RFC 1855
Netiquette Guidelines
Status of This Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet
community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.
Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Abstract
This document provides a minimum set of guidelines for Network
Etiquette (Netiquette) which organizations may take and adapt for their own use.
As such, it is deliberately written in a bulleted format to make adaptation
easier and to make any particular item easy (or easier) to find. It also
functions as a minimum set of guidelines for individuals, both users and
administrators. This memo is the product of the Responsible Use of the Network
(RUN) Working Group of the IETF.
Table of Contents
In the past, the population of people
using the Internet had "grown up" with the Internet, were technically minded,
and understood the nature of the transport and the protocols. Today, the
community of Internet users includes people who are new to the environment.
These "Newbies" are unfamiliar with the culture and don't need to know about
transport and protocols. In order to bring these new users into the Internet
culture quickly, this Guide offers a minimum set of behaviors which
organizations and individuals may take and adapt for their own use. Individuals
should be aware that no matter who supplies their Internet access, be it an
Internet Service Provider through a private account, or a student account at a
University, or an account through a corporation, that those organizations have
regulations about ownership of mail and files, about what is proper to post or
send, and how to present yourself. Be sure to check with the local authority for
specific guidelines.
We've organized this material into three sections: One-to-one communication,
which includes mail and talk; One-to-many communications, which includes mailing
lists and NetNews; and Information Services, which includes ftp, WWW, Wais,
Gopher, MUDs and MOOs. Finally, we have a Selected Bibliography, which may be
used for reference.
We
define one-to-one communications as those in which a person is communicating
with another person as if face-to-face: a dialog. In general, rules of common
courtesy for interaction with people should be in force for any situation and on
the Internet it's doubly important where, for example, body language and tone of
voice must be inferred. For more information on Netiquette for communicating via
electronic mail and talk, check references [1,23,25,27] in the Selected
Bibliography.
2.1 User Guidelines
2.1.1 For mail:
- Unless you have your own Internet access through an Internet provider, be
sure to check with your employer about ownership of electronic mail. Laws
about the ownership of electronic mail vary from place to place.
- Unless you are using an encryption device (hardware or software), you
should assume that mail on the Internet is not secure. Never put in a mail
message anything you would not put on a postcard.
- Respect the copyright on material that you reproduce. Almost every country
has copyright laws.
- If you are forwarding or re-posting a message you've received, do not
change the wording. If the message was a personal message to you and you are
re-posting to a group, you should ask permission first. You may shorten the
message and quote only relevant parts, but be sure you give proper
attribution.
- Never send chain letters via electronic mail. Chain letters are forbidden
on the Internet. Your network privileges will be revoked. Notify your local
system administrator if your ever receive one.
- A good rule of thumb: Be conservative in what you send and liberal in what
you receive. You should not send heated messages (we call these "flames") even
if you are provoked. On the other hand, you shouldn't be surprised if you get
flamed and it's prudent not to respond to flames.
- In general, it's a good idea to at least check all your mail subjects
before responding to a message. Sometimes a person who asks you for help (or
clarification) will send another message which effectively says "Never Mind".
Also make sure that any message you respond to was directed to you. You might
be cc:ed rather than the primary recipient.
- Make things easy for the recipient. Many mailers strip header information
which includes your return address. In order to ensure that people know who
you are, be sure to include a line or two at the end of your message with
contact information. You can create this file ahead of time and add it to the
end of your messages. (Some mailers do this automatically.) In Internet
parlance, this is known as a ".sig" or "signature" file. Your .sig file takes
the place of your business card. (And you can have more than one to apply in
different circumstances.)
- Be careful when addressing mail. There are addresses which may go to a
group but the address looks like it is just one person. Know to whom you are
sending.
- Watch cc's when replying. Don't continue to include people if the messages
have become a 2-way conversation.
- In general, most people who use the Internet don't have time to answer
general questions about the Internet and its workings. Don't send unsolicited
mail asking for information to people whose names you might have seen in RFCs
or on mailing lists.
