LizardIRC Network Rules
COVID-19 and Other Harmful Disinformation
Due to the circumstances surrounding the global COVID-19 pandemic, we would like to remind our users that, per the network rules, we believe that free speech does not shield you from criticism or consequences that come to you as a result of your speech. LizardIRC staff at all times—before, during, and after this pandemic—reserve the right to sanction and/or remove users from the network who use the network to spread harmful speech, including the deliberate spreading of harmful disinformation. Thoughtful, civil, responsible discussion of disinformation as such is explicitly allowed, though at this time we require users wishing to discuss COVID-19 disinformation, conspiracy theories, etc. use For more information about what we expect from all of our users during this time, please visit our COVID-19 information page. If you're seeking more information about COVID-19, please use reputable, trusted sources such as the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health Canada, the World Health Organization, and your own local and national government resources. Wikipedia also contains useful information and may be a starting point for your own independent research. |
These are the LizardIRC network rules and policies. All users are expected to abide by them. It's simple stuff.
General Rules[edit | edit source]
- Use common sense.
- Don't be an asshole.
- Don't abuse the network. No spam, flooding, spreading of malicious software, etc.
- No racism, sexism, discrimination based on religion, sexual orientation, favorite text editor, or the like.
- Use common sense and don't be an asshole.
- See 1, 2, and 5. We really mean it.
- Do not use the network to deliberately spread harmful disinformation. Thoughtful, civil, responsible discussion of disinformation as such is allowed.
- No FSERVEs, warez, software piracy, illegal music distribution, and so forth.
- Do not ask if you can become network staff or have oper privileges (yes, this is a network rule). See here.
- All users are expected to abide by the laws of the United States of America as well as their own local laws. When a conflict exists, United States laws take precedence.
- A valid, permanent email address must be provided and verified when registering with NickServ. Addresses from sites offering "disposable" email addresses or addresses that are otherwise intended to be thrown away are prohibited for security reasons. We expect that emails received at the address you provide will not be publicly accessible, and that you will be able to continue receiving emails indefinitely. If you have to ask if a provider is allowed, it's probably not.
- We will not send you spam, and you may control the visibility of your email address as well as what emails you receive (e.g., memo notifications) in your NickServ account settings.
- All rules are subject to interpretation by the network staff.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT "FREE SPEECH": https://xkcd.com/1357/
IRC IS A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO DENY ANYONE AND EVERYONE ACCESS TO THIS NETWORK FOR ANY REASON.
Your use of LizardIRC constitutes acknowledgement of these rules and your agreement to them. Violation of these rules may result in your access to LizardIRC being terminated.
Channel rules for #lizardirc[edit | edit source]
#lizardirc is the official general chat and lobby channel for the network. In addition to the global network rules, the following rules and information apply in #lizardirc:
- LizardIRC Network Staff have owner (~) and protected (&) flags in the channel.
- #lizardirc is a community moderated channel. This means that users who idle for a time in the channel and are occasionally active are given halfop (%) and well-known users who are trusted and active in the channel receive full channel operator (@) status.
- Users with advanced privileges are expected to employ common sense when using their powers and enforce the LizardIRC network rules and #lizardirc channel rules.
- If a user is causing disruption or violating the LizardIRC network rules or #lizardirc channel rules, please feel free to remove and/or ban them as appropriate; however, please do not use community moderation powers to win arguments or be petty
- Community moderator powers in #lizardirc are granted and revoked solely at Network Staff discretion. Misuse will lead to revocation.
- If you feel that a community member is misusing their community moderator powers, please contact Network Staff directly; the easiest way to do this is in the channel #help.
- Community moderators must defer to Network Staff on channel matters unconditionally.
- Bots are not permitted in #lizardirc without the explicit authorization of Network Staff. If you join an unauthorized bot, you will probably be asked to remove the bot by a staffer; failing that, Network Staff reserve the right to ban the bot from the channel.
- Discussions about politics, religion, social issues, and similar highly charged topics are not allowed in #lizardirc. This is because not everyone in #lizardirc wants to take part in such discussions. Please take discussions on these topics or other issues likely to involve significant levels of emotion to the channel #the-quorum[1].
