Chat Room Rules
We love having everyone on our server, but necessity dictates that we set
some rules so we can all enjoy our time at aTeenChat.
We advocate freedom of speech but HARASSMENT, RACISM, FOUL LANGUAGE, and any
other DISORDERLY conduct will not be tolerated on aTeenChat.
Policy regarding illegal activity (including but not
limited to warez, child-porn, sedition, harassment, drug trafficking, Nuking,
spiking, flooding, excessive pinging or anything that disconnects a user from
his/her services or denies their service):
Should a user or channel engage in illegal activity (ie, activity that
violates US Federal or State Law) or encourage it we will remove the users
or channels in question from aTeenChat. In fact, if we have reason to
think that a user or channel tends toward or conduces to illegal activity we
will take action (which might range from chatting with the people in
question to killing the connection or seeking prosecution). Adding to this
the Internet service provider (ISP) of any person banned from this server
for the above mentioned reasons will be sent email with a log and a time
stamp of said incident seeking termination of their services under their
ISP's acceptable use policy. This is done in part to safeguard the
environment on aTeenChat and in part to protect the sysadmins and
machine owners on aTeenChat from legal problems that could stem from
tolerating illegal activity on aTeenChat. When it comes to illegal
activity or the likelihood of illegal activity, we will act first and sort
things out later.
Policy regarding free speech and the restriction of expression:
To be straight forward cussing on this server will get you banned.
aTeenChat has no quarrel with freedom of expression and we support
freedom of expression as it has been traditionally understood. Freedom of
expression has never meant that a person could use language however she or
he saw fit. Freedom of expression was defended on the grounds that rational
discourse paid off immensely with respect to education, politics, and
personal growth. However language as a tool can serve more than just this
purpose. Language can be used in many ways, including as a tool to hurt
others.
Traditionally even the most liberal societies have not supported the
freedom of expression in this form. Note, for example the long history of
legislation forbidding slander and libel. Language can also be used to harm
by means of threats, epithets and harassment. Again, such uses of language
and expression have traditionally been proscribed and with good reason: None
of the benefits of rational discourse accrue in such cases and many harms
are generated. Any *public* expression on aTeenChat of this sort
(including expression linked to illegal activity) will lead aTeenChat
administrators to put an end to such expression by whatever means necessary.
Note that by "public" we mean expression that users could not avoid (in
/list, via /msg, nicks, user names, or chat on channels, for example). To a
large extent channels can define the range of expression that is acceptable,
however harassment will not be tolerated anywhere on the server.
There is, however, recognition that speech has to be protected from
government censorship or control, etc. That for a democracy to work people
must be allowed to express themselves. And that if we respect individuals as
human beings people must be allowed to say what they mean. This is not a
license to say anything anywhere, however.
NO suggestion is made that there is such a concept as absolute freedom of
speech. Life would be quite unlivable if everyone were to be encouraged or
for that matter permitted to speak their mind without second thought for the
consequences. Absolute freedom of speech would constitute an infringement on
freedom to live.
There appears to be a fairly common mis-perception that freedom equals
license; that being free to do something means you possess an irrevocable
license to do it. What seems to be lacking is an understanding that our
"rights" also confer an irrevocable responsibility to exercise our freedoms
intelligently and responsibly.
Harassment:
Harassment comes in many shapes and forms, for the most part harassment
on aTeenChat is deemed as: Any exchange in a room (public or private),
at which ANY party involved did not consent to. If you are ask to stop
discussing objectionable subject matter and you continue to discuss it. It
is no longer chatting it is now harassing. Because persons chatting can be
from all walks of life, from all over the world, with many varying points of
view, what you consider objectionable may not be what they consider
objectionable. Problems arise when a discussion changes from open minded to
closed minded arguing, so often this takes place on discussions of politics
and religion. These are very broad based topics and often tend to excite
very deep personal feelings from parties involved. People become offended
very easily when statements are made attacking their beliefs (any) whether
you like them or not.
Policy on IRC Client Scripts or Add-Ons:
There are several IRC client (program) add-on scripts available on the
Internet. aTeenChat does not allow the use of any scripts containing
tools solely for the purpose of abusing the network or harassing users.
Users found running these scripts will be banned from the network with a
notice sent to their Internet Service Provider. We feel no need to list
these IRC scripts, if you are using one of them, you know you are using it
(so do we).
Policy on Bots:
aTeenChat services were designed to eliminate the need for bots on
aTeenChat. We would very much prefer all connections to our servers to
be from persons wishing to chat. Bots are not allowed.
Policy regarding FAs and FHs:
aTeenChat opers have the power to keep you and your channel off of
aTeenChat. We expect that our opers will exercise that power when and
only when they have cause to believe that aTeenChat policies are being
violated. If you believe that a aTeenChat operator has abused her or
his power, contact admin@aTeenChat.com We will
do our best to get to the root of any concerns that you bring to us. It
should be noted that any user who abuses an IRCOP does so at his or her own
risk.
If you are harassed:
If you encounter any behavior that is in violation of our policies, and
especially if you are harassed by flooders, please either log the incident
or cut and paste it from your buffer to a text file with time stamps and
time zone. We will need all of that information when we notify the system
administrator at the site in question. Contact an ircop as quickly as you
can /msg FA help [room] [reason] and if all else fails, mail the log to us
at admin@aTeenChat.com If you have questions
about our policies, please send email to
admin@aTeenChat.com
Rules for ALL rooms on aTeenChat:
- aTeenChat room owners are expected to maintain all polices of
aTeenChat in their personal rooms, failing to do so will result in
your room being closed and a server ban being placed on you. This includes
the people that you appoint as room operators, you as the room owner are
responsible for the actions of the persons that are in your room. If they
get out of line it is your responsibility to remove them.
- aTeenChat is NOT a dating service nor is it a place to pick up a
girl or boy friend; this in itself is one of the most dangerous types of
chat activity on the Internet. Our room administrators will handle any
situation regarding this in a manner they see fit to maintain a clean and
safe chatting environment for everyone.
- No #*sex* #*flirt* channels. We will never allow them. If a channel is
sex-themed or designed to serve prurient interests we will shut it down.
- aTeenChat is an English speaking chat server, ALL
languages are welcome. However, while in the public rooms you should speak
ENGLISH, it is rude to the rest of the chatters to not
speak English in the public rooms. If you wish to speak other than English,
please create a private room for you and your friends.
- Typing in all uppercase letters is considered yelling in chat; it is
disruptive to the normal flow of chat. Please do not type in uppercase.
- Scrolling, Flooding, and Unnecessarily repeating yourself is rude to
everyone on chat and will not be tolerated in our chat rooms.
- No drug channels save for medical chat.
- No Gor-themed channels or BDSM channels.
- While we welcome those who serve in the US armed forces, there will be
no independent militia channels on aTeenChat.
- Rooms or discussion for the trading of MP3 sound files are not allowed,
this is due to copyright infringement laws. This policy will not change
until ALL record companies agree that MP3s are not an infringement of the
artist contract or legal reproduction laws of the United States.
- Advertising on aTeenChat is not allowed, this would come in the
form of other chat servers or chat clients, including but not limited to all
of aTeenChat's competitors. aTeenChat relies on revenues
generated by our sponsors, advertising limits our ability to maintain a free
service for all.
- We reserve the right to impose further case-by-case restrictions. This
means a rule does not specifically have to be written down here to be
enforced.
