                              Game Network 95' Policy
                           

I. Purpose
    
    A. The Game Network, hereby referred to as GameNet, is a loosely 
       connected group of systems to exchange electronic mail, files 
       and ideas having to do with Games of all types. 

II. Positions
    -
    GameNet consists of several key positions. These are the Zone
    Coordinator (ZC), Region Coordinators (RC), State Hosts or Net 
    Coordinators (NC), Hubs and moderators.

    1. Regional Co-ordinators (RC) is appointed by the Zone Co-Ordinator.
         
    2. State Hosts are Appointed by Regional Co-Ordinators.
     
    3. Hubs are appointed/assigned by State Host
    4. Nodes are assigned by State Host

III. Duties
     -
  
  A. Zone Coordinator
     --   
        
      1. The ZC shall be in charge of arbitrating disputes that have not
         been solved at lower levels. The ZC is the final appeal for all
         disputes and the decision of the ZC is FINAL.
      2. The ZC shall appoint/remove any and all RCs.
      3. The ZC shall be the first and only line of defense for problems 
         regarding RCs.
      4. The ZC shall conduct a separate investigation of his or her   
         own into the events surrounding any disputes.
    
  B. Regional Coordinator
     
     Specific responsibilities of RC's are:
          
      1. The RC shall be appointed and removed by the ZC. Any proposals 
         for the removal of the RC shall be presented in a courteous and 
         polite manner to the ZC. Such requests shall contain a listing of 
         grievances and reasons for the proposal.
      2. The RC shall be in charge of arbitrating disputes that have not
         been solved at lower levels. Any appeals regarding the decisions
         of the RC shall be presented to the ZC in a prompt and courteous
         manner and shall document the history leading to the appeal.
      3. The RC shall appoint/remove any and all State Host (NCs).
      4. The RC shall be the first and only line of defense for problems 
         regarding NCs or Hub.
      5. The RC shall conduct a separate investigation of his or her   
         own into the events surrounding any disputes.
      6. The RC is responsible for creating new nets in his/her region when
         necessary and to assign node numbers for new applicants that do 
         not have an NC to apply to.
      7. The RC is responsible for submitting any changes in the nodelist
         for his/her region to the ZC or delegated Nodelist Keeper. Such
         submissions shall be received no later than 10 pm every Friday
         of the time zone the ZC is located in. No submission is required 
         if no changes have occured.
      9. The RC shall see that all mail is being delivered in a timely
         and unhindered manner.
     10. Poll the your ZC at least once a day to pick up Mail & Updates
     11. Help in setting policy & guidlines
    
    
  C. State Host or Net Coordinator
     
     Specific responsibilities of State Hosts (NC) are:
          
     1. The NC shall be appointed and removed by the RC. Any proposals 
        for the removal of the NC shall be presented in a courteous and 
        polite manner to the RC. Such requests shall contain a listing of 
        grievances and reasons for the proposal.
     2. The NC shall be in charge of arbitrating disputes within his/her
        net. Any appeals regarding the decisions of the RC shall be 
        presented to the RC in a prompt and courteous manner and shall 
        document the history leading to the appeal.
     3. The NC shall appoint/remove a Hub.
     4. The NC shall be the first and only line of defense for problems 
        between nodes within his/her net.
     6. The NC shall conduct a separate investigation of his or her   
        own into the events surrounding any disputes.
     7. The NC is responsible for assigning node numbers for new 
        applicants that are located within his/her net.
     8. The NC is responsible for submitting any changes in the nodelist
        for his/her region to the RC. Such submissions shall be received 
        no later than a deadline set by the RC. No submission is required 
        if no changes have occured.
     9. The NC shall see that all mail is being delivered in a timely
        and unhindered manner.
       
       (a)  Poll the your RC at least once a day to pick up 
            Mail & Updates
          
       (b)  If a hub's system goes down, the State Host is
            responsible for making arrangements for a temporary or
            permanent replacement.
          
