The following policies have been in de facto effect from the beginning of this blog. They are based on my understanding of nettiquette as derived from my experience (since 1988) with email, Usenet, online bulletin boards, IRC, other chat rooms, online games, mailing lists, and web sites.

Except for the case of hacking the site, these guidelines apply only to Pax Nortona, Acts of Conscience, Writing in Orange, and Paths of Light. Other bloggers at notfrisco2.com set their own policies.

1. All work at http://www.notfrisco2.com is copyrighted and those works belong explicitly to the respective authors.
2. I am not a member of the Creative Commons and do not license my work without explicit permission. If you wish to reprint any poem, photograph or article (except as covered under "fair use") from this site, please respect my copyright and ask me for permission before you place the work on your site.
3. Licenses used by other authors on this site do not apply to Pax Nortona or Paths of Light or any other blog that does not explicitly display a Creative Commons License on its homepage.
4. Pax Nortona, Acts of Conscience, Writing in Orange, and Paths of Light do not reprint whole articles from other blogs or other media. We reserve our right to fair use.
5. Email sent in confidence to gazissax@best.com is considered the intellectual property of the writer. It will not be reprinted without the explicit written permission of the author. Exceptions may be made for pieces sent as appeals, calls to action, Nigerian-style email scams, and jokes.
6. You may link to any html page in my site provided that the link does not appear in a frame or other device which hides my URL.

Philosophy: My comments area is not an open marketplace or a gladitorial arena. Advertisements are not welcome. If you come here to "spar" or pick fights, please go elsewhere. What I seek are sincere expressions of points of view whether or not they agree with me. Use my comments to express your ideas and points of view.If you are unclear on what I mean, please ask me before criticizing. If you must respond at length or flame, please do so on your own website and use the trackback function to link back. I reserve the right to know who is posting to my site.

Comments are the intellectual property of the owner. By posting a comment to my site, however, you have indicated your willingless to let it be seen by visitors to this site. I reserve the right to delete any comments and/or deny the commentator access to the site. I reserve the right to close a comment thread at any time for any reason. (See Access for more details on this latter issue.) Here are the reasons which may lead me to delete a comment from the site:

1. Vulgar language for its own sake.
2. Insults against me, my wife, other site authors, or other commentators.
3. Comments which appear to be libelous or slanderous.
4. Repetitions. (These are usually accidents.)
5. Exhibitions of obsessive and /or paranoic behavior. (e.g. Someone who will not let a heated discussion die; one trick ponies who only come to debate with me on a favorite issue; excessive secrecy about one's identity. Nicknames are OK, but I must be able to track you. Respond to email and show me that you are a real person. I will not share any information that you reveal to me via private email through the Internet.)
6. Advertisements for products, political parties, and services. If you include any link to such a site in your URL, th whole comment will be considered advertising.
7. Advertisements for websites which are clearly off topic.
8. Comments which endorse illegal behavior. Context will be considered.
9. Expressions of hatred against any person, nationality, religion, etc.
10. Use of false email addresses or sock puppets. Anti-spam additions (e.g. charithearmadillo@NOSPAMalsirat.com) are acceptable.
11. Comments which violate the fair use provisions of copyright law. (Quoting something I said from this site is not a violation of fair use.)
12. Comments containing links to pornographic or hate sites. Context will be considered.
13. Off topic comments.
14. Insulting or teasing nicknames.
15. Cookie-cutter comments.

Mere dissent shall not be considered an "attack", though obsessive commenting may override even this limit. If dissent is coupled with any of the things listed above, however, it may be deleted.

I shall not edit comments. If you made a mistake, please post a new comment.

Comments reflect the views of the author in all cases. They do not necessarilly reflect the views of the site owner or endorsement of the views or products or links contained therein.

1. Permanent bans may or may not be announced. They may be limited only to Pax Nortona or, in the event of hacking, extend to the entire site.
2. Cooldowns are temporary bans. They shall be announced on the site and the length of time established. They shall be used in the cases of friends who have forgotten themselves, particularly in the comments.
3. Comments posted in protest of a cooldown shall be deleted. The proper venue for this is email. My address is gazissax@best.com.
4. I may extend a cooldown or make a ban permanent if it appears to me that the author is not contrite. Evidence to support this conclusion may include statements made in private email to me, organized campaigns to flood my email or my web site with protest letters from friends (when there is a doubt if the author is involved, I shall assume that s/he is), or angry statements made at the blog.
5. I shall consider lifting a ban upon receiving a letter of apology from the person banned.
6. Though bloggers are not responsible for the behavior of their spouses, housemates, siblings, and children, I shall regretfully leave a ban in place even if more than one person calls from a site. I will only accept apologies from the person who broke the rules, except in the case of parents of minor children who may promise to control their behavior.
7. All apologies must include a promise to respect and observe the rules of my site in the future.