Thanks, Steve.

JerryW

Actually, even though Alt. isn't in the Big 8 newsgroup heirarchy
(.rec, .org,.com, etc), it falls as a subset of alt. support.cancer
which does have a full charter and rules.

Alt.support.cancer.prostate is a subset of alt.support.cancer, and
falls within that alt.group .  Main charter:
http://www.cancersupporters.com/asc/charter.html

The main charter applies to all subsets.  See subset index of
support.cancer at
http://www.cancersupporters.com/asc/links.html ,
which includes .prostate..

Hope this helps.  By the way, it would be a good idea for a regular to
post this charter here monthly.  It would save a lot of
discussions/arguments, etc.  if trouble ever came here.

Here's what the pertinent parts says.  This is the part that needs to
be posted here periodically:

""Welcome to the official FAQ for newsgroup alt.support.cancer. Please
take the time to read this document, especially if you are new to
alt.support.cancer.

Disclaimer: this FAQ is provided for educational purposes only. It
cannot be used for diagnosing or treating a disease. If you have or
suspect you may have cancer, you should consult your doctor. The
external links in this FAQ are provided for the convenience of
alt.support.cancer visitors. The alt.support.cancer newsgroup has no
interest in, responsibility for, or control over the linked sites and
no responsibility is accepted for information on any linked page,
please read the linked provider's own disclaimer where appropriate.
The alt.support.cancer newsgroup makes no promises or warranties of
any kind, express or implied, including those of merchantability or
fitness for a particular purpose, as to the content of any linked
site. In no event shall the newsgroup alt.support.cancer be liable for
any damages resulting from use of these links.

This FAQ is intended to provide detailed information about
alt.support.cancer to the users so that the alt.support.cancer
newsgroup will be better utilized for the purposes of supporting
cancer patients and caregivers.

This FAQ is written and maintained by the users of alt.support.cancer.
The latest alt.support.cancer FAQ can be found online at
www.cancersupporters.com The FAQ will be periodically posted by a
member of the group to news:alt.support.cancer newsgroup.

Corrections and minor updates are permitted without a vote. The
exception is the Charter, which, cannot be changed without a group
vote. Update procedures for this FAQ can be found at the end of this
section.

The purpose of alt.support.cancer :


The Usenet group alt.support.cancer is a resource for those whose
lives are touched by cancer. The primary purpose of alt.support.cancer
is for emotional support and discussion among patients and caregivers.
It is also a place to gather and discuss issues related to cancer and
the impact it has on patients and caregivers .

Policy:


Appropriate posts are welcome.

Lurkers and newbies are always welcome in alt.support.cancer.

The members of alt.support.cancer must be overly considerate and
protective of the newbie or the casual lurker to this NG, so that
these new members to the cancer club don't get mislead, or feel that
this NG is not living up to our purpose.

Because Usenet is susceptible to net abuses, and because
alt.support.cancer is not moderated the alt.support.cancer members in
good standing deem it necessary to self-regulate the group's content.
Members in good standing follow the guidelines outlined in this FAQ.

Who determines what is appropriate in alt.support.cancer? With few
exceptions, that is up to the individual to decide. You might think a
post is perfectly okay, while someone else could well consider it
ridiculously far off-topic or otherwise inappropriate. If that
happens, consensus of the group reigns. If after reading the group for
a while you are still unsure as to what sort of posts are acceptable
in alt.support.cancer, check out The alt.support.cancer archives on
Google Groups.

The newsgroup will prosecute violations of the Charter or FAQ as
deemed necessary by the group.

What is strictly prohibited on this newsgroup?:

Under no circumstances is it appropriate to contact a member of the
newsgroup at their residence or place of employment without their
prior approval. Read this again. There are no exceptions!

Posing as a medical professional is strictly prohibited. For example,
don't use a doctorate in finance or mineralogy to convey the
impression that you are a medical doctor qualified to recommend
treatments or diagnose disease. This includes the use of "Dr., Doc,
PhD, RN, LPN, med, etc." in your name, e-mail address, or alias. If
you claim one of these titles be prepared to provide degree,
major/minor, university, year it was earned, and years experience. You
must provide substantive information if asked by any member of the
group.

