Conference 7.286::pet_birds

    If you are new to NOTES please read note #5 and the associated
    replies. Note #5 provides a simple overview for using notes and is
    intened for you to ask questions about NOTES.

    For the benefit of our overseas members, try to avoid the use of
    English contractions such as: it's, isn't, aren't, don't, that's,
    and the like. Spelling the words out will make the conference more
    enjoyable for all.

    Please bear in mind that all notes files constitute corporate
    documents. While this is an employee interest conference, what you
    say in it is a matter of public record.

    When discussing different approaches to a problem or issue, please
    be careful to confine your discussion to the issues and not the
    person. Although you may disagree vehemently with another person's
    viewpoint, courteous responses are expected.

    Suppose that someone makes an argument which you feel is wrong.
    You could respond in any one of the following manners:

	"You would have to be out of your mind to believe that!"
	"That argument is stupid."
	"That argument is wrong."
	"I disagree with that completely."

    The first two responses are unacceptable. There is no reason to
    criticize the person or to ridicule the argument. Merely stating
    that it is wrong or that you do not believe it, and explaining why,
    should be sufficient. It is, of course, more politic to say that
    you disagree, but it *is* acceptable to say that an argument or
    statement is wrong, provided you explain your reasoning.

    Even the most innocuous conference may occasionally have a
    "flaming" or offensive note posted. The moderators of this
    conference reserve the right to return any offensive or
    inappropriate note to the author.

    Libel and Slander

    I do not expect that this will be a problem, after all we are all
    mature adults. However, just a few rules of thumb. Do not make
    blanket statements about an individual, organization, or business
    establishment. For example if you wish to caution other noters
    about patronizing a specific outfit, do not make statements like,
    "This place will rip you off," or "That guy is a crook."
    Statements like that can land us all in court. It is acceptable to
    relate your experiences and feelings. You can truthfully, and
    legally, explain what happened to you in the course of a specific
    business transaction such as, "I purchased 'X' and it was
    defective, and it took however many weeks to have it replaced, and
    then the replacement was also bad." This can then be followed by
    recommendations of what you would have done differently.

    Illegal Activities

    At no time should you advocate anything that is illegal. It can be
    quite hard to determine what constitutes a crime, given that DEC
    and this conference's membership circle the globe. The best
    guideline is to not discuss things that are illegal in the area
    where you live or work, and to avoid speaking about things that
    are illegal in a large part of the world.

    It is very important that employee activity noting not interfere
    with the work of the corporation. There are, however, many ways to
    avoid this. In some parts of the company, activities not directly
    related to your job must only be engaged in during off-hours. In
    other parts this issue is handled by individual judgment or by
    mechanisms such as limiting the number of notes servers that can
    run during working hours.

    The host network node for this conference does not have any
    restrictions on its servers. However, please do not leave the
    conference open when you are not reading it. Close it and reopen
    it later.

    Please avoid the use of "cuss-words", "four-letter words" and the
    like. Additionally, ordinary words can become "fighting words"
    when used improperly. For instance there is nothing obscene (in
    English, at least) in calling someone a bird brain. However, it
    might get you punched in the nose. Provocative language of any
    sort is inappropriate.

    IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTE:   "Fighting words" is a legal concept in the
    United States, and there have been Supreme Court rulings on their
    use. The phrase is not intended to cover all statements which you
    might find offensive, but rather those which basically communicate
    nothing but aggressive or negative emotional content. They include
    but are not limited to "cuss words". In other words, watch what
    you say and how you say it or could find yourself, and Digital, in
    court.

    It seems that on many philosophical topics people tend to "run off
    at the keyboard". There are a few problems with overly long notes:

    	- You will frequently lose your audience.

    	- Many of our participants are overseas. The network can be real
    	  slow at times and long winded notes can have an impact on network
    	  traffic levels and performance.

    	- And, the moderators have to read everything in the conference.
    	  Please have mercy on us.

    We encourage you to try to abide by the following guidelines:

    	- Limit each note to 100 lines. That is a lot of text, nearly two
    	  pages single spaced.

    	- Limit each note or reply to a single subject. If someone says
    	  several things that inspire you to respond, break them into
    	  seperate replies if they are going to be of any real length.

