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United Collective of Systems and Networks

IRC Network Regulations Document (UCSN IRC-NRD)

Writeup: Digibase Operations, (March 22nd-29th, 2010)
 Consultation: Various channels, Exiled Systems, ShatteredTears, KitsuneParadise

Document Status: Ratified

Ratified by:


0. Preface

This Document

This document is enforceable within the scope of the United Collective of Systems and Networks collaborative IRC network.

The UCSN IRC network is defined as "collaborative" as it does not fall under the mandate or authority of a single organization outside of basic administration guidance, therefore certain additional regulations may be applied depending on the server in which one is connected.

Terms

Terms used within this document:

  1. "IRC Network Administration" - The authoritative group that manages the IRC network and its resources
  2. "Network Regulations" - This document
  3. "Server Regulations" - One or more terms of service or acceptable usage policy documents that are specific to a member organization.
  4. "Assets" - Resources such as nicks and channel names, typically held through registration services
  5. "MUST" - An indication of obligatory action that must be performed or loss of privleges or access to systems may occur. "NOT" may also be applied at which point the action must be avoided.

This document will outline definitions of basic words that may be interpreted as to prevent interpretation and to enforce a single definition. These words are placed in quotation then defined after the regulation. Definitions may also appear to be redundant, this is to ensure clarity.

References

External references to this document are done in two forms:

Any references may optionally be prefixed by the Section symbol (§).

1. USERS

1.1. User Rights

"Rights" are defined as unwaivable abilities.

  1. Users have the right to fair decisions.
  2. Users have the right to review and appeal of decisions made by IRC Network administration.
  3. Users have the right to communciate in their native language with one another.
    (Users must be capable of speaking English as to communicate with IRC Network administration)
  4. Users have the right to a reasonable expectation of privacy.

1.2. User Privileges

"Privileges" are defined as that of which is granted by default and sustained with compliance with regulations, but may be revoked if regulations are breached.

  1. Users have the privlege to connect and to join channels.
  2. Users have the privlege to establish channels and place their own regulation upon such channels, provided such regulations do not contradict network regulations.
  3. Users have the privlege to utilize registration services to protect assets such as channels and nicks.

1.3. User Obligations

"Obligations" are defined as that of which must be fullfilled. Failure to do so will result in removal from channels, servers, or the network.

  1. Users have the obligation to follow Network Regulations.
  2. Users have the obligation to follow the organization's regulations of the system in which they are connected.
  3. Users have the obligation to follow channel regulations of which they are joined to.
  4. Users have the obligation to understand all regulations.
  5. Users have the obligation to take full responsibility of any and all content they post.
  6. Users are forbidden from producing "hate speech", harassing statements or violent personal statements regardless of intention.
  7. Users are forbidden from posting potentially damaging imagery content such as real-life death or torture, unless expressly for educational discussion.
  8. Users are forbidden from posting illegal content such as child pornography.
  1. "Hate Speech" is defined as any statement that incites, or conveys hatred against specific groups based off of race, gender, sexual preference, employment, or beliefs.

2. CHANNELS

2.1. Channel Regulations

All channels may operate under their own rules and regulation and are encouraged to create and exercise such regulation. Channel regulation that subverts, reduces, or countermands Network or Server Regulations is prohibited.

2.2. Channel Obligations

All channels are held to following certain regulations, failure to comply will incite IRC Network administration's intervention.

  1. Illegal content such as child pornography is forbidden
  2. Illegal content such as illegally obtained software is forbidden
  3. Channels shall not condone hatred against specific groups based off of race, gender, sexual preference, employment, or beliefs.
  4. "Harassment" toward any individual or group is prohibited.
  5. Cursing shall NOT be prohibited by network regulations.
  6. Channel operators must to the best of their abilities ensure users of their channels follow Network Regulations.
  7. Channel operators must maintain channel rules and these rules must be in a format that may be reviewed by IRC Network Administration upon request.
  8. "Closed community" channels must set mode +s.
  9. Channels must admit IRC Operators to their channel at the IRC Network Administration's discretion.
  10. Potentially damaging imagery content such as real-life death or torture is forbidden unless expressly for educational discussion, to which any such content must be clearly marked and all involved consenting to such.
  1. "Harassment" is defined as an action where a user badgers, threatens, intentionally upsets or disturbs another user or group.
  2. "Closed community" is defined as a community where channel operators desire no external interference by unknown users to the channel operator.

