List Posting Policy

This is the official policy statement of the OntVFR mailing list. It is subject to change at any time at the discretion of the list owner.

Please read this through at least once. If people repeatedly violate one or more of these policies, they may be removed from the list. I'm pleased to report that over the many years we've been enjoying OntVFR, nobody has ever had to be removed from the list for poor behaviour.

INTENT: This list was established as a forum for Honda VFR motorcycle enthusiasts who reside in Ontario Canada.

WHO CAN BE HERE: Anyone who wants to be. We don't require that you ride VFR or reside in Ontario, although most members do, and if you find the discussions boring because you live in Timbuktu and ride a sea-turtle, you won't have much grounds for complaint.

ABOUT THE MAILING LIST SERVICE: Details about the automated mailing list (subscribing, unsubscribing, digest mode, getting help, etc.) are described on a separate page.

SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR OTHER PEOPLE HERE:

• Don't use all capital letters when typing your messages. That's perceived as SHOUTING.
• Format your messages for an 80 character display. (i.e. use the <return> key instead of auto-wrap)
• Do not quote an entire previous message (or succession of them) in your reply! Most people have already seen each message at least once. Trim out as much of the old message as you can, especially signature and trailer lines. Leave only enough to make the context clear.
• Set your mailer to use plain text, not HTML or other rich-text formats. Not everyone reads their mail with an HTML- or MIME-aware mail reader. And on top of that, the digest version of the message becomes a complete mess if you send HTML or other encodings. And on top of that, HTML- and MIME-encoded messages are now rejected because most "spam" is in that format.
• Do not send attachments such as .GIF or .JPG images, .AVI movies, .WAV audio clips, and so on. The automated list server rejects large messages. Images should be posted on a web site for people to view at their own choice, not included in a message which forces people to load them.

ACCEPTABLE TOPICS:

• Anything related to VFRs and our club, such as group rides, local dealers, biking events, bike modifications and accessories, problems with a bike, VFR parts and accessories for sale or wanted, riding techniques, ... There's rarely a problem with people straying too far off topic, but let's not get into discussions about who is going to win the Superbowl or Britney vs. Christina or whatever.

UNACCEPTABLE TOPICS:

• Obscene language, racist remarks, offensive "flame" messages intended to insult, provoke, or abuse another person.
• Test messages. If your post gets bounced, ask the list owner, not the entire list. Those bounce messages are there to let you know what went wrong, so you can fix it and try again.
• Surveys. Some users will send their answers to the list, no matter what you say in the original post. Don't do it. Set up a web page to handle it.
• Dealers trying to get free advertising. You may discuss how good/bad dealers are or what kind of deal you got. Dealers may mention that they have a solution to someone's question. But take any purchase negotiations to private e-mail.
• Private conversations. If you think you're carrying on a conversation between two or three people that no one else will care about, it should be done in e-mail privately.
• Lengthy discussion of other bikes. There are plenty of other motorcycle mailing lists out there to facilitate such discussion. Comparisons are good, but if you're going to move on to a new bike, it might be time for you to find a new e-mail list to talk about it.
• Attached images. These don't work for all the digest subscribers, among other problems.
• Anything that will set off a flame fest not related to motorcycles.

ENFORCEMENT: Ideally enforcement by the list owner will not be necessary. Fortunately, we have a very well-behaved membership. I guess you could say: Enforcement if necessary, but not necessarily enforcement.

After a warning, the removal from the list of a problematic subscriber is at the discretion of the list owner.