- Remember that people with whom you communicate are located across the
globe. If you send a message to which you want an immediate response, the
person receiving it might be at home asleep when it arrives. Give them a
chance to wake up, come to work, and login before assuming the mail didn't
arrive or that they don't care.
- Verify all addresses before initiating long or personal discourse. It's
also a good practice to include the word "Long" in the subject header so the
recipient knows the message will take time to read and respond to. Over 100
lines is considered "long".
- Know whom to contact for help. Usually you will have resources close at
hand. Check locally for people who can help you with software and system
problems. Also, know whom to go to if you receive anything questionable or
illegal. Most sites also have "Postmaster" aliased to a knowledgeable user, so
you can send mail to this address to get help with mail.
- Remember that the recipient is a human being whose culture, language, and
humor have different points of reference from your own. Remember that date
formats, measurements, and idioms may not travel well. Be especially careful
with sarcasm.
- Use mixed case. UPPER CASE LOOKS AS IF YOU'RE SHOUTING.
- Use symbols for emphasis. That *is* what I meant. Use underscores for
underlining. _War and Peace_ is my favorite book.
- Use smileys to indicate tone of voice, but use them sparingly. :-) is an
example of a smiley (Look sideways). Don't assume that the inclusion of a
smiley will make the recipient happy with what you say or wipe out an
otherwise insulting comment.
- Wait overnight to send emotional responses to messages. If you have really
strong feelings about a subject, indicate it via FLAME ON/OFF enclosures. For
example:
FLAME ON:
This type of argument is not worth the bandwidth it
takes to send it. It's illogical and poorly reasoned. The rest of the world
agrees with me.
FLAME OFF
- Do not include control characters or non-ASCII attachments in messages
unless they are MIME attachments or unless your mailer encodes these. If you
send encoded messages make sure the recipient can decode them.
- Be brief without being overly terse. When replying to a message, include
enough original material to be understood but no more. It is extremely bad
form to simply reply to a message by including all the previous message: edit
out all the irrelevant material.
- Limit line length to fewer than 65 characters and end a line with a
carriage return.
- Mail should have a subject heading which reflects the content of the
message.
- If you include a signature keep it short. Rule of thumb is no longer than
4 lines. Remember that many people pay for connectivity by the minute, and the
longer your message is, the more they pay.
- Just as mail (today) may not be private, mail (and news) are (today)
subject to forgery and spoofing of various degrees of detectability. Apply
common sense "reality checks" before assuming a message is valid.
- If you think the importance of a message justifies it, immediately reply
briefly to an e-mail message to let the sender know you got it, even if you
will send a longer reply later.
- "Reasonable" expectations for conduct via e-mail depend on your
relationship to a person and the context of the communication. Norms learned
in a particular e-mail environment may not apply in general to your e-mail
communication with people across the Internet. Be careful with slang or local
acronyms.
- The cost of delivering an e-mail message is, on the average, paid about
equally by the sender and the recipient (or their organizations). This is
unlike other media such as physical mail, telephone, TV, or radio. Sending
someone mail may also cost them in other specific ways like network bandwidth,
disk space or CPU usage. This is a fundamental economic reason why unsolicited
e-mail advertising is unwelcome (and is forbidden in many contexts).
- Know how large a message you are sending. Including large files such as
Postscript files or programs may make your message so large that it cannot be
delivered or at least consumes excessive resources. A good rule of thumb would
be not to send a file larger than 50 Kilobytes. Consider file transfer as an
alternative, or cutting the file into smaller chunks and sending each as a
separate message.
- Don't send large amounts of unsolicited information to people.
- If your mail system allows you to forward mail, beware the dreaded
forwarding loop. Be sure you haven't set up forwarding on several hosts so
that a message sent to you gets into an endless loop from one computer to the
next to the next.
2.1.2 For talk:
Talk is a set of protocols which allow two people to
have an interactive dialogue via computer.
- Use mixed case and proper punctuation, as though you were typing a letter
or sending mail.
