Result:uk.gay-lesbian-bi change to moderated passes 66:6 Author: - as control Email: control@illuin.demon.co.uk Date: 1998/06/15 Forums: uk.net.news.config, uk.net.news.announce, uk.gay-lesbian-bi Message-ID: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- RESULT OF CALL FOR VOTES ======================== Summary: Change of uk.gay-lesbian-bi to moderated Part 1 - Changing of uk.gay-lesbian-bi to a moderated group PASSES 66:6 Part 2 - Changing of morality clause Option B wins AV vote. Part 3 - Election of moderators Lyn David Thomas PASSES 65:2 Peter Corlett PASSES 54:1 Chris Heathcote PASSES 53:2 Matthew Malthouse PASSES 58:1 Steve Fitzgerald PASSES 51:1 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Voting closed at 23:59:59 BST, 16th May 1998. Proponent: lyn@stuffing.demon.co.uk (Lyn David Thomas) Votetaker: votequestion@swinny.cix.co.uk (Rob Felton) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Distribution: ============= uk.net.news.announce, uk.net.news.config, uk.gay-lesbian-bi - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Results: ============ The results follow below, with the Rationale and the changes to the Charter, and moderators statements beneath them for informational purposes. Part 1 - Changing of uk.gay-lesbian-bi to a moderated group =========================================================== YES = 66 NO = 6 ABSTAIN = 5 YES beat NO by a majority of 60 votes, this is more than the +12 majority required to beat the status quo. Part 2 - Changing of morality clause ==================================== This result was compiled by the AV Voting system and the details of the voting system are stated below the results before the Charter information. Phase 1: Alternative vote, ignoring status quo option AV count: round 1 [status quo is ignored in phase 1] OPTION A IGNORED IN THIS PHASE Ballots: 77, abstentions 8, quota 35 Option B = 32 Option C = 24 Option D = 13 AV count: round 2 [status quo is ignored in phase 1] Option D dropped and 13 votes reallocated as follows: Option B = 3 Option C = 4 Votes Ignored = 6 Ballots: 77, abstentions 14, quota 32 Option B = 35 Option C = 28 Option B with 35 reaches quota Phase 2: Comparison of Phase 1 winner with status quo option Option B vs Status Quo - Option A Ballots 77, abstentions 8 Option B = 58 Option A = 11 Option B beat Option A by a majority of 47 votes, this is more than the +12 majority required to beat the status quo, and therefore wins the AV vote. Part 3 - Election of moderators =============================== Each individual moderator standing for election had to be voted for individually. Lyn David Thomas YES = 65 NO = 2 ABSTAIN = 10 YES beat NO by a majority of 63 votes, this is more than the +12 majority required to beat the status quo. Peter Corlett YES = 54 NO = 1 ABSTAIN = 22 YES beat NO by a majority of 53 votes, this is more than the +12 majority required to beat the status quo. Chris Heathcote YES = 53 NO = 2 ABSTAIN = 22 YES beat NO by a majority of 51 votes, this is more than the +12 majority required to beat the status quo. Matthew Malthouse YES = 58 NO = 1 ABSTAIN = 18 YES beat NO by a majority of 57 votes, this is more than the +12 majority required to beat the status quo. Steve Fitzgerald YES = 51 NO = 1 ABSTAIN = 25 YES beat NO by a majority of 50 votes, this is more than the +12 majority required to beat the status quo. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Particulars of the Vote =========================== Abs = Abstain Part 1: Paul Anderson Watman01ataolmoc Yes Michael Tsang micktatnetvigatormoc No David Engert davidatgidvuic.demon.ukco Yes Bod A.D.Marsdenatamme.salford.ukac Yes Kenny Price kennypatcyberdudemoc Yes Ronan Flood R.Floodatnoc.ulcc.ukac Yes Emily Lawson elawsonatcrismoc Yes Simon Gray simonatstar-one.org.uk Abs Dinesh Vaswani dv103atyork.ukac Yes David Robinson daveratcaketown.demon.ukco Yes Neil Broadbent neil-batdircon.ukco Yes John Malathronas johnatscroll.demon.ukco No Mark Manning mrm1atmsm.cam.ukac Yes Adrian Hadayah adrianatah.win-uk.net Yes Richard Price rpathome60.powernet.ukco Yes Phil Allen phil.allen1atvirgin.net Yes Kirsty Chestnutt Kirsty_Chestnuttatwilliamsleamoc Yes Alan Cochrane alanatscotvet.demon.ukco Yes Damian Walker damian.g.walkeratdcs.hull.ukac Yes Dafydd Tomos datfydd.org Yes Tom Jordaan tjatphlebas.demon.ukco Yes Andrew Kanaber adk24atcam.ukac Yes John Upstone johnatshikasta.demon.ukco Yes David Ridgway tripattimeforce.demon.ukco Yes Andrew Stoker ajs6atle.ukac Yes James Lawson chasmatccl4.org Abs