Charters
This is the charter as being posted in a Call For Votes May 8 1996,
in an article related to the Call For Votes May 25 1998 and in an
article posting the results of the vote on April 10 1999.
Last updated on July 28 2009, after votes on ch.talk.moderated and
new voting procedures.

NEWSGROUPS LINES:

  All groups
  ch.admin                Administration of the ch.* hierarchy
  ch.test                 A place for test postings
  ch.market               Want to buy/sell
  ch.market.comp          Want to buy/sell computers and peripherals
  ch.market.jobs          Need/search a job
  ch.comp                 Computer related topics
  ch.comp.os.linux        Linux and Unix in general
  ch.comp.os.ms-windows   The MS-Windows operating system
  ch.comp.networks        Network technology and security
  ch.rec                  General info about recreational activity
  ch.talk                 Discussions in general.
  ch.talk.moderated       Discussions in general. (Moderated)
  ch.bulletin.avalanche   Bulletins of the ISL Davos
  ch.bulletin.chancelbot  status reports of the CHancelbot
  ch.comm                 Telecommunication in Switzerland
  ch.soc.law              Discussion on law in Switzerland

OTHER CHARTERS:

  CHancelCHarter
  ch.talk.moderated moderation charter
  
MISSING CHARTERS:

  ch.soc.politics: Charter exists only in german.

  
CHARTER: all groups

  This charter is valid for all groups within the ch.* hierarchy if the
  charter of a certain group does not define it differently. Binaries
  should not be posted to these groups in any case. Avoid using HTML or
  other specific text formatting languages. In general, cross-posting
  among ch.* newsgroups is strongly discouraged. Contributors may use
  any written language they would use in Switzerland, as well as
  English. Dialects are discouraged. Summary translation in a second
  language is encouraged when the subject can interest all the
  country. Any message can be answered in the same, or a different
  language. Articles should be posted using a ISO-8859-1 capable
  newsreader. The use of dreaded Quoted-Printable encoding is
  discouraged. The general rules of the "netiquette"
  (http://www.use-net.ch/Usenet/) apply to these groups.

  To effectuate changes within the ch.*-usenet-hierarchy
  (i.e. creating new groups, alteration of the charter) the
  traditional voting procedure consisting of Requests for Discussions
  (RfD) and a Call for Votes (CfV) must be carried out.

  The proposal will be put in place, if:

    - at least two thirds of all valid votes are on "YES",
    - at least 20 votes on YES have been given.
  
END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.admin       Administration of the ch.* hierarchy

  ch.admin is for all the questions and postings about the newsgroups
  of the ch.* hierarchy and the Usenet in Switzerland. The disussion
  may cover the following topics:

    - establishing / deleting newsgroups
    - voting procedure (RfD, CfV) and modalities
    - structure of the ch.* hierarchy
    - net abuse and misbehaviour, eg Spam, UCE (Unsolicited Commercial
      Email)

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.test        A place for test postings

  You may post test articles in this newsgroup if you do not have
  access to a local newsgroup (a newsgroup that only exists on your
  providers server) that is assigned for testing your usenet software
  or access.

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.market      Wanna buy, sell, rent, work

  Here's the place for small ads about buying, selling or exchanging
  anything that is not covered by a special group. The postings may
  cover the following topics:

    - selling/buying things
    - renting houses, cars, etc.
    - commercial announcements (short and clear, no page filling ads!)

  No requests or offers from other countries are allowed if they are
  not coming from a region close to the swiss borders. It is
  especially important to point out in this newsgroup that within the
  usenet it is unpolite to post the same article several times.

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.market.comp          Want to buy/sell computers and peripherals

  Offers and requests concerning computers, including software,
  hardware, literature, courses and everything of importance to people
  interested in this field. The subject field should contain valuable
  information about what you want to buy ('S:' abbreviation for
  'Suche' germ.) or sell ('V:' abbreviation for 'Verkaufe' germ.) and
  what computer system it belongs to.

  Commercial advertising would not be appreciated at all. No requests
  or offers from other countries are allowed if they are not coming
  from a region close to the swiss borders. It is especially important
  to point out in this newsgroup that within the usenet it is unpolite
  to post the same article several times.

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.market.jobs          Need/search a job

  Offers and requests for positions and other jobs should be posted in
  this group. No requests or offers from other countries are allowed
  if they are not closely related to Switzerland or are not coming
  from a region close to the swiss borders. It is especially important
  to point out in this newsgroup that within the usenet it is unpolite
  to post the same article several times.

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.comp        General discussion about computers

  This newsgroup is about computers and everything related to it if
  there is not a special newsgroup covering the topic. The discussion
  may cover the following topics:

    - general interesting topics of the Swiss UNIX users group
    - announcements of conferences
    - computers and drivers in general
    - internet and whatever belongs to it
    - programming in general
    - availability of applications
    - various things of and about the Swiss Informatics Society

  Please state already in the subject what computer system you are
  using if the problem you are discussing is related to it
  (considering that not everybody within the usenet is using the same
  computer system as you do).

