Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 06:32:45 GMT
From: Jeremy Malcolm <terminus@odyssey.apana.org.au>
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,comp.programming,alt.comp.shareware,alt.comp.shareware.authors,alt.comp.shareware.programmer,alt.comp.shareware.for-kids,alt.comp.freeware
Subject: 2nd RFD: comp.software.shareware.*

                     REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
            moderated group comp.software.shareware.users
           moderated group comp.software.shareware.authors
           moderated group comp.software.shareware.announce

CHANGES from previous RFD:

References to retromoderation of the proposed newsgroups has been
omitted.  Reference to details of the robomoderation algorithms being
supplied on request has been omitted.  The word "usually" has been
added to the rationale in acknowledgment that some forms of shareware
require payment other than in money.  The charters have been amended
to clarify the circumstances in which freeware and public domain
software may be discussed in the proposed newsgroups.

Newsgroup lines:
comp.software.shareware.announce        Shareware software announcements. (Moderated)
comp.software.shareware.authors Creation of shareware software. (Moderated)
comp.software.shareware.users   Use of shareware software. (Moderated)

This is a formal Request For Discussion (RFD) for the creation of the
world-wide moderated Usenet newsgroups comp.software.shareware.users,
comp.software.shareware.authors and comp.software.shareware.announce.
This is not a Call for Votes (CFV); you cannot vote at this time.
Procedural details are below.

RATIONALE: all groups

Shareware is software which may generally be freely distributed for
evaluation purposes.  After the expiration of a specified evaluation
period, the software must be registered, usually by the payment of a
fee to the author.  The popularity of shareware as a method of
distribution of software has sky-rocketted as access to the Internet
has widened.  Although other types of software are also distributed
over the Internet, including public domain software, freeware and
commercial demoware or crippleware, it is true to say that more
shareware is available online than any other category of software.

In view of the ubiquity of shareware it is surprising that there are
no newsgroups in the "Big 8" hierarchies specifically devoted to it.
The closest to such newsgroups that already exists is the sub-
hierarchy alt.comp.shareware.*, of which the three primary groups
are alt.comp.shareware, alt.comp.shareware.authors and
alt.comp.shareware.programmer.

A significant shortcoming of the existing alt.comp.shareware.* groups
is the limitation on their distribution which is inherent in their
relegation to the alt hierarchy.  Another problem with the groups is
the large number of off-topic posts and cross-posts they receive,
including requests for "cracks" and registration keys to overcome the
registration incentives incorporated by many shareware authors in
their programs.  Furthermore the groups alt.comp.shareware.authors and
alt.comp.shareware.programmer are commonly cross-posted
between, and it would be difficult to justify the retention of both
groups in the new sub-hierarchy proposed here.

It is impractical to moderate groups in the alt hierarchy because of
the ease with which their status can be changed back to unmoderated.
It is therefore proposed that three new moderated groups be formed in
the existing comp.software.* sub-hierarchy.  The proposed newsgroup
comp.software.shareware.users will serve a similar purpose to
alt.comp.shareware, but will be moderated to filter messages falling
outside the group's charter.  Likewise, the proposed newsgroup
comp.software.shareware.authors will be a moderated group serving
similar purposes to both alt.comp.shareware.authors and
alt.comp.shareware.programmer.  The proposed newsgroup
comp.software.shareware.announce will be solely to provide a forum
for announcements of releases of new shareware products and resources.
Note that this proposal does NOT advocate the removal of the
alt.comp.shareware.* groups.

CHARTER: comp.software.shareware.users

This is a moderated newsgroup, intended for discussion related to the
use of shareware software.  Without limitation, acceptable postings
may relate to:

  Support questions.
  Bugs, fixes and workarounds.
  Usage tips.
  Shareware reviews and comparisons.

Binary postings are not acceptable, although pointers to binary
postings in appropriate binaries groups are.  Commercial
advertisements are not acceptable.  Postings relating solely to other
forms of software such as freeware and public domain software are not
appropriate for this newsgroup.  Crossposting between this newsgroup
and other comp.software.shareware.* newsgroups is strongly
discouraged.

END CHARTER.

MODERATOR INFO: comp.software.shareware.users

Moderator: Jeremy Malcolm <terminus@odyssey.apana.org.au>
Administrative contact address: cssu-admin@odyssey.apana.org.au
Article submission address: cssu-submit@odyssey.apana.org.au

Moderation of comp.software.shareware.users will initially be
conducted by an automated robomoderation script which will reject
postings that are:

  Binary files.
  Cross-posted to five or more newsgroups.
  Commercial or personal advertisements falling outside the charter.
  Information about or requests for cracks or registration keys.

