Pre-MVI: rec.ponds.moderated

[Paul W. Schleck]

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Advice from other members of the Big-8 Board is that a formal MVI at
this point would be premature until we receive more definite and
unambiguous feedback from the rec.ponds.moderated team about their
intentions, or mail to their submission address starts bouncing. This
pre-MVI is intended as a start of an informal discussion to confirm that
the newsgroup will be abandoned shortly, and to see if there is any
serious interest in passing the moderation of the newsgroup to a new
team, or if the agenda should proceed directly to a formal Moderator
Vacancy Investigation and possible removal Request for Discussion,
either of which would be directly crossposted to rec.ponds.moderated, a
serious step for a moderated newsgroup that the Board would only take if
the newsgroup was clearly abandoned by its moderators.

Looks like the moderation account on Panix for rec.ponds.moderated has
recently been turned off from non-renewal. The most direct public
evidence of this is their finger message:


[panix.com]
Trying 166.84.1.3...
Login Name: rpmadmin Full Name: rec.ponds.moderated Admin
Directory: /net/u/4/r/rpmadmin Shell: /usr/local/bin/bash.lock
Last login Tue Apr 23 07:34:05 2013 on panix1.panix.com pts/42 from 216.40.24.1.
No mail information available.
Plan:
rec.ponds.moderated Newsgroup

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(Note the shell entry as being set to bash.lock.)

Also, trying to access their public home page on Panix:

http://www.panix.com/~rpmadmin/

results in a "403 Forbidden" error code.

The account is in a suspended state, awaiting final deletion, so it
still accepts mail at rec-ponds...@panix.com and
rec-ponds-mod...@panix.com for now, though there is no way
for the moderators to currently approve any pending articles, and the
E-mail addresses will eventually bounce unless the account is renewed
shortly. The last approved article on the newsgroup was Message-ID:
<p906n8l129c11ftfn...@4ax.com> posted on April 20, 2013.

- The moderation team had recently made announcements and solicited
feedback about continuing the newsgroup (Thread on
rec.ponds.moderated starting with Message-ID:
<34a5e7a3-a086-4b9e...@googlegroups.com>). Some
feedback was in favor of retaining the newsgroup, some was against.

- The moderation team has publicly stated that they do not want to
fund the Panix account based on the light amount of traffic that the
newsgroup has had recently, but no serious volunteers or hosting
alternatives emerged.

- One offer to moderate the newsgroup was withdrawn after followup
E-mail discussion with the volunteer about the duties and
responsibilities.

- A couple of people, including me, offered to help fund the account,
but not enough to completely fund it. The account has now expired.

- HuHu is a free alternative, inherited from the late Alexander
Bartolich by some of his friends interested in continuing worthwhile
services he had established, including the albasani.net news server.
The HuHu service is used by other moderation teams, including
rec.arts.anime.info. However, an active moderation team would have
to take the initiative to get that set up.

- I do not want to take over the newsgroup, but could assist a new
team.

I have attempted to contact the moderators via their personal E-mail
addresses and am awaiting any reply.

- --
Paul W. Schleck
psch...@novia.net
http://www.novia.net/~pschleck/
Finger psch...@novia.net for PGP Public Key

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[Paul W. Schleck]

Moderator VACANCY INVESTIGATION (MVI)
moderated group rec.ponds.moderated

This is a formal Moderator Vacancy Investigation (MVI), begun because
moderated newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated is not functioning, and may
have been abandoned by its moderator(s).

This investigation will attempt to verify the reasons for non-function,
and may result in the removal of the group or the selection and
installation of a new moderator. In practice, the Big-8 Management
Board considers the third alternative -- changing the status of the
group from moderated to unmoderated -- as likely to cause more harm than
good.

NEWSGROUPS LINE:
rec.ponds.moderated Care & enjoyment of recreational pods & water gardens. (Moderated)

RATIONALE:
Probe posts to this group result in bounces:

<rpma...@panix.com> (expanded from <rec-ponds...@panix.com>): unknown user: "rpmadmin"

The last article approved by the moderators, with Message ID
<rb06n85u03ou7ulmd...@4ax.com>, appeared in April of 2013,
over two years ago.

One of the last articles posted to the newsgroup, also in April of 2013,
was from moderator Jim Hurley, with Message ID
<34a5e7a3-a086-4b9e...@googlegroups.com>, seeking
feedback on the continuation of the newsgroup. Some followups were in
favor of continuing the newsgroup, some were in favor of moving to
social media (e.g., Facebook).

DISTRIBUTION:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
rec.ponds.moderated
rec.ponds

CHARTER:

C01 Description and Purpose

Rec.ponds.moderated is a moderated newsgroup that provides a friendly,
respectful forum for the discussion of all aspects of ponds and water
gardens. The rec.ponds.moderated newsgroup appeals to a wide range of
people involved in both the recreational and professional aspects of
establishing and maintaining a pond or water garden. Participants
range from novices to persons with many years of experience, from
amateur hobbyists to professional botanists and ichthyologists, from
students wishing to get help with science projects to retired persons
seeking a quiet, pleasurable pastime. All interested persons are
welcomed to share ideas, ask questions, or simply to lurk and learn.

