In Brief

• Each Mailtalk list must have at least one group owner
• Mailtalk does not allow spam, junk mail, chain letters or other unsolicited bulk email, commercial or otherwise, on any group
• The posting of unsolicited commercial or advertising material is not allowed
• Messages sent to Mailtalk lists should be courteous and appropriate, and should not disrupt the flow of discussion on a group
• Copyright of messages sent to a Mailtalk list are retained by the original sender
• Messages sent to a Mailtalk list will normally be archived on the group's homepage
• Due to the nature of the internet, the security of messages sent to Mailtalk cannot be guaranteed
• The Science and Technology Facilities Council provides the Mailtalk service and is registered for compliance under the Data Protection Act 1998 as data processor
• You will not attempt to mislead others as to your identity, either by providing false information when subscribing to, or posting to a Mailtalk group, or by forging the headers and addresses in an email message
• Membership of a Mailtalk group must be voluntary, and neither the group owner nor any other person may subscribe a person to a group without that person's consent
• We reserve the right to remove offensive messages from our archives immediately

Contents

1. About the Acceptable Use Policy
2. Role of List Owners
3. No Spam or Bulk Email
4. Posting Promotional Messages
5. Content of Messages Posted
6. Copyright of Messages Posted
7. Message Archives
8. Security of Email Messages
9. Mailtalk Users and Data Protection
10. Mailtalk and the Freedom of Information Act 2000
11. False or Fraudulent Information
12. Voluntary Membership
13. Harvesting of Addresses
14. Violation of our Policy
15. Liability
16. Amendments
17. How to contact Mailtalk

1. About the Acceptable Use Policy

Mailtalk is committed to supporting our users and promoting communication, collaboration and the free-flowing exchange of ideas. This is the Acceptable Use Policy for the Mailtalk service. By sending a message to any Mailtalk list you are accepting these conditions, so please read them carefully.

Mailtalk is subject to the JANET Acceptable Use Policy (http://www.ja.net/services/publications/policy/aup.html), and to UK laws.

2. Role of Group Owners

Each Mailtalk group is managed by one or more individuals who are known as 'group owners'.

Group owners may decide on the focus or subject of their lists and they may direct discussion. They may also make decisions on membership, list configuration and on appropriate postings for their Group. Group owners are expected to manage their lists fairly and for the benefit of the majority of list members - consulting with the group members or with the Mailtalk Helpline if necessary. group Owners will receive announcements from the service provider on behalf of the group membership, via the OWNERS-ANNOUNCE group, which is maintained dynamically from the group of all owners.

We appreciate the time and effort which group owners devote to managing their groups, and will provide all possible support, help and backup.

You may contact individual group owners by sending a message to:

groupname-request@Mailtalk.ac.uk

where groupname is the name of the group.

3. No Spam or Bulk Email

Mailtalk does not allow spam, junk mail, chain letters or other unsolicited bulk email, commercial or otherwise, on any group. We take the following measures to prevent this abuse of our service.

Mailtalk Anti-spam Measures :

• Anyone who joins a Mailtalk group must confirm their subscription. This means that the senders of junk mail cannot join a group using a forged address.
• Group owners can configure their groups so that messages from non-members are rejected.
• Mailtalk's LISTSERV® software employs various means of blocking much of the junk email (spam) which is posted to groups.
• Despite our best efforts, some abuse of the Mailtalk service will occur. If junk email is sent to a list please contact your group owner, who may then notify the Mailtalk Helpline.

4. Posting Promotional Messages

The posting of unsolicited commercial or advertising material is against the JANET Acceptable Use Policy (http://www.ja.net/services/publications/policy/aup.html), which applies to the use of Mailtalk.

However, publicising items of potential interest to group members, such as new releases of software packages, publications, training courses, websites, job vacancies, conferences etc can be to the benefit of the list members, and this is permitted provided the following conditions are met:

• The sender of a promotional message must seek permission from the group owner before posting, unless the group owner or group guidelines have already stated that this type of posting is acceptable.
• Promotional messages should only be sent if they are related to the subject or purpose of that list.
• Promotional messages must be sent from a clearly identified and contactable source.
• Such messages must not be part of a commercial exchange - group owners may NOT charge for the posting of such messages, nor will Mailtalk forward messages for a fee.
• Group owners may grant comprehensive permission for certain types of posting (such as job announcements), or to certain organisations. Group owners can always consult the Mailtalk Helpline if they would like advice or support in this matter.

5. Content of Messages Posted

Sending messages to Mailtalk groups is generally a matter of common sense and courtesy. As a Mailtalk user you should be able to use your own sense of what is appropriate to guide your conduct, without engaging in unreasonable behaviour, or disrupting the general flow of discussion on a group.

Practical guidelines are available which should help you use groups in a way which will most benefit yourself and the other people on the group. (See Guidelines on Etiquette)

Group owners may also provide their own guidelines on acceptable use and group etiquette and we would expect group members to abide by these.