The moderation algorithm will be modified from time to time as may
be required.  The robomoderator may be supplemented, or replaced, by
a human moderator if robomoderation does not prove sufficient.

Articles that are rejected by the robomoderator will be returned to
the author along with an explanation of the rejection.  No appeal
process is proposed.

END MODERATOR INFO.

CHARTER: comp.software.shareware.authors

This is a moderated newsgroup, intended for discussion related to the
creation and sale of shareware software.  Without limitation,
acceptable postings may relate to:

  Development issues.
  Programming issues.
  Marketing techniques.
  Distribution techniques.

Binary postings are not acceptable, although pointers to binary
postings in appropriate binaries groups are.  Commercial
advertisements are not acceptable.  Postings relating solely to other
forms of software such as freeware and public domain software are not
appropriate for this newsgroup.  Crossposting between this newsgroup
and other comp.software.shareware.* newsgroups is strongly
discouraged.

END CHARTER.

MODERATOR INFO: comp.software.shareware.authors

Moderator: Jeremy Malcolm <terminus@odyssey.apana.org.au>
Administrative contact address: ccsa-admin@odyssey.apana.org.au
Article submission address: ccsa-submit@odyssey.apana.org.au

Moderation of comp.software.shareware.authors will initially be
conducted by an automated robomoderation script which will reject
postings that are:

  Binary files.
  Cross-posted to five or more newsgroups.
  Commercial or personal advertisements falling outside the charter.
  Information about or requests for cracks or registration keys.

The moderation algorithm will be modified from time to time as may
be required.  The robomoderator may be supplemented, or replaced, by
a human moderator if robomoderation does not prove sufficient.

Articles that are rejected by the robomoderator will be returned to
the author along with an explanation of the rejection.  No appeal
process is proposed.

END MODERATOR INFO.

CHARTER: comp.software.shareware.announce

This is a moderated newsgroup, intended for informational
announcements related to shareware products and resources.
Without limitation, appropriate topics may include:

  Announcements of new shareware releases.
  Announcements of shareware FTP and WWW archives.
  Announcements regarding shareware related services, such as
  credit card registration services.

This group is not intended for discussion about shareware, and
followups to articles in this group should be posted elsewhere.
Commercial advertisements are not acceptable except insofar as they
are bona fide one-off announcments of new shareware products or
services.  Announcements relating to other forms of software such as
freeware and public domain software are not appropriate for this
newsgroup.  Crossposting between this newsgroup and other
comp.software.shareware.* newsgroups is strongly discouraged.

END CHARTER.

MODERATOR INFO: comp.software.shareware.announce

Moderator: Jeremy Malcolm <terminus@odyssey.apana.org.au>
Administrative contact address: ccsan-admin@odyssey.apana.org.au
Article submission address: ccsan-submit@odyssey.apana.org.au

Moderation of comp.software.shareware.announce will initially be
conducted by a combination of human and robomoderation.  Articles
by new authors must be approved by the human moderator.  Subsequent
articles by the same authors will be automatically approved by the
robomoderator, so long as they are not:

  Binary files.
  Cross-posted to five or more newsgroups.
  Commercial or personal advertisements falling outside the charter.
  Information about or requests for cracks or registration keys.

The moderation algorithm will be modified from time to time as may
be required.

Articles that are rejected by the human or robomoderator will be
returned to the author along with an explanation of the rejection.
No appeal process is proposed.

END MODERATOR INFO.

PROCEDURE:

This is a request for discussion, not a call for votes.  In this phase
of the process, any potential problems with the proposed newsgroups
should be raised and resolved.  The discussion period will continue
for a minimum of 21 days (starting from when the first RFD for this
proposal is posted to news.announce.newgroups), after which a Call For
Votes (CFV) may be posted by a neutral vote taker if the discussion
warrants it.  Please do not attempt to vote until this happens.

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

This RFD attempts to comply fully with the Usenet newsgroup creation
guidelines outlined in "How to Create a New Usenet Newsgroup" and "How
to Format and Submit a New Group Proposal".  Please refer to these
documents (available in news.announce.newgroups) if you have any
questions about the process.

DISTRIBUTION:

This RFD has been posted to the following newsgroups:

  news.announce.newgroups, news.groups,
  comp.programming, alt.comp.shareware, alt.comp.shareware.authors,
  alt.comp.shareware.programmer, alt.comp.shareware.for-kids,
  alt.comp.freeware

Proponent: Jeremy Malcolm <terminus@odyssey.apana.org.au>