- Don't run off the end of a line and simply let the terminal wrap; use a
Carriage Return (CR) at the end of the line. Also, don't assume your screen
size is the same as everyone else's. A good rule of thumb is to write out no
more than 70 characters, and no more than 12 lines (since you're using a split
screen).
- Leave some margin; don't write to the edge of the screen.
- Use two CRs to indicate that you are done and the other person may start
typing. (blank line).
- Always say goodbye, or some other farewell, and wait to see a farewell
from the other person before killing the session. This is especially important
when you are communicating with someone a long way away. Remember that your
communication relies on both bandwidth (the size of the pipe) and latency (the
speed of light).
- Remember that talk is an interruption to the other person. Only use as
appropriate. And never talk to strangers.
- The reasons for not getting a reply are many. Don't assume that everything
is working correctly. Not all versions of talk are compatible.
- If left on its own, talk re-rings the recipient. Let it ring one or two
times, then kill it.
- If a person doesn't respond you might try another tty. Use finger to
determine which are open. If the person still doesn't respond, do not continue
to send.
- Talk shows your typing ability. If you type slowly and make mistakes when
typing it is often not worth the time of trying to correct, as the other
person can usually see what you meant.
- Be careful if you have more than one talk session going!
2.2 Administrator Issues
- Be sure you have established written guidelines for dealing with
situations especially illegal, improper, or forged traffic.
- Handle requests in a timely fashion - by the next business day.
- Respond promptly to people who have concerns about receiving improper or
illegal messages. Requests concerning chain letters should be handled
immediately.
- Explain any system rules, such as disk quotas, to your users. Make sure
they understand implications of requesting files by mail such as: Filling up
disks; running up phone bills, delaying mail, etc.
- Make sure you have "Postmaster" aliased. Make sure you have "Root"
aliased. Make sure someone reads that mail.
- Investigate complaints about your users with an open mind. Remember that
addresses may be forged and spoofed.
Any
time you engage in One-to-Many communications, all the rules for mail should
also apply. After all, communicating with many people via one mail message or
post is quite analogous to communicating with one person with the exception of
possibly offending a great many more people than in one-to-one communication.
Therefore, it's quite important to know as much as you can about the audience of
your message.
3.1 User Guidelines
3.1.1 General Guidelines for mailing lists and NetNews
- Read both mailing lists and newsgroups for one to two months before you
post anything. This helps you to get an understanding of the culture of the
group.
- Do not blame the system administrator for the behavior of the system
users.
- Consider that a large audience will see your posts. That may include your
present or your next boss. Take care in what you write. Remember too, that
mailing lists and Newsgroups are frequently archived, and that your words may
be stored for a very long time in a place to which many people have access.
- Assume that individuals speak for themselves, and what they say does not
represent their organization (unless stated explicitly).
- Remember that both mail and news take system resources. Pay attention to
any specific rules covering their uses your organization may have.
- Messages and articles should be brief and to the point. Don't wander
off-topic, don't ramble and don't send mail or post messages solely to point
out other people's errors in typing or spelling. These, more than any other
behavior, mark you as an immature beginner.
- Subject lines should follow the conventions of the group.
- Forgeries and spoofing are not approved behavior.
- Advertising is welcomed on some lists and Newsgroups, and abhorred on
others! This is another example of knowing your audience before you post.
Unsolicited advertising which is completely off-topic will most certainly
guarantee that you get a lot of hate mail.
- If you are sending a reply to a message or a posting be sure you summarize
the original at the top of the message, or include just enough text of the
original to give a context. This will make sure readers understand when they
start to read your response. Since NetNews, especially, is proliferated by
distributing the postings from one host to another, it is possible to see a
response to a message before seeing the original. Giving context helps
everyone. But do not include the entire original!
- Again, be sure to have a signature which you attach to your message. This
will guarantee that any peculiarities of mailers or newsreaders which strip
header information will not delete the only reference in the message of how
people may reach you.