Steve Fitzgerald steveatg7kkh.demon.ukco Abs Chris Beer chrisbeeratcix.ukco No Pete Humble peetatdircon.ukco Yes Matthew Watts matthew.wattsatukonline.ukco Yes Dale Gilbert daleatwebeye.demon.ukco Yes Brian Gray brianatbgrayb.cix.ukco Yes Alex Foster alex.fosteratzetnet.ukco Yes Jason Nevitt jnattribune.demon.ukco Yes Richard Herring richardatclupeid.demon.ukco Yes Phil Reynolds philathedgford.demon.ukco Yes Grant Denkinson Grant.Denkinsonatnottingham.ukac Yes Pete Denton peteratnotned.u-netmoc Yes Gary gary.s4atukonline.ukco No Colin Rothwell colinratipl.ukco Yes Rupert Thompson rjet1atcam.ukac No Neil Matthews neilatchaos.org.uk Yes David Allardice davidat26napier.cix.ukco Yes Mike Barry mikeatblackpool.demon.ukco Yes John Kingdon johnatkingdj.demon.ukco Yes Claudio Calvelli clcatassurdomoc Yes Diane Bailey Dianeatdbailey.cix.ukco Yes Iain Bowen alaricatharlech.demon.ukco Yes Tobias Erle voteaterle.org Yes Frederick Foo fredatialsosay.demon.ukco Yes Philip Hunt philhatvision25.demon.ukco Yes Anthony Hilbert anthonyathilbert.demon.ukco Yes Peter Corlett abuseatverrine.demon.ukco Yes Philip Valentine psvatmuntjac.nildram.ukco Yes David Hughes dhughes250ataolmoc Yes Mark Ynys-Mon mcyatdemon.net Yes Jonathan Bratt jjatmoseley1.demon.ukco Yes John Mason John.Masonated.ukac Yes Jon Harley jonatserf.org Yes Philip Pearson pearsonpatwestminster.ukac No Richard Mein ricmatusa.net Yes Mark Bover markbatttsl.ukco Yes Dave Mayall mayalldatpostoffice.ukco Abs Dave Williams daveatcluesmoc Yes Mike Henry mikeattw2moc Yes Harlequin quinnyatbigfootmoc Yes Chris Jones c.djatbtinternetmoc Yes David Damerell damerellatchiark.greenend.org.uk Yes Peter Davies petedatpdavis.demon.ukco Yes Andy Mabbett amabbettatbham-assist.demon.ukco Abs David Fell borrisatchaos.org.uk Yes Joy Hilbert joyathilbert.demon.ukco Yes Colin Birnie colinathouse-atreides.demon.ukco Yes Chris Heathcote glbatdeaddodomoc Yes Matthew Malthouse matthewatcalmeilles.demon.ukco Yes Lyn David Thomas lynatstuffing.demon.ukco Yes Martin Smith martinatspeedsix.demon.ukco Yes Part 2 Option Option Preference Order A B C D 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Paul Anderson 1 2 3 4 A B C D Michael Tsang 4 2 3 1 D B C A David Engert 4 1 3 2 B D C A Bod - 1 - - B Kenny Price - - - - Ronan Flood - - - - Emily Lawson 3 2 1 4 C B A D Simon Gray - - - - Dinesh Vaswani 1 2 4 3 A B D C David Robinson 3 2 1 4 C B A D Neil Broadbent 4 1 3 2 B D C A John Malathronas - 3 2 1 D C B Mark Manning 3 1 2 4 B C A D Adrian Hadayah - - 1 - C Richard Price 3 1 4 2 B D A C Phil Allen 3 2 4 1 D B A C Kirsty Chestnutt 4 3 2 1 D C B A Alan Cochrane 2 - - 1 D A Damian Walker - - - 1 D Dafydd Tomos 2 1 4 3 B A D C Tom Jordaan 4 2 1 3 C B D A Andrew Kanaber 3 2 1 4 C B A D John Upstone 3 1 4 2 B D A C David Ridgway 2 3 1 4 C A B D Andrew Stoker - - - - James Lawson - - - - Steve Fitzgerald 3 2 1 4 C B A D Chris Beer - - - - Pete Humble 3 1 2 4 B C A D Matthew Watts 3 1 4 2 B D A C Dale Gilbert 3 1 2 4 B C A D Brian Gray 2 3 1 4 C A B D Alex Foster 2 1 - - B A Jason Nevitt 2 1 4 3 B A D C Richard Herring 3 1 2 4 B C A D Phil Reynolds 1 3 2 4 A C B D Grant Denkinson 3 1 - 2 B D A Pete Denton 4 2 1 3 C B D A Gary - - - - Colin Rothwell 3 2 1 4 C B A D Rupert Thompson - 3 2 1 D C B Neil Matthews 3 2 1 4 C B A D David Allardice 4 1 3 2 B D C A Mike Barry 4 2 1 3 C B D A John Kingdon 2 1 4 3 B A D C Claudio Calvelli 1 3 2 4 A C B D Diane Bailey 1 - - 2 A D Iain Bowen 2 1 - 3 B A D Tobias Erle 1 4 3 2 A D C B Frederick Foo 4 1 3 2 B D C A Philip Hunt 2 1 - - B A Anthony Hilbert 3 2 1 4 C B A D Peter Corlett 2 1 - - B A Philip Valentine 4 1 3 2 B D C A David Hughes 2 1 3 4 B A C D Mark Ynys-Mon - 2 1 - C B Jonathan Bratt 1 - - 2 A D John Mason 3 1 4 2 B D A C Jon Harley 3 1 2 4 B C A D Philip Pearson - - - 1 D Richard Mein 4 2 1 3 C B D A Mark Bover - 1 - - B Dave Mayall 3 2 4 1 D B A C Dave Williams 2 1 3 4 B A C D Mike Henry 3 2 1 4 C B A D Harlequin 4 1 2 3 B C D A Chris Jones 1 - - 2 A D David Damerell 2 1 3 4 B A C D Peter Davies 3 2 1 4 C B A D Andy Mabbett - - - - David Fell 3 2 1 4 C B A D Joy Hilbert - 2 1 - C B Colin Birnie 4 3 1 2 C D B A Chris Heathcote - 2 1 3 C B D Matthew Malthouse 4 2 1 3 C B D A Lyn David Thomas 2 1 3 - B A C Martin Smith 4 1 2 3 B C D A Part 3 Mod 1 = Lyn David Thomas Mod 2 = Peter Corlett Mod 3 = Chris Heathcote Mod 4 = Matthew Malthouse Mod 5 = Steve Fitzgerald Mod 1 Mod 2 Mod 3 Mod 4 Mod 5 Paul Anderson Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Michael Tsang Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs David Engert Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Bod Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Kenny Price Yes Abs Abs Yes Abs Ronan Flood Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Emily Lawson Yes Abs Abs Yes Yes Simon Gray Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs Dinesh Vaswani Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes David Robinson Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Neil Broadbent Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes John Malathronas Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs Mark Manning Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Adrian Hadayah Yes Abs Yes Yes Yes Richard Price Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Phil Allen Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Kirsty Chestnutt Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Alan Cochrane Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Damian Walker Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Dafydd Tomos Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Tom Jordaan Yes Yes No Yes No Andrew Kanaber Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes John Upstone Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes David Ridgway Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Andrew Stoker Yes Abs Abs Abs Abs James Lawson Yes Yes Yes Abs Abs Steve Fitzgerald Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Chris Beer Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs Pete Humble Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs Matthew Watts Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Dale Gilbert Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Brian Gray Yes Abs Abs Yes Yes Alex Foster Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Jason Nevitt Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Richard Herring Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Phil Reynolds Yes Yes Abs Abs Abs Grant Denkinson Yes Abs Abs Yes Abs Pete Denton Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Gary Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs Colin Rothwell Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Rupert Thompson Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Neil Matthews Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes David Allardice Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Mike Barry Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes John Kingdon Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Claudio Calvelli Yes Abs Yes Yes Abs Diane Bailey No Yes No Yes Abs Iain Bowen Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Tobias Erle Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs Frederick Foo Yes Abs Abs Yes Abs Philip Hunt Yes Abs Abs Abs Abs Anthony Hilbert Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Peter Corlett Yes Abs Yes Yes Yes Philip Valentine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes David Hughes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Mark Ynys-Mon Yes Yes Abs Yes Abs Jonathan Bratt Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes John Mason Yes No Yes Yes Yes Jon Harley Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Philip Pearson Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs Richard Mein Yes Yes Abs Abs Abs Mark Bover Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Dave Mayall Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs Dave Williams Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Mike Henry Yes Yes Yes Abs Abs Harlequin Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Chris Jones No Yes Yes No Yes David Damerell Yes Abs Abs Abs Abs Peter Davies Yes Abs Yes Yes Abs Andy Mabbett Abs Abs Abs Abs Abs David Fell Yes Yes Abs Abs Abs Joy Hilbert Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Colin Birnie Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Chris Heathcote Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Matthew Malthouse Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Lyn David Thomas Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Martin Smith Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Invalid Votes Alan Fleming af@contract.co.uk George Hills strowger@ccl4.org James james.k5@ukonline.co.uk badriya@void.demon.co.uk No Name or Address on ballot paper (or both) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ VOTING METHOD FOR PART 2 The method used to determine success or failure in AV ballots has recently been the subject of some dispute. In advance of changes to the guidelines to clarify this issue, the UK Usenet Committee have published a 'stop-gap' method to be used and this vote will be counted by it, as follows: 1. The ballot will be counted by the AV method, to produce an AV winner, the "do not change the charter" option will not be taken into account in this phase of the count. 