2.3. Channel Abandonment

Any channel deemed "abandoned" and without "presence of authority" may become under the authority of IRC Network administration

  1. "abandonment" is defined as the act, or lack thereof of the Channel Founder failing to identify for their nickserv registration within a reasonable time period of 2 weeks
  2. "presence of authority" is defined as a presence of a channel administrator (mode +oa) and/or channel successor who may speak on behalf of the channel's interests

2.4. Offensive Content

Any "offensive content" within one channel shall be dealt with by the channel operator at the operator's discretion

Any "offensive content" within two or more channels may result in IRC Network administration intervening against the individual posting content.

  1. "Offensive content" is defined as content that offends one or more individuals within one or more channels

2.5. Channel Invasion

Channel "invasion" is prohibited and those participating will be removed from the network.

  1. "Invasion" is defined as the act of users migrating to a channel for the sole purpose of creating issues.

2.6. Channel Operator

A Channel Operator is defined as an individual with channel mode +o set or higher. Channel Operators have authority to designate rules and regulations of their channel as well as take actions within the allowment of server and Network Regulations.

A Channel Operator has the obligation to enforce their channel regulations and to ensure their channel is in compliance with Server and Network Regulations.

3. ASSETS

3.1. Takeovers of Assets

Assets, such as nicks and channels obtained via "takeovers" shall be locked, restricted, or otherwise rendered inoperable temporarily by IRC Network administration until at which point it is deemed the asset(s) may be released to its correct "registrant".

  1. "Takeovers" are defined as the act of obtaining access codes or passwords for assets held by another individual or organization as to deny that party access to their resources.
  2. "Registrant" is defined as an individual who originally registered an asset with registration services.

3.2. Excessive Registration

Users shall not register assets for the sole purpose of preventing their use. those doing so shall have these registrations revoked and at the discretion of IRC Network administration, may be restricted from utilising registration services.

  1. Users bulk-registering assets may be questioned.

3.3. Impersonation

Users may not register assets for the purpose of appearing to be an individual or organization they are not.

3.4. Virtual Hosts

Users may request virtual hosts, however, their granting is at IRC Network Administration's discretion and may be revoked without notice.

Virtual hosts that resolve to a common internet address, such as a valid domain name or hostname MUST EITHER/OR:

  1. Resolve to the IP the user will primarily utilize to connect to the network.
  2. Be proven that the user in question owns the domain name or hostname to the satisfaction of IRC Network Administration.

3.5 Asset Limits and Expiration

Assets shall expire after a specific period of time, not exceeding 30 days of non-use. Registrants MUST adhere to perscribed limits.

  1. Nickname assets MUST NOT exceed 20 registrations held per registrant.
  2. Channel assets MUST NOT exceed 10 registrations held per registrant.
  3. Registrants may apply to the IRC Network Administration to have no more than 10 Nickname registrations set to "non-expiry", those applying are expected to produce reason they require this. Final decision will be at the discretion of the IRC Network Administration and may be reviewed at any time.
  1. "non-expiry" is defined as a state where an asset will not be automatically purged.

3.6. Asset Reservation

Users may not register assets for the purpose of "squatting". Such assets shall be locked or deleted at the IRC Network Administration's discretion.

  1. "Squatting" is defined as the act of withholding assets for the purpose of preventing their legitimate use.

4. DECISIONS

4.1. Network Offenses

Offenses incurred within the scope of the network are when this document is directly breached. Any offenses shall be dealt with by any attending IRC Operator or Administrator at their discretion.

  1. "Offenses" are defined as an act or series of acts that results in breach of regulations.

4.2. Server Offenses

Offenses incurred within the scope of the server are when a member organization's terms of service (ToS) document or other acceptable usage policy (AUP) is breached. Any offences within this scope shall be dealt with by that organization's policy.

4.3. Channel Offenses

Offenses incurred within the scope of a channel are when channel rules or regulations are breached and are at the discretion of the Channel Operator. Decisions will be enforced by IRC Network administration if requested by Channel operator or "deemed required".

  1. "Deemed required" is defined as the IRC Network administration re-enforcing a prior decision established by the Channel operator, even if the Channel operator is not present.

