According to the legend, #USA was founded eons ago by the ancient gods, even before the creation of IRC. It was the local channel for many great species, who would frequently join to have fun and kill time.
And then there was the "Great War." Nobody knew who started it, but everyone was caught in it. On the final day of the war, everyone was killed and the channel was lost in time and space.
For centuries the channel was abandoned in darkness and cold, until one day centuries later a traveler by the name of SirJump stumbled upon the deserted channel. He saw the potential in it,
so he claimed it, a channel for all human kind. He nourished it and took the best care he could until it became the most popular and active channel on Undernet.
Our channel has some rules to keep the peace. Knowing them, makes life easier for everyone. Please read them.
| # | Rule | |
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| 1 | While chatting in #USA, you may only use the English language. Feel free to use other languages in privmsg. | |
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Clarification: We want everyone to be able to understand what is being said in the channel. Since most of our users speak english, it is only fitting that we make english the official channel language. When other languages are used in the channel, it can create confusion with the users who do not speak that language. Additionally, other languages are frequently used for abuse by users who wish to curse in the channel, or start problems with other users.
Bottom Line: Don't use languages other than english in #USA. |
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| 2 | We have users of all ages. Use restraint regarding "adult" subjects and assume that minors may be reading what you type. Excessively sexual behavior, nicks, idents, hosts and usernames will not be tolerated. | |
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Clarification: We have a userbase of many different ages, faiths, and genders. Some of our users are under the age of 18. So, in order to ensure that no one is exposed to inappropriate content, we forbid usage of excessively sexual topics, behaviors, nicks, idents, hostnames, and usernames. If you have doubts about a topic you'd like to discuss, contact an op first. This is one of the few rules we won't make any exceptions for. If you break this rule, we will ban you.
Bottom Line: If you're acting inappropriately, we will ban you. Especially if there are minors around. No exceptions. |
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| 3a | Do not: Troll, including provocative references to politics or religion, insulting remarks about gender, race, ethnicity, nationality or sexual orientation, or any other conduct intended to annoy or disrupt the channel and its users. | |
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Clarification: This means if you're annoying or insulting any of our users, if you're discussing topics that will offend users based on opinions (like politics or religion), or if you're doing anything to disrupt the channel, you will face the consequences for your actions.
Bottom Line: Don't troll people. Don't talk about politics or religion in the channel. Be nice. |
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| 3b | Do not: Flood, including join/part floods, text floods, notice floods, repeated text, etc. | |
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Clarification: This rule is rather simple. Flooding is annoying. It annoys the ops. It annoys the users. It annoys EVERYONE.
Bottom Line: Don't be annoying. Don't flood. |
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| 3c | Do not: Co-channel with blacklisted channels, including sexually oriented channels, channels promoting repugnant activities, or channels known to harbor flooders and spammers. | |
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Clarification: There are many channels on Undernet. While most of them are good channels, there are a few on the Undernet that are undesirable. Channels who center around adult activities, like sex; or illegal activities, like hacking; are not tolerated in #USA.
Bottom Line: Stay out of the bad channels. |
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| 3d | Do not: Use foul or obscene language. | |
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Clarification: Don't curse. Don't talk about disgusting or nasty things.
Bottom Line: Do we really need to re-clarify this? Just don't do it! |
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| 3e | Do not: Harass or insult other users. | |
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Clarification: #USA is meant to be a fun place to chat. We've got many users from all over the world, and let's face it. Sometimes, we might not agree with the views and opinions of another user. But that does not give anyone the right to harass, insult, or otherwise put down any other user in the channel.
Bottom Line: Be nice with everyone. If you have a problem with someone, talk to an op. Do not take matters into your own hands. |
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| 3f | Do not: Fight with or flame other users. | |
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Clarification: We explained this in Rule 3f. Just in case, we'll cover the bottom like again.
Bottom Line: Be nice with everyone. If you have a problem with someone, talk to an op. Do not take matters into your own hands. |
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| 3g | Do not: Spam, including posting URLs, channel ads/invites or promotions/solicitations. Operators and voiced users may post occasional URLs. Regardless of user status, excessive or inappropriate postings will not be tolerated.
DJs: Please refer to our DJ Policy |
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Clarification: Remember when we said we're not big on flooding? We forgot to mention. We're not big on spam either. No one likes spam. Spam is nasty. No one wants a like to "view your webcam" or an invite to join your bot-filled channel. We don't want your mixtape either.
Bottom Line: Don't advertise in our channel without permission. Don't spam us with your invites and links. And above all else, don't ask us to demo your mixtape. ;) |
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| 3h | Do not: SHOUT (typing in all CAPS) | |
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Clarification: WE CAN HEAR YOU! There's no need to shout. Use proper netiquette.