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.comp.os.linux        Linux and Unix in general

  This newsgroup will include all discussions about linux (Linux is a
  freely-distributed operating system similar to unix) and may cover
  the following topics:

    - compatibility and installation of hardware components with Linux on
      different platforms
    - software aspects of communication and networking with Linux
    - general questions about the Linux X-Window system
    - discussion of non-technical questions concerning Linux users

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.comp.os.ms-windows   The MS-Windows operating system

  This newsgroup will include all discussions about the operating
  systems of the Microsoft Windows family (hardware independent) and
  all applications running under the given operating systems.

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.comp.networks        Network technology and security

  The discussion in this group is about networking technology and
  safety. Network break-downs or the opening of new lines can be
  announced here.

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.rec         General info about recreational activity

  This newsgroup will include all discussions about recreational activity,
  and may cover following topics:

    - Announcements of recreational happenings in Switzerland
    - Discussion about music, concerts
    - Bulletins and informations related to the swiss nature
    - Discussion about sports in our country
    - Discussing how to spend vacation in Switzerland

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.talk        Discussions in general.

  This newsgroup will include discussions in general,
  and may cover following topics:

    - About the population speaking german (in german)
    - Discussion about the safeguard of our nice territory
    - About the francophone population (in french)
    - About the italophone population (in italian)
    - Discussion about swiss newsgroups
    - Discussion about swiss politic
    - About the population speaking romansch (in romansch)

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.talk.moderated        Discussions in general. (Moderated)
  <moderation /at\ ch-talk-moderated.use-net.ch> (Moderated)

  This newsgroup will include discussions in general,
  and may cover the following topics:

    - Discussions about Switzerland and its inhabitants
    - Discussions about Swiss culture
    - Topics which are of interest for Swiss, other people living in
      Switzerland or people visiting Switzerland.

  Defamation of other users as well as recurring propaganda and 
  repeated posting of essentially the same content is off-topic.

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.bulletin.avalanche   Bulletins of the ISL Davos

  The national avalanche bulletins of the Swiss Federal Institute for
  Snow and Avalanche Research Davos (SLF Davos) are published in this
  group. As the postings in this group are just for information of the
  public, contributions of other users than the SLF may only be posted
  in exceptional cases.

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.bulletin.chancelbot  status reports of the CHancelbot

  This group carries the status reports of the CHancelbot. As the
  postings in this group are just for information of the public,
  contributions of other users may only be posted in exceptional cases
  like an unjustified deletion of a posting.

END CHARTER.



CHARTER: ch.comm            Telecommunication in Switzerland

  This newsgroup is about telecommunication in Switzerland and covers
  everything related to it if there is not a special newsgroup covering
  the topic. The discussion may cover the following topics:
  
    - Discussion about different and/or new communication providers
      (telephony, internet access, mobile communications) in
      Switzerland.
    - Announcements of events related to telecommunication such as
      conferences and expositions.
    - Questions and answers about problems with different communication
      providers in Switzerland.
    - Discussion about communication equipement such as telephones and
      mobiles ("handies").
    - Discussion about new communication features.
  
  Please state already in the subject what provider / system you are
  using if the problem you are discussing is related to it.
  
  Please note that for computer communication and networks the group
  ch.comp.networks exists. The group ch.comm is less computer related. It
  is strongly discouraged to crosspost between any newsgroups among the
  ch.* hierarchy.

END CHARTER.


CHARTER: ch.soc.law  Discussion on law in Switzerland

  Discussions on justice and law, verdicts, administrative
  proceedings, and the like.

  Due to legal reasons, no counseling is allowed in this group.  
  General questions can be discussed on the base of specific
  cases, though.

  The discussions may cover the following topics:

    - Discussions on specific laws and their applicability
    - Discussions on criminal, civil, labour law, copyright,
      the constitution and others
    - Discussions on the justice system (police, public
      prosecution, ...)
    - Questions on legal procedures
    - Discussions on verdicts
    - General exchange of experience on those topics.

  Advertisment (even from lawyers, counsellers etc.) are deemed
  not appropriate.

  Anonymous and pseudonymous postings are considered appropriate
  as an exception from the rules, especially if the poster finds
  him/herself in ongoing legal proceedings or for privacy reasons
  on certain areas of law. Even in these cases, a valid mail
  address is required.

END CHARTER



CHARTER: CHancelCHarter

  The CHancelbot does not touch messages which are not posted to at
  least one ch.* newsgroup. Articles must not be cancelled on the
  basis of opinions, views or facts they contain. This charter
  authorizes the CHancelbot to delete an article if it belongs to one
  of the following groups:

  Binary
  An article bigger than 15 kB which contains uuencoded or
  MIME-encoded non textual information.