- Be careful when you reply to messages or postings. Frequently replies are
sent back to the address which originated the post - which in many cases is
the address of a list or group! You may accidentally send a personal response
to a great many people, embarrassing all involved. It's best to type in the
address instead of relying on "reply."
- Delivery receipts, non-delivery notices, and vacation programs are neither
totally standardized nor totally reliable across the range of systems
connected to Internet mail. They are invasive when sent to mailing lists, and
some people consider delivery receipts an invasion of privacy. In short, do
not use them.
- If you find a personal message has gone to a list or group, send an
apology to the person and to the group.
- If you should find yourself in a disagreement with one person, make your
responses to each other via mail rather than continue to send messages to the
list or the group. If you are debating a point on which the group might have
some interest, you may summarize for them later.
- Don't get involved in flame wars. Neither post nor respond to incendiary
material.
- Avoid sending messages or posting articles which are no more than
gratuitous replies to replies.
- Be careful with monospacing fonts and diagrams. These will display
differently on different systems, and with different mailers on the same
system.
- There are Newsgroups and Mailing Lists which discuss topics of wide
varieties of interests. These represent a diversity of lifestyles, religions,
and cultures. Posting articles or sending messages to a group whose point of
view is offensive to you simply to tell them they are offensive is not
acceptable. Sexually and racially harassing messages may also have legal
implications. There is software available to filter items you might find
objectionable.
3.1.2 Mailing List Guidelines
There are several ways to find information
about what mailing lists exist on the Internet and how to join them. Make sure
you understand your organization's policy about joining these lists and posting
to them. In general it is always better to check local resources first before
trying to find information via the Internet. Nevertheless, there are a set of
files posted periodically to news.answers which list the Internet mailing lists
and how to subscribe to them. This is an invaluable resource for finding lists
on any topic. See also references [9,13,15] in the Selected Bibliography.
- Send subscribe and unsubscribe messages to the appropriate address.
Although some mailing list software is smart enough to catch these, not all
can ferret these out. It is your responsibility to learn how the lists work,
and to send the correct mail to the correct place. Although many many mailing
lists adhere to the convention of having a "-request" alias for sending
subscribe and unsubscribe messages, not all do. Be sure you know the
conventions used by the lists to which you subscribe.
- Save the subscription messages for any lists you join. These usually tell
you how to unsubscribe as well.
- In general, it's not possible to retrieve messages once you have sent
them. Even your system administrator will not be able to get a message back
once you have sent it. This means you must make sure you really want the
message to go as you have written it.
- The auto-reply feature of many mailers is useful for in-house
communication, but quite annoying when sent to entire mailing lists. Examine
"Reply-To" addresses when replying to messages from lists. Most auto-replys
will go to all members of the list.
- Don't send large files to mailing lists when Uniform Resource Locators
(URLs) or pointers to ftp-able versions will do. If you want to send it as
multiple files, be sure to follow the culture of the group. If you don't know
what that is, ask.
- Consider unsubscribing or setting a "nomail" option (when it's available)
when you cannot check your mail for an extended period.
- When sending a message to more than one mailing list, especially if the
lists are closely related, apologize for cross-posting.
- If you ask a question, be sure to post a summary. When doing so, truly
summarize rather than send a cumulation of the messages you receive.
- Some mailing lists are private. Do not send mail to these lists uninvited.
Do not report mail from these lists to a wider audience.
- If you are caught in an argument, keep the discussion focused on issues
rather than the personalities involved.
3.1.3 NetNews Guidelines
NetNews is a globally distributed system which
allows people to communicate on topics of specific interest. It is divided into
hierarchies, with the major divisions being: sci - science related discussions;
comp - computer related discussions; news - for discussions which center around
NetNews itself; rec - recreational activities; soc - social issues; talk -
long-winded never-ending discussions; biz - business related postings; and alt -
the alternate hierarchy. Alt is so named because creating an alt group does not
go through the same process as creating a group in the other parts of the
hierarchy. There are also regional hierarchies, hierarchies which are widely
distributed such as Bionet, and your place of business may have its own groups
as well. Recently, a "humanities" hierarchy was added, and as time goes on its
likely more will be added. For longer discussions on News see references
[2,8,22,23] in the Selected Bibliography.
