Policies

This page discusses various policies I use to implement and enforce these rules. They are a bit more flexible than the rules, and more subject to change as conditions warrant.

  • I will normally deal with problems with individuals privately (normally via email) rather than in open public settings. It is my observance that people are more apt to listen and change when things are done this way. Public rebukes tend to lock a person into a defensive posture, trying to prove that they are right, as opposed to looking for what is right.
  • Related to that, I prefer people when they see things they don't like on the list to either contact the person directly and privately themselves or contact me privately. Direct contact can make sense if you are curious if there is a legitimate reason for what you see as a problem, contacting me makes more sense if you think it may need "official" handling. It is also possible to do both, writing to the person and copying me on it. If you make a public complaint about it, on the list or elsewhere, I will consider the public posting to be sufficient dealing with the problem, and ignore future private requests from the complainant about this.
  • It is my policy to not discuss what actions I have taken with a third party. This is in part due to privacy, in part due to lack of time, and in part that it can easily stretch into people second guessing my decisions and making me spend a lot of time filling in the background behind them.
  • People who I contact about problems who respond back politely will be treated better than people who reply back with complaints and insults. Nothing gets a person on my "naughty" list faster than for someone to reply back that I don't have the right to police what is on the list or that they have a 1st amendment right to post what ever they want on the list.
  • My general preference is to err on the side of allowing more discussion rather than less, and to work with a gentile hand initially. I will get firm if I feel the need.
  • Similarly, I will tend to give someone the benefit of the doubt when there hasn't been a history of problems, but am much less tolerant of repeat offenders, especially if there has been no sense that they have had a real change of attitude.