5. BOTS AND SERVICES

5.1. Definitions

  1. An "Operator" in this context is defined as any individual or organization responsible for the configuration, management, software, infrastructure and other aspects of the Bot, Bridge or Service.
  2. A "Bot" is defined as any automated or semi-automated IRC client software that connects to the IRC network.
  3. A "Bridge" is defined as any semi-automated client that relays communications between the IRC Network and any external communication services.
  4. A "Member Service" is defined as an automated interface or program managed by a Member Organization connected at the IRC Network level to provide access and extend the IRC Network's functionality and resources. Member Services may create one or more pseudo-clients to enable this access.
  5. A "Network Service" is defined as an automated interface or program managed by the IRC Network Administration connected at the IRC Network level that provides Users and Member Organizations a means to as authorized by IRC Network Regulations to register and manage assets and manage IRC Network resources. Network Services may create one or more pseudo-clients to enable this access.

5.2. User Obligations

All users utilizing Bots, Bridges and Services are held to the following regulations, failure to comply may result in restriction of access to the Bots, Bridges or Services, or Channel or IRC Network Administration's intervention.

Users:

  1. must adhere to rules, regulations and restrictions established by the Bot, Bridge or Service Operator as condition to transmit commands, messages or requests to the same.
  2. must not probe any Bot, Bridge or Service or attempt to transmit any malformed request or command without authorization of its Operator.
  3. must not attempt to take down or cause any Bot, Bridge or Service to malfunction without authorization of its Operator.
  4. must not purposefully attempt or cause any Bot, Bridge or Service to violate any regulations.
  5. must not rapidly transmit commands or requests nor shall any attempt be made to bypass any rate limiting mechanism.
  6. must not utilize Bots, Bridges or Services as a means to bypass any bans or restrictions placed upon them.
  7. must not transmit requests or commands to scrape or harvest data in bulk from Bots, Bridges or Services without the authorization of its Operator.

5.3. Bots

Users are permitted to connect, place and operate their own Bots to IRC Network provided they are compliant with all applicable regulations including Channel, Server and Network Regulations. The Bot Operator shall be responsible for all operations and any and all malfunctions unless maliciously caused by another user. Such determinations shall be at the sole discretion of the IRC Network Administration.

(a) Considerations:

  1. Bots can set user mode +B to indicate they are a bot to the IRC Network Administration and other users.
  2. Bots should use SSL/TLS or connect via localhost to a Member IRC server to connect with the IRC network.
  3. Bots should keep the data they collect to the minimum required for the provision of their features.

(b) Obligations:

  1. Bots must not transmit spam, referral links or advertising.
  2. Bots must comply with Server and Network regulations as well as the regulations of any channels they are joined to.
  3. Bots must be authorized by Channel Operators of any channel they are placed in.
  4. Bots authorized by Channel Operators to utilize channel management functions shall have their actions interpreted as the actions of the Channel Operator.
  5. Bots using IRC Operator credentials are to be authorized by the responsible Member Organization.
  6. Bots using IRC Operator credentials must take preventative measures to ensure commands originate from authorized sources.

5.4. Bridges

Users are permitted to create federated communication links between one or more IRC Channels and external communications services provided such is in compliance of all regulations of all ends of the communication. Bridge Operators are permitted to delegate authority as they see fit.

(a) Considerations:

  1. Bridge Operators should consider the data collection policies of external services and advise IRC users of possible privacy ramifications of information disclosure in the Bridge's presence.
  2. Bridge Operators should coordinate with Channel Operators of channels to where their bridge is placed on an ongoing basis.

(b) Obligations:

  1. Each Bridge must be individually authorized by the Channel Operator to where the Bridge is to be placed.
  2. Bridges must not be permitted to be used to transmit messages in violation of any regulation.
  3. Bridges must not be permitted to be used to transmit or relay messages originating from individuals banned or otherwise prohibited from transmitting to the IRC Network or given channel.
  4. Bridges must not allow third parties to abuse or cause to malfunction any Bot or Service.
  5. Bridges must not create undue advertising of external services.
  6. Bridges must comply with all standard Bot regulations.
  7. Where the IRC Network is used as a conduit between two or more Bridges, Channel and Network Regulations shall govern the relay of such content.
  8. Upon reasonable request, Bridge Operators must disclose the the external service to where messages are relayed.

(c) Exception:

  1. Where the Bridge Operator can demonstrate a reasonable attempt to comply with regulations, responsibility for messages relayed or transmitted violating regulations will be void.

5.5. Services

Services, including Network Services and Member Services shall only be operated by Member Organizations in a secure and stable manner, similarly to that of a user server and with similar responsibilities.

(a) Considerations:

  1. Services should be performant as to manage and service multiple requests originating from multiple users at any given time.

