JD:

When people sign up for the list, they are sent a welcome message that says
that profanity is not allowed. There's the "policy statement". When people
can't refrain, I moderate them. This is clearly stated in the welcome
message.

Here is a copy of the welcome message for review:

***Begin welcome message*********************

One  of the  great things  about the  Vanagon mailing  list is  the large
quantity of information exchanged by the  members. In order to ensure the
availability of this information, submitters  to the vanagon mailing list
agree to  grant the  list managers  the right  to printed  and electronic
distribution of  submitted articles into compilations.  List managers and
their  agents also  have the  right to  make edits  which, in  their sole
opinion, improve the clarity of  the submission. Submitters warrant that,
as  far as  they know,  they have  the right  to submit  the material  in
question  for publication.  All  articles are  considered copyrighted  by
their authors.

Due to the volume on the Vanagon list and the multigenerational nature of
the discussions, it would  be a great help if you  would make the subject
of your message explicit to what model(s)  and year(s) or era of van that
the message pertains to. For example:

   "Eurovan rear hatch won't latch"   "91 Camper stove problem"
   "87 Syncro Clutch Problems"        "83-H20 engine temperature"

Often messages refer to trips, tools or other general topics. These types
of messages are of course meant for  the whole list and a subject without
a particular van type is expected.

Fridays are a day when people do fun things on the list. These things may
actually not  be VW related,  but we  strongly encourage it.  To indicate
that a posting  is in fun and  may not be of technical  value, you should
preface or suffix your subject with /f [f] or (F). Anyone without a sense
of humor should delete these messages without reading them.

The vanagon mailing list has been around for a while and its citizens are
fairly net.savvy. Bear  that in mind before you forward  something to the
list. In particular, please avoid the following:
   o  Messages containing cookie recipes.
   o  Craig Shergold or any kid dying of cancer who wants to live
      forever in e-mail
   o  Forwarded messages with LOTS OF CAPITALS AND EXCLAMATION
      POINTS!!!!!
   o  Any virus warning which says you can get a virus just by reading
      an e-mail message, especially if the virus-carrying message always
      has the same subject.
   o  Any virus warning already listed as a hoax at any of the following
      sites:

           http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
           http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html
           http://www.kumite.com/myths/

   o  The Internet AIDS Infection Experiment or any Internet Experiment

   o  Why Computers Are Like Men/Women
   o  Petitions
   o  Good-luck charms
   o  Any Chain Letter, especially if it's already listed at:

           http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACChainLetters.html

   o  Dire warnings or actions alerts like Save Sesame Street!, Kidney
      Thieves, Airport laptop thieves, 806 pager scams, FCC Internet Tax,
      Lexis-Nexis P-Trax database, rec.music.white-power, etc. Basically,
      anything telling the whole world to send e-mail somewhere or take
      some action, but doesn't tell you what day (and year) to stop.
      Stop forwarding hysteria!
   o  Content-free ping tests
   o  Messages with more forwards than actual text
   o  Posting private email to the whole list without permission
   o  A reply to a previous Vanagon list posting, quoting all six
      hundred lines, when all you wanted to do was respond to the last
      three

Sending this sort of thing to the  Vanagon list will make you look like a
novice, and will bring the TomC's sarcasm crashing down upon your head.

Please refrain from profanity or pushing  other's buttons on the list. We
try very hard  to get along. Censorship will be  enacted for those unable
to control themselves. Thanks for your cooperation.

Enjoy the list!
                             TomC

*****End welcome message*************

And if one does a search on the word "profanity" in the archive since Aug
'99 (that's when I took over the list), found are several postings from me
asking people to refrain.

Perhaps when Jim runs the Vanagon list in the very near future, the policy
will change. Whatever *he* decides at that point, I will respect.

Now, let's please end this thread and return to truly Vanagon-related
conversations.

Regards from your vanagon list admin,
TomC

-----Original Message-----
From: JD Foster
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: 11/24/04 12:38 AM
Subject: Re: ohway itshay  (How's your pig latin?)

*cough*
Not to discount the work that Tom does, but IIRC Gerry is owned by the
list.
So while Tom is the current appointed keeper of Gerry, that does not
necessarily grant him authority outside the will of the community.
Because
he is the current keeper and maintainer of the list, he has the access
and
*responsibility* of enforcing community standards, or at best his
perceived
interpretation thereof.  Without a charter, policy statement, or some
other
enforceable form of acceptable use policy, we are left to rely upon
either
a) Tom's personal opinion of how to censor list discussions or
(hopefully)
b) Tom's best assessment of how he believes the listees wish discussions
to
be censored.

For my part, I count my name amongst those who think that the censorship
of
shit in this context is simply a crock of.  Regarding the argument that
little Suzie and Johnny might be reading daddy's e-mail:  Bull.  If
mommy &
daddy are concerned about what Suzie & Johnny are reading (and they
*should*
be!), then it is THEIR responsibility to control their children's access
to
questionable content.  As has been said, the occasional use of provoking
language to emphasize a point, emotion, frustration or other situation
is
quite the norm in daily life.  The vanagon list a private community and
essentially a microcosm of greater society.  It is not anywhere near the
level of accessibility by minors as is publicly broadcast television or
radio.

Censorship of *any* sort ought not be accepted with complacency.  Any
time a
personally liberty is given up, it always needs to be carefully weighed
against what the benefit of giving up that liberty is.  The arguments
presented in favor of censorship thus far do not IMHO justify the cost.
I
realize that others obviously feel differently.  However if there is an
appreciable number of people who feel that an administrative action is
either excessive or out of keeping with community standards, it *should*
be
discussed and settled in some manner.

Cheers,
JD Foster

Estionquay authorityway, espectfullyray.

> The point is the list admin decides what matters.
> Tom works hard to maintain the hardware and bandwidth to make this
forum
> possible.  It is not for you or anyone else to judge.