Users are reminded that the use of Mailtalk is subject to the JANET Acceptable Use Policy (http://www.ja.net/services/publications/policy/aup.html"), and to UK laws. So messages sent to groups may not contain information that breaks any law, such as (but not restricted to) those regarding copyright or defamation.

Mailtalk cannot assume any responsibility for the content of messages sent to our discussion groups, as the messages are sent by individual users, and we do not review, screen or edit the content.

Please note that during periods of purdah such as a General election or similar, Mailtalk is under obligation to ensure that its resources are not used for political purposes, and it must not undertake any activity which could call into question its impartiality. Therefore Mailtalk groups should not engage in debate that would be construed as such (e.g. party political gain), nor should they engage in off topic debate which detracts from the normal business of their group.

You accept that you are solely responsible for the content of any email message you send to any Mailtalk group.

6. Copyright of Messages Posted

When you send a message to a Mailtalk group, you retain your copyright in that message. You also retain your moral right to be identified as the author of the work, and your moral right against derogatory treatment.

The extent to which your message is made available across the internet will depend on the level of access that has been decided by the group owner.

You give Mailtalk permission to reproduce, deliver, distribute and archive your message as appropriate, and you agree that other Mailtalk users may read, save, download or print your message.

More information about copyright is available at http://www.Mailtalk.ac.uk/help/policy/copyright.html

7. Message Archives

Messages sent to a Mailtalk group will normally be archived, and these archives can then be retrieved by any member of that same group. These archives may also (at the discretion of the group owner) be made publicly available on the web, and thus be available to anyone.

When using Mailtalk, you accept that any message you post to a Mailtalk group may be archived in this manner, and that other users of the service may download and print these messages for their own use.

Archives or collections of the messages sent to a Mailtalk group may not be made publicly available at another site unless the group owner has granted explicit permission, and the group members have been informed.

8. Security of Email Messages

Due to the nature of the internet, the security of messages to Mailtalk cannot be guaranteed, and you should bear this in mind when posting confidential information to a group - this is true even when access to the group is restricted.

9. Mailtalk Users and Data Protection

The Science and Technology Facilities Council provides the Mailtalk service and is registered for compliance under the Data Protection Act 1998. STFC's registration can be found on the information commissioners website (http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/) as number Z5545994 in the Public register of Data Controllers. When you subscribe to a MAILTALK group you supply us with your name and email address, and this information can be retrieved by any member of that same group.

When you subscribe to a Mailtalk group you supply us with your name and email address, and this information can normally be retrieved by any member of that same group.

When you leave Mailtalk, your name, email address will be removed from our database. However, any message you have posted to a group will remain in the archives.

Personal information, which may be stored manually and/or electronically, will only be used in connection with the Mailtalk service. Mailtalk will never sell email addresses, or any other personal information, to another organisation.

You agree that Mailtalk may disclose any information held if we believe that this is necessary to operate our systems, to run the service, to comply with the law, or to protect the service or others.

10. Mailtalk and the Freedom of Information Act 2000

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 establishes a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, sets out exemptions from that right and places a number of obligations on public authorities. The Act applies to all public authorities, including Government Departments. Full access rights under the Freedom of Information Act came into force on 1 January 2005.

The Mailtalk service is currently operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and the Mailtalk and Mailtalk services are included in the Science and Technology Facilities Council Publication Scheme at http://www.stfc.ac.uk/About/Pol/FOI/PubScheme.aspx

For more information please see: http://www.Mailtalk.ac.uk/help/policy/foi.html

11. False or Fraudulent Information

You will not attempt to mislead others as to your identity, either by providing false information when subscribing to, or posting to, a Mailtalk group, or by forging the headers and addresses in an email message.

12. Voluntary Membership

Membership of a Mailtalk group must be voluntary - neither the group owner or any other person may subscribe a person to a group without that person's consent.

13. Harvesting Addresses

No one shall use the Mailtalk service to collect information about others (including their email addresses) without their consent.

14. Violation of our Policy

Mailtalk users may contact us about any breach of our acceptable use policy, and we will take any of the following actions if it is thought appropriate:

• Contact the person responsible to discuss the problem
• Contact their group owner
• Remove them from group membership
• Contact their hosting site, institution, or service provider
• Restrict email from certain sites or addresses
• Remove inappropriate messages from the Mailtalk archives
• Make a public announcement to those affected
• Group owners are also entitled to take action against any group member who engages in unreasonable behaviour.

The decision on what action is appropriate will be made by the Mailtalk team on a case by case basis. The action taken will often depend on whether the infraction was innocent, inadvertent or intentional.

If we receive any complaint about a message sent to a Mailtalk group, we reserve the right to remove the allegedly offensive message from our archives immediately and without consulting the originator of this message.

15. Liability

Mailtalk is not liable for the conduct of any Mailtalk user, or for the conduct of any party other than Mailtalk itself.

16. Amendments

Mailtalk reserves the right to amend the Acceptable Use Policy at any time without notice. If the policy is amended then all group owners will be informed and they may distribute the information to group members.

17. How to contact Mailtalk

If you have any questions or comments please contact us: helpline@mailtalk.ac.uk and we will do our best to resolve any problems or issues raised.