the last sentence of the previous paragraph. Suggestion: Check into the details of your local system's kill file capabilities. You may very well be able to ensure you never have to lay eyes on the offending subjects and/or people again. If you are unhappy because there isn't a discussion on a topic you are interested in -- start it! If you really want to read about Zen/Orac, complaining about the preponderance of Avon/Cally posts is not the way to satisfy your desire. Instead, post something fascinating about Zen/Orac. With luck this will draw out (or even create!) other fans of that pairing. If you try this, and get no responses, well, that's unfortunate, but there's no getting around the fact that people's interests vary. Some characters are more popular than others, and the number of posts about them will undoubtedly reflect that. For example, Avon is the favorite character of many more B7 fans (including myself) than Gan is, so I anticipate that there will be many more posts about him than Gan. This is one of those unfortunate facts of life that Gan fans will have to learn to deal with. If you find that your participation in this list leads to more aggravation than pleasure, the solution is to unsubscribe. See the next section for methods. d. Posts *intended* to give offense, including "trolling" or "stirring" or "playing devil's advocate." The main reason I started this list was to provide a place where "delicate" subjects (such as slash) could be discussed without having to put up with the hostility that those posts inevitably drew on the Lysator list or open newsgroups. And I'm grateful to say that, for the most part, this list has been an oasis of civility and amity, where discussions can become vigorous without being hurtful. On several occasions, though, people who prefer more rough-and-tumble forms of debate have attempted to change the atmosphere here to suit their own tastes. Each time this has disturbed the members who *like* things the way they are, and their responses to the "provocative" posts add to the unpleasantness, and then it starts going round and round, with escalating tensions and unhappiness on both sides. Generally it ends up with those who tried to "liven" things up feeling misunderstood and picked on by the majority who prefer the status quo. Trolling, etc., is not inherently evil, but it violates the intended spirit of this mail list. If you want to engage in "verbal roughhousing" types of exchanges, there are in excess of 2600 usenet groups and probably thousands of other mail lists where that would be appreciated, so there's no reason to turn Space-City into just another slice of the same. BTW, there can also be posts that are *not* intended to be offensive but that someone takes offense at any way. Sooner or later, this will happen to everyone. The usual way that works out is that someone will post "I was offended by your saying X, because...." and the original poster will explain what she'd meant to say or amplify or apologize or whatever is appropriate. If neither side runs for the flame throwers at once, disagreements can lead to useful discussions instead of warfare. Note: people who violate the above rules will receive a reminder. If the offenses continue, the offender will be removed from the list. D) Unsubscribing Methods in order of desirability, from best to worst: 1. Send email to majordomo@world.std.com with the following one line body text: unsubscribe Space-City 2. Send email to Space-City-request@world.std.com with "unsubscribe" in the subject line, and the word "unsubscribe" by itself in the first line of the message. 3. Send email to sbs@world.std.com. Make your wish clear. 4. Post an "unsubscribe" type message to the Space-City list. The first two methods will take effect within minutes, automatically. 3 may take up to a day or two, depending on when I read your message and can respond to it. 4 will take about the same amount of time, but involves using up the time & mailbox space of everyone else on the list, which is rude and insensitive. If that is the final impression you want to leave everyone with, . NOTE: If you are getting the Digest version, the only method that will work is #3. Be sure to mention that you *are* on the Digest, BTW. E) Membership list matters and staying subscribed Since I feel that running a private list is somewhat analogous to throwing a party, I believe the members have a right to know who all is "listening" to them. Therefore I used to periodically post the list of the email addresses and names of all the members to the list, and included the membership list in the "Welcome" message sent to each new subbers. Unfortunately, the time it takes to match "real names" to the list of email addresses I get from majordomo means that I never did that as frequently as I should have. Instead, we are going to shift to a "self-announcement" method at least twice a year, maybe more often if it turns out to be appropriate. Here is how it will work: 1) I post a message with the subject line "Membership Roll Call." 2) If you want to stay subscribed to Space City, you MUST post a message to the list within the following week that starts off with the following information: your email address, the name you want to known by (your real name, or pen name), and how you prefer to be addressed if it isn't obvious (My name is Bill, but I prefer to be called "Tex.") It would also be nice if you followed that with a little friendly "introductory" type info, the kind of thing you might tell a newly met fan at a B7 convention in the course of getting to know each other.(BTW, if you like, keep a copy of the first message, and simply resend it each time the roll gets called.) 3) I will have obtained a fresh list of email address subbed to Space City (both versions) and I will tick names off as these messages get posted. At the end of the week, I will unsubscribe the people who have not replied. There *is* a point to this exercise, several in fact. 1) It should help make this list a "friendly" place, where we all feel we know the other members at least a little. 2) People join and leave the list all the time, and this lets new comers eventually learn who all is "present" -- and who has "left the room." 3) Some people's mail systems clip off header info. This allows those people to compile their own name/address lists in case they have reason to reply to someone directly. 4) It gives me a somewhat graceful way to cut down on the membership list and thus the amount of mail the list produces. You see, human nature being what it is, I am sure there are many people on the list who "strayed" in out of curiosity or casual interest. That has long ago been satisfied, but they have lost the directions on how to unsubscribe, or just never get around to it, or fear I would be insulted if they asked me to take their names off, or whatever. So there they sit, getting SC messages and deleting them unread forever. :-( (This is as opposed to lurkers who *enjoy* just reading the messages.) Anyway, with this system you have to make an effort to stay on Space City, so now inertia will be on the side of those who'd really rather not get it any more. :-) F) Final Note The existence of Space City isn't advertised or promoted to the general public, to keep from attracting people who are only looking for smut rather than being interested in B7. For example, it is kept off the "List of Mail Lists" and other indexes. The only published guideposts to it are copies of this FAQ included in certain other specifically B7 sources of information, mainly Judith Proctor's web pages and the Lysator archives. This does not mean it is "secret." You are free, no, *encouraged* to recruit any B7-ish friends you think would fit in, and may freely forward copies of this FAQ to them. ** end **