       (e)  The State Host is responsible for handling complaints 
            regarding hubs or nodes.  The State Host may remove 
            any hub who is not fulfilling his or her responsibilities 
            as outlined in this document.
    
  D. Hub    
      
     Specific responsibilities of Hubs are:

      1. The Hub shall be appointed and removed by the State Host or NC. 
         Any proposals for the removal of the NC shall be presented in 
         a courteous and polite manner to the NC. Such requests shall 
         contain a listing of grievances and reasons for the proposal.
      2. The Hub shall arbitrate disputes surrounding echomail, within
         his/her net.
      3. The Hub shall see that all mail is being delivered in a timely
         and unhindered manner.
         
         (a)  Poll the Your State Host at least once a day to pick up 
              Mail
         (b)  Hold the Mail for for nodes to pickup as arranged.
         (c)  Maintain a complete list of all systems for which he or
              she is hubbing echoes.
         (d)  Terminate the feed of any downlink to any or all
              conferences at the request of the RC or conference
              moderator. Normally, such terminations will be requested
              for violation of conference rules.
         (e)  Make available for file request, or via file echo, the
              most current Gamelist.??? and GameNet.Zip files, listing
              the conferences available on the backbone.
         (d)  Provide AreaFix/AreaMgr capability to enable downlinks to
              request connection to SDN & Echo conferences through
              netmail. The HUB will have the capability to automatically 
              forward requests for conferences listed in GameNet.NA 
              or GSDN.NA if they are not currently available on the 
              HUB's system.
         (e)  Hubs are expected to answer netmail inquiries
              promptly.
         (f)  Any HUB may set reasonable limits on when nodes can poll.
       
   E. Moderators
      
      Specific responsibilities of Moderators are:  
        
        1. Moderators are appointed/removed by the ZC.
        2. Moderators shall monitor all messages going through their
           assigned echo for content and topic.
        3. If a user is deemd to be writing off-topic, using abusive  
           or inappropriate language, or does not follow the rules
           of the echo, the moderator shall issue warnings to both
           the user and the sysop of the originating board. In the event
           the behavior is not corrected, the moderator is authorized to
           coordinate with the sysop of the originating board to have
           the individual removed from the echo. All other sysops shall 
           adhere to the moderators decisions.
        4. Moderators shall also resolve any conflicts that arise within
           his/her designated echo.
        5. Appeals to the moderators decision shall be made to the ZC.

   F. Nodes
      
      Specific responsibilities of Nodes are:     
      
        1.  All nodes are expected to comply with the rules for each
            conference they receive, and to comply with all policies
            which govern the use and flow of echomail, and to comply
            with the current GameNet policy.
               
            Systems which receive a conference from an echomail
            hub have certain responsibilities:

        2.  Unless other arrangements are made, nodes are expected 
            to poll their HUB each day. Nodes are expected to 
            comply with the reasonable requests of the Hub regarding 
            polling.

        3.  No node will feed a conference to any other system,
            or gate any SDN conferences to other networks
           

             Nodes are *not* required to participate in GSDN 
             fileechos. 


 How a Hub is Assigned
 -

     The State Host (NC) assigns a node to a HUB once the node has been 
     accepted into GameNet, at the discretion of the State Host (NC).  
     The State Host (NC) makes an effort to assign the closest HUB; 
     however, due to the load of the closest HUB, the NC may be required 
     to assign any available HUB. If you have a preference for a 
     particular HUB, please ask the NC with your node request.
     
     Please note that new nodes will not be assigned to AHUBs unless they
     are full-service. The AHUBs will be phased out over a period of time,
     allowing existing nodes to migrate to Full-Service Hubs and pick up
     both echomail and administrative materials with one phone call.

 Changing Hubs
 

     The State Host (NC) may move a node from one HUB to another HUB.  
     The State Host (NC) will notify both HUB systems, as well as the 
     Node involved, prior to the release of the nodelist containing the 
     change.

