This is a bogus charter from some of the net trash in Florida attempting
to dominate and control public Florida newsgroups.  Notice the path and
the similarity to the illegal cancels also published on this web site,
http://www.prime.org/cwatch.htm

"Retromoderation" is a farce used by hackers when they try to hijack
public newsgroups to "rule" according to their whim and fancy.

From fl-region-admin@megalith.miami.fl.us Wed Jan 08 01:19:02 1997
Path: news-s01.ny.us.ibm.net!news-m01.ny.us.ibm.net!newsfeed.uk.ibm.net!
arclight.uoregon.edu!feed1.news.erols.com!howland.erols.net!
news.sprintlink.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!uunet!in2.uu.net!
uucp5.uu.net!megalith.miami.fl.us!fl-region-admin
Newsgroups: fl.config,fl.general
Subject: Florida Charter - Guidelines to Follow When Posting in Florida
Distribution: fl
Summary: Florida Charter - Posting Guidelines
Keywords: FAQ, guidelines, rules
Reply-To: fl-region-admin@megalith.miami.fl.us
X-NewsSoftware: AutoPostnews Amiga UUCP 1.17
From: fl-region-admin@megalith.miami.fl.us (Florida Regional Newsmasters)
Message-ID: <fl-region-admin.go97@megalith.miami.fl.us>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 97 01:19:02 -0500 (EST)
Organization: Megalith Mail/News Server - Miami, FL USA
Lines: 212
Xref: news-s01.ny.us.ibm.net fl.config:143 fl.general:5053

     The purpose for this document is to guide those folks which wish to
post to any of the fl.groups in proper fashion.  This document will be
posted to fl.config on the 8th & 23rd of every month barring any natuaral
disasters.  The Florida groups are retromoderated and as such the items
outlined below are not suggestions and meant to be followed in the
strictest terms.  Failure to follow the outlined guidelines may awaken any
of the Florida CancelBots currently in operation within the State of
Florida to which your articles gets to first.  If you have any questions
regarding this document or suggestions please contact us at
fl-region-admin@megalith.miami.fl.us and one or many Newsmasters who
monitor this address will assist you.

     Enforcement is unbending with the following six points:

A) ECP, EMP or ECRP violation.  This "Spam" is not welcome in fl.* groups.
     ECP  - Excessive Newgroup CrossPosting.  Current limit is 25 newsgroups.
            Posting to 25 or more newsgroups is not tolerated.
     EMP  - Excessive Newsgroup MultiPostings.  Current limit is 3
            Newsgroups.  Posting more than 3 of the same article within a 5
            day window, especially in Florida, is not tolerated.
     ECRP - Excessive CrossRegional Newsgroup Postings.  Current limit is 3
            newgroups but allow for 7 newsgroups in fl.jobs.  Posting in
            excess to the above listed limits to other regional newsgroup
            resources is not tolerated here.  If you have to post to that
            many regionals, your item is better suited for an appropriate
            Big 8 or ALT group.

B) Posting of non-Florida item.  Articles posted here should be
   relevant to Florida, not other regions.

C) Post or crosspost to fl.jobs for a job not in Florida.  The fl.jobs
   group is for positions within Florida.  A "Job" means a position
   where the person is issued a W-2 or IRS 1099 form.  This definition
   specifically excludes Multi-level marketing (MLM) and 
   Make-Money-Fast (MMF) schemes.  Job postings for positions outside
   the state of Florida belong in misc.jobs, us.jobs, or another hierarchy.
   Use fl.jobs for Regional job postings only.  Posting a job ad in any
   other Florida group is not tolerated.

D) Placing a commercial post to a Florida Newsgroup.  Commercial
   posts are forbidden unless posted in a fl.biz group and offered
   by a Florida business offering a local service otherwise use the proper
   biz.* groups,

E) Binary Postings or Attachments are not permitted in the Florida groups.
   This is especially a problem in the fl.jobs group.  Posting any binary
   will be automatically removed by the first bot which sees it.

F) WWW (World Wide Web) announcements are not tolerated in the Florida
   groups unless specifically providing a Regional Non-Commercial service
   to Florida residents.  Anything other than that will be removed.

NOTE:  Due to the nature of network news your article, if it was
crossposted to other groups, may unavoidably be removed from all listed
groups if a cancelation notice is issued.

     To avoid cancellation of your articles in the fl.* hierarchy, please
refrain from violating any of the guidelines provided within this document.
Repeated violations will result in automatic cancellation by means of a
"cancelbot" for all articles posted by you, or from your site.  This is
known as UDP in Florida and is enacted only for non-compliance.

General Guidelines for Posting to the fl.* hierarchy:

     The Florida newsgroups were originally intended only for distribution
within Florida.  However, due to the peculiarities of Usenet distribution
through the Internet, the Florida regional hierarchy is distributed through
various backbone sites in North America and eventually get back to various
local hosts.  The fact that these newsgroups appear on computer systems
beyond Florida is not an invitation for users everywhere to post in fl.*

Current Florida Groups are:

fl.announce         Important announcements for everyone in Florida.
fl.attractions      Florida attractions and entertainment.
fl.biz              Florida commercial marketplace.
fl.config           fl.* (Florida) configuration and policy discussion.
fl.forsale          Items for sale in Florida.
fl.general          General topics in Florida.
fl.jobs             The Florida job market.
fl.politics         Politics in Florida.
fl.test             Testing workspace in Florida.
fl.travel           Travel within Florida.
fl.uug              UNIX user groups within Florida.
fl.yumyum           Reviews and advice on restaurants in Florida.