2. The ballot will then be recounted, as a straight Yes/No between the AV winner and "Do not change the charter". The relative position of the two options will determine whether each ballot is counted for or against. If either the AV winner or "No Change" is not included in the preferences, the ballot will be counted for the option for which a preference was expressed. If neither option is shown, but a vote for any other name is present the ballot will be regarded as a vote for charter change in this phase of the count. A twelve vote majority is required at this stage to change the charter. - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- RATIONALE: ========== Following discussion on uk.gay-lesbian-bi the charter was modified to explicitly exclude commercial spam, binaries and personals. This was done to justify complaints to service providers whose customers were violating the charter. This action has not prevented the group from being misused to post items specifically forbidden by the charter. Most troublesome of these are the binary posts, principally from commercial websites. Other classes of posts are also problematic, non-binary spam and personals can overwhelm the group, making it difficult to Find the genuine discussion threads. The volume of such postings together with the binary articles are adversely affecting the propagation of the group and are making the group unwieldy, costly to collect and discourages new users. As time has gone on charters have become longer and more explicit as the assumptions that underpin usenet are less understood and even less observed, thus we are seeing articles posted in html and other non-plain text formats. This not only wastes bandwidth and increases the costs to subscribers but can in the case of html contain mischievous sections of code that can be damaging. Thus the moderation proposals excludes these items. The moderation proposals also excludes test posts, this is for two reasons, firstly there are groups specifically for tests, they bounce back the message and allow the sender to know that their software is properly configured. Sending to a non-test group is just a minor annoyance for the readers of that group. It has been know for spammers to use test posts as a way of "probing a group", for these reasons they should not be permitted. Complaints to ISPs may result in the loss of account for the principal offenders but they only come back with a new disposable account. The period between is getting shorter. Cancel bots seem not up to the job and by their very nature do not stop all binary posts getting through. The only long term solution to this problem is to make the group moderated. I there for propose that uk.gay-lesbian-bi becomes a moderated group, operating under the amended charter and moderation policy outlined below. Since the publication of the first RFD it has become clear that for moderation to be acceptable to the group that checks and balances on the activities of the moderators have to be put in place. The CFV now contains an extensive section on election and recall of moderators. The second RFD lead to a straw poll. The results of the straw vote has been reflected in a range of options to replace what has become known as the morality clause. Various options have been included on ballot form. I have made a number of minor drafting changes from the second RFD and included a paragraph authorising the moderators to arrange for a back up server to host the moderation software. ========================================================================== PROPOSED CHARTER ================ DESCRIPTION uk.gay-lesbian-bi For bisexuals, lesbians and gays in the UK (Moderated) CHARTER - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Option A uk.gay-lesbian-bi provides a forum for the discussion of lesbian, gay and bisexual related issues from a UK viewpoint, but not the morality of such issues. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Option B uk.gay-lesbian-bi provides a forum for the discussion of lesbian, gay and bisexual related issues from a UK viewpoint. uk.gay-lesbian-bi is intended as a safe space for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, their friends and those interested in matters of sexuality. All posters are requested to respect this. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Option C uk.gay-lesbian-bi provides a forum for the discussion of lesbian, gay and bisexual related issues from a UK viewpoint. uk.gay-lesbian-bi is intended as a safe space for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, their friends and those interested in matters of sexuality and all posters are requested to respect this. Those who do not are liable to be flamed on the group and may be reported to their ISP. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Option D uk.gay-lesbian-bi provides a forum for the discussion of lesbian, gay and bisexual related issues from a UK viewpoint. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The newsgroup is moderated and operates under the moderation guidelines as outlined in the moderation policy statement contained within this charter. Moderators: TO BE DETERMINED BY THIS CFV Commercial advertising is forbidden. Announcements of relevant events are allowed. Long announcements belong in uk.announce.events. Test postings should be sent to appropriate test groups and not to uk.gay-lesbian-bi Binaries are not permitted other than pgp encryption blocks under 10 lines, directions as to where binaries may be found are permitted. All articles must be submitted in plain ASCII text, no html, mime or word processor files please. Pointers to commercial sites fall under the rule about commercial advertising (other than statements in .sig files 4 lines or under in length). Excessive cross-posting is inappropriate. Posters are requested to restrict their cross-posting to no more than two other newsgroups. Personal advertisements should not be posted to uk.gay-lesbian-bi, use uk.adverts.personals.gay-lesbian-bi or one of the many other personal groups instead. MODERATION POLICY STATEMENT Method Moderation will be by a pre-approved or white list system. A semiautomatic moderation bot running STUMP system (or similar) will receive all postings to the group. Individuals who have made one approved posting will automatically be added to the pre-approved posters list. These posters will have their articles automatically accepted and forwarded on to the group. Their white list status can only be revoked by the moderators if they violate the moderation policy, this action must be supported by a two thirds majority of the moderation panel and reported immediately to the group. Suspension from the whitelist will be for a period of one calendar month after which the pre-approved status will be restored on the same terms as first time posters. White list posters who have inadvertently breached the moderation rules can apply to the moderators to be restored to the pre-approved list sooner than 1 month, the moderators can add them to the list if they are satisfied that the offending post was genuinely made in error. All binaries identified by the moderation software posted by non-whitelisted posters will be rejected by the moderation bot. The remaining posts from people not on the whitelist will be sent to the moderators. The moderators will approve all postings regardless of content unless they are: 1. a personal ad 2. a commercial article 3. a binary article that has escaped the automatic software. 4. an item cross posted to more than eight groups in total including uk.gay-lesbian-bi 5. a test post. 6. an identical article, or an article with identical content - ie articles which have the same content but different headers, sent more than four times in the same 24 hour period to the group and is in the opinion of at least two thirds of the moderators part of a "mail bomb" attack on the group. 7. An article that is not sent as plain text. The moderators will return personal ads to senders with a standard mail informing them of the action and suggesting that future ads should be sent to uk.adverts.personals.gay-lesbian-bi, soc.personals, or any of the other personals newsgroups, mailing lists or websites. A personal ad is an article with no other content such as could be sent to an personals newsgroup or appear in a lonely hearts column. Commercial postings will be returned to the sender (if one can be identified) together with a standard mail explaining the action. Any binary postings will be rejected, where the sender is identifiable a standard mail will be sent explaining the action. A posting that