     A Node may request a HUB change by sending netmail to another HUB. If
     this request is accepted by the new HUB, procedures outlined above
     must be followed.  The State Host (NC) will usually grant requests 
     of this nature.

    
 If your board goes down
 -

     The HUB is responsible for determining when/why a Node is down, and
     notifying the NC via netmail and submitting a nodelist segment with
     the node marked as Down.
     
     A Node is considered down when:

        (a)  The Node reports to the HUB the Node is down.

        (b)  The Node fails to poll the hub for an excess period of time.

        (c)  The Node fails to accept a Poll from the HUB.

     The HUB is NOT responsible for notifying a Node it is being marked
     DOWN or removed from the nodelist. It is the Nodes responsibilty to
     notify the hub, even by logging on to another BBS and sending netmail
     to the HUB. Nodes removed through failure to contact may find it
     difficult to re-obtain a node number.


IV. Conflict Resolution
    
    A. If a conflict cannot be solved in private, a coordinator may be
       requested to intervene by one or both parties, according to the 
       following stipulations.
        1. Two nodes in a net should direct their complaints to their NC.
        2. Two nodes in different nets in the same region should direct
           their complaints to their RC.
        3. Two nodes in different regions in the same zone should direct
           their complaints to their ZC.
        4. Decisions by a coordinator may be appealed to the level above.
        5. Decisions by the ZC are unappealable
       
 
 HOW TO OBTAIN A NODE NUMBER
 

You must first obtain a current nodelist so that you can send mail.  You do
not need a node number to send mail, but you must have one in order for
others to send mail to you.

The first step in obtaining a current nodelist is to locate a GameNet
bulletin board. 

Once you have a nodelist, you must determine which network or region covers
your area. Regions are numbered by 100, 200, 300, 400 for now.  They will
always be divisable by 100.  Networks are more restricted in area than
regions, but are preferred since they improve the flow of mail and provide
more services to their members.  If you cannot find a network which covers
your area, then pick the region which does.

Once you have located the network or region in your area, send a message
containing a request for a node number to node zero of that network or
region.  The request must be sent by netmail, as this indicates that your
system has mailing capability.

You must set up your software so that the from-address in your message does
not cause problems for the Coordinator who receives it.  If you pick the
address of an existing system, this will cause obvious problems. Use net/999 
(e.g.  if you are applying to net 123, set your system up as 123/9999).  
Many nets have specific instructions available to potential sysops and 
these procedures may indicate a preference for the from-address.

Attached to your message should be a GameNet application, filled out as
much as applicable.  Due to potential word-wrapping problems, this
application should not be posted in the message itself, but attached as a
separate file.

Your Coordinator may contact you for additional information.  All
information submitted will be kept confidential and will not be supplied to
anyone except the person who assumes the Coordinator position at the
resignation of the current Coordinator.

You must indicate that you have read, and agree to abide by, this document
and all the current policies of GameNet.

Please allow at least two Days for a node number request to be processed.
If you send your request to a Regional Coordinator, it may forwarded to the
appropriate Network Coordinator.

NO NO'S


1.  PROHIBITION ON ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES

Any Node which knowingly distributes or allows to be entered into Echomail
conferences any messages containing or promoting illegal activities or
information shall be deemed to have violated general MusicNet policy.  As
used in this paragraph, "illegal activities" includes activities which are a
violation of civil law as well as activities which would result in criminal
prosecution.



2.  DEFAMATORY POSTING

The posting of any DEFAMATORY MESSAGE will not be tolerated and shall lead
to disciplinary action under the terms of GameNet policy.  The posting of 
substantiated facts shall not be considered a violation under this section.
 
 
 Amendments
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InterBBS Game Co-ordinator 
-
In Charge of all InterBBS Games, Their Acceptance,Node Applications, Rules 
and the approval of their individual Co-ordinators.. 


Nodelist Co-ordinator
-
In Charge of Nodelist Updates & Segments as well as the distribution thereof
