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1author: spb
2date: 2016-02-19 13:11:52+00:00
3slug: the-new-policies
4title: The New Policies
5---
849bdd6f 6One of the several problems that's become obvious in recent times is that we  have too many policies, they're often not consistent with each other, and we've spent too much time and effort wondering whether something, which is obviously the right thing to do, fits with our published policy. With that in mind, the following stripped-back set of policies will apply in future, with the intention that we can set out a simple set of baselines and apply common sense on top of them.
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849bdd6f 8**Nickname ownership**
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10Nicknames are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, to the first person
11who registers the name with NickServ. However, we expect users to act in good
12faith and reserve the right to remove a nickname registration where we believe
13that this has not been the case.
7a96c010 14**Nickname and account registrations expire ten weeks after they are last used.
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15For nicknames, 'used' means that you were using the nickname while logged in to
16the account which owns it. For accounts, 'used' means that you logged in to the
17account, regardless of the nickname you used to do so. Nicknames which are the
7a96c010 18primary account name only expire when the entire account is expired.**
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19In some cases, such as for very old accounts, we may, at our discretion, extend
20the expiry time of a nickname or account. We will not normally do this beyond 15
21weeks past the last use.
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23Some nicknames and accounts, including but not limited to some of those owned by
24current or former network staff, do not expire at all. These accounts can be
25identified by the 'Hold' flag in their NickServ info output.
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27Nicknames and accounts which are expired will not automatically be dropped.
28Please contact network staff if you would like to take over an expired nickname.
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849bdd6f 30**Channel ownership**
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32Channels on freenode fall into one of two categories. Primary channels, which
33begin with a single # character, are reserved for on-topic projects. If you'd
34like to take over one of these channels, then you'll need to be associated in
35some way with the project in question. Topical, or 'about' channels, begin with
36two # characters, and these are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis to
37the first person who registers it with ChanServ. As with nicknames, however, we
38reserve the right to remove or alter registrations where we believe they have
39not been made in good faith.
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41Primary channels do not expire with inactivity, though they can be claimed at
42any time by a representative of an on-topic project with the appropriate name.
43Topical channels expire after 60 days in which no user on the access list for
44the channel has joined it.
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849bdd6f 46**On-topic Use**
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48freenode's primary goal is to encourage and foster the development and use of
49free and open source software projects and other peer-directed communities
50producing broadly licensed creative output. Any project falling under this broad
51description is likely to be considered on-topic for the purposes of primary
52channel naming and other project services which we may provide, but individual
53decisions may be made at the discretion of staff.
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849bdd6f 55**Off-topic Use**
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57We expect all users of the network, whether affiliated with a project or not, to
58act in good faith and in accordance with both their local laws and those
59applicable where freenode operates. Use of freenode and its facilities is a
60privilege, not a right, and may be withdrawn where we believe that this has not
61been the case.