• No flooding of ANY kind is allowed - this is a waste of bandwidth and will result in a ban on your domain until we contact your ISP system administrator. No channel takeovers, whatsoever. If you have a problem with someone on your channel that you cannot handle, try asking an op in #shadow. No Cloning, if we find clones on our servers, we will consider this a waste of bandwidth and ban your domain. No nick colliding, mass messages, or advertisements will be allowed.
  
  

• The ShadowWorld Network accepts a maximum of 1 bot per user for security reasons. Every bot should be run with permission of the Server Administrator (type "/admin" on irc to get the Admin's email).
  
  

• Remember that a ban on your domain keeps everyone from your Internet service provider out of the network. So please, before you do something stupid, please think twice.
  
  

• All users are expected to follow the Network Policies and Rules, as well as the rules on the server to which they are connected. To see these, type "/motd".

As a user, you have some rules to obey so that the ShadowWorld IRC Network will remain a good chat environment for everyone. Basically this means respecting other users and avoiding any kind of illegal activities.
Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse, and any violations of network rules will be dealt with as ShadowWorld Administration sees fit.

• a) Server administration must possess and conform to all Network Policies stated in this document, as well as all additional policies in either the ShadowWorld rules.txt, or any decisions reached by committees, stipulated by Network and/or Server Administration, as well as obey directions from any member of the Levels of Authority who are on a level above their own.
  
  

• b) Server administration must demonstrate a thorough knowledge of all commands and information in the ShadowWorld ircopcmd.txt, and general irc commands also, as well as be able to explain these commands to any user in easy to understand terms.
  
  

• c) Server administration must spend an approximate average of 4 hours per day on ShadowWorld performing the following types of activities for ShadowWorld: helping users, providing network service in the way of server maintenance, network policy enforcement, committee proceedings, or related activities, or making themselves available in #shadow, #help or another network-sponsored help channel. (Idling does not count as availability or network service.)
  
  

• d) All members of the Server administration must at all times respect all members of the ShadowWorld community, regardless of their level of authority or status as a user. Rudeness, apathy, and illegal activities performed by any member of the Server administration may result in a Disciplinary Committee hearing to determine if consequences should be enforced upon such an individual.
  
  

• e) All IRCops/Admins/Co-Admins and/or Network Staff of any kind, are required to subscribe to the ShadowWorld General Mailing List. Users are also welcome to join this list and share their ideas. To subscribe, see the bottom of this document, section V, pertaining to Contact Information.
  
  

• f) All IRCops/Admins/Co-Admins and/or Network Staff of any kind, are required to be present whenever possible at any meetings announced by committees, and Network or Server Administration.
  
  

• g) All IRCops/Admins/Co-Admins have the right to file complaints against their fellow network staff members if they feel an illegal, unethical, or any other activity which they feel is counterproductive to the well-being of the community, has taken place. The procedure will be as follows:
  
  

  • 1) If the accused staff member is of an equal or lower level of authority, the complainant will file their complaint, and produce satisfactory evidence to support their claim, to their Server Administrator, or the Network Administration, who will pursue the matter through the Disciplinary committee as they see fit. If the complainant is an Administrator, they may take temporary disciplinary action against the accused, but must immediately file a complaint with both Network Administration and the Disciplinary committee, and respect their final judgment and decision.
    
    

  • 2) If the accused staff member is of a higher level of authority, the complainant may either file a complaint against them with the accused staff member's immediate superior, or with a higher ranking Server or Network Administrator, both of which will administer any temporary disciplinary measures deemed necessary and bring the matter before the Disciplinary committee for a permanent judgment.

• a) Overall responsibility for the actions of the Co-Admin and all IRCops serving the network on the Admin's server.
  
  

• b) Compiling all updated server code releases as they are announced by the Network Routing Committee, within a reasonable amount of time (approximately 24-72 hours from time of availability).
  
  

• c) Maintaining the security of the shell account on which the ircd process is run. This includes changing shell passwords regularly, guarding and controlling who obtains access to said shell accounts, and reporting any and all breaches of security to Network and Server Administration, as well as the Network and Server Routing Committee.
  
  

• d) Handling any personnel issues that may arise, including but not limited to personality conflicts among subordinates, changing O:Line status as needed by Disciplinary Committee decisions or Operator requests due to domain changes, and maintaining control over the contents of the ircd.conf file.
  
  

• e) Giving prior notice if the server must be down, and obtaining as much information as possible about time limits on such interruption of service. This includes machine restarts, server downtime for compiling, security issues, problems relating to the machine's SysOp, and any other time the server will be unavailable to the network. Extended periods of downtime must be reported to the Network and Server Routing Committee as soon as possible to begin preventative re-routing if necessary.
  