(b) Obligations:

  1. Services must not collect data for the purposes of distributing data to third parties.
  2. Services must be connected locally to the operating Member Organization's server as not to directly transmit any data over any network.
  3. Services must store user and IRC Operator passwords in a hashed format.
  4. Services must not use reversible encryption for password storage.
  5. Any backups of any software, logs and databases must be encrypted at rest prior to transmission if stored remotely.
  6. Network Services must provide all Members equal access to administer and manage the Services with exception to server access.
  7. Network Services must be operationally stable as to provide users and other members ongoing access.

(c) Exceptions:

  1. Outages of Network Services caused by an upstream connectivity outage or required maintenance are excepted.

6. SECURITY

6.1. System Security

Any attempt or threat by Users to breach security of any system or service shall result in restriction or up to and including permanant removal from the IRC network. It may also be at the discretion of the threatened organization to move to adjust security of systems to restrict access.

6.2. Third Party Security

If there is a threat made toward a third party system or network not associated to the UCSN, it may be at the discretion of IRC Network administration to forward a report to the threatened system or network operator with any identifying information of users involved in the threat.

6.3 Privacy

Information that is sensitive and identifying is deemed private and must not leave the confines of where it had been posted EXCEPT where:

  1. There is an interest of enforcement of regulations.
  2. Permission by the individual or group it is identifying has been granted.
  3. Where non-disclosure may result in direct harm of one or more individuals.

7. CONTENT

7.1. Content Indemnification

Content is exclusively the responsibility of Users. UCSN or any of its organizations are obsolved of any content posted to the IRC Network by Users.

7.2 Impersonation

Users shall not identify utilising names and titles they are not privy, identify as authority without authorization, or otherwise misrepresent their identity.

  1. Users impersonating other users shall be at the discretion of the attending Channel Operator.
  2. Users impersonating channel operators shall be at the discretion of the attending Channel Operator.
  3. Users impersonating officers of UCSN organizations shall be at the strict discretion of the IRC Network Administration regardless of channel regulations.

8. Operator/Administrator Powers

8.1. Actions/Powers as Authority

Operators and Administrators utilizing "commands" that require "authentication" of one or more services and servers are deemed to be acting with authority and held to this section (Section 8) of this document.

  1. "commands" are defined as instructions to services and servers.
  2. "authentication" is defined as the act of gaining additional access above that of a user.

8.2. Non-Interference[See §10.5]

Operators and Administrators shall not interfere with regular channel or user activities that are within the scope of regulations. This includes, but is not limited to:

  1. Modify channel attributes, including modes, settings and other configuration items without explicit permission of the channel operator.
  2. Modify user attributes, including nicks, hostnames, vhosts, ident ("user" field), settings, and other such items without explicit permission of the user.

8.3. Personal Use of Power[See §10.5]

All Operators and Administrators are expected to utilize their powers of authority for official tasks only, Personal usages of power are completely unacceptable and not at all congruent to regulations.

  1. Threats, or acting against a user or group who is within regulations are unacceptable.
  2. Favours, or providing power, directly (distributing credentials), or indirectly (utilising powers on behalf of) to users or groups are unacceptable.

9. Governance Committee Powers

9.1. Override of Regulations

A Majority vote of the UCSN Governance committee may temporarily rescind any and all regulations as to ensure effective action in regards to situations that may not be covered effectively by regulations. Accountability is required of all parties that acted outside of regulations. Overrides are not permitted to exceed the original purpose and purposes must be clear and known.

10. Document History

[10.1]: Original Writeup

22-29 March 2010

[10.2]: Ratified

30 March 2010

[10.3]: Revision

30 November 2010

Amended

Added:

[10.4]: Revision

15 May 2011

Signed by Digibase Operations, ShatteredTears/EidolonHost, AyhiocIRC, 24/7 Servers

Updated

Added:

Removals:

[10.5] Exemption "#Exclusion_Zone"

23 May 2011

Signed by ShatteredTears/EidolonHost, 247/Servers, Kitsuria Network, Exiled Systems, Digibase Operations

Exempted:

[10.6]: Revision

10 September 2013,

Signed by Exabase Services, AGHNPH, Kitsunet, Saniwa, Kitsuria Networks, Digibase Operations

Added:

[10.7]: Revision

12 August 2014

Signed by Exabase Services, AGHNPH, Kitsunet, Saniwa, Kitsuria Networks, Digibase Operations

Added:

Amended:


Copyright © 2010 Digibase Operations