exceeds the cross posted limit of 8 groups will be returned to the sender (if one can be identified) with a standard mail explaining the rejection. Test posts will be returned to the poster (if one can be identified) with a standard mail explaining the action. Originators of multiple identical postings will be informed of the action of the moderators (if one can be identified). Submission in other than plain ASCII text will be returned to the sender (if one can be identified) with a standard mail explaining the action of the moderator. If any moderator doubts that a post falls within one of these categories then they should seek guidance from the moderation panel before rejecting/accepting the post. If a reasonable doubt still exists then the moderators will approve the article. Openess The moderation panel will make a weekly post detailing the number and type of articles rejected. Logs of the moderators' actions will be available on a web page maintained on the moderation software. Rejected articles will be held on the server for public inspection for one month after they have been rejected (other than binaries - only the headers of which only will be kept). Action suspending the whitelist status of an individual will immediately communicated to the group. The moderators will be subject to annual election and recall as set out below. Moderation Panel Composition 1 There shall be a panel of not less than 4 and not more than 12 moderators. Election 2 Initially moderators shall be the panel elected as part of the charter change process. 3. Then each year there after elections will be held for the posts of moderator. i. 11 months after moderation comes into effect (and every twelve months subsequently) the moderation panel will appoint a neutral party to conduct the election as vote taker. The vote taker will issue a call for nominations for a new moderation panel. ii. Nominations will be open for 10 days and to be valid each nominee will have to be proposed and seconded by white list posters self-nomination is permitted). All white list posters shall have the right to vote, regardless as to whether they were white listed before or after the opening of nominations. iii. At the end of 10 days a list of candidates (including their proposers/seconders) will be published. iv. A five day period of hustings will be held during which the candidates will answer questions from posters to the group. v. The vote taker will issue the first call for votes, to be followed by a second call for votes five days later, the voting period lasting in all for 10 days, votes shall only be valid if submitted on official ballot forms. vi. Voting will be by the Single Transferable Vote method, with a reopen nominations candidate (RON) added to the ballot. If RON passes the quota then all the then unfilled places are void requiring a new election for those vacancies. vii. Each voter shall receive an acknowledgement from the vote taker. They will be given a unique identification as part of their acknowledgement, this will enable them to verify their vote when the result is published while protecting their identity from other voters. viii. The vote taker will publish the result and a voting list comprising voter identifiers and their vote. xi. In the event of less than 4 moderators being elected or RON passing quota the vote taker will issue a second request for nominations no later than 1 month after the close of ballot and hold elections for the remaining vacancies. Those elected at this election shall serve until the annual round of elections are held. x. In the event of the resignation, removal or death of a moderator the next highest candidate (if they are still willing) from the previous election will be appointed for the remainder of the term. xi. If the number of moderators falls below 4 or if the moderators consider it necessary due to excessive workload, they will appoint such temporary moderators as are necessary (the total number of moderators not to exceed 12) to efficiently moderate uk.gay-lesbian-bi. Their appointment to be confirmed by a vote of the white list posters within 21 days. They will serve until the annual round of elections are held. Leave of Absence and Removal 4. Moderators should inform the moderating team of periods when they will be inactive. The moderation panel may appoint a temporary moderator to stand in during this period, the position being offered first to the highest loser from the last election, or failing that a person of their choice. Other than such periods any moderator that does not take part in moderation activity for 21 consecutive days shall automatically be removed from the moderation team. 5. Moderators who either approve excluded posts or decline to approve non-excluded posts may be removed by a two thirds decision of the other moderators. 