Neowin Internet Relay Chat Rules

(Last updated 6 January, 2011)

We welcome you to participate on the Neowin IRC server, however as with all social circles there are a few rules you must abide by in order to maintain your active membership.

We are trying to provide the highest quality community experience for all of our members and following these guidelines is the best way to maintain a quality environment for all age groups. These rules are very basic, and somewhat more permissive than those on the forums. We hope that you read them fully. If we find that you break any of these rules, your account may be restricted from accessing our IRC server.

Thanks for your cooperation.

  • No Graphic Material of either a macabre or pornographic nature.
    Any posts or links to such content will not be tolerated. We are a community for all ages and expect links/discussions to be family/work friendly.
  • No Illegal Software/Copyrighted Discussion.
    Discussions involving warez, cracks, security circumvention, using torrents for downloading copyrighted or illegal material is strictly prohibited. This includes music files or other unauthorized software. Asking for help in doing so will cause warns or suspensions of accounts.
  • No Racism, Threatening, No Victimization or Hateful Messages / Retaliation
    If you are a long standing member, act like one; lead by example and assist other newer users rather than attacking them. We look upon our veteran users to use this opportunity to teach the newer users the appropriate way to conduct themselves in this community.
  • No Personal Attacks or Retaliation
    Personal attacks such as instigating "flame bait", verbal abuse, mocking or sexist remarks of members are not tolerated at Neowin. Clearly due to the nature of IRC, there is a fine line between joking around, and attacking someone. Moderators will use their discretion when dealing with incidents. As above, if you are a long standing member, act like one. Lead by example and assist other newer members rather than attacking them.
  • Do not post links to exploits, malware, or websites that produce undesired effects to our members.
    This includes browser crashes, multiple pop-up screens, DOS attacks, or similar results.
  • No Spamming.
    Spamming on IRC is characterised as repeating the same (or very similar) message over and over again within the channel. Such actions will result in a 'shun' being put on your account, effectively preventing you from communicating on IRC for a short period.
  • Respect Moderator Decisions.
    Conversations questioning the actions or decisions of forum moderations are not permitted, and the appropriate action taken (up to and including bans) against those involved. However, as a member you reserve the right to PM any moderator, supervisor or administrator regarding action taken against you at Neowin.
  • Follow instructions from moderators.
    For various reasons, it may be necessary for moderators to step into a conversation. They may instruct members to drop a particular topic of conversation, and members are expected to comply with such a request instantly. Continuing to discuss a topic that a moderator has instructed members to drop will result in a warning or ban being placed on the account.

Repeated violation of the IRC rules, particularly in cases where a warning has already been issued for the same infraction, may lead to a ban. Additionally, extreme violation of the rules may lead to an instant ban. Ban durations are either a week, month, or pemanent, depending on the severity of the infraction(s).

Moderators may issue advice in the channel, along the lines of "knock it off", this is simply advice to avoid members crossing the line to where we need to issue a warning. These advisory messages will not be recorded against any members' profiles.

Should we feel the need to issue a warning, the member(s) in question will be contacted via PM on either IRC, or the forum. Occasionally we need to discuss warnings before they are issued, to be certain they are justified, and the punishment fair to all those who may have been involved, so it is possible that warnings may be handed out a day or two after an incident has occurred. We may temporarily suspend IRC access for the members involved while the incident is discussed.

As always, any moderation action can be appealed by PMing the moderator involved, or a supervisor via the forums.