- In NetNews parlance, "Posting" refers to posting a new article to a group,
or responding to a post someone else has posted. "Cross-Posting" refers to
posting a message to more than one group. If you introduce Cross-Posting to a
group, or if you direct "Followup-To:" in the header of your posting, warn
readers! Readers will usually assume that the message was posted to a specific
group and that followups will go to that group. Headers change this behavior.
- Read all of a discussion in progress (we call this a thread) before
posting replies. Avoid posting "Me Too" messages, where content is limited to
agreement with previous posts. Content of a follow-up post should exceed
quoted content.
- Send mail when an answer to a question is for one person only. Remember
that News has global distribution and the whole world probably is NOT
interested in a personal response. However, don't hesitate to post when
something will be of general interest to the Newsgroup participants.
- Check the "Distribution" section of the header, but don't depend on it.
Due to the complex method by which News is delivered, Distribution headers are
unreliable. But, if you are posting something which will be of interest to a
limited number or readers, use a distribution line that attempts to limit the
distribution of your article to those people. For example, set the
Distribution to be "nj" if you are posting an article that will be of interest
only to New Jersey readers.
- If you feel an article will be of interest to more than one Newsgroup, be
sure to CROSSPOST the article rather than individually post it to those
groups. In general, probably only five-to-six groups will have similar enough
interests to warrant this.
- Consider using Reference sources (Computer Manuals, Newspapers, help
files) before posting a question. Asking a Newsgroup where answers are readily
available elsewhere generates grumpy "RTFM" (read the fine manual - although a
more vulgar meaning of the word beginning with "f" is usually implied)
messages.
- Although there are Newsgroups which welcome advertising, in general it is
considered nothing less than criminal to advertise off-topic products. Sending
an advertisement to each and every group will pretty much guarantee your loss
of connectivity.
- If you discover an error in your post, cancel it as soon as possible.
- DO NOT attempt to cancel any articles but your own. Contact your
administrator if you don't know how to cancel your post, or if some other
post, such as a chain letter, needs canceling.
- If you've posted something and don't see it immediately, don't assume it's
failed and re-post it.
- Some groups permit (and some welcome) posts which in other circumstances
would be considered to be in questionable taste. Still, there is no guarantee
that all people reading the group will appreciate the material as much as you
do. Use the Rotate utility (which rotates all the characters in your post by
13 positions in the alphabet) to avoid giving offense. The Rot13 utility for
Unix is an example.
- In groups which discuss movies or books it is considered essential to mark
posts which disclose significant content as "Spoilers". Put this word in your
Subject: line. You may add blank lines to the beginning of your post to keep
content out of sight, or you may Rotate it.
- Forging of news articles is generally censured. You can protect yourself
from forgeries by using software which generates a manipulation detection
"fingerprint", such as PGP (in the US).
- Postings via anonymous servers are accepted in some Newsgroups and
disliked in others. Material which is inappropriate when posted under one's
own name is still inappropriate when posted anonymously.
- Expect a slight delay in seeing your post when posting to a moderated
group. The moderator may change your subject line to have your post conform to
a particular thread.
- Don't get involved in flame wars. Neither post nor respond to incendiary
material.
3.2 Administrator Guidelines
3.2.1 General Issues
- Clarify any policies your site has regarding its subscription to NetNews
groups and about subscribing to mailing lists.
- Clarify any policies your site has about posting to NetNews groups or to
mailing lists, including use of disclaimers in .sigs.
- Clarify and publicize archive policy. (How long are articles kept?)
- Investigate accusations about your users promptly and with an open mind.
- Be sure to monitor the health of your system.
- Consider how long to archive system logs, and publicize your policy on
logging.
3.2.2 Mailing Lists
- Keep mailing lists up to date to avoid the "bouncing mail" problem.