C02 Permitted Content

Discussions appropriate to a ponding community including, but not
limited to:

* Building a pond/water garden
* Establishing an ecosystem
* Plant life
* Fish
* Amphibians and reptiles
* Aquatic environmental concerns
* Discussions of large, unlined natural ponds

C03 The Following Is Prohibited

All posts containing these items are rejected, and returned with
explanation if permitted by the automated software.

* Obscenities
* Implied or direct threats, slander, insults, bigotry, prejudice
or harassment
* Flaming, trolling, flooding, and personal verbal attacks
* Frequent petty criticism of another poster
* Posts advocating violence or containing physical threats
* Attacks on others based on gender, race, sexual orientation
or religion
* Commercial posts
* Excessive cross-posting, although limited, on-topic cross-posting
is permitted
* Chain letters
* Posts written in HTML
* EMP spam
* Binaries, other than pgp signatures, x-face headers, and other
ancillary article meta-data
* Forgery of names, valid email addresses and/or approval headers
* Excessive morphing/nym shifting ("excessive" is undefined but is
at the discretion of the moderators)
* Excessive quoting of old material, with little new content
(these will be judgment calls made by the moderators)
* Personal identification information associated with anyone other
than the poster (e.g. residential addresses, phone numbers and
government identifications)
* Content advocating acts that would be intrinsically illegal
in most places
* Copyright violations. (However, pointers to news articles,
blogs, etc. that are on-topic are welcome. They must comply with
fair use standards.)

C04 Charter Implementation

The charter of this newsgroup is implemented by a group of moderators.
Their task is to develop and carry out the methods and means necessary
to insure that the stated purposes of the group charter are accomplished.
Their methods shall be defined as Moderation Policy and Practices. (MPP)

Moderators make use of whatever tools and discussion processes they deem
necessary to carry out their responsibilities. One such tool may
include the use of automated moderation software.

C05 Moderation Policy Objectives and Practices

Moderation policy adheres to and carries out the stated goals and
purposes of the group. Moderation policy & practices (MPP) may be
changed by the moderators to meet the ongoing needs of the newsgroup
charter.

Proposed changes are announced by the moderators in the
newsgroup, and newsgroup readers are invited to share and discuss
their views of the proposed changes. Passage of the changes is by a
2/3 majority vote of the moderators. Changes are published in the
newsgroup.

C06 Moderator Standards

Moderators approve or reject posts based upon content as listed in C02
and C03 above. Moderators maintain a standard of neutrality and
non-bias. Moderators do not add, delete, or edit anything within a
post. Tags are not added.

Decisions of the moderation team are final. Moderators permit posts
that may contain technically incorrect information, provided that the
post is not deemed to be deliberately deceptive. Any approved post
that is forwarded to the newsgroup, and contains incorrect information,
may and should be followed up by posts that attempt to correct the
misinformation. Such corrective posts may be made by any interested
person/s in the newsgroup.

All personal posts made by moderators go through the same complete
process as posts made by the general readership of the group.
Moderators do not review their own posts, nor those of a relative.
Moderators who fail to abide by the charter and current moderation
policy may be warned and/or removed by the other moderators.

C07 Moderator Accessibility and Accountability

The moderators provide options for both private and public
interaction with the readership of the newsgroup. An email contact
address is provided for complaints, appeals, reviews and suggestions.
The receipt of emails to the contact address is acknowledged by a
return email, provided a valid return address is given.

In addition, the Charter provides for limited public discussion
of the general issues of moderation policy, group operation and other
matters that affect the group.

Moderators shall create and occasionally publish FAQ and other
documents that promote the functionality of the newsgroup.

C08 Readership Participation & Responsibility

All participants in the group may:

* Request changes to moderation policy and participate in the
discussion of changes.
* Privately ask for all moderators to review a specific rejected
post (within practical numerical limits determined by the
moderators.)
* Nominate new moderators.

END CHARTER.

HISTORY OF THE GROUP:

RESULT
rec.ponds.moderated will be created

The Last Call for Comments on 28 Feb 2007 initiated a five-day period for
final comments. Following this comment period, the Big-8 Management Board
has decided by a vote to create the newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated.

The vote was 8 in favor and 0 opposed. 1 active member did not vote.

This group will be created on 09 Mar 2007.

The group was created shortly afterwards, and continued activity until
April of 2013, after which no further approved articles appeared.

PROPONENT: Paul W. Schleck <psch...@novia.net>

PROCEDURE:

Those who wish to comment on this moderator vacancy investigation should
subscribe to news.groups.proposals and participate in the relevant
threads in that newsgroup. To this end, the followup header of this MVI
has been set to news.groups.proposals.

