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Please note that the main AVIEN web site is now at http://www.avien.net. Some of the detail of this "Posting Guidelines" page has been edited, but there may be obsolete bits still lurking specific to the time when AVIEN and AVIEWS were separate organizations. Still, the general principles apply.
This page was last changed on 14th June 2008 by David Harley, AVIEN Chief Operations Officer.
General principles for
handling posts to AVIEN lists
- Respect copyright.
- Respect conditions of use for
publicly available information.
- If a list says don't forward, don't
forward.
- Respect confidentiality. If someone mails you off-list, you may not quote them directly or by name on-list without their explicit permission.
- Keep to the normal rules of netiquette. In the event of any dispute as to what constitutes "normal rules of netiquette", the Management Committee will refer to RFC 1855 (http://rfc.net/rfc1855.html) for guidance. If the committee is unable to reach a conclusion on the basis of the RFC, it will do so on the basis of rational, commonsense discussion and a vote.
- We do not flame. Period. We do not assume that everyone else on the list is an idiot. We do not pursue personal vendettas. We do not post HTML. We do not post attachments.
- Respect secure material. If it requires some form of security clearance for you to read it, it's unlikely that we need to see it.
- Keep in mind data protection issues: any information that relates to an identifiable individual may hide a legal booby trap.
- We sometimes appreciate juicy gossip, the more malicious the better. Let's not contravene libel laws and the like, though, and keep it to the appropriate lists (and targets who really deserve it!).
- AVIEN subscribers are not extensively screened. We don't/can't guarantee anyone's security rating, credit rating, lack of criminal record, personal integrity, or goodwill.
- The organization is growing, and there are subscribers no-one knows very well. We do not consider it appropriate to ask individuals to take responsibility for the behavior of other individuals. We would hope that meeting the criteria for subscriber status indicates a minimum standard of behavior and professionalism, and individuals who don't meet such standards will be subject to appropriate sanctions, but such standards can normally only be applied retrospectively. In principle, the only differences between AVIEN and alt.comp.virus are that:
- we don't admit people known to be bad news
- if subscribers turn out to be liabilities, they can be excluded. If a post contains material you wouldn't want to air on alt.comp.virus., you should reconsider before you hit the Send button. We can't guarantee the behavior of all our subscribers in advance.
- Do not offer or request samples of malicious software on-list. If someone requests samples off-list, how you respond is a personal decision. However, we recommend:
- Keep it polite.
- Don't send samples to anyone of whose competence you are unsure.
- Subscriber status in AVIEN is not proof of competence. It's not even absolute proof of identity.
- Signing up for the Code of Conduct is not proof of adherence to its content.
- Vendors and researchers should not offer any inducement (financial or in kind) to supply samples.
- Bounty hunters are not welcome.
- Vendors asking for samples should give clear and sound directions for sending them safely. They should be sent to verifiable email accounts, ftp upload sites, or actual addresses. They should not normally be sent to individuals.
- If in doubt, don't. Better still, ask the Management Committee for a ruling. You don't have to name names.
How to deal with the content of posts with regards to forwarding outside of AVIEN
| Type of Post |
Examples |
Rules |
| Forwarded
public information (news, debate) |
Opinion/semi-informational
pieces from Silicon, CNET and such. |
Poster: It's usually appropriate to
summarize and/or give URL than to forward verbatim material. Respect copyright. Reader: May forward outside AVIEN as long
as there is no doubt as to legality and propriety of posting, permission to forward is
explicitly or implicitly given, and as long as any inappropriate information about the
persons who posted it (or their organization) is removed - this includes the email
addresses of the poster and AVIEN lists. If you edit, say so (see previous
paragraph). |
| Forwarded
private information |
Intra-organizational
or intra-departmental security alerts, memos etc. |
Poster: You know your own organizational
guidelines and imperatives better than we do. We do not ask anyone to whistle-blow. We
don't guarantee confidentiality on the part of anyone reading such material. We do not
have a junior branch, and expect subscribers to take responsibility for their own actions
as responsible, adult professionals. Consider whether it would be more appropriate to
summarize and/or phrase as a general issue, rather than specify the involvement of your
employer.
