FATFREE LIST TERMS OF USE Last Updated: 16 February 1997 Subscribers to the FATFREE Vegetarian Mailing List are required to abide by the following terms of use. If you do not agree to these terms or do not feel you are able to follow them, for whatever reason, please unsubscribe to this mailing list. Thank you. 1. Don't Forward General Messages to FATFREE Do not foward general internet/warning/rumor/good samaritan/ etc etc type letters to FATFREE. If you receive a message somewhere via any means that asks you to pass it along to everyone you know and every mailing list etc etc ... it is explicitly against list policy to post it here. I don't care how laudible the subject, whether it's about viruses, $250 cookie recipes, charities, missing kids, get well cards, gangs, sick children in hospitals, Trojan horse computer programs, ponzi schemes, get rich quick schemes, bills in Congress, action alerts etc. Good intentions are irrelevant. Whether it helps people/saves people from disaster/etc is irrelevant. Whether it's actually true or is a hoax is irrelevant. Whether this is the only place they might read it is irrelevant. (You will be assimilated). If the message says to forward it, its content is irrelevant: DON'T POST IT HERE. Furthermore, any such messages will be deleted from the digest. 2. No Commercial/Advocacy Postings (unless pre-approved) Commercial or advocacy postings may not be made to FATFREE even if the posting itself is purely informational. A commercial posting is one made by a person or on behalf of a person or organization selling a product or service containing information about that product or service. An advocacy posting is one aimed at collecting mass organized support for a political, economic, or social cause. Explicitly prohibited postings are posts of the type: "X is a great new product with all these benefits, email me for more info." Announcements of seminars where products (vitamins, etc) are sold are also prohibited. This prohibition does not apply to unaffiliated end-consumers making unsolicited recommendations on products and services (note, the key here is *unaffiliated* and *unsolicited*). From time to time I *pre-approve* limited, on-topic commercial postings. Pre-approval is required (email me at fatfree-REQUEST@fatfree.com). Usually the only postings approved are book/cookbook/food product postings with specific relevance to very low fat vegetarian diets, made by long-term members of the FATFREE list. It helps if readers of the list are offered a genuine discount on the product or service that is not available to the general community. I will remove postings in violation of this policy from the digest. 3. No Ethics or Environmental Discussion Because this is a high-volume list, I've elected to declare certain topics off-limits to reduce volume and flamage. Ethics and the environment are important factors that often influence the decision to be a vegetarian. However, you are asked to confine your discussion of these topics to other forums. 4. No Nutrition Discussion It may seem odd to disallow nutriton discussion, however, past experience with this list has shown that nutrition discussions usually degenerate into protracted flame wars. So, you are asked not to discuss, make statements about, ask questions about, or give advice on specific nutrition issues. This includes, but is not limited to, such issues as: the healthfulness of various types of fat, the long-term effects of very low fat diets, the need or health benefits of essential fatty acids, the health hazards or benefits of meat or dairy products, and nutritional supplements. In any case, the net in general should not be relied on as the sole or primary source of nutrition information -- it is better to seek out knowledgable professional nutrition practitioners who have expertise in the type of diet you wish to follow. If someone inadvertantly brings up a topic or asks a question concerning nutrition, please reply to them privately. However, this does not mean that it acceptable to post a message saying "I know this is off topic, but ... please reply to me privately". If it is off-topic and you know it, don't post about it here. Where to get nutrition info: Many of the books listed in the resource guide answer basic questions concerning very low fat vegetarian diets. Also, the FAQ deals with some of the more common questions. For other viewpoints and opinions, nutrition questions are welcome on the USENET newsgroups: alt.food.fat-free, alt.food.low-fat, rec.food.veg, and sci.med.nutrtion. Please use those forums instead of FATFREE. 5. Be Brief We're a high volume group, so try to keep exceptionally long or frequent posting to a minimum. Consider whether your message might be better sent privately. Read all the incoming mail from the list before posting, someone else may have already sent a similar reply to yours. Do not quote the entire article you are replying to, only quote as much as is needed to be coherent. Signatures should be 4 lines or less, longer ones fill up the digest unnecessarily. Do not post ascii art or block letter messages to the list, even in fun -- they add unnecessary bulk to the list. 6. No Meta Posts Meta posts are posts about the list or the people in it. Posts such as: "I think this mailing list is...." "why do people on this list ...." "this mailing list is too restrictive" "this mailing list is not restrictive enough" "why are vegetarians so ..." "why are omnivores so .." Discussion about list rules or how the list should be run are also meta posts. If you have suggestions for the list, send them to the address fatfree-REQUEST@fatfree.com, do not post them. If you have specific needs wrt to recipes, post your own or ask for help (rather than complaining about the recipes that are currently being posted). Meta posts almost always result in long protracted threads of little interest except to the participants. 7. Be Respectful and Tolerant We're a diverse group. Not everyone here follows a vegetarian, vegan, or fatfree diet. The emphasis should be information, not preaching. Preaching is as inappropriate as fish recipes. Flaming and personal insults are out of place here. Note that because of the size and diversity of the readership of this list, flaming and ill-mannered responses via private email can (unfortunately) be expected if you post something the least bit controversial. It is best to ignore such respondents (unless you enjoy engaging flamers in discussion). Rest assured that that sort of view is rarely representative of the readership as a whole. I do not get involved in private email disputes other than to ask that you not drag them into public. 8. Do Not Infringe Copyright This list is covered by a collection copyright owned by myself, Michelle Dick. Individuals posting to this list retain copyright on any individual messages they post. This means that you may not republish or redistribute messages from this list in any form, including electronicly. Subscribers to this list may use the copies of list messages they receive in personal email for their own private use. If you wish to republish or redistribute an individual message, you will need to get permission from the poster of that message. To republish or redistribute a collection of messages from this list, you will need to get permission from me. This also means you should not post copyrighted material to the list. A word about recipes: recipes, per se, cannot by copyrighted -- that is, the ingredients used or the technique required to make a dish. However, the exact description of a recipe can be. When posting recipes, it is best to write the recipe in your own words. It is also considered polite to include reference to where you got the recipe idea from, especially if you did not adapt or change the recipe. -- Michelle Dick artemis@fatfree.com East Palo Alto, CA Owner, FATFREE Vegetarian Mailing List