Yo, Everyone! The following message is from Brian Leverich, Co-Moderator of RootsWeb after an incident where a Listowner collected fees from subscribers of his lists for himself. This policy was decided upon after several days of discussion by Listowners. I wholeheartedly support the policy. The only funds that should be solicited should be to support RootsWeb. In a separate message, I will be sharing with you the latest hardware that has been purchased by RootsWeb to support our genealogical efforts. I hope you will consider assisting RootsWeb at this time especially if you have never contributed. It is not required but RootsWeb exists through individual sponsorships of genealogists just like us. BTW, if you are a subscriber to a RootsWeb list where requests for money (other than for RootsWeb) or for unreasonable amounts of private demographic information, unsubscribe. If there are no subscribers, the listowner should get the message. Keep rootin'! %;^) Later...Nancy Nancy Cluff Siders Roswell, NM <[email protected]> or [email protected]> or <[email protected]> Listowner/Caretaker of : SACKETT-L <http://www.nmmi.cc.nm.us/~nancy/sackett> COUNTRYMAN-L <http://www.nmmi.cc.nm.us/~nancy/countryman> OHHIGHLA-L (Highland County, Ohio) http://www.accessone.com/~ge/HighlandCounty/ >>>>====++++<<<<&&&&>>>>++++==== ====++++<<<<&&&&>>>>++++====<<<< >X-POP3-Rcpt: [email protected] >Resent-Date: Sun, 4 Jan 1998 22:47:41 -0800 (PST) >To: [email protected] >cc: "Dr. Brian Leverich" <[email protected]> >Reply-to: "Dr. Brian Leverich" <[email protected]> >Subject: Policy: RootsWeb Lists Are Free! >Date: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 22:21:52 -0800 >From: Brian Leverich <[email protected]> >Resent-From: [email protected] >X-Mailing-List: <[email protected]> archive/latest/30 >X-Loop: [email protected] >Precedence: list >Resent-Sender: [email protected] > > > >Hi all - > >Hundreds of listowners and users have now given us input on the >issues of whether listowners should be able to charge money or >request personal information as a prerequisite for participating in >a list, and Karen and I are now convinced that extreme behavior by >some listowners could affect the whole listowner and user community >by discouraging users from participating in any of our lists. > >Hence we'd like to formally announce policy that: > > RootsWeb Lists Are Free! > >Users should be able to subscribe to lists without being required to >pay money and without being required to provide personal information. > >While we are willing to let bygones be bygones, future violations >may result in a listowner being asked to relocate their lists to >another server. > > >IMPORTANT NOTES > >The foregoing policy does not apply to the few lists, for example >the HCPD-L list for the Hacker's Creek Pioneer Descendants >organization, that exist specifically for the members of an >established organization. Explicit permission must be obtained from >Karen or Brian for lists that want to operate in this paying- >members-only fashion. > >The foregoing policy does not prevent listowners from being able to >ask list subscribers to voluntarily provide contact information and >such. The point is that subscribers may not be *required* to >provide that information: explain why you need the information and >that providing the information is VOLUNTARY, then be tolerant of the >folks who choose not to provide it. > >The foregoing policy does not prevent listowners or subscribers from >soliciting voluntary contributions for family associations or other >causes, so long as the purpose of the fund-raising is specified and >the subscribers are told that participation is completely voluntary. >With regards to purpose of the fund-raising, listowners must *never* >give the impression they are fund-raising for RootsWeb or for the >physical support of the list unless the funds are intended for >RootsWeb. > > >A PLEA FOR SENSIBILITY > >Please do not ask me or Karen to provide a detailed exegesis of this >policy: just use your common sense and, if a particular situation >seems unclear, bring it to the "listowners" list and ask our peers >for their thoughts. > > >Let's keep our subscribers happy and participation in our lists >growing. Cheers, B. > > >-- >Dr. Brian Leverich Co-moderator, soc.genealogy.methods/GENMTD-L >RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative http://www.rootsweb.com/ >P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798 [email protected] >