Introduction

Even when internet has no official laws, there is a wide consensus of acceptable conduct within the net. These basic rules are called netiquette and they aim to make internet if not a better then at least an easier place for everybody. Several different versions of netiquette exist, one rather good example can be found at http://www.dtcc.edu/cs/rfc1855.html and several others by any search engine using netiquette as a keyword.

Mailing lists

Mailing lists are a very powerful tool for reaching people and NMOs involved with IFMSA. Unfortunately, they are also rather vulnerable to misuse. Therefore following rules have to be kept in mind when posting to IFMSA mailing lists:

• Consider very carefully to whom is your message of interest and choose the mailing list accordingly. IFMSA-General is not the right forum for all the messages.
• Posting to multiple lists should be avoided, as people are often receiving several lists. Only when your message is very important and would otherwise fail to reach everyone concerned, it can be posted to more than one mailing list.
• If you are trying to reach single person, please send the email directly. Sending private messages to the whole list should be the last resort for emergency situations, when other measures to contact the person have failed.
• Avoid attaching files to messages. Even small attachments can block mailboxes of people with slower connections. If you want to share a file, either give the www-address where the file can be downloaded or upload it to the file section of Yahoo!Groups. Attachments of modest size are acceptable, if you are sure that the file is relevant for almost all list members and they would be required to download it anyway.
• Avoid spreading viruses. Install and regularly update a virus scanner in your computer and use it to check all the files before sending them to mailing lists. Some virus scanners do this automatically. Email viruses (like Melissa, Loveletter etc) can spread to the mailing lists and they can be stopped by virus scanner.
• Sending chain letters is forbidden. Chain letters come in different formats, but anything with a request to send it on should be treated with caution. Common types are virus warnings, petitions, earn easy money- hoaxes, and traditional chain letters. Contact list moderator or IFMSA webmasters if in doubt before posting to the list.
• Commercial advertisements are not allowed. Only exception is signatures, which sometimes carry ads due to server provider and can not be helped.
• IFMSA is a non-political organisation. Therefore messages with political content are not encouraged and political debate is not accepted. Common sense should be used here; celebrating peace in IFMSA lists is ok, blaming others from breaking it is not. Our purpose is not censorship, but practical experience has shown that political debates in the net tend to turn hostile and non-constructive in a short order. If there is a need to discuss political issue in mailing lists, a specific list can be created for this purpose.
• Messages with religious content should be sent only after careful consideration. Common sense helps again; Christmas, Ramadan etc greetings are ok.
• Messages with hostile content are not allowed, whatever the target.
• Anonymous messages are accepted only in specific circumstances. Please contact moderator of the list or IFMSA webmasters.
• These rules are aimed to keep IFMSA mailing lists both friendly and easy to use. If the rules are broken, moderators or IFMSA webmasters shall first contact the offender and explain the rules. If this doesn't help and violation of the rules continues, the offender can be placed under moderation. This means that all the messages to the list from his/her email address go first to the moderator and are send to the list only after acceptance. In the gravest cases the offender can banned from the list. Moderators and IFMSA webmasters decision to place someone under moderation can be altered by the EB.