Reader: We can't envisage any circumstances under
which verbatim forwarding would be permissible unless the poster -and- his employer had
given explicit permission. In which case, normal sanitization requirements would normally
apply (i.e. unless specifically waived). |
| Forwarded
public non-informational material |
Chat, joke
postings etc. with no personal content. |
Poster: Keep it to appropriate lists.
Keep to laws of copyright etc. Don't post inflammatory or offensive material that should
be restricted to private mail.
Reader: May forward as long as there is no doubt as
to legality and propriety of posting, permission to forward is explicitly or implicitly
given, and as long as any inappropriate information about the persons who posted it (or
their organization) is removed - this includes the email addresses of the poster and AVIEN. |
| Unforwarded
material |
Requests
for information, comment or discussion. |
Poster: If your post includes
information that might be of interest to salesmen, virus authors, social engineers and
other intruders, it's your funeral. We can't guarantee that sensitive material won't be
passed on or otherwise misused. If you -want- it to be passed on, give explicit
permission, and if you want to make sure it doesn't get lost in translation, say you don't
want it edited. Bear in mind that not all of us are experts, and even those who are aren't
experts at -everything-. Caveat lector. ("Let the reader beware.")
Reader: No forward without explicit permission of
the poster. Sanitize - not only material specific to individuals/organizations, but any
other potentially sensitive material, using your own discretion. If you're unsure, ask.
Responses should be polite and reasonably informative. Not too many 'me too' posts, and
bear in mind that if your answer is laconic and authoritative
"Yes/No/Hoax/Rubbish" you should make reasonable efforts to verify your
assertions and expect to be called on to justify them. |
| Information
- tips, warnings, FAQs etc. |
Self
explanatory |
Poster: If you post it, you're
responsible for it. You're expected to post on a best endeavours basis. Don't plagiarize.
Acknowledge and verify sources. If you find out you got it wrong, post accordingly. This
isn't bugtraq: if you discover a way to melt hard disks through software, be discreet
about sharing it: an AVIEN list is probably not going to be an appropriate
forum. Conserve bandwidth - URLs are usually better than long posts. If you have a
commercial agenda, say so. A product announcement -may- be acceptable under some
circumstances, but AVIEN lists are not there for free advertising/PR. If you
maintain a voluntary resource, good on you, but we're not here to build reputations. Don't
drag your website, FAQ, book, or CD with Britney Spears in at every opportunity.
Reader: Caveat lector (again). These lists are not
preemptively moderated, and no-one has time to check every detail of a posting. Don't
forward unless you know you have permission, and you've sanitized accordingly. |
| Personal
material |
Self
explanatory |
Poster: Keep it to the appropriate
lists or off-list. If it's sensitive, bear in mind that there are no guarantees about who
may read it.
Reader: Don't ever forward. |
Question: How many
E Mail List Subscribers does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: 1,001
1 to change the light bulb and to post to the mail
list that the light bulb has been changed.
14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs
and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.
7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.
27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about
changing light bulbs.
53 to flame the spell checkers
106 to write to the list administrator complaining about
the light bulb discussion and its inappropriateness to this mail list.
41 to correct spelling in the spelling/grammar flames.
99 to post that this list is not about light bulbs and to
please take this email exchange to private email
113 to demand that cross posting to other mail lists
about changing light bulbs be stopped.
101 to defend the posting to this list saying that we
all use light bulbs and therefore the posts **are** relevant to this mail
list.
156 to debate which method of changing light bulbs
is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs
work best
for this technique,
and what brands are faulty.
27 to post URLs where one can see examples of different
light bulbs
14 to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly,
and to post corrected URLs.
3 to post about links they found from the URLs that
are relevant to this list which makes light bulbs relevant to this list.
33 to concatenate all posts to date, then quote them
including all headers and footers, and then add " Me Too. "
12 to post to the list that they are unsubscribing
because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy.
19 to quote the "Me Too's" to say, "Me Three."
4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ.
1 to propose a new "Lite Bulb Changing" Mail List.
47 to say this is just what the Mail List was meant for
123 votes for the new Mail List`
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