CHARTER: comp.lang.asm.x86

The newly moderated newsgroup comp.lang.asm.x86 will be open to
discussions on all topics related to assembly language and low-level
programming on any machine using an x86 processor or its clones.
Appropriate topics would include, but not be limited to,:

 Assembly language code tips, tricks, and techniques.
 MASM, TASM, and other commercial assemblers
 NASM, and other non-commercial assemblers
 Graphics, sound, and other hardware programming
 Assembly language related utilities commercial/share/free-ware
 Linking assembly language with other languages
 Inline x86 programming utilizing assembly emulators in higher
  level languages
 Propagation of non-commercial Internet x86 resources
 Any question/discussion of the direct programming of the x86
 Etc...

Topics that will be filtered are:

 Flames about "{Language X} is {better/worse} than ASM"
 Flames like "{Assembler 1} is {better/worse} than {Assembler 2}"
 Flames, personal attacks, insults, etc. HLL code, except when used
 for low-level hardware programming. Product comparisons except when
 presented in an unbiased fashion. Advertisements unrelated to
 assembly programming or utilities. Posts in languages other than
 English will be examined for approval
   if any of the moderators can read the language in question. There
   is no guarantee of approval for a post in any language other than
   English.

The newsgroup will be moderated by a Moderation Board, consisting of a
Head Moderator and a pool of Backup Moderators.  The moderation
process will be overseen by the Head Moderator, who may employ
assistants from the pool of Backup Moderators as the need arises. Only
members of the Moderation Board have the power authority to judge
posts.

The current moderation procedures and policies will be described in an
Administrative Statement, that will be maintained by the Head
Moderator, with any changes subject to veto by the Board. The
Statement will be posted to the group whenever it changes, and at
least once per month. It will be available at all times at an address
posted regularly in the group.

All posts to the group may be processed through moderation software
which will take one of the following actions on each article:

   1.  Reject it outright if it meets certain criteria;

   2.  Forward it to a Board member if it meets certain other
       criteria;  or

   3.  Post it immediately.

The criteria being used by either the moderation software or human
moderators will be described in the Administrative Statement. They
will not refer to the source of the articles except that the Head
Moderator may place certain individuals or sites which that repeatedly
try to post off-topic material on a "watch list," which will cause
their articles to be forwarded to a human moderator for review. The
Head Moderator may also declare certain off-topic discussion threads
to be "closed," so that no more articles in that thread will be
accepted.

Rejected articles will, if possible, be returned to the sender along
with a letter of explanation. Rejected articles may be appealed to an
address specified in the Administrative Statement and or in any letter
notice of rejection. If an article was rejected by a human moderator,
the appeal will be judged by a different moderator. In the event of
abuse of the appeals process, the Moderation Board will decide what
action will be taken to deal with the abuse.

An article will normally be subject to rejection only at the time it
is submitted. Canceling of articles after they have been posted
("retromoderation") will not be used for general content control.
Cancellations will be permitted only under the following special
circumstances:

  1.  When performed or requested by the original poster or by his or
      her Internet Service Provider;

  2.  When performed by the Head Moderator, to cancel articles with
      forged approvals; or

  3.  When performed by reputable third-party cancelers (as
      determined by the Head Moderator), to cancel articles that are
      widely considered to be undesirable in most of Usenet, e.g.,
      binaries and excessively multi-posted articles ("spam").

  4.  When performed by the Head Moderator, to cancel articles that
      were approved inadvertently, i.e., (to correct "mistakes").

In addition to rejecting inappropriate articles, the moderators may
take measures to discourage users from submitting such articles in the
first place, including:

  1.  Appending short "footers" to all posted articles, informing
      newcomers of the purpose of the newsgroup and providing
      references to more detailed information about the newsgroup, the
      Usenet community, and the Internet in general; and

  2.  E-mailing "welcome"  messages to all first-time posters,
      containing similar information as in (1).

Other than appending a footer or adding headers, the moderators will
not modify the content of a posted article.

The Head Moderator will submit a report to the Moderation Board each
month, providing statistics on the functioning of the group, a summary
of the articles appealed, and a list of any changes to the
Administrative Statement or the moderation software. The Board may
instruct the Head Moderator to eliminate any automatic rejection or
forwarding criterion from the moderation software.

The Board may elect a new Head Moderator if the position becomes
vacant; the Head Moderator or the Board may appoint a Backup
Moderator to fill in for the Head Moderator during short periods of
absence.

The Board also has the power to remove a Head Moderator.  It may
remove a Head Moderator who has been in office for less than six
weeks through a simple majority vote of all members.  A Moderator who
has been in office for more than six weeks may only be removed by a
2/3 majority vote of those who have been on the Board for at least six
weeks.

The Board controls its own membership. It may admit new members with a
simple majority vote, or remove members who have served for less than
six weeks with a simple majority vote. Members who have served longer
than six weeks may only be removed by a 2/3 vote of those who have
been on the Board for at least six weeks. The Board will make a
good-faith effort to maintain a membership of at least three persons.

The working charter for the group may be modified by a 2/3 vote of
those who have been members of the Moderation Board for at least six
weeks.  A copy of the current charter will be available at a location
given in the Administrative Statement.