[irc/freenode/web-7.0.git] / content / news / 2016-02-19-the-new-policies.markdown

author: spb
date: 2016-02-19 13:11:52+00:00
slug: the-new-policies
title: The New Policies
---

One 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.

**Nickname ownership**

Nicknames are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, to the first person
who registers the name with NickServ. However, we expect users to act in good
faith and reserve the right to remove a nickname registration where we believe
that this has not been the case.


#### Nickname and account registrations expire ten weeks after they are last used.
For nicknames, 'used' means that you were using the nickname while logged in to
the account which owns it. For accounts, 'used' means that you logged in to the
account, regardless of the nickname you used to do so. Nicknames which are the
primary account name only expire when the entire account is expired.


In some cases, such as for very old accounts, we may, at our discretion, extend
the expiry time of a nickname or account. We will not normally do this beyond 15
weeks past the last use.

Some nicknames and accounts, including but not limited to some of those owned by
current or former network staff, do not expire at all. These accounts can be
identified by the 'Hold' flag in their NickServ info output.

Nicknames and accounts which are expired will not automatically be dropped.
Please contact network staff if you would like to take over an expired nickname.

**Channel ownership**

Channels on freenode fall into one of two categories. Primary channels, which
begin with a single # character, are reserved for on-topic projects. If you'd
like to take over one of these channels, then you'll need to be associated in
some way with the project in question. Topical, or 'about' channels, begin with
two # characters, and these are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis to
the first person who registers it with ChanServ. As with nicknames, however, we
reserve the right to remove or alter registrations where we believe they have
not been made in good faith.

Primary channels do not expire with inactivity, though they can be claimed at
any time by a representative of an on-topic project with the appropriate name.
Topical channels expire after 60 days in which no user on the access list for
the channel has joined it.

**On-topic Use**

freenode's primary goal is to encourage and foster the development and use of
free and open source software projects and other peer-directed communities
producing broadly licensed creative output. Any project falling under this broad
description is likely to be considered on-topic for the purposes of primary
channel naming and other project services which we may provide, but individual
decisions may be made at the discretion of staff.

**Off-topic Use**

We expect all users of the network, whether affiliated with a project or not, to
act in good faith and in accordance with both their local laws and those
applicable where freenode operates. Use of freenode and its facilities is a
privilege, not a right, and may be withdrawn where we believe that this has not
been the case.
Commit	Line	Data
271fb63d SB	1	author: spb
	2	date: 2016-02-19 13:11:52+00:00
	3	slug: the-new-policies
	4	title: The New Policies
d7dd9d5b SB	5	---
	6
	7	One 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.
	8
	9	Nickname ownership
	10
74a0bb8a SB	11	Nicknames are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, to the first person
	12	who registers the name with NickServ. However, we expect users to act in good
	13	faith and reserve the right to remove a nickname registration where we believe
	14	that this has not been the case.
	15
271fb63d SB	16
	17	#### Nickname and account registrations expire ten weeks after they are last used.
	18	For nicknames, 'used' means that you were using the nickname while logged in to
	19	the account which owns it. For accounts, 'used' means that you logged in to the
74a0bb8a	20	account, regardless of the nickname you used to do so. Nicknames which are the
271fb63d SB	21	primary account name only expire when the entire account is expired.
271fb63d SB	22
74a0bb8a SB	23
	24	In some cases, such as for very old accounts, we may, at our discretion, extend
	25	the expiry time of a nickname or account. We will not normally do this beyond 15
	26	weeks past the last use.
	27
	28	Some nicknames and accounts, including but not limited to some of those owned by
	29	current or former network staff, do not expire at all. These accounts can be
271fb63d	30	identified by the 'Hold' flag in their NickServ info output.
74a0bb8a SB	31
	32	Nicknames and accounts which are expired will not automatically be dropped.
	33	Please contact network staff if you would like to take over an expired nickname.
	34
271fb63d	35	Channel ownership
74a0bb8a SB	36
74a0bb8a SB	37	Channels on freenode fall into one of two categories. Primary channels, which
271fb63d SB	38	begin with a single # character, are reserved for on-topic projects. If you'd
	39	like to take over one of these channels, then you'll need to be associated in
	40	some way with the project in question. Topical, or 'about' channels, begin with
74a0bb8a SB	41	two # characters, and these are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis to
	42	the first person who registers it with ChanServ. As with nicknames, however, we
	43	reserve the right to remove or alter registrations where we believe they have
	44	not been made in good faith.
	45
	46	Primary channels do not expire with inactivity, though they can be claimed at
	47	any time by a representative of an on-topic project with the appropriate name.
	48	Topical channels expire after 60 days in which no user on the access list for
	49	the channel has joined it.
	50
271fb63d	51	On-topic Use
74a0bb8a	52
271fb63d	53	freenode's primary goal is to encourage and foster the development and use of
74a0bb8a SB	54	free and open source software projects and other peer-directed communities
	55	producing broadly licensed creative output. Any project falling under this broad
	56	description is likely to be considered on-topic for the purposes of primary
	57	channel naming and other project services which we may provide, but individual
	58	decisions may be made at the discretion of staff.
	59
271fb63d	60	Off-topic Use
74a0bb8a SB	61
	62	We expect all users of the network, whether affiliated with a project or not, to
	63	act in good faith and in accordance with both their local laws and those
	64	applicable where freenode operates. Use of freenode and its facilities is a
271fb63d SB	65	privilege, not a right, and may be withdrawn where we believe that this has not
271fb63d SB	66	been the case.