18 Jul 2012: Remove unmoderated newsgroup uk.media.newspapers
From: Pedt Scragg <p.scragg@ukvoting.org.uk>
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2012 22:29:50 +0100
Subject: RESULT : Remove unmoderated newsgroup uk.media.newspapers FAILS 9:14
Newsgroups: uk.net.news.announce, uk.net.news.config, uk.media.newspapers
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RESULT OF CALL FOR VOTES
Summary: Remove unmoderated newsgroup uk.media.newspapers
Remove unmoderated newsgroup uk.media.newspapers FAILS 9:14
NO beat YES by a majority of 5 votes. For a removal proposal to succeed
there must be 12 more YES votes than NO votes. Accordingly, the proposal
FAILS.
=====================================================================
Voting closed at 23:59:59 BST, 9th July 2012.
Proponent : Paul Cummins
<paulcummins [AT] tiscali <DOT> co <DOT> uk>
Votetaker: Pedt Scragg
<query [AT] fairfieldtowers [DOT] net>
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Distribution:
uk.net.news.announce
uk.net.news.config
uk.media.newspapers
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The Results:
The results follow below in the following order:
1) Summary of Mail Received During the Voting Period
2) Results
3) Individual Vote Details
4) Votetaker Comments
5) Voting and Appeal Guidelines
6) Rationale
7) Newsgroups Line
8) Charter
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SUMMARY OF MAIL RECEIVED DURING THE VOTING PERIOD
31 emails were received at the ballot request address:
30 : Valid ballot requests
1 : Test by the votetaker
28 emails were received at the vote submission address:
25 : Valid votes
1 : Vote received out of time
1 : Accidental email by the votetaker
1 : Test by the votetaker
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RESULTS:
Remove unmoderated newsgroup uk.media.newspapers
YES : 9 votes
NO : 14 votes
ABSTAIN : 2 votes
-------------------
Total : 25 votes
NO beat YES by a majority of 5 votes. For a removal proposal to succeed
there must be 12 more YES votes than NO votes. Accordingly, the proposal
FAILS.
=====================================================================
INDIVIDUAL VOTE DETAILS
Voted YES:
Alan Lee alan # darkroom ? plus ? com Y
Barry Salter barry # southie ? me ? uk Y
crn crn # netunix ? com Y
Graham Drabble graham # drabble ? me ? uk Y
Judith Smith jmsmith2011 # hotmail ? co ? uk Y
Molly Mockford xumn # mollymockford ? me ? uk Y
Oliver Braggins oliver ? braggins # hotmail ? com Y
Paul Cummins paulcummins # tiscali ? co ? uk Y
Roger Burton West roger+unna201205 # firedrake ? org Y
Voted NO:
Brian Brian # bjforster ? force9 ? co ? uk N
DG dg # dickgaughan ? co ? uk N
Ian Clifton ian ? clifton # chem ? ox ? ac ? uk N
Ian Jackson ijackson # chiark ? greenend ? org ? uk N
John Blundell jcb ? news # ntlworld ? com N
Mark Goodge mark # good-stuff ? co ? uk N
Matthew Vernon matthew # debian ? org N
Michael Parry mjp # crowsnest ? co ? uk N
Mike Bristow mike # urgle ? com N
Nick Leverton nick # leverton ? org N
Peter Parry peter # wpp ? ltd ? uk N
Richard Kettlewell rjk # terraraq ? org ? uk N
Steve Firth vote # malloc ? co ? uk N
Victor Meldrew vicmeld # gmail ? com N
Voted ABSTAIN:
Andrew Hodgson andrew # hodgsonfamily ? org A
Tony tony # darkstorm ? co ? uk A
REJECTED VOTES:
Paul {voter} # watman ? clara ? co ? uk N
Vote received out of time
=====================================================================
Votetaker Comments:
A straightforward vote. Many thanks to the Proponent and voters for
making this an easy vote to conduct.
The accidental email referred to in the summary of email received was
due to me dropping an exported email into the wrong local folder. No
harm done other than to a few disgruntled electrons.
=====================================================================
This vote was conducted by a neutral third party member of UKVoting.
UKVoting is a group of independent votetakers who count votes on behalf
of the uk.* hierarchy and other 3rd parties.
The rules under which votes for the uk.* hierarchy are taken are posted
regularly to uk.net.news.announce or can be found at the following URL:
<http://www.usenet.org.uk/voting.html>
The UKVoting web pages can be found at <http://www.ukvoting.org.uk/>
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 [AT] usenet [DOT] org [DOT] uk
=====================================================================
RATIONALE
The uk.* usenet hierarchy is held in high regard by News Providers
because the hierarchy is well managed. Within that management is the
opportunity and duty to remove groups which are not being used to any
extent.
According to my own news spool, there have been no on-topic postings
since before August 2011, and the majority of postings are cross-posted
spam from US groups.
This group is clearly now not being used to any extent whatsoever. It
should be removed.
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PROPONENT's Summary of Discussion
uk.media.newspapers is a group that is virtually unused but for
spam and off-topic cross-posting.
Although one potentially on-topic post was identified, it was
agreed in discussion that this was not, in fact the case, and in
any case a single valid post in over 2 years did not mean this
group was viable.
The discussion, as ever, moved to the general question of
removing groups, and the general consensus appears to be that
this group, along with others to be identified, is dead and should
be given a decent burial.
Although there were discussions on the validity of a single
post, no-one spoke for retention of the group.
As such the appearance of a complaint to the fast track was a
surprise, as the objector does not appear to have taken any part in
the discussion.
The proponent therefore seeks a simple yes/no vote on whether this
spam-filled and otherwise almost entirely unused group should be
removed.
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CHANGES from the last RFD
None.
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NEWSGROUPS LINE
uk.media.newspapers Read all about it! Discussion of UK newspapers
=====================================================================
CHARTER: uk.media.newspapers
The uk.media.newspapers newsgroup is for the discussion of newspapers
published in the UK, either on sale at news-stands or delivered free to
your door, either local or national in focus. It is not intended that
magazines, published separately from newspapers, will be discussed here.
Advertising
While discussion of advertising within newspapers is relevant and so is
encouraged, posting adverts to the newsgroup is strictly forbidden, with
these three exceptions:
1. Suppliers of goods and services pertinent to the production of UK
newspapers may post a pointer to relevant resources on the Internet or an
invitation that readers may request details from them. Such a message must
not exceed six lines and must not be posted more frequently than once every
nine weeks. The subject line of such a posting must begin with the word
"ADVERT".
2. Advertisements containing news of jobs available within the newspaper
industry may be posted, but no job may be advertised more than once, and
such advertisements may not exceed twenty lines. If this is insufficient,
it is recommended that the advertisement include details of where further
information may be found. The subject line of such a posting must begin
with the word "JOB". Cross-posting such advertisements to uk.jobs.offered
is appropriate.
3. Participants in discussions may include references to their
newspaper-related business in their signature only if the signature does
not exceed four lines.
Binaries
All posts must be made in plain text; HTML and other types of formatted
text are forbidden. Posting URLs of relevant Internet sites, where
appropriate, is encouraged.
With the explicit exception of PGP signatures, all encoded binaries are
forbidden. Forbidden binaries include, but are not limited to: pictures,
sounds, word processor documents, executable programs and "business cards".
You 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 your newsreader to post to uk.* newsgroups.
Anyone posting advertisements, binaries or other material contrary to this
charter may be reported to their ISP or postmaster.
END CHARTER
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