  ECP (Excessive Cross Posting, also known as 'Velveeta')
  An article which is published in more than 2 ch.* groups or 7 groups
  in total. FAQs, RfDs and CfVs are not treated as ECP.

  Duplicates and EMP articles (Excessively Multiple-Posted)
  A content-duplicate is defined by an article whose header and body
  is really the same, except the Date:, Path: and Message-ID:
  headers. This does not of course count the articles which are
  dropped because the Message-ID: is already in the history (as part
  of the standard news duplicate deletion), but is really when an user
  sends an article _by hand_ multiple times (maybe due to a bad user
  interface or not waiting long enough and thinking the server did
  forget the article).

  All activities are documented daily in the group
  ch.bulletin.chancelbot. Cancelled articles are kept one week under
  an address given in any status report. The cancel control message
  contains an explanation why a certain posting was deleted.
  Furthermore an attempt is made to contact the poster by e-mail under
  the address stated in the From: field.

  The CHancelbot marks its cancelmessages by a special Path: entry.
  This characteristic allows to reject specifically the
  cancelmessages generated by the bot if a provider wants to do this
  on his newsserver.

  Changing of the above policies requires the same procedure as for
  normal usenet newsgroups. At least a 2/3 yes majority is required
  for a changing to pass.

  The CHancelbot operates under the authority of persons (the
  'operators') elected by the readers of the ch.* groups by at least a
  2/3 yes majority. An operator has to resign his post if he does not
  pass a vote of confidence by at least a 2/3 yes majority. There has
  always to be at least one active operator otherwise the CHancelbot
  has to be shut down.

  The operators can not be blamed for program errors, for the deletion
  of a posting by mistake or for any other problem with regard to the
  operation of the CHancelbot. The operators cannot be viewed as
  editors for the newsgroups where articles are cancelled. Thus they
  are not liable for the content appearing in those newsgroups.

END CHARTER


ch.talk.moderated MODERATION CHARTER

  1. The moderation acts as a team. Decisions except for the cases stated 
     below are taken by consensus or by majority vote if necessary.

  2. Every article is reviewed by a moderator. The moderator can make
     a final decision about a posting reviewed by him or her. However, a
     moderator should not decide on his or her own postings. The moderation
     is not allowed to alter articles in any way.

  3. An article may be rejected if it

     a) is not written in an official language of ch.ALL;

     b) does not meet a topic mentioned in the charter;

     c) contains flames (insults);

     d) is crossposted to groups where it is obviously off-topic;

     e) is crossposted to more than two other groups or is part of excessive
        multiposting (spam);

     f) contains mainly advertisement, including political or religious;

     g) has essentially the same content as other postings written by
        the same author within the last two weeks;

     h) the author tries to open multiple threads on the same topic
        within a short time period;

     i) the author has opened a lot of threads within the recent past 
        without participating in the discussion.

    An article will always be rejected if

     j) its content is likely illegal in Switzerland;

     k) other postings with substantially identical content from the same
        author have already been approved;

     l) it is larger than 50 kB;

     m) it is crossposted to another moderated group;

     n) it is spam.

     o) the author uses someone else's name or if the author tries to use
        several different identities ("sock puppets").


   An article will be cancelled if

     o) it has bypassed the moderation.


  4. Postings which are not rejected for any of these reasons are approved and
     posted to ch.talk.moderated.

     If the moderator rejects a posting, the author will be notified by email
     if this is possible, except if the posting is obvious spam. Authors will
     automatically be notified, if for any reason their article is pending
     for more than twenty-four hours.

     Authors who try hinder the moderation by writing an excessive number of
     articles might generally be blacklisted up to six months if a two thirds
     majority of the moderators decides to do so. Authors should be warned
     before such action is taken.

  5. The current moderators are:

    - Michel Graedel
    - Raffael Herzog
    - Felix Holdener
    - Joerg Lorenz
    - Harald Maedl
    - Roman Racine
    - Felix Rauch
    - Priska Rubischon
    - Gabriela Salvisberg

  6. New moderators may be proposed by the moderation. The proposal must be
     published at least in ch.admin and ch.talk.moderated. If less than five
     people object the proposal within two weeks, the proposed moderators will
     immediately join the team. Otherwise, they will only join the team if an
     election is held over a period of at least twenty-one days and the number
     of accepting votes is at least twice the number of objecting votes.

  7. A majority of all present moderators may decide to exclude another
     moderator from the team.

  8. Ten people may request to hold a vote on the question if a moderator 
     should stay in the moderation. A moderator must leave the moderation if 
     more votes on NO than on YES have been given. If the moderator is 
     accepted in the vote, people may not ask for a new vote on him or her for 
     one year.

  9. The moderation is suspended, if less than three moderators are active. In 
     this case, articles are auto-approved.

END MODERATION CHARTER.