If you have been convicted of health fraud, you are not welcome in
alt.support.cancer.

Posing as a cancer patient/caregiver for promoting products or
services is strictly prohibited.

Commercial advertising is prohibited.

Product posts by individuals with a financial or business interest are
prohibited.

Deceptive posts disguised to conceal other prohibited content are
prohibited.

For sale, sales, links to auction sites i.e. eBay, or selling items
are prohibited.

Donation requests are prohibited.

Soliciting for capital funds is prohibited.

Chain letters, mailing lists, frauds, urban legends, Multi-level
Marketing, Make Money Fast, investment schemes are prohibited.

Posting in HTML or attachments containing binaries or images are
prohibited.

Off-topic materials, advertising, spam, excessive posting of the same
material, cancel attacks, encrypted or coded postings, and
inappropriate cross-postings are prohibited.

Opportunities, business opportunities, job postings, resumes,
announcements, flaming, trolling, baiting, flooding, post bombing,
troublemaking, or other forms of net-abuse or abuse of
alt.support.cancer newsgroup users are prohibited.

Troll posting (cross-postings directed to a.s.c from other newsgroups
with the express purpose of disrupting the a.s.c group), flame baiting
or unwarranted flaming is prohibited.

Fraudulent activity is prohibited.

Deceptive information is prohibited.

Making outrageous or unsupported claims is prohibited.

Slander or other criminal acts are prohibited.

Hipcrime or other inappropriate posts made via malicious scripts or
programs are prohibited.

Test messages are prohibited use alt.test instead and put "ignore" in
the subject.

Legal notices:


The information provided in this FAQ is designed to support-not
replace-the relationship that exists between a patient and their
health care system. Information from this document should be used only
for individual educational purposes. If any of the information in this
FAQ conflicts with professional advice you have received, follow the
professional advice.

This newsgroup is not affiliated with any profit/nonprofit
organization or corporation.

By posting to this group, you acknowledge having read the FAQs
document, and agree to adhere to it. You further agree that failure to
abide is grounds for members of alt.support.cancer to blacklist you
and file formal complaints with your ISP or web host. Members of
alt.support.cancer hereby give notice that any failure to abide by the
FAQs will be prosecuted fully at their discretion. By posting to this
group, you agree to hold alt.support.cancer members harmless for
prosecution of those complaints.

You must abide by your Internet Service Provider's Acceptable Use
Policy to be a member in good standing of alt.support.cancer.
Violation of your ISP's AUP is a violation of our policies and opens
you to prosecution by the group.

Understand that these are other human beings you are communicating
with and that normal legalities and proprieties that are appropriate
in public are applicable in alt.support.cancer.

Criminal activities will not be tolerated.

Usenet/ISP AUP commercial posting violations will be prosecuted, one
occurrence will be considered an offense.

This is an unmoderated newsgroup by definition. Having said that,
there exists a form of user moderation. We cannot control what you
post to the NG, but we can and do hold you accountable for straying
from acceptable behavior as defined in this FAQ. This is not intended
as censorship, but rather, to prevent the NG from turning into a
cesspool. Please help us keep the signal-to-noise ratio down.

Before you post to alt.support.cancer:


Please read the newsgroup before posting. Lurking for at least one
week prior to posting the first time in a new newsgroup is considered
standard acceptable behavior.

Before you post your first message, spam proof your e-mail address by
setting your From: and Reply: e-mail address to nospam@nospam.inv or
adding words or numbers that the sender can be instructed to remove.

Search Google Groups for the answer to your question. If you cannot
find the answer there, then it is appropriate to post to the NG.

Verify that your newsreader options for posting to a newsgroup are set
to TEXT, and not set to HTML. Plain text means it's text only, with
line length under 80 (preferably under 72) characters. See Configuring
Mail Clients to Send Plain ASCII Text.

Do not use stationery backgrounds, color backgrounds, or color text.
Use plain text on a plain background.

Posting to alt.support.cancer:  


A post should contribute to the general discussion.

Post in English.

Please post links to sites that are English language.

Please do not criticize the spelling or grammar of another person.

