FurthurNet Chat and the FurthurNet Forums are a privilege to use and access. We reserve the right to limit and deny access to anyone for constantly disrespecting these most lenient rules. Feel free to make any comments or suggestions about what you read here that will enable us to improve the quality of the active Furthur Community as some of these rules/suggestions may not be "Written in Stone".

    #1) No Illegal/Copyrighted media - Please report offending/illegal fileset to a chat admin or to abuse at furthurnet.org.

     Sometimes, people mistakenly share filesets that may not be traded, for whatever reason. These innocent mistakes are easily corrected, but only if we know about them. So, please let us know. On the other hand . . .

     Those who intentionally post/share illegal music, videos or software on FurthurNet jeopardize FurthurNet's very existence and this kind of activity will not be allowed or tolerated. Those who wish to circumvent this very basic rule will be dealt with accordingly by losing network access privilege. This includes: "spoofing", in which a corrupt (virus ridden) or otherwise undesirable file (i.e.; porn) masquerades as a different show, video or other file that people are or may be seeking. If you have questionable material and suspect or are unsure something is copyrighted, do not post it. Lest we forget why this community exists, read the bands' statements on taping/trading policies when you have a question regarding distribution of any material. Without the Bands, this community would not be so vibrant. This Music Community exists because the bands allow it, and they allow it because they want you to spread their music, just not their commercial stuff. Respect their copyrights and go out and Buy their commercial releases. After all, musicians eat just like us, raise kids like us and pay rent like us.

     Simply put, we tolerate no copyright violations, period. That includes non-music software, video, warez, etc. Copyright violation in any form is a serious problem for our community, and will not be tolerated. Please report all abuse/illegal material to abuse at furthurnet.org

    #2) Be kind and respectful - Remember, with a group this size, age group and probably varied range of demographics, someone will always have an opinion which is in contrast to yours. Think of FurthurNet Chat like a big family "tailgate party" with 800+ people standing around within whispering distance of each other. What you say, is heard by somebody. Think of our Public FurthurNet forums as a rock that you scribble on, anyone and everyone is gonna be able to see it over and over again. Think before you respond in either place and above all, please respect each other, be kind, share muZiK and let's have fun.

    #3) The Simple Chat Rules - Be Kind to all chatters and Help Others. While you don't have to agree with everyone, its asked that you respect everyone, including yourself. Please conduct yourself as if you were a guest in another's home and there are children are present, because they may well be. If you feel someone is acting inappropriately, type "ops?", contact an "op" and allow the channel operators(op) to resolve the situation.     These Simple Rules are only in place to insure that "free speech" within acceptable context of this vast audience is maintained and to try and insure that everyone here, gets treated fairly.

    There are Channel Operators/Admins in the FurthurNet Chat rooms. Although they strive to allow "open free speech", Certain things will not be tolerated in the chat room and could get you kicked/banned from entering the chat room and/or maybe even using the entire Furthur Network.

The Real Bad Ban/Kickable Offenses are: (Truxel automatically enforces some of these.)

• Asking for illegal/copyrighted material.
• Band/Religion/Political bashing in an attempt to start an argument or flame war.
• Racist or Prejudicial remarks. Leave this shit at the Door.
• Ignorant "name calling", flaming or verbally attacking or being abusive to another chatter.
• Baiting or Trolling for arguments.
• Porn links or "questionable" links are to be pasted/typed into chat.
• Colors and ascii art scripts. FurthurChat does not display this "stuff".
• Excessive "hammering" or issueing commands upon the bot (aka truxel)
• All Capital Letter Sentences, cause it's "LIKE SCREAMING IN A CHAT ROOM." (Truxel kicks).
• No repeating yourself, 3 times or more is considered a text flood. (Truxel kicks).
• Certain naughty words (Truxel kicks).

Other things that are frowned upon are :

• Pointless groveling or beggin' for shows within 14 days of the show. Let the tapers have a chance to seed the show properly. If you wanna find a certain show feel free to post a: In Search Of at the FurthurNet Forums. Thanks.
• Using chat software besides FurthurNet's built-in chat is discouraged.

    And finally, if you feel you have been the victim of unkind/abusive behaviour in chat by anybody, please send an email to "complaints" on the contact page and it will be looked into.

    #4) Seeding/Sharing filesets - Sharing the music. Some like the highest quality, some like to "get it fast", either way we'd like to get you off on the right foot, when it comes to sharing your digital music.

• Do not convert MP3's to the SHN format!!!
• When sharing, Include your source info, if you reconverted it from an audio CD with EAC, please "say so". This gives the downloader all the information they need to decide whether or not they want to download it.
• If you don't know naming conventions, etc. see wiki etree's How to properly seed a shn show
• When adding a fileset to Share, fill in all known information. Do not put "See text file".
• Downloading a SHN and resharing it as an MP3 so that those who have lower-than-cable bandwidth can partake of the music is all right, But Please Do you cannot easily convert a shn directly to an MP3. So, first, decompress the SHN to WAV then re-encode to MP3. Higher the kbps the better. (sugg. 192kbps or better). In final, please respect the wishes of the seeder,For example, if the text file says don't encode to MP3, please don't.
• Leave shares up for as long as you can, the more people hosting the same show the faster everyone's downloads will be.
• Editing and resharing filesets will change the original MD5 checksum and will make the fileset appear to be different even though it is the same as one that other hosts are sharing. (Even if you just change the text file) This will break the Antelope. If at all possible, don't do it.
• Editing and resharing of files within filesets should be left to those who are more experienced and should not be done after the initial seed has left home, unless there is a very good reason to attempt it.
• After you download something, leave it shared for several weeks if possible. Do not archive upon arrival.
• Again, No illegal/Copyrighted Stuff!!!

    #5) The FurthurNet Forums - Another tool to get help, make statements, report bad seeds, Request shows and more. If it's already happened and another user has encountered the same problem, it is likely the answer is on the forums. Since Our Forums link a lot of people together for interaction, the same suggestions and suggested rules apply at the forums as in the FurthurNet Chat Room. Basically said, "Be civil and respectful. Offer help when you can."

  We'd like to publically thank all those users, and you know who you are, that take a moment out of their busy days and share their problems/experiences, pull newbies up and generally help one another in either the FurthurNet Forums or the FurthurNet Chat Room. We hope this suggested Etiquette lays the foundation for more of this "helpful and phriendly" atmosphere that is being fostered. With each and everyone's help, we're sure this is possible.