- Help list owners when problems arise.
- Inform list owners of any maintenance windows or planned downtime.
- Be sure to have "-request" aliases for list subscription and
administration.
- Make sure all mail gateways operate smoothly.
3.2.3. NetNews
- Publicize the nature of the feed you receive. If you do not get a full
feed, people may want to know why not.
- Be aware that the multiplicity of News Reader clients may cause the News
Server being blamed for problems in the clients.
- Honor requests from users immediately if they request cancellation of
their own posts or invalid posts, such as chain letters.
- Have "Usenet", "Netnews" and "News" aliased and make sure someone reads
the mail.
3.3 Moderator Guidelines
3.3.1 General Guidelines
- Make sure your Frequestly Asked Questions (FAQ) is posted at regular
intervals. Include your guidelines for articles/messages. If you are not the
FAQ maintainer, make sure they do so.
- Make sure you maintain a good welcome message, which contains subscribe
and unsubscribe information.
- Newsgroups should have their charter/guidelines posted regularly.
- Keep mailing lists and Newsgroups up to date. Post messages in a timely
fashion. Designate a substitute when you go on vacation or out of town.
In recent Internet history, the 'Net has exploded with new and
varied Information services. Gopher, Wais, World Wide Web (WWW), Multi-User
Dimensions (MUDs) Multi-User Dimensions which are Object Oriented (MOOs) are a
few of these new areas. Although the ability to find information is exploding,
"Caveat Emptor" remains constant. For more information on these services, check
references [14,28] in the Selected Bibliography.
4.1 User Guidelines
4.1.1. General guidelines
- Remember that all these services belong to someone else. The people who
pay the bills get to make the rules governing usage. Information may be free -
or it may not be! Be sure you check.
- If you have problems with any form of information service, start problem
solving by checking locally: Check file configurations, software setup,
network connections, etc. Do this before assuming the problem is at the
provider's end and/or is the provider's fault.
- Although there are naming conventions for file-types used, don't depend on
these file naming conventions to be enforced. For example, a ".doc" file is
not always a Word file.
- Information services also use conventions, such as www.xyz.com. While it
is useful to know these conventions, again, don't necessarily rely on them.
- Know how file names work on your own system.
- Be aware of conventions used for providing information during sessions.
FTP sites usually have files named README in a top level directory which have
information about the files available. But, don't assume that these files are
necessarily up-to-date and/or accurate.
- Do NOT assume that ANY information you find is up-to-date and/or accurate.
Remember that new technologies allow just about anyone to be a publisher, but
not all people have discovered the responsibilities which accompany
publishing.
- Remember that unless you are sure that security and authentication
technology is in use, that any information you submit to a system is being
transmitted over the Internet "in the clear", with no protection from
"sniffers" or forgers.
- Since the Internet spans the globe, remember that Information Services
might reflect culture and life-style markedly different from your own
community. Materials you find offensive may originate in a geography which
finds them acceptable. Keep an open mind.
- When wanting information from a popular server, be sure to use a mirror
server that's close if a list is provided.
- Do not use someone else's FTP site to deposit materials you wish other
people to pick up. This is called "dumping" and is not generally acceptable
behavior.
- When you have trouble with a site and ask for help, be sure to provide as
much information as possible in order to help debug the problem.
- When bringing up your own information service, such as a homepage, be sure
to check with your local system administrator to find what the local
guidelines are in affect.
- Consider spreading out the system load on popular sites by avoiding "rush
hour" and logging in during off-peak times.
4.1.2 Real Time Interactive Services Guidelines (MUDs MOOs IRC)
- As in other environments, it is wise to "listen" first to get to know the
culture of the group.
- It's not necessary to greet everyone on a channel or room personally.
Usually one "Hello" or the equivalent is enough. Using the automation features
of your client to greet people is not acceptable behavior.
- Warn the participants if you intend to ship large quantities of
information. If all consent to receiving it, you may send, but sending
unwanted information without a warning is considered bad form just as it is in
mail.