     Below are some clarifications on some of the Florida Newsgroups:

fl.forsale:

     The fl.forsale group is designed for personal "for sale" and "wanted"
postings for this region.  Postings are restricted to the private sale of
new and used equipment by and for Florida residents.  In other words, if
you live in Alaska, don't post a forsale or wanted item here.  The major
criteria for a posting in the group is that it should not be too
inconvenient for the average Florida resident to perform all parts of the
transaction within our region, that it be legal, and that it conform to the
other informal rules of postings on the 'Net.

fl.forsale specifically does *not* permit: 
     Commercial advertising, 
     Postings by dealers selling or soliciting equipment
     Real estate postings by realtors
          and
     Postings by amateurs regularly dealing in used items principally or
          incidentally for purposes of financial gain.

     fl.forsale is a forum where Floridians sell, trade or request items in
connection with their individual needs.  Postings which receive no replies
should *NOT* be reposted for at least one week (7 Days) after the initial
posting and should not be repeatedly reposted without material change.
Replies (other than factual corrections) should be sent *only* by email and
*never* posted in fl.forsale.  Advertisers should include a telephone
number if possible in case there are problems with email connections (and
email problems are not unusal!).

fl.biz:

     This group allows for vendors to post commercial ads in the Florida
region.  Reposting of the same or substantially similar article within 21
days is not tolerated.  A reposting of the same article in less than 21
days *is* permitted provided the poster cancels the original article, or an
Expires:  header acted on the original article, or the poster uses a
Supercedes:  header to supercede the original posting.  A maximum 25K per
article is allowed, but anything greater will be canceled.  Articles posted
to fl.biz can not be crossposted to any of the fl.* or other regionals
newsgroups.  Should that be done, auto cancelation from the FloridaBot will
insue.  Posting to any of the Big 8 Usenet groups is fine so long as it is
kept below 25 crossposted newsgroups.  Anything greater is ECP and will
face autocancel.  Any type of binary to the group will be removed as is
currently the case in all of the fl.* groups.  All articles posted to
fl.biz must be placed by residents of the State of Florida.  The fl.biz
newsgroup should only serve the Net community of the State of Florida, more
specifically commercial venders within this region.  The fl.biz newsgroup
is intended for postings of a commercial ads not allowed within fl.forsale.
The major criteria for a posting in the group is that it should not be too
inconvenient for the average Florida resident to perform all parts of the
transaction within our region, that it be legal, and that it conform to the
other informal rules of postings on the 'Net.  Out of State Mail-order
sales are not considered local.  Spams (multiple postings to multiple
groups) are not considered legitimate and neither are MLM or MMF schemes.

fl.jobs

     This group is intended for the posting of jobs available within the
State of Florida not other regions.  The job posted in fl.jobs must be for
positions within Florida by Businesses located within Florida State.  A
"Job" means a position where the person is issued a W-2 or IRS 1099 form.
This definition specifically excludes Multi-level marketing (MLM) and
Make-Money-Fast (MMF) schemes.  Jobs for positions outside the state of
Florida or Positions which encompass a wide range of regions, such as
National Job offers, belong in misc.jobs, us.jobs, or other apropriate
hierarchy.  Use fl.jobs for Regional job postings only.  Posting a job ad
in any other Florida group is not tolerated and will be removed.  Do not
post a Job ad here because you think someone from Florida might be
interested in a Job located in New Mexico.

fl.travel

     This group is for the discussion of travel topics within the State of
Florida.  This is not the place to advertise realestate either commercially
or personally.  Such items will be removed.  If you are a Florida resident,
you should use the appropriate fl.forsale or fl.biz group.  World Wide Web
link announcements will also be removed.

In closing:

     Please try to understand a fundamental concept about Usenet that may
have escaped your attention.  If you place an add in a newspaper, you pay
the advertising bill.  If you place an add on Usenet, the Usenet reader
along with thousands of Florida news servers pay to transport, store,
forward and see your article.  This is a distinction with a real difference
that costs real people time and money.

     Regional newsgroups such as those in the fl.* hierarchy are for
non-commercial use by and for the people who live in that region.
Commercial use of this resource outside of fl.biz is not only
inappropriate, it is rude.  Likewise, posting to regions other than those
local to the poster is simply not appropriate.

     Before you start flaming me, let me explain some facts.  I am only one
of the news administrators responsible for Usenet in this part of the world
and one of the contacts responsible for the Florida regional hierarchy.  It
is the consensus of our Usenet community that our regional newsgroups are
to be exactly that, regional, and that these types of postings are simply
not tolerated.

     If you do not understand what I am talking about, excellent
explanatory material may be found in the regularly posted articles in the
Usenet group news.announce.newusers.  If you have questions about how not
to spam, "where it is written that I shouldn't spam", Usenet netiquette or
similar things, please consult the newsgroup news.announce.newusers and the
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) archive for the
following FAQs:

    - "What is Usenet", by Salzenburg, Spafford and Moraes.  (FAQ archive:
      usenet/what-is/part1)

    - "What is Usenet?  A second opinion.", by Vielmetti.  (FAQ archive
      name: usenet/what-is/part2)

    - "DRAFT FAQ: Advertising on Usenet: How To Do It, How Not To Do It"
      by Furr.  (FAQ archive name: usenet/advertising/part1)

    - "A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community", by Von Rospach,
      Spafford, et. al.  (FAQ archive name: usenet/primer/part1)

    - "Rules for posting to Usenet", by Horton, Spafford & Moraes.
      (FAQ archive name: usenet/posting-rules/part1)

    - "Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette", by Templeton
      et. al.  (FAQ archive name: usenet/emily-postnews/part1)