IESG Guidance on the Moderation of IETF Working Group Mailing Lists
Date: Aug 2000
In some cases, it is necessary and appropriate to moderate IETF
mailing lists. For example, moderation might be needed to control
excessive spam, persistent off-topic postings, persistent personal
attacks, etc. on mailing lists. The IESG has devised the following
set of guidelines for the moderation of mailing lists.
- The appropriate AD(s) must approve of a list being moderated.
- The WG should be kept informed of a mailing list's moderation
policy. For example, a message could be posted to the mailing list
on a regular basis, or new members could be sent the policy as part
of the welcome message when subscribing.
- Messages should be accepted or rejected in whole; selective editing
of messages to remove off-topic content is not permitted.
- When rejecting a note, a note must be returned to the author with
a short explanation.
- Rejected notes should be saved for a reasonable period of time, so
that there is a record in the event a dispute arises.
- Items 3-5 apply to all manually rejected messages that require some
thinking on the part of the moderator. They do not apply to obvious
off-topic "make money fast" messages, or messages rejected through
generic automated means (i.e., automated spam-filters on mailing
list software).