- Don't assume that people who you don't know will want to talk to you. If
you feel compelled to send private messages to people you don't know, then be
willing to accept gracefully the fact that they might be busy or simply not
want to chat with you.
- Respect the guidelines of the group. Look for introductory materials for
the group. These may be on a related ftp site.
- Don't badger other users for personal information such as sex, age, or
location. After you have built an acquaintance with another user, these
questions may be more appropriate, but many people hesitate to give this
information to people with whom they are not familiar.
- If a user is using a nickname alias or pseudonym, respect that user's
desire for anonymity. Even if you and that person are close friends, it is
more courteous to use his nickname. Do not use that person's real name online
without permission.
4.2 Administrator Guidelines
4.2.1 General Guidelines
- Make clear what's available for copying and what is not.
- Describe what's available on your site, and your organization. Be sure any
general policies are clear.
- Keep information, especially READMEs, up-to-date. Provide READMEs in plain
ascii text.
- Present a list of mirrors of your site if you know them. Make sure you
include a statement of copyright applicable to your mirrors. List their update
schedule if possible.
- Make sure that popular (and massive) information has the bandwidth to
support it.
- Use conventions for file extensions - .txt for ascii text; .html or .htm
for HTML; .ps for Postscript; .pdf for Portable Document Format; .sgml or .sgm
for SGML; .exe for non-Unix executables, etc.
- For files being transferred, try to make filenames unique in the first
eight characters.
- When providing information, make sure your site has something unique to
offer. Avoid bringing up an information service which simply points to other
services on the Internet.
- Don't point to other sites without asking first.
- Remember that setting up an information service is more than just design
and implementation. It's also maintenance.
- Make sure your posted materials are appropriate for the supporting
organization.
- Test applications with a variety of tools. Don't assume everything works
if you've tested with only one client. Also, assume the low end of technology
for clients and don't create applications which can only be used by Graphical
User Interfaces.
- Have a consistent view of your information. Make sure the look and feel
stays the same throughout your applications.
- Be sensitive to the longevity of your information. Be sure to date
time-sensitive materials, and be vigilant about keeping this information well
maintained.
- Export restrictions vary from country to country. Be sure you understand
the implications of export restrictions when you post.
- Tell users what you plan to do with any information you collect, such as
WWW feedback. You need to warn people if you plan to publish any of their
statements, even passively by just making it available to other users.
- Make sure your policy on user information services, such as homepages, is
well known.
This bibliography was used to
gather most of the information in the sections above as well as for general
reference. Items not specifically found in these works were gathered from the
IETF-RUN Working Group's experience. [1] Angell, D., and B. Heslop, "The Elements of E-mail Style",
New York: Addison-Wesley, 1994.
[2] "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Usenet"
Original author: jerry@eagle.UUCP (Jerry Schwarz)
Maintained by: netannounce@deshaw.com (Mark Moraes)
Archive-name: usenet-faq/part1
[3] Cerf, V., "Guidelines for Conduct on and Use of
Internet", at:
http://www.isoc.org/policy/conduct/conduct.html
[4] Dern, D., "The Internet Guide for New Users", New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1994.
[5] "Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette"
Original author: brad@looking.on.ca (Brad Templeton)
Maintained by: netannounce@deshaw.com (Mark Moraes)
Archive-name: emily-postnews/part1
[6] Gaffin, A., "Everybody's Guide to the Internet", Cambridge,
Mass., MIT Press, 1994.
[7] "Guidelines for Responsible Use of the Internet"
from the US house of Representatives gopher, at:
gopher://gopher.house.gov:70/OF-1%3a208%3aInternet%20Etiquette
[8] How to find the right place to post (FAQ)
by buglady@bronze.lcs.mit.edu (Aliza R. Panitz)
Archive-name: finding-groups/general
[9] Hambridge, S., and J. Sedayao, "Horses and Barn Doors:
Evolution of Corporate Guidelines for Internet Usage",
LISA VII, Usenix, November 1-5, 1993, pp. 9-16.
ftp://ftp.intel.com/pub/papers/horses.ps or horses.ascii>
[10] Heslop, B., and D. Angell, "The Instant Internet guide :
Hands-on Global Networking", Reading, Mass., Addison-Wesley,
1994.