  

• f) Obtaining permission from the Network Administrator to hire on any new Server personnel, and collecting a completed ShadowWorld.NET IRCop Application from such an individual to be held by the Administrator for the entire time they have administrative access to the network or any of its servers.
  
  

• g) Under no circumstances will a Server Administrator or Co-Administrator, or any other individual with access to the server, link in a new server without prior consent to such a linkage by the New Server Linkage Committee in conjunction with the Network and Server Routing Committee.
  
  

• h) Any Administrator found in violation of any of the above rules, or any of the policies stated in rules.txt, or any policies stated within this document, shall be subject to disciplinary action including admonishment, demotion, suspension or removal of Administrative access, temporary or permanent delinkage, and/or a global ban for such an individual from the Network.

• a) All of the above Rights and Responsibilities of the Server Administrator (section 2), excluding overall responsibility for all server functions due to the Administrators decisions.
  
  

• b) Co-Administrators are responsible for every aspect of the server and shall be held accountable as such unless they were ordered to perform an activity contrary to the network rules and policies by an administrator with a higher level of authority.

• a) Helping users with IRC commands, ShadowWorld.NET-specific questions or problems, referring users to another individual who can better help them, and supporting the Administrative decisions put into effect by this document, rules.txt, and any rulings by committees or Network and Server Administration.
  
  

• b) Demonstrating the ability to perform the duties listed in this document, and the ability to effectively perform all commands in the ircopcmd.txt file.
  
  

• c) Ensuring that all users comply with Network policies, as listed in this document, rules.txt, or the policies stated on the motd of the server on which the user is connected.
  
  

• d) Any and all relevant rights and responsibilities listed in this document or rules.txt.

IRCop Status
Contrary to popular belief by many users, IRC Operators are not cops or police in any way, shape, or form. Being an IRCop means that you have taken on the responsibilities equivalent of a technical support representative and maintenance technician. Although IRCops are required to ensure that ShadowWorld's users are conforming to the network's rules and policies, there should in no way ever be a police-like mentality on the part of any individual involved in the ShadowWorld administration. Such an attitude would be detrimental to the success of this network, and should it be detected in an IRCop or any member of the administration, it will be dealt with by the Disciplinary Committee immediately, before it is allowed to affect the ShadowWorld community.

IRCops must use their best judgment in cases of abuse. However, if the user threatens the safety, performance, or overall good of the network, strict and expedient action must be taken. At no time should an IRC Operator perform vanity kills or kill a user upon a user's request. Also, IRCops should not play games with the /kill, /gline, or /kline commands, or /squit and /connect servers to Nick Collide users or other IRCops. This is detrimental to the professionalism we as members of the ShadowWorld.NET Administration strive for, and if it constitutes a problem, will be dealt with by the Disciplinary committee. Ghost kills, killing a connection due to a ping time-out or excessive lag or desync, should only be performed after the IRCop has established that it is a genuinely innocent and helpful request and not a request made with malicious intent.

As IRC Operators, your task is simple, yet challenging. The goal of the IRC Operator is to enforce the Network Policies while ensuring that the Network Purpose as stated at the beginning of this document is upheld. While IRCops will not be held accountable for well-meaning actions with less than desirable outcomes, any IRCop knowingly performing an action that violates the purpose or policies of the network may be answerable to the Network Administration as well as the Disciplinary Committee. It is suggested by the Network Administration that all IRCops log possibly controversial situations, such as floods resulting in /kills or /glines, channel takeovers, or other such instances where proof may be required should the IRCop's judgment be called into question.

Please report any problems or complaints to ShadowWorld's Grievance Administrator by completing the following form.

Please State Your REAL Name:

What is the name of your

Internet Service Provider (ISP)?

Please explain the nature of the problem and/or complaint in FULL DETAIL:

Please be aware that the ShadowWorld IRC Network Administration cannot be held responsible for any person(s) "bothering" other persons.

However, with sufficient evidence (ie: genuine IRC log files), the Grievances Administrator may decide to add an AKill or K-Line for the user@host of a person deemed to be unreasonably harassing other users.

Any complaint (along with supporting evidence) alleging criminal activity may be turned over to law enforcement authorities.

Any person submitting a complaint regarding harassment or Staff misconduct must provide logs supporting their complaint, upon request by the Grievances Administrator.

The Grievances Administrator will contact you by E-mail within 5 business days regarding your complaint. Please do NOT re-submit the same complaint multiple times during that period.

For questions, comments, or complaints regarding the Grievances procedure, please contact the Grievances Administrator at Abuse@ShadowWorld.Net.