Bottom Line: This rule is pretty clear. Don't type in all caps in the channel. You will get kicked for that. |
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| 3i | Do not: Use bold text, colors, underlines or other control-codes. | |
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Clarification: Colors are often distruptive to the channel, and sometimes make it difficult to read things. Also, not all IRC clients use the same colors. Using other text enhancements, such as bold, italics, and underline have also been abused in the past. We also do not allow use of emojis. (That means you, smartphone users!). Emojis and other control codes don't appear properly on all IRC clients. So while your text decorations and emojis may look nice to you, they might look weird or be formatted improperly to other users.
Bottom Line: Avoid the headaches it causes, keep use of these to a minimum please. |
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| 3j | Do not: Badger users with lame requests like "asl", "msg me", "any girls", "cam to cam", etc. | |
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Clarification: Users don't like being bugged for this stuff. Now, in the spirit of making friends, you are allowed to introduce yourself to the channel, but please don't demand information from users. If they want to tell you about themselves, they'll do so. Also, more annoying requests like "any girls" or "cam to cam" may result in you being kicked out from the channel. The girls don't want to cam with you.
Bottom Line: Be friendly, not annoying. If you're friendly to people, you'll find that people will voluntarily answer these requests, without you having to ask. |
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| 3k | Do not: Post automated "now playing" playlist messages or repeated away messages. | |
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Clarification: The automated "now playing" messages only spams the channel. We just because we can see what you're listening to, it does not mean we can hear what you're listening to. Repeated away messages are even more annoying. If you're going away, just say brb or bbl or something to that effect. We don't need to see the exact time you've left.
Bottom Line: Try to avoid the now playing messages, unless you're an authorized DJ. Turn off your away message script in #USA or exclude it from running in #USA. We want to chat with you, not your scripts. |
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| 3l | Do not: Park bots/clones/drones in the channel without prior permission from the Senior Administrators. | |
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Clarification: Would you want a robot randomly going through your office at work? Would you like to see a clone of yourself withdrawing money from your account at the bank? How would you feel if someone flew a drone over your home? We don't want to see your bots/clone/drones unless you get permission from the Senior Channel Administrators. We can understand if you forgot to sign out your main nick and went to work, or if you've become ghosted, but please, try to limit yourself to one nick in the channel at a time.
Bottom Line: We don't want to start a bot war. Cloning is illegal. Drones annoy us. |
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| 4 | If you use a script, you are responsible for knowing what your script does and how to turn off features that violate any of our rules, including automated /quit and /part messages. Users of problem scripts may be banned or face other consequences entirely. | |
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Clarification: Scripts are a GREAT source of fun on IRC. They can spice up even the most boring and dry channels. There's a downside to scripts though, and that is, they can be just as bad, as they are good. If you're using a script, please make sure it doesn't disrupt the channel.
Bottom Line: That means, no public commands are allowed in your scripts. If you have doubts, contact an op, and we will help you determine if your script is okay for the channel. |
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| 5 | Ban evasion will result in time being added to the existing ban and could lead to a permanent ban. | |
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Clarification: Really? Could we not be any more clear with this one? If you evade the ban, you'll get a longer ban. If you keep doing it, it could lead to a permanent ban. In extreme cases, we may even take the drastic move of banning your entire ISP.
Bottom Line: Don't evade our bans. We banned you because you couldn't follow the rules. If you've truly changed and want to chat in the channel again, you'll wait for your ban to expire, and then become a productive member of the channel. |
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| 6 | Report abuse or spam received in private message to an Operator, but be aware that Operators generally can't police private messages—use /ignore to block unwanted chats (ask an Operator for assistance with this command if needed). | |
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Clarification: We try to make #USA a family-friendly, fun filled, relaxing place to chat. However, there are still sometimes issues that arise. Should a user message you with spam or engage in abusive behavior, you should notify an opertor about it, and then ignore the user's nick and/or host.
Bottom Line: We can't really do much for things that do not happen inside of #USA. If it's in a privmsg, your best option is to /ignore BadPersonsNick |
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| 7 | Follow the directions of Channel Operators without argument or whining. | |
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Clarification: Ah yes. This rule. Let's clarify it. If an op tells you to stop talking about a certain topic, you are expected to stop. If an op tells you to ignore a user, you are expected to ignore them. And if an op tells you to behave better, you're expected to behave better. #USA is a fun channel to chat in, and it's also one of the oldest channels on Undernet. However, chatting here is a privilege, not a right. The Channel Operators are allowed to revoke your privilege to chat in #USA if you decide to act up.
Bottom Line: Listen to the ops. We're friendly, and we aren't out to get you. Our job is just to keep things running smoothly. We're actually very reasonable. |
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| 8 | If you have autovoice, and are found to be voicing other users, your access and autovoice in #usa will be revoked, and you may be banned for your actions. | |
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Clarification: The recent update to X has given voiced users the ability to voice other users. This is explicitly forbidden in #USA. Under no circumstances may any voiced user give voice to any other user, regardless of if they have ops/voice or not.
Bottom Line: If you are found giving voice to anyone, you will immediately and permanently lose your autovoice and access in #USA. |