[11] Horwitz, S., "Internet Etiquette Tips",
ftp://ftp.temple.edu/pub/info/help-net/netiquette.infohn
[12] Internet Activities Board, "Ethics and the Internet", RFC 1087,
IAB, January 1989.
ftp://ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc1087.txt
[13] Kehoe, B., "Zen and the Art of the Internet: A Beginner's
Guide", Netiquette information is spread through the chapters
of this work. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ., Prentice-Hall,
1994.
[14] Kochmer, J., "Internet Passport: NorthWestNet's Guide
to our World Online", 4th ed. Bellevue, Wash.,
NorthWestNet, Northwest Academic Computing Consortium, 1993.
[15] Krol, Ed, "The Whole Internet: User's Guide and
Catalog", Sebastopol, CA, O'Reilly & Associates,
1992.
[16] Lane, E. and C. Summerhill, "Internet Primer for
Information Professionals: a basic guide to Internet networking
technology", Westport, CT, Meckler, 1993.
[17] LaQuey, T., and J. Ryer, "The Internet Companion",
Chapter 3 "Communicating with People", pp 41-74. Reading,
MA, Addison-Wesley, 1993.
[18] Mandel, T., "Surfing the Wild Internet", SRI International
Business Intelligence Program, Scan No. 2109. March, 1993.
gopher://gopher.well.sf.ca.us:70/00/Communications/surf-wild
[19] Martin, J., "There's Gold in them thar Networks! or Searching for
Treasure in all the Wrong Places", FYI 10, RFC 1402,
January 1993. ftp://ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc1402.txt
[20] Pioch, N., "A Short IRC Primer", Text conversion
by Owe Rasmussen. Edition 1.1b, February 28, 1993.
http://www.kei.com/irc/IRCprimer1.1.txt
[21] Polly, J., "Surfing the Internet: an Introduction",
Version 2.0.3. Revised May 15, 1993.
ftp://ftp.nysernet.org/pub/resources/guides/surfing.2.0.3.txt
[22] "A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community"
Original author: chuq@apple.com (Chuq Von Rospach)
Maintained by: netannounce@deshaw.com (Mark Moraes)
Archive-name: usenet-primer/part1
[23] Rinaldi, A., "The Net: User Guidelines and Netiquette",
September 3, 1992.
http://www.fau.edu/rinaldi/net/index.htm
[24] "Rules for posting to Usenet"
Original author: spaf@cs.purdue.edu (Gene Spafford)
Maintained by: netannounce@deshaw.com (Mark Moraes)
Archive-name: posting-rules/part1
[25] Shea, V., "Netiquette", San Francisco: Albion Books,
1994?.
[26] Strangelove, M., with A. Bosley, "How to Advertise
on the Internet", ISSN 1201-0758.
[27] Tenant, R., "Internet Basics", ERIC Clearinghouse of Information
Resources, EDO-IR-92-7. September, 1992.
gopher://nic.merit.edu:7043/00/introducing.the.internet/internet.basics.eric-digest
gopher://vega.lib.ncsu.edu:70/00/library/reference/guides/tennet
[28] Wiggins, R., "The Internet for everyone: a guide for
users and providers", New York, McGraw-Hill, 1995.
Security issues are not
discussed in this memo.
Sally Hambridge
Intel Corporation
2880 Northwestern Parkway
SC3-15
Santa Clara, CA 95052
Phone: 408-765-2931
Fax: 408-765-3679
EMail: sallyh@ludwig.sc.intel.com
Last page update: 24 October 1995
Source Document: RFC
1855
Official URL for this
page: http://www.stanton.dtcc.edu/stanton/cs/rfc1855.html
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