- It is expected that by joining #the-quorum, you do not mind seeing/being exposed to/taking part in discussions and debates about sensitive issues. #the-quorum is moderated by network staff and other trusted volunteers, and it is expected that all users will maintain decorum in the channel. Flaming or being uncivil will result in a ban from #the-quorum, and that is not an excuse to bring the discussion into #lizardirc!
- ↑ Yes, this is a Battlestar Galactica reference.
vHosts/Cloaks[edit | edit source]
A vHost, or cloak, is a piece of text that is shown in your /whois
information to other users instead of your IP address, effectively hiding your IP.
You can - after registering your nickname - get a "standard" cloak by doing /msg HostServ TAKE lizardirc/user/$account
(For help registering your nickname, do /msg NickServ HELP REGISTER
)
You can also request a custom vHost. Here are the guidelines on vHosts you can request:
- Standard vHosts are of the freenode-style, for example,
project/username
,project/position/username
,project/otherproject.position.username
, etc. "project" can be any website you affiliate with, for example Wikipedia, reddit, GitHub, even your own! - Hostnames (e.g., site.com, server.website.org, etc.) may be requested as vHosts as long as:
- The hostname is a valid and registered domain name with one or more valid A, AAAA, or CNAME records.
- Note that "valid CNAME record" is defined as a CNAME record (or chain of CNAME records) that points to a domain name with one or more A or AAAA records.
- You own or control the hostname/domain in question.
- There is some extenuating circumstance that prevents you from simply connecting to LizardIRC from an IP address with a reverse DNS pointer to the hostname you want set as your vHost.
- Network staff will contact you to verify your request in this case. Note also that, to prevent spoofing and to make it clear that you have a vHost, the domain name will have a "." added to the end (e.g., "site.example.com.").
- The hostname is a valid and registered domain name with one or more valid A, AAAA, or CNAME records.
- vHosts that are IP addresses are not allowed.
- vHosts in other formats, styles, or representations are not allowed.
Note that vHosts cannot contain non-ASCII characters, due to technical restrictions in InspIRCd.
For help requesting a vHost, do /msg HostServ HELP REQUEST
. You will be notified with the results of your request by a MemoServ memo when you IDENTIFY to NickServ.
Cloaking Procedure[edit | edit source]
Note that the below applies to "standard" type cloaks (e.g., project/username
, project/position/username
, or project/otherproject.position.username
). Hostname-type cloaks are handled differently - see item 2 in the above section.
- Users may only request cloaks for themselves or registered bot accounts for bots they own. Cloak requests for oneself should ideally be made through HostServ using
/msg HostServ REQUEST
, but can also be made by asking staff directly or in the channel #help. Cloak requests for registered bot accounts can be made by asking staff directly or in the channel #help, or by using HelpServ (see/msg HelpServ HELP REQUEST
). - Users may request that their cloak be changed at any time.
- For popular/common websites/services/projects (for example, Wikipedia or GitHub), staff may set the cloak immediately or ask to verify your identity.
- For smaller websites/services/projects, the owner or an authorized representative should register a GroupServ group in the project's name (e.g.,
!ourProject
; see/msg GroupServ HELP
). The group name (or a derivative thereof) will then be considered valid by network staff for use in a cloak.- Anyone with permission flags
+F
and+m
in the group will be considered an "authorized group contact" - Though authorized group contacts still may not request cloaks on behalf of other users (aside from bots they own), when a user requests a group cloak, the authorized group contacts will be asked by network staff to confirm the request before it is granted. Change requests to a group cloak will also be verified with authorized group contacts, unless the new requested cloak isn't a group cloak or the requested change doesn't affect the group portion of the cloak (for example, for the cloak
ourProject/position/otherproject.position.username
, only the bolded portion is considered the group portion for the group!ourProject
). - Finally, note that authorized group contacts may request that network staff add or remove a cloak to the group's offer list. These cloaks can be taken by any member of the group with the
+v
permission flag at any time, without the intervention of the group contacts or network staff. By default, a group's cloak offer list is empty.
- Anyone with permission flags