For more information on the MVI process, please see
http://www.big-8.org/articles/m/o/d/Moderator_Vacancy_Investigations.html

CHANGE HISTORY:

25 April 2015: Moderator Vacancy Investigation

[Paul W. Schleck]

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
moderated group rec.ponds.moderated (remove)

This is a formal Request for Discussion (RFD) to remove the moderated
newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated.

NEWSGROUPS LINE:
rec.ponds.moderated Care & enjoyment of recreational pods & water gardens. (Moderated)

RATIONALE:
Probe posts to this group result in bounces:

<rpma...@panix.com> (expanded from <rec-ponds...@panix.com>): unknown user: "rpmadmin"

The last article approved by the moderators, with Message ID
<rb06n85u03ou7ulmd...@4ax.com>, appeared in April of 2013,
over two years ago.

One of the last articles posted to the newsgroup, in February of 2013,

was from moderator Jim Hurley, with Message ID
<34a5e7a3-a086-4b9e...@googlegroups.com>, seeking
feedback on the continuation of the newsgroup. Some followups were in
favor of continuing the newsgroup, some were in favor of moving to
social media (e.g., Facebook).

DISCUSSION SO FAR:

In response to the original Moderator Vacancy Investigation, no followup
to news.groups.proposals or rec.ponds has been posted after 15 days,
suggesting that no one is reading rec.ponds.moderated, no one wishes to
volunteer as moderator, or no one objects to its removal, or some
combination of all three.

Those who wish to comment on this request to remove this newsgroup

should subscribe to news.groups.proposals and participate in the
relevant threads in that newsgroup. To this end, the followup header of

this RFD has been set to news.groups.proposals.

For more information on the newsgroup removal process, please see
http://www.big-8.org/articles/p/r/o/Procedure_to_remove_newsgroups.html

CHANGE HISTORY:

25 April 2015: Moderator Vacancy Investigation

10 May 2015: 1st RFD (remove)

[Big 8 Management Board]

2nd REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
moderated group rec.ponds.moderated (remove) - LAST CALL FOR COMMENTS

This is a formal Request for Discussion (RFD) to remove the moderated
newsgroup rec.ponds.moderated.

The B8MB plans to begin voting on this proposal after five days. Please
offer any final discussion or comments before the end of this waiting
period. Voting may take up to one week (7 days); a result will be
posted following the end of the voting period.

All discussion of this proposal should be posted to news.groups.proposals.

For more information on the newsgroup removal process, please see
http://www.big-8.org/articles/p/r/o/Procedure_to_remove_newsgroups.html

NEWSGROUPS LINE:
rec.ponds.moderated Care & enjoyment of recreational pods & water gardens. (Moderated)

RATIONALE:
Probe posts to this group result in bounces:

<rpma...@panix.com> (expanded from <rec-ponds...@panix.com>): unknown user: "rpmadmin"

The last article approved by the moderators, with Message ID
<rb06n85u03ou7ulmd...@4ax.com>, appeared in April of 2013,
over two years ago.

One of the last articles posted to the newsgroup, in February of 2013,
was from moderator Jim Hurley, with Message ID
<34a5e7a3-a086-4b9e...@googlegroups.com>, seeking
feedback on the continuation of the newsgroup. Some followups were in
favor of continuing the newsgroup, some were in favor of moving to
social media (e.g., Facebook).

DISCUSSION SO FAR:

In response to the original Moderator Vacancy Investigation and the 1st
Request for Discussion, no followup to news.groups.proposals or
rec.ponds has been posted volunteering to serve as a replacement
moderator or moderators, or inquiring about volunteering.

CHANGE HISTORY:

25 April 2015: Moderator Vacancy Investigation
10 May 2015: 1st RFD (remove)

25 May 2015: LCC

[Big 8 Management Board]

RESULT
rec.ponds.moderated will be removed

The Last Call for Comments (LCC) on 25 May 2015 initiated a five-day
period for final comments. Following this comment period, the Big 8
Management Board has decided by consensus to remove the group
rec.ponds.moderated.

RATIONALE FOR REMOVAL:

Probe posts to this group result in bounces:

<rpma...@panix.com> (expanded from <rec-ponds...@panix.com>): unknown user: "rpmadmin"

The last article approved by the moderators, with Message ID
<rb06n85u03ou7ulmd...@4ax.com>, appeared in April of 2013,
over two years ago.

One of the last articles posted to the newsgroup, in February of 2013,
was from moderator Jim Hurley, with Message ID
<34a5e7a3-a086-4b9e...@googlegroups.com>, seeking
feedback on the continuation of the newsgroup. Some followups were in
favor of continuing the newsgroup, some were in favor of moving to
social media (e.g., Facebook).

DISCUSSION SO FAR:

There here has been no discussion of the merits of the group and no
posts in support of retaining it or opposed to removal.

DISTRIBUTION:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
rec.ponds.moderated
rec.ponds

NEWSGROUPS LINE:
rec.ponds.moderated Care & enjoyment of recreational pods & water gardens. (Moderated)

7 June 2015: RESULT - group will be removed