If you don't understand what someone has posted ask for clarification.
Be polite.

Do not respond/complain on the newsgroup about inappropriate or
off-topic posts. Ignore them or put them in your kill file.

If you don't like the content or direction of the newsgroup, feel free
to killfile or exit the group.

If you can find a more appropriate newsgroup for your message, post to
it.

In general, if you feel the need to vent your spleen online, write the
message, go and moan about the issue to your spouse, relatives,
neighbors, and friends, then if you still feel it's appropriate, send
it.

If you cannot resist posting a cure or treatment here, post the
complete treatment description with supporting data. That would
include clinical trial results and papers published in reputable
journals. Provide your connection or affiliation-financial or
otherwise-with the product, the company, board of directors, or
owners. Provide your qualifications to discuss this product, including
but not limited to degrees, positions, experience, titles,
publications, and references. If you have a record of criminal arrest,
you must reveal the date, location, circumstances, and outcome. Links
to this information are acceptable.

Please do not ask us to e-mail you for information; after all, this is
a newsgroup. If it can't be posted to the group it won't pass the
smell test.

Patients and caregivers please do not post your name, address, or
telephone number on this newsgroup. It is OK to remain anonymous.
Since 1981, all posts to newsgroups are archived by Google.

Please use good netiquette, trim quoted material (long messages) or
unnecessary cross posting in your replies, and avoid top posting and
SHOUTING. Don't assume that your message will be read at the same time
as the post you are replying to, and don't assume that all readers
will be using a threaded newsreader. By quoting the relevant parts of
the message you are replying to, it provides a context for your reply.
Your message will make more sense to readers if you reply below quoted
text. This is true if the reader has not seen the post to which you
are replying, or reads it out-of-order.

Read The power of negative thinking: The seven don'ts of Usenet, or
how to excel without doing anything.

Do not have unreasonable expectations.

Just because it is posted (multiple times) on alt.support.cancer does
not make it true.

If you make a mistake, own up to it, we are all human; nobody will
think any worse of you.

Inquiries about cancer medicine may be posted to
sci.med.diseases.cancer. If your post is more about medicine than
cancer support, post to sci.med.diseases.cancer instead.

Please think carefully before posting a news article. If you must,
post the link not the complete text.

Cross-posting should be limited to other appropriate groups.

Trim cross-post groups from your replies.

Choose your topic/subject line carefully to obtain the best replies.
Non-specifics like "Help" or "Question" make it more difficult to
search them later (for others) in the Google archives. A well-thought
out subject will get the attention of the persons you hope to reach
quicker than a "generic" subject line.

Categorize your post in the subject field by using the appropriate
subheading abbreviation for your topic. This would identify the topic
in the thread and allow users to filter or ignore threads that they
have no interest in. Also helpful for those only looking for posts
about specific kinds of topics/cancers, and makes it easier when
searching through the archives. Absence of any subheading-the
default-implies that the content is concerning general cancer support
issues.
[ADMIN] - newsgroup administration
[ALT] - alternative, or unconventional cancer therapies
[ANCMT] - events, announcements
[BMT] - aggressive chemotherapy with bone marrow transplant or stem
cell rescue
[CAM] - complementary and alternative medicine
[CHEM] - chemotherapy, antineoplastics
[CHEMO] - chemotherapy
[COPE] - emotional or psychological issues
[FAQ] - frequently asked questions
[FRAUD] - health fraud
[FUN],[ JOKE], or [HUMOR] - a moment of silliness
[INT] - issues of intimacy, relationships and sex, family members
[MAMO] - imaging, mammography, radiology
[MED] - medical
[METS] - metastases, advanced cancer
[MISC] - miscellaneous (anything not listed)
[OT] - off topic
[PAIN] - pain
[PATH] - pathology, biopsies, staging
[RANT] or [VENT] - blowing off steam
[RECR] - recurrence
[SUP] - messages of support, words of encouragement
[TAMX] - tamoxifen and related drugs

All off topic post headers should have [OT] at the beginning.

What are considered appropriate topics on this newsgroup? :


Questions and answers from patients and caregivers.

Emotional support of patients and caregivers.

Sharing of problems and solutions.

