WestNet Policy Information

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us by e-mail. Send mail to "staff" if you're online here or "staff@westnet.com" from anywhere else on the internet.

User Accounts

WestNet does not discriminate based on sex, age, race, creed, religion, sexual preference, income, or *anything* other than your behavior on this system.

WestNet accounts include 180 hours per month of on-line time and 5 megs of disk quota. You are entitled to one dial-in at a time. If you have a SLIP/PPP account, you may have multiple telnet sessions open into the WestNet server, but you are entitled to use only 1 dial-in line at a time.

The use of programs that emulate SLIP or PPP connections on a shell account (TIA, slirp) is not permitted. Programs that provide graphical interfaces to UNIX shell programs (such as SlipKnot, I-COMM, etc.) are allowed however. Use of SLIP/PPP emulators presents security and accountability problems, as they hide the identity of the user.

Use of Handles

We ask ask they everyone on WestNet use their real name. I know that some people like to use a handle, and if you want to include a handle in addition to your real name, that's fine. However, people do tend to be a bit more - emotional when their name isn't attached to something. Therefore the use of handles, or any other method of concealing your identity, is forbidden.

Personal Home Pages

WestNet users have the option of using some of their 5 meg disk quote for a personal home page. By personal, we mean that, with rare exceptions, these pages can not advertise any service done for profit. If you wish to advertise your company's goods our services, you may purchase commercial web space.

Personal home pages may also not contain any adult content. The reasons are purely technical: Adult-oriented sites tend to get popular very quickly and overwhelm the server, denying access to other users. If you wish to create your own home page, instructions are available online.

Inappropriate Use Of Accounts

The following is considered inappropriate use of a WestNet account:

Having multiple accounts on the system without explicit prior approval
Attempting to read the e-mail of others
Attempting to "crack" WestNet or using your WestNet account to attempt to crack another internet site
Using WestNet for anything illegal
Posting inappropriate material to newsgroups (i.e., binaries to non-binary groups, conspiracy theories to ny.general instead of alt.conspiracy, chain mail, MAKE MONEY FAST scams). These types of things always trigger waves of complaint mail directed at a very busy sysadmin (me) who would rather be spending his time improving the system.
Posting the same article multiple times instead of cross-posting.
Mass-mailing advertisements, chain letters, MAKE MONEY FAST, or any other type of "Junk Mail". These are expressly forbidden by both Internet convention and WestNet policy. Doing so will usually result in a flood of complaint email both to the WestNet staff and yourself.

E-Mail Privacy

E-Mail on WestNet is as private as we can reasonably make it. As far as we know there is no way for another user to read the e-mail you have sent or received.

Your e-mail is never read by the system operators without your explicit prior consent

However, there are two common ways that your e-mail privacy could be compromised.

If e-mail you send or receive is "bounced." Typically the system that returns the mail to the sender also copies the system operator. (This is to help track down e-mail problems).
Short version: "Undeliverable e-mail is not private"
Other systems. Mail you send to other sites passes through any number of systems in order to get to its ultimate destination.
This means that you are explicitly trusting the operators of each of these systems to treat your mail as private.
Short version: "Off-site mail may not be private"

WestNet complies with and specifically does NOT disclaim the privacy provisions of the ECPA (Electronic Communications Privacy Act). In other words, we will not, unless served a warrant by law enforcement, allow your e-mail to be read/copied by anyone.

PGP is now available for use by users of our UNIX system, and can be downloaded from many archive sites for Windows and other PC operating systems. For those who haven't heard, PGP is a system which allows you to encrypt your e-mail with a private key. The recipient can then decrypt the message with your public key.

Offensive Material

Some Usenet groups contain material you may find offensive. Certainly I've seen material which offends me. However, there is absolutely nothing we can do about it, short of not participating in Usenet.

Most of Usenet is completely unmoderated. People from all over the world post to these discussion groups. No one monitors what goes on, if only because it would be impossible to keep up with the volume of Usenet. We exercise *no* editorial control over the information provided in the Usenet groups,

WestNet is a communications carrier, not a publisher. Some carriers feel it is necessary to monitor what their users say. We do not. As long as you make your statements in the appropriate area, you are free to say whatever you wish. Since others have the same right, you should also be prepared to face the possible "flames" of others.

This does not, however, hold for any of the direct, person to person forms of communication. Harassment using services such as mail or talk are illegal here, as they are in the real world. If you have a problem with another user here harassing you, that you are unable to resolve between yourselves, please contact one of the staff.