6 Any moderator may be removed by a vote of no confidence. i. Such a vote may be proposed by any white list poster and will need to be supported by 9 other whitelist posters. ii. People on the white lists at the time when the vote of no confidence is tabled shall be eligible to vote on such a proposal ie people added to the whitelist after the formal request for a no confidence vote will not be permitted to vote on this occasion. iii. A ballot should be held within 10 days of a formal request for a vote of no confidence. A neutral person will be asked by the moderation panel to conduct the ballot. The question shall be:- "Do you have confidence in X as a moderator of uk.gay-lesbian-bi yes/no/abstain" iv. For the purposes of calculating a majority only votes yes or no will count. A simple majority of votes cast for no shall indicate that the group has no confidence in the moderator and s/he shall immediately be removed from the moderation panel. v. A vote of no confidence in the whole moderation panel will not be permitted, only a vote for each individual moderator. vi. The vote taker shall use the same anonymising method as outlined for the annual election of moderators and shall publish the result with the anonymous identifiers and how they voted. vii. After the conclusion of a vote of no confidence which falls no such similar motion shall be brought against the same person for a period of three calendar months. Moderation Software and Location The moderation software shall be the STUMP system (or similar), and will be located on a server provided by Jon Ribbens < jon@oaktree.co.uk>. The STUMP moderation software (Secure Team-based Usenet Moderation Program) is fully described at: http://www.algebra.com/~ichudov/usenet/scrm/robomod/robomod.html It enables a team of moderators to moderate the group, they require no special software and all the decisions of the moderators are logged on an automatically maintained website. Several features can be automated and it permits great flexibility that enables it to be customised for the group's needs. The moderators will arrange a back up server and in the event of the loss of the moderation server will ensure that the back up server takes over the process of administering the moderation software. Changes to Moderation Policy All changes to moderation policy will treated as a formal charter change requiring a full RFD/CFV in uk.net.news.announce cross posted to uk.net.news.config and uk.gay-lesbian-bi. ========================================================================== PROPOSALS & PROPOSED MODERATORS: The proposals come in three parts with Part 1 needing to be approved before Parts 2 & 3 will be relevant. Part 1 - Changing of uk.gay-lesbian-bi to a moderated group Part 2 - Changing of morality clause Part 3 - Election of moderators - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 1 This will be an YES/NO/ABSTAIN vote to select whether uk.gay-lesbian-bi should change to a moderated group or maintain the status quo. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 2 This will be a vote by the AV method in rewording the morality clause of the groups charter. There are 4 options which should be numbered in order of preference : Option A NB THIS IS AN OPTION TO MAINTAIN THE CURRENT WORDING (IE STATUS QUO) uk.gay-lesbian-bi provides a forum for the discussion of lesbian, gay and bisexual related issues from a UK viewpoint, but not the morality of such issues. Option B uk.gay-lesbian-bi provides a forum for the discussion of lesbian, gay and bisexual related issues from a UK viewpoint. uk.gay-lesbian-bi is intended as a safe space for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, their friends and those interested in matters of sexuality. All posters are requested to respect this. Option C uk.gay-lesbian-bi provides a forum for the discussion of lesbian, gay and bisexual related issues from a UK viewpoint. uk.gay-lesbian-bi is intended as a safe space for lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, their friends and those interested in matters of sexuality and all posters are requested to respect this. Those who do not are liable to be flamed on the group and may be reported to their ISP. Option D uk.gay-lesbian-bi provides a forum for the discussion of lesbian, gay and bisexual related issues from a UK viewpoint. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Part 3 This will be a individual YES/NO/ABSTAIN election vote for each person who has requested to become moderators of group. Each individual moderator has been allowed a mini-statement to describe themselves and state any information they feel relevant to the election as a moderator: Lyn David Thomas lyn@stuffing.demon.co.uk I am putting myself forward as moderator because I believe that if you are to propose moderation it is only proper to take some responsibility for he work that will have been created. I have been a regular on the group since its creation. I am also a moderator of uk.politics.announce, where I have held my nose and past postings whose content I violently objected to. If I am accepted as a moderator I will rigorously stick the the guidelines and only reject posts that clearly, without any reasonable doubt violate those guidelines. Peter Corlett abuse@verrine.demon.co.uk I have been on and off uk.gay-lesbian-bi for over two years, and I have seen the general decline in the quality of the group, mostly due to the recent influx of spam and other junk. As moderation will return the group to those mostly spam-free days of 1996, I'm all for it. I rather like the fluff and flames that make newsgroups what they are, and so have no intention of rejecting any such articles. I'm only interested in removing the junk articles which stifle the proper flow of the group. Chris Heathcote glb@deaddodo.com Young and hung, M, 20, seeks..... an end to all the spam on uk.gay-lesbian-bi. Regular poster with far too much time on his hands. Blue-ribbon waver who sees moderation as the only viable solution to the current problem. As Beavis once said, "He kinda looks like a drunk businessman in one of those kroaky-oaky bars." See http://www.deaddodo.com to see where I'm coming from. Matthew Malthouse matthew@calmeilles.demon.co.uk I'm 34, gay and have been a regular on uk.g-l-b for about two years. As such I will be recognisable to many usenet users and am personally known to a number of other users of the group. I have access to both usenet and the web via two separate services and for one of those services I am the usenet admin. I am something of a reluctant convert to moderation, supporting the proposal as made for the sole purpose of preserving uk.g-l-b as a useful resource on the net. I maintain three active e-mail addresses, usually read daily, matthew@calmeilles.demon.co.uk matthew.malthouse@guardian.co.uk malth@guardian.co.uk Correspondence should by preference be directed to the first address though the second is used in usenet postings. Steve Fitzgerald steve@g7kkh.demon.co.uk I am Steve Fitzgerald (steve@g7kkh.demon.co.uk), a gay man originally from Blackpool, moved to London two years ago. I am now happily married (!) living in East London. I have been on the internet for about three years, although have never really been involved in anything apart from as a user. I have no ulterior motive in this offer apart from wishing the group to be spam free and readable to all comers. I am happy to volunteer my time for this as I feel it will improve the group for all. I also feel that the level of moderation is as much as I would like to see, and if it were, at a later date, to be altered to make it more draconian then I would resign as a moderator. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Votetakers Notes: ================= Well it seems that some people will never get used to the idea of placing their names and email addresses within the ballot paper, but that is their hard luck and they lose the opportunity of their vote being counted. And it should be noted that this is the final vote to ever be counted by the AV method and the temporay ruling by the committee, and votes will be counted by the Condorcet System. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 The UKVoting web pages can be found at http://www.cirra.com/ukvoting/ 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. Thanks Swinny - Rob Felton Acting Co-Ordinator, UKVoting -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAgUBNYV102OfGXkh8vHZAQEtYAP/fZHNPVeD+AkOhRmabgGe3hRaIIaQSfBL G/dQuLKywGWwOFbH5GCTimtxa8BEt2OdhoD2pvqzucrc7bTxd+uIbYW1+wnc2XV3 X8C7OU2F10jRlsFD70zAljOKPDI9XQlfVs2Nzk1So7SeMLoOl6BD7FouPAq3wGrP lcWOsdUM4uk= =3xOo -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----