From: alan@whirlnet.demon.co.uk (Alan Ford) Subject: Results: uk.adverts.computer Charter Change PASSES 59:14 Date: 17 Jan 1999 23:38:23 -0000 Message-ID: -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- RESULT OF CALL FOR VOTES Charter Change of existing newsgroup uk.adverts.computer PASSES 59:14 [Ballot ID: UAC-CHARTER] - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Voting closed at 23:59:59 GMT, Friday 8 January 1999 Proponant: vhampson@netcomuk.co.uk (V. Hampson) Votetaker: alan@whirlnet.demon.co.uk (Alan Ford) - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Distribution: These results have been posted to: uk.net.news.announce uk.net.news.config uk.adverts.computer - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Voting Summary: The Rationale and Charter follow the main results for informational purposes. YES = 59 (79%) NO = 14 (19%) ABSTAIN = 2 (2%) There were a total of 75 valid votes. YES beat NO by a majority of 45. This is above the majority of 12 that is required for a vote to pass. There were 2 abstentions. There were no invalid votes. There will be a five day discussion period after these results have been posted before the group is created to allow for any allegations of irregularities to be raised. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Votetaker's Comments: Nothing much to say! The vote appeared to run smoothly throughout. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Results in Full: Those Who Voted YES (Total: 59) - ------------------- Alex Nuttall $alexn$#zetnet{dot}co{dot}uk Andrew Spiers $andy$#1stweb{dot}co{dot}uk Andy Roberts $andyrobts$#zetnet{dot}co{dot}uk Andy Ross $andyross$#dial{dot}pipex{dot}com Barrie Smith $barrie$#bsmith{dot}force9{dot}co{dot}uk Ben Holme $ben{dot}holme$#cenes{dot}co{dot}uk Bill McLaren $bill$#lilmiss{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Burnette Walter Hicks $hicks{dot}esq$#zetnet{dot}co{dot}uk Chris Martin $CAM$#aion{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Christian P. Hansen $chris$#hansenhome{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Darren Wyn Rees $merlin$#cvnet{dot}co{dot}uk dave day $ukvote$#stejonda{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Dave Thomas $dave$#rotty{dot}globalnet{dot}co{dot}uk David Bolt $bob-it$#my-ste{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk David Damerell $damerell$#chiark{dot}greenend{dot}org{dot}uk David Gunter $david$#cshouse{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk David Mahon $dmahon$#amigo{dot}co{dot}uk Denis Poole $denis$#novel{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Ian Thompson $ian$#webkey{dot}u-net{dot}com James Coupe $james$#obeah{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk James D. Carr $mailme$#jdcarr{dot}freeserve{dot}co{dot}uk Jeremy McNeill $jezza$#hotwells{dot}freeserve{dot}co{dot}uk Jim Nicholson $jimn$#minusen{dot}force9{dot}co{dot}uk Jim Reidford $reidfojg$#boat{dot}bt{dot}com Joe Curry $ability$#zetnet{dot}co{dot}uk John Blundell $john$#blundell{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk John Lynch $jlynch$#ldta{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Jonathan Hardy $jon$#meerufen{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Jonny Farringdon $jonny$#wizzo{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Julian Lewis-Booth $julian$#portland{dot}co{dot}uk Julie Brandon $julie-vote$#merp{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk keith farr $keith$#farr{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Mark Goodge $mark$#good-stuff{dot}co{dot}uk Martin Sylvester $martin{dot}sylvester$#bigfoot{dot}com Matt Brunton $mbrunton$#burana{dot}inhouse{dot}compuserve{dot}com Mike Fleming $mike$#tauzero{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Mike Tomlinson $mike$#jasper{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Miles Batchelor $miles_batchelor$#bigfoot{dot}com N. J. carron $njc-2$#bigfoot{dot}com Neil Barker $neil$#nemesis{dot}nu Paul Gamester $Paulg$#dcshq{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Paul Womar $Vote$#pwomar{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Peter Birkett $pete$#viper{dot}karoo{dot}co{dot}uk Peter Cooper $peter$#bizuk{dot}net Phil Wade $phil$#pooters{dot}freeserve{dot}co{dot}uk Richard Ashton $richard$#corixia{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Richard Daniells $richdan$#pncl{dot}co{dot}uk Richard Laysell $richard$#laysell{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Richard Sykes $r{dot}j{dot}sykes$#education{dot}leeds{dot}ac{dot}uk Robert Gormley $r{dot}gormley$#ed{dot}ac{dot}uk Robert Hull $Robert$#spammenot{dot}com Ronnie Gibson $ronnie{dot}gibson$#strath{dot}ac{dot}uk Sean Collins $salop11$#clara{dot}co{dot}uk shaun lovelass $shaun$#claxton{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Steven Craig $stevie$#tincat{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Tim Jackson $tim_jackson$#bigfoot{dot}com tobias erle $vote$#kholdan{dot}snafu{dot}de Tony Mackin $tmack$#globalnet{dot}co{dot}uk Wallace Murray $wallace$#wmurray{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Those Who Voted NO (Total: 14) - ------------------ Anthony Gold $tgold$#panix{dot}com Bob Eager $rde$#tavi{dot}co{dot}uk Charles Lindsey $chl$#clw{dot}cs{dot}man{dot}ac{dot}uk Don Carter $don$#dc-train{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Gary Howarth $gary$#g0drl{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk James Farrar $james{dot}farrar$#ic{dot}ac{dot}uk John Elkin $theboss$#freenet{dot}co{dot}uk John Sharman $jayshar$#norvic{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Karl Foley $kfoley$#globalnet{dot}co{dot}uk