6.1 – Why is rasnm moderated?

Even though all Big 8 Usenet newsgroups have a Charter, in an unmoderated
newsgroup there is no way to ensure that posts to the newsgroup abide by
the Charter. Everyone is on the "honor system". Unfortunately, that
oftentimes results in a newsgroup becoming a dumping ground for spam,
profanity, off-topic posts, and (in the case of rasn –
rec.autos.sport.nascar) flaming/bashing/personal attacks directed towards
other posters, race teams, drivers and/or their families as well as the
sport’s media.

rasnm (rec.autos.sport.nascar.moderated) was created to provide a forum
where all topics related to NASCAR (and stockcar racing in general) can be
discussed without these distractions. The tools exist to ensure that the
discussion remains civil and follows the rasnm Charter guidelines via a
team of human moderators and a robo-moderation software called S.T.U.M.P.  

6.2 – What does it mean, registration?

Before you are permitted to post to rasnm, you must register your agreement
with the moderators to abide by the rasnm Charter. This simply consists of
an e-mail to rasnm-m…@carracing.com in which you clearly state that you
have read the Charter and agree to abide by it. You also must list all
e-mail addresses from which you intend to post to rasnm. Please note that
any address you use to post to rasnm must be a respondable address,
although it may be munged to defeat the spambots. If munged though, it must
be decipherable by a human. For example, the address
jtmar…@spartanburg.net could be munged as: jtmartinNOS…@spartanburg.net

6.3 – What specifically is considered off-charter?

Per the charter, the following are unacceptable:

1) Bashing
2) Flames
3) Trolls
4) Commercial and Money-Making Posts
5) Profanity/Racial Slurs
6) Crossposts
7) Binaries
Posts without a respondable email address
9) Quotes of more than a few lines of copyrighted material

Also, if the post is not related to NASCAR, stockcar racing or rasner
activites, it is considered off-charter. However, it is impossible to
anticipate every attempt at finding a loophole in the charter. Therefore,
the spirit of all the rules should be followed as opposed to looking for
leaks and loopholes.

For more information about what is and what is not on-charter, please refer
to the Charter itself at http//rasnm.carracing.com

6.4 – So how does the rasnm moderation process work?

The first time you attempt to post to rasnm, the software recognizes that
you have not yet registered, and forwards your article to a moderator to
await your registration agreement. The software then e-mails you a copy of
the charter along with a registration form and a posting FAQ. Once you
register your agreement with the moderators to abide by the charter, the
article posted to rasnm and you are added to preapprove status. Once you
are placed on "preapprove" status you are essentially on the "honor system"
to abide by the Charter. The articles you submit to rasnm are posted
directly to the newsgroup without going through a human moderator for
approval. However, the robo-mod software does scan each article before
posting it to rasnm, looking for any keywords such as profanity. If a
keyword is found, it will forward your post to a moderator for approval.

There are two other categories that moderators use in upholding the
Charter: "hand-moderate" and "auto-reject". "Hand-moderate" status means
that every article you attempt to post is forwarded to a moderator for
approval. Posters who repeatedly violate the Charter guidelines may be
placed on "hand-moderate" status until such time as the moderation team
agrees that the poster should be returned to "preapprove" status.
"Auto-reject" status means that the software will bounce all attempts by
you to post to rasnm. This category is used in extreme cases where a poster
demonstrates that they have no intention of abiding by the rasnm Charter,
as well as for spammers and mail-bombers. "Auto-reject" requires a 2/3
majority vote of the moderation team before it can be imposed.

In addition to these tools, the moderators are also able to mark a specific
thread for "hand-moderate" status if the topic or tone of the thread has
become off-charter.

6.5 – So does this mean I will never see an off-topic or
off-Charter post on rasnm?

No, it does not mean that. Since 99.9% of the posters to rasnm are on
"preapprove" status, the moderators do not see their posts until it is on
the newsgroup. A poster on "preapprove" status could in fact begin to post
off-charter material to the newsgroup. If that happens though, the
moderators have the tools necessary to respond to these off-Charter
violations – by either e-mailing the poster, placing them on
"hand-moderate" status or placing them on "auto-reject" status.

6.6 – What do I do if I see an off-charter post on rasnm?

Nothing. Responding to off-charter posts is the job of the moderation team.
Responding to off-Charter posts with another post to rasnm serves only to
perpetuate the thread, so let the moderation team do their job. Also note
that the moderators do not normally respond publicly to off-charter posts,
preferring to work quietly behind the scenes to make rasnm a better
newsgroup for us all.

If however, you are concerned about a particular post or thread which
appears to you off-charter, then by all means voice your concerns to the
moderation team via e-mail at rasnm-m…@carrcaing.com Just realize that
they don’t need to get 50 e-mails telling them about a flame or spam post
that they would have already seen anyway.

6.7 – Do the moderators treat all participants on rasnm the
same?

Yes and no. The rasnm Charter requires that the moderators treat all
participants equally regardless of personal likes or dislikes, but it also
instructs the moderators to evaluate each situation individually when
responding to Charter violations.

What this means is that while two separate violations of the rasnm Charter
may *appear* to be the same type of violation, the past history of the
parties involved make each violation unique. Therefore the action taken by
the moderators is determined by what the situation warrants. For instance,
a violation of Charter by someone who has a history of abiding by the
Charter in their posts may be ignored the first time. However, the same
exact offense by someone who has repeatedly demonstrated their
unwillingness to abide by the charter may be dealt with more strongly.

6.8 – If I don’t agree with a moderator’s decision, what is my
recourse?

You may appeal decisions to the moderation team by emailing them at
rasnm-m…@carracing.com

6.9 – Who are the moderators?

The moderation team consists of:

Eric O. Troldahl – etr…@carracing.com
Bob Paxton – bpax…@carracing.com
Lisa A. Carbrey – lcarb…@carracing.com
John Martin – jtmar…@carracing.com
Martin Moleski – mole…@canisius.edu
Chris Watkins – C_Watk…@carracing.com

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The rest of the RASNM FAQ, which is more general about NASCAR and stock car
racing, is available on the web at http://rasnm.carracing.com.

The moderators and charter committee would like to thank carracing.com
(http://www.carracing.com) for the equipment and connectivity they provide
that runs this newsgroup.