    Users are encouraged to open new topics when they wish to discuss
    a new subject. Use different topics (.0 base notes) for different
    thoughts, ideas, and discussions. This allows subsequent readers
    to follow each chain of thought. It also makes historical research
    easier. When you give separate topics to separate thoughts, it
    tends to encourage appropriate responses. When several are run
    together into one note, it makes it hard to cross refernce the
    note and assign proper keywords. Please check the conference
    directory note or use the DIR/TITLE="topic" and DIR/KEYWORD="text"
    commands, to be sure there is not already an active note on your
    topic.

    Try to make your titles, both for topics and for replies, as
    descriptive as possible for the subject of your note. Also, please
    assign keywords to your notes and replies with the ADD KEYWORD
    command. Both of these suggestions will greatly aid historical
    research, and reduce duplicate note topics.

    No matter how well-intentioned we are, being human, we can expect
    to write notes here which unintentionally offend others or break
    one of the conference rules. When this happens, we need to handle
    it expeditiously and with sensitivity. The following procedures
    are intended to enable us to deal with the problems as quickly and
    with as little fuss as possible. PLEASE follow them if there are
    problems.

        If any person finds a note in this file objectionable, they
        have the right to contact the author of the note and/or the
        moderator and request that action be taken.

        Members of this file are obliged to immediately hide a note
        when they receive a complaint about its content, if requested
        by the complainer. (This is done by using the SET NOTE/HIDDEN 
        command.) The moderators may, at their discretion, choose to
        hide or remove a note or reply. Once the note is hidden, the
        author and the  objecting party should negotiate a resolution
        of the problem  created by the note. If necessary on of the
        moderators will act as a  facilitator in this process.
    
        Possible resolutions might include one or more of the
        following: 

	      - deleting the note and re-posting it in an edited form
	      - deleting it all together
	      - posting a clarifying or explanatory note
	      - a simple explanation to the objecting party
	      - withdrawal of the complaint and "unhiding" the note

To PET_BIRDS notesfiles readers and participants:

Below is the most current statement from the Digital Corporate Personnel
Policies manager, Ron Glover, on making negative comments about others
in the notesfiles.  As with so much in the notesfiles, there is a subjective
element in deciding what could be construed as a negative comment.  Please
take the time to read the guidelines from Ron Glover (many forwards and
the original distribution list have been deleted--it went to all group
level personnel managers as a start, then throughout Digital).  The date
on this policy is October 1990.  If either of us can be of help on this
question in our role as co-moderators of the notesfile, please contact
either of us.

Linda CLOSET::Compton and Dick AVIAN::Kirschbaum
Co-Moderators, PET_BIRDS

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Subj:	Digital Policy on: Commenting on Businesses in Notes files

    
                      **DIGITAL INTERNAL USE ONLY **
    
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Message from Ron Glover Corporate Personnel     OCT 1990
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    
    Over the last several months Digital has been contacted by a number
    of individuals and business entities that were angry about negative
    comments made about them in our Notesfiles and Conferences. As the
    Personnel Policy Manager for Digital I have been the recipient of
    many of those notes. I thought I should take the time to post this
    note to inform employees that it is not appropriate for them to make
    negative comments or references about any person or business entity
    in any of Digital's employee interest notesfile or conferences.

    There are several reasons why we are establishing this rule. The
    first has to do with fundamental fairness. It is simply not fair for
    an employee to make a negative comment about a business when we
    don't provide those businesses an opportunity to respond and defend
    themselves. This is particularly true given the fact that we have no
    way of determining whether the comment is honest, fair or accurate.
    Clearly Digital has no intention, or desire, to open up its
    notesfiles to third-party businesses so that they can engage in a
    debate about whether they provide quality services. The only logical
    solution then is to ask our employees to refrain from using the
    Notesfiles to air grievances they have with individuals, vendors, or
    organizations.

    In addition to out concerns about fairness, we are concerned about
    the potential damage that these kinds of comments may cause to
    third-party businesses. In that regard, employees should understand
    that they may be personally liable if the statements they make cause
    harm to any person or business. Moreover, there is some possibility
    Digital may be held liable for such comments as well. Stated more
    simply, comments made in a Notesfile or conference are in no way
    privileged or immune from claims of liable, slander or defamation.

    We are asking all of the users of Notesfiles to exercise discretion
    and judgement in the comments that they make in the system. We are
    also asking moderators to go back and review the notesfiles they
    moderate and to remove any notes that include derogatory references
    to third-party businesses.

    Please feel free to contact your moderator if you have any questions
    on this subject.

    Ron Glover
    Corporate Personnel Policy Manager