Marcus Sharma $m{dot}sharma$#digitalmail{dot}com Martin Watson $martin$#whitecross{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Paul Giverin $paul$#giverin{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk Richard Wood $richardw$#cdex{dot}ericsson{dot}se Steve Robertson $steve{dot}robertson$#altavista{dot}net Those Who ABSTAINed (Total: 2) - ------------------- Andy Mabbett $amabbett$#bham-assist{dot}demon{dot}co{dot}uk simon gray $simon$#star-one{dot}org{dot}uk Invalid Votes - ------------- None - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Rationale: 1. In recent months there have been numerous instances of posts advertising specific goods for sale in the subject line. However the body of the message has indicated that the goods are not in fact for sale directly through the group but are available in a commercial auction. It is felt that such posts without an indication in the subject line that they are not direct sales are against the spirit if not the letter of the Charter. 2. As these posts also give the site address for a commercial site they could also be construed as advertisements and as such should subject to the same conditions as commercial posts. It is known that at least one of the auction houses advises their sellers to post to newsgroups to bring readers' attention to their site. The auctioneers have also placed adverts directly without any indication in the header of the content of the message e.g. Have you been yet? 3. There has recently been an instance of a poster conducting an auction directly in the group by giving a list of items and inviting bids by email. As the auction progressed updates have been posted resulting in 13 posts by the same person in a period of 14 days. These posts were cross-posted to 7 other groups. In addition the posts contravened the charter as they were not solely addressed to the UK. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- BEGIN CHARTER New Charter of uk.adverts.computer (Not Moderated) Newsgroup Line: uk.adverts.computer Adverts for computer related items in the UK uk.adverts.computer is for the posting of adverts ("for sale", "swap" or "wanted") for computer hardware, software, services and consumables, where the buyer and seller are in the UK. Posters are encouraged to limit their posts to 50 lines, including the signature. If this is insufficient, further material should be placed on a web or FTP site, and a URL posted, or the advertiser may offer to send further material via e-mail. Professional traders and auctioneers must make the commercial nature of any advertisement explicitly clear by having "COMM:" at the beginning of the subject line, and the post must contain the trading name of any business concerned. The same or similar goods must not be offered by the same poster more than once per week. Auctions should not be conducted within the group, if a poster wishes to auction goods electronically, then this should be carried out by email or on a web site, once the initial announcement regarding the auction has been made in the group. Such announcements must have "AUCTION:" at the beginning of the subject line. Posts by individuals participating in auctions are permissible but if posted must have "AUCTION:" at the beginning of the subject line. Such posts should not be repeated more than once per week. It is expected that the posts will include: * the price and whether it includes postage, packing and VAT * a phone/ fax number and/ or email address. * as much detail as possible about the goods or services required or for sale. Posters should also include, if appropriate, the approximate geographic area from where the article may be collected. BINARIES & FORMATTING Encoded binaries (e.g. pictures, word processor files, Zip files, "business cards", etc.), are *forbidden*, with the exception of cryptographic signatures equivalent to no more than 10 lines of plain text (e.g. PGP) Posts must be readable as plaintext; HTML is forbidden. Such material belongs on a web or ftp site, to which a pointer may be posted. Posters are invited to read a guide on the World Wide Web at: http://www.usenet.org.uk/ukpost.html for further information on how to configure newsreaders to post to uk.* newsgroups. WARNING Anyone posting contrary to this charter may be reported to their postmaster and/ or ISP. CHANGES TO THIS CHARTER Subscribers to this (or any uk.*) newsgroup should also read: uk.net.news.announce which is a moderated, low traffic newsgroup. Any proposed changes to this newsgroup, and proposals for new newsgroups, will be announced there. For details of how to formally propose such changes, see: http://www.usenet.org.uk END CHARTER - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This vote was conducted by a neutral third party member of UKVoting. UKVoting is a group of independent votetakers who count votes on CFVs in the uk hierarchy. The rules under which this vote is taken are posted regularly to uk.net.news.announce or can be found at the following URL: ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/usenet/news-info/news.answers/uk/voting There is a five day discussion period after these results are posted to uk.net.news.announce. Allegations of irregularity should be sent to control@usenet.org.uk. The UKVoting web pages can be found at: http://www.ukvoting.org.uk/ - -- Alan Ford Votetaker for UKVoting -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAgUBNqJ0YWOfGXkh8vHZAQFfFwP+NGyrZJRZH+rPxcKB2g+1fkAo1LQRtSd0 airqWDikYqbiY8MRy6eLDiscEeAwOyMcnhTKjZAxmpwTDFKv76xMvzQTd82GAiCQ e2Y1Uyvu87bO0BarIcZmItiD8A+Q3N8GZzS0xGJSJLP6EW2HfNovDLCjWWXvlcMK YRredPkdhCM= =iDqm -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----