Friendly conversations about patient and caregiver.

Discussions of treatments for cancer.

Dignity

Friendship

Compassion

Understanding

Respect

Information about clinical trials for cancer treatments

Information on support products such as Miracle Mouthwash, Second
Skin, etc. (only if posted by those with no financial or business
interests)

Ranting and  raving to vent frustration or a complaint. A rant is
usually off-topic, but occasionally concerns one of our topics of
discussion. There is nothing wrong with an occasional rant.

Humor. Many believe that a positive attitude and a good laugh can
improve the effectiveness of any treatment. It certainly improves the
quality of life.

Periodic reposts of the FAQs or links to them

FAQs business, updates, call for votes, other related issues or
newsgroup business.

What are considered inappropriate topics on this newsgroup?


Encouraging patients to stop or avoid conventional proven cancer
treatment in favor of unconventional and unproven treatment is
inappropriate.

Encouraging patients to accept the use of unproven diagnostic
techniques including, but not limited to self-diagnosis, diagnosis by
questionnaire, diagnosis by fraudulent machines is inappropriate.

Advocating treatments that have been disproven scientifically or have
not successfully completed all phases of a clinical trial is
inappropriate.

Impersonation of another user is inappropriate.

Canceling posts of another user is inappropriate.

Harassment is inappropriate.

Threats are inappropriate.

Cross posting to groups outside of the cancer support community is
inappropriate. Cross-posts should be limited to other newsgroups that
are part of the support community or deal with cancer topics. Cross
posting means that a message is simultaneously posted in other groups.
Excessive cross posting (cross-posting to four or more newsgroups) is
inappropriate. Consider posting copies to other newsgroups.

Excessive multi-posting—defined as posting many repeat copies of a
substantively identical article (i.e. reposting spam)—is
inappropriate.

Offensive or cruel posts are inappropriate.

Off-topic posts are inappropriate.

Political calls to action requests are inappropriate.

Signature files in excess of four lines or V-cards are inappropriate
on the NG and are discouraged.

Newsgroup responses:

If you did not get the response you expected, consider these
questions:

Is it possible that the question has already been answered?

Is it possible that nobody has anything to add to the thread?

Is it possible that nobody knows the answer to your question?

Is it posted to the newsgroup best able to answer? If not, post to a
more appropriate group.

Read your post again and see if it conveyed your message as you
intended. If not, try reposting your message with a clearer statement
of what you want from the group. Be sure to include symptoms, tumor
locations, diagnosis, staging, grade, and any other relative
information that may help the group to understand your post.

Many people post to a NG using an archiving service like Google
groups, and these messages may not be properly propagated over Usenet.
Therefore, they aren’t read by everyone. In addition, some ISP's or
their NG providers don’t propagate well with the same result. Try
posting from another source.

How to address the problem of posters violating the FAQ:


This is probably the most difficult part of using unmoderated
newsgroups on Usenet.

A grassroots organization exists in the NG that reserves the right to
determine what is appropriate content and response. In reality there
are numerous reasons why free speech is not/cannot be censored on the
Internet. Realizing that, the best that alt.support.cancer can hope
for is compliance with the rules in this FAQ. Compliance would afford
someone the ability to post here, if they must, without irrational
reaction from the group. Noncompliance by a person would open them up
to the wrath of the group. Both are forms of positive or negative
feedback intended to control the enforcement of the FAQ. That seems to
be a now-working formula.

The alternative is to let this newsgroup decay and those who need
help; support, etc. would all end up leaving.

©Copyright 2003 alt.support.cancer newsgroup.
All rights reserved under both Pan American and international
copyright conventions.
No reproduction of any part may be made without the prior written
consent of the copyright holder.""

HT

Yes, Heather, that has been my understanding too. Except for moderated
groups, we generally follow the standard rules of "netiquette" adopted by
most Usenet users. California_Chiefs' response to a posting he seemed to
feel was from a spammer led me to believe maybe he was aware of the
existence of some charter for a.s.c.p. If so, I was interested in seeing
such a document.

Thanks for the clarification.

Hi Heather! I'm sure you meant the "alt